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In-service program documentation
Acquainting teachers with the supportive materials for the illustrative
units (D6.2)
Logistics and scheduling information (by Judith Fonzi)
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| Choices made with respect to when and how to acquaint participants with the supporting materials |
| Scheduling of these activities within the summer institute |
| List of materials / equipment needed to implement these activities |
Choices made with respect to when and how to acquaint participants with the supporting materials:
We decided to introduce all of the supporting materials in one session since their general structure is quite similar. However, we only handout the materials as they are needed. We divide the reading assignment into two parts so that the participants can use their "experiences as learners" to help make sense of the content and format of the materials as well as to keep the length of the assignments reasonable. The first assignment asks participants to read excerpts from the tessellation unit materials which show "flexible plans" for activities similar to their own "experiences as learners" and which briefly describe classroom implementations of a whole unit. The second reading assignment focuses on the area unit and invites the participants to read about the mathematics of area as well as the goals for our illustrative unit on area. Though, if it could be done without overburdening the participants, we feel it may be helpful to assign the "On the mathematics of area" a day earlier so it can inform the session "Rethinking the math of area".
We have also decided to include "experienced" teachers in the "follow-up discussions of the readings" so that they can both discuss their own use of these materials as well as respond to any questions participants might have about their specific implementation report. As a result, these session have provided a nice complement to the more formal "teacher testimonial" sessions.
Scheduling of these activities within the summer institute:
In our implementation we decided to introduce the participants to the supporting materials for the illustrative units at the end of the second day of the summer institute. At this point we had completed the first "experience as learners" and shifted our attention to issues about teaching of such a unit. We purposely scheduled a "teacher testimonial" prior to the introduction of the supporting materials because we wanted to first take care of any concerns about whether middle school students can productively engage in inquiry. Once the "experienced" teachers addressed this issue the participants were invited to ask any questions they wished. At this point the participants are cautiously excited about the possibility of teaching this unit and can begin to think about what support they would need to do so. Scheduling this session at the end of the day also allows us to hand out the booklets so participants can immediately peruse them (otherwise they may not be able to resist looking at them during other sessions !).
The first reading assignment immediately follows the introduction to the materials with the "follow-up discussion of this reading assignment" scheduled for first thing the next day. Scheduling the follow-up first guarantees that everyone benefits from the questions and observations participants have made as a result of their reading otherwise they may be discussed privately or informally throughout the day. Though we encourage such conversations we need first, as much as possible, to make public the benefits and possible uses of these materials so participants can take advantage of them when planning their units. The second reading assignment is scheduled on Day 4 after completing the area "experience as learners". Once again, we schedule the follow-up discussion of this reading assignment for the first session of the next day. The specific details of the schedule can be seen in the table below:
Day 2 Tuesday (last session of the day)
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HW 2:
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Day 3 Wednesday (first session of day)
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HW 4:
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Day 5 Friday (first session of day)
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For more information about activities preceding and following these sessions see the entire Summer Institute Agendas.
The amount of time devoted to these sessions has been carefully planned. Though it is sometimes hard to get these discussions going, sufficient probing from the facilitator always results in valuable suggestions and observations being shared. In addition to making the connections with the respective "experience as learners", the decision to distribute the reading and follow-up discussions from Day 2 through Day 5 had the added advantage of keeping the supporting materials and their use an on-going conversation.
List of materials / equipment needed to implement these activities:
(Note: See the facilitator's plans for rationales and further descriptions of the materials listed here; this list does not include handouts, homework assignments, etc. which facilitators need to create and/or adapt for their specific audience.)
For all of the activities have the following always available:
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