Conundrum

I observed a Master Teacher yesterday. She is so good she is one of two math coaches for the district she works in. I saw her do some fantastic things with her class, challenging all of her students at once, with a single math lesson, from the lowest to the most advanced learners in the class. This teacher is focused on advancing each and every student as much as possible.

Before I left she showed me some tools she teachers to her students for two digit subtraction, multiplication, and long division, which takes the pain out of doing these problems! It was fantastic. Students aren't struggling with borrowing (or regrouping, or whatever it's called in schools where you are,) which frustrates students and slows down the learning process. The students are sharing their thoughts on how they solve problems, and seeing their ideas on the board. None of them are told they are wrong or that they have a bad way of approaching something. They are learning that there is more than one way to approach something.

This is something I have tried in various ways as a substitute to help students understand relationships between numbers, with limited success. I find some students already get it, others just needed to have a little light cast in the shadows to see the problem in a new way, and the rest are so stuck on how things are normally done they end up frustrated or confused. But they do understand that I am trying to help them which they appreciate.

So at home, I'm going to use what I saw yesterday to help my daughter — and what do I get? "My teacher wants us to do it this way." "I'll get in trouble if I do it that way. " She shuts down and refuses to let me help. It doesn't matter to her if it is easier or not; it's not the way her teacher wants it! I don't blame the teacher for this, though I wonder who else has dealt with this same issue, and how you have dealt with it - with the teacher, without the teacher, in spite of the teacher?

I can understand that there are occaassions when concepts need to be taught a certain way, but few things have only one way of being done. I can understand many teachers don't want to have conflicting ideas floating around because it takes time to cover more than one way of doing things. What I saw today showed me how helping students understand different ways of looking at something should be integrated into lessons, and it can be done in a timely and effecient manner. Though I have to keep in mind, some students can only dealing with one way of doing something.

As a parent I find it baffling and frustrating to no end to have my child fight me when I try to explain something because it is not done that way at school. Yes it is possible for parents to set their children back if they teach something wrong. What I am suggesting is a closer partnership between parents and teachers. Having school and home at odds with each other is not good for the children.

What do you think?