Welcome to the wiki for our session at the 61st Annual Western Illinois University Mathematics Teacher Conference (Friday, March 23, 2012). Below you will find resources from our session that you should feel free to use.
Let the Students Explore: Inquiry in the Classroom (Grades 9-14)
"Inquiry methods allow students to experience math authentically, which has benefits in terms of affect, skill, and content. Some teachers worry about (1) the perceived lack of control, (2) dealing with feedback and student errors, and (3) the work making modules. We will engage the audience in an inquiry experience that aims to reduce these fears."
Our session opened with a few words about the context in which we are working. In particular, we are attempting to move the schools toward the Common Core Standards. The mathematical rigor of these standards feel substantially higher, and Dr Wu's opening talk may have overwhelmed some teachers with the magnitude of the differences. In particular, this session focuses on ways to accomplish some of the 8 Mathematical Practice Standards (in which Dr Wu's influence is visible).
The majority of the session was devoted to exploring some geometry, structured as inquiry. The links below take you to the materials for each module, including some reflection by the young teachers who led the inquiry lesson.
The session closed with some analysis of the examples of Mathematical Practice that occurred during our session. The main claim of the session is that the allowing students to explore and inquire helps the Mathematical Practices happen naturally as part of the lesson, as opposed to them being something very abstract that the teacher must introduce on top of an existing lesson.
Here are the slides from the presentation.
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