Learning: Innovators

Best Practices in Math Teaching

A new guide is grounded in classroom reality

When the School of Education of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia set out to create a best practices guide for math teachers, it sought out front-line teachers to participate in the process.

Knowing how theoretical and sometimes impractical guidelines, checklists, and rubrics can be, Rachael Cofer jumped at the chance to contribute her real-world experience. Cofer teaches math at LaFayette High School in Williamsburg.

Working with other math teachers, administrators, and professors, Cofer helped William and Mary produce a rubric that not only meets the standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, but has been hailed by teachers around the country for its fairness and teacher-friendly structure. The guide is for both elementary and high school.

"It's intended to educate teachers about best practices in math classrooms, rather than to evaluate the teacher," says Cofer. "The focus is on development. Each page makes clear that it is not an evaluation instrument."

She adds, "Today, some teachers are evaluated only according to their kids' test scores. That can mask many factors beyond the teachers' control. Other teachers are asked to stick to a firm checklist, which limits their ability to adapt teaching methods to particular types of students.

"This professional rubric solves both of those problems," says Cofer. "It's an objective picture of best prac-tices at the elementary, middle school, and high school level. And schools are encouraged to modify it to fit their own learning environment."
Ideally, Cofer notes, this rubric will contribute to the teaching of mathematics in four main ways:

First, new teachers can use it immediately for guidance, so they don't come to the classroom in the dark.

Second, experienced teachers can use it to hone their skills by identifying areas where they may need training.

Third, principals who are asked to observe math classes may not have a math background, and this rubric gives them a solid foundation for observation.

And fourth, administrators and math specialists can use it to make policies throughout school systems."

The rubric was presented at a conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics this year. "The response was wonderful," says Cofer. "Teachers from California wanted to go back home and develop something similar. Others just asked us to hurry up and get the rubric out in print, which I think will happen soon."

For More: Contact Marguerite Mason, School of Education, College of William and Mary, at 757/221-2327 or E-mail mmmaso@wm.edu. E-mail Rachael Cofer at rcofer@widomaker.com.

Hail the Weather Station

Kenneth Sopelak never intended to be a weather junkie. But it turned out to be a good idea that took him by storm.
He now coordinates a weather station at Webster Hill Elementary in West Hartford, Connecticut that links to more than 400
television stations, other elementary and secondary schools, and government facilities across the country.

"When I started, I knew very little about weather," says Sopelak. "I got so en-grossed, I was soon working 50-hour weeks. I saw that teachers can use technology in class for things other than research, writing, and drills."

One student from Africa, Leeban Isa, became interested in the station when he learned that many storms get their start off Africa's west coast. Check-ing satellite photos, Isa discovered a small storm near his homeland in the fall of 2000. From the data, he predicted it would grow strong and strike New England-and he was right. Local weather buffs nicknamed the storm "Leeban."
Sopelak's meteorological turn started when parents and staff turned a weedy school courtyard into a living classroom, complete with monarch butterfly house and compost station. Sopelak helped to raise $7,000 for the weather station. Then, with a grant from the NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education he learned to use it.

Sopelak has developed materials on elementary weather activities linking meteorology, math, writing, geography, and critical thinking. He gives workshops on using weather stations to foster learning and community involvement.

For More: E-mail kensopelak@msn.com.

Harnessing the Internet

In 1998, longtime friends and veteran educators Eileen Skarecki and Elaine Insinnia combined their expertise to write Educators Take Charge: Teaching in the Internet Revolu-tion, published by the International Society for Technology in Educa-tion. The book shows the Internet is not just a reference resource, but a dynamic teaching tool.

Skarecki, a technology coordinator, and Insinnia, an eighth grade English teacher, both at Columbia Middle School in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, have worked together for 16 years. Insinnia credits Skarecki with introducing her to the "magic" of the Internet.

"We both have drama backgrounds, and we've co-directed plays," says Insinnia. "In 1994, we were directing The Miracle Worker. I had very little information on it to share with the students. Eileen said, 'Let's check the Web.' It turned out to be a gold mine. That's how we started collaborating. We began to give presentations on teaching with the Internet at school. Soon we were writing articles and traveling to give workshops."
"I know the technical side, and Elaine knows how to motivate students," says Skarecki. "We've been able to introduce kids to a whole new realm of learning."

Insinnia adds, "We found a Web site where Arthur Miller talks about playwriting. So the students weren't limited by my knowledge. They had Arthur Miller."

"The technology is constantly changing," says Skarecki. "Elaine and I plan to keep up with it and to keep helping others harness technology to improve their teaching."

For More: To order the book, call 800/336-5191. For information on training workshops by the authors, call 800/942-6124, access code 61, or E-mail Skarecki at esp@columbia.bhs.k12.nj.us.

Pounding the Beat Of Social Justice

When Robert Howard Jr., a 26-year-old African-American teacher at Boston's Young Achievers Science and Mathematics Pilot School, was twice stopped on his way to school and frisked by police-though he did not fit the description of any suspect the police were pursuing-his students wanted answers. Howard filed a complaint against the policeman involved in both incidents, but he also turned the situation into an upbeat, positive lesson for his students.

How did the school react to what happened to you?
My principal, Virginia Chalmers, the other teachers, and the students were great to me. Before I knew it, they'd planned a Valentine's Day demonstration to support me. The kids hand-painted signs with messages such as "Love has no color," and planned to march to police headquarters. They were with me from the start, and they stayed with me.

What concerned you about the planned protest?
I didn't want the kids or the community to think it was a police-bashing protest. I don't hate police, and I don't want my kids to hate police. I knew I had to help keep the situation balanced. I couldn't just indulge my own outrage and let these kids think police are evil-any one of them might need the help of the police at any time.

How did you deal with that concern?
We invited the police to talk to our students about what happened. Before the rally took place, I participated with Boston Police Captain Frederick Daniels in leading a student assembly. Daniels defended the police actions, but apologized to me for the "inconvenience" I experienced.

Was that sufficient, in your eyes?
It was good to get this all out in the open. If there was any racism, the students still need to know that racism doesn't control us. We're empowering students to change society.

I still have a complaint pending. And when there is progress on the complaint, I'm going to let the kids know about it, no matter what the outcome. They've been on the journey with me, they'll be with me when it's over, and I plan to make sure that only good comes out of it.

For More: E-mail YoungAchievers@ Boston.K12.ma.us.

Voices from The Front Lines

"I know how to discipline kids, but I feel like
every day, something arises that I never thought would happen in a million years," says a young teacher. "I wish I had someone to coach me along."

"If you want teachers to grow, you must do it when they're fresh," says an 11-year veteran. "You must create time for them so they don't feel it's another thing to weigh them down."

Both educators are speaking in a videotape produced by the Utah Education Association's director of Teaching and Learning, Kaye Chatterton, to stimulate discussion at a state conference that she helped organize.

The conference, co-sponsored by state education and teacher training agencies, delved into the topic of what can be done to make sure there are quality teachers staffing every classroom. Chatterton wanted the 300 participants, mostly school administrators and people running teacher training programs, to hear from classroom educators.

The tape features five teachers at varying points in their careers, talking about what they need to do a quality job. "It showcases that we are never done learning, and that there are different stages at which we have different professional development needs," says Chatterton.

The teachers interviewed for the tape were "very honest without being whiney," she says. And their views incapsulate the sentiments of teachers nationwide.

"Each educator has something really important to say, and you can see and hear their commitment to students," says Chatterton.
"They make you proud to be a teacher."

For More: Contact Nancy Pereira (nancy.pereira@utea.org) for a copy of the tape, or E-mail Chatterton at kaye.chatterton@utea.org for details on information about it.