Search results for: Drake Corey

This study examined the ways in which elementary mathematics methods course activities, designed as representations, decomposition, and approximations of practice, can be used to develop prospective elementary teachers’ ability to organize a discussion. The authors found that the activities resulted in 21 prospective elementary teachers who in addition, focused their goal on extending student thinking and 12 whose goal also intended to address making connections within and between strategies. Prospective elementary teachers’ justifications for their selecting of student work revealed an interesting result. The majority of prospective elementary teachers had set a goal for the discussion of introducing strategies or having students use strategies.

This article examines the orientations of prospective teachers (PSTs) toward students’ family and their home and community experiences , as they relate to teaching mathematics. The results indicate that PSTs recognize the importance of connecting with parents, understanding home and community practices, and building on these practices to support children’s mathematical learning. Yet at the same time, they also exhibit inconsistent perspectives, at times indicating a lack of understanding as to why some families appear to be less able to support students’ academic efforts. The authors also found that some PSTs believe that at least some responsibility for success in school mathematics lies at home with the parents. The authors argue that teacher educators need to be aware of the orientations that PSTs bring with them to mathematics methods classrooms.