View in EDS

What Is a Pattern?: An Elementary Teacher's Early Efforts To Teach Mathematics for Understanding. NCRTL Craft Paper 95-1.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: What Is a Pattern?: An Elementary Teacher's Early Efforts To Teach Mathematics for Understanding. NCRTL Craft Paper 95-1.
Language: English
Authors: Heaton, Ruth M., National Center for Research on Teacher Learning, East Lansing, MI.
Availability: National Center for Research on Teacher Learning, 116 Erickson Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1034 ($10.93).
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 53
Publication Date: 1995
Sponsoring Agency: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Intended Audience: Teachers; Practitioners
Document Type: Opinion Papers
Descriptors: Classroom Communication, Educational Change, Elementary School Mathematics, Elementary School Students, Grade 4, Graduate Study, Higher Education, Intermediate Grades, Mathematical Concepts, Mathematical Logic, Mathematics Instruction, Numeracy, Patterned Responses, Patterns in Mathematics, Perception, Reflective Teaching, Teaching Guides
Abstract: After 10 years of teaching rule-driven, procedure-based, algorithm-oriented mathematics, an elementary teacher describes how she began to rethink her teaching style after returning to school for a graduate degree. Her rethinking is based on the first of four student teaching events that spanned an entire school year in which she used the Comprehensive School Mathematics Program (CSMP) and its pattern system. The start of her change was her recognition that the CSMP teaching guide was only a guide, not a step-by-step procedure to follow without deviance. After 3 years of teaching as a graduate student, she came to realize that mathematics is a science of patterns, and it is the search for these patterns that drives mathematicians. Understanding these patterns helps children understand mathematical relationships, not just find the right answer. Recognizing, describing, and creating a wide variety of patterns provides the foundation for exploring these relationships in numbers in later grades. By way of conclusion, Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi" is used to construct parallels between Twain's early learning experiences and the teacher's, mainly in the sense of his growing understanding of the nature of what he needed to learn and the usefulness of a text in doing the work. What the teacher took from her project was the need for a new sense of purpose, the questions she would need to ask, and an understanding of why this sense of purpose is important in the kind of math teaching she had been learning to do. (Contains 46 references.) (NAV)
Entry Date: 1996
Accession Number: ED392790
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
CustomLinks:
  – Url: https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED392790
    Name: ERIC Full Text
    Category: fullText
    Text: Full Text from ERIC
Header DbId: eric
DbLabel: ERIC
An: ED392790
AccessLevel: 3
PubType: Editorial & Opinion
PubTypeId: editorialOpinion
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: What Is a Pattern?: An Elementary Teacher's Early Efforts To Teach Mathematics for Understanding. NCRTL Craft Paper 95-1.
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Heaton%2C+Ruth+M%2E%22">Heaton, Ruth M.</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22National+Center+for+Research+on+Teacher+Learning%2C+East+Lansing%2C+MI%2E%22">National Center for Research on Teacher Learning, East Lansing, MI.</searchLink>
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: National Center for Research on Teacher Learning, 116 Erickson Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1034 ($10.93).
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: N
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 53
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 1995
– Name: SourceSuprt
  Label: Sponsoring Agency
  Group: SrcSuprt
  Data: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
– Name: Audience
  Label: Intended Audience
  Group: Audnce
  Data: Teachers; Practitioners
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Opinion Papers
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Classroom+Communication%22">Classroom Communication</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Change%22">Educational Change</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+School+Mathematics%22">Elementary School Mathematics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+School+Students%22">Elementary School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grade+4%22">Grade 4</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Graduate+Study%22">Graduate Study</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intermediate+Grades%22">Intermediate Grades</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mathematical+Concepts%22">Mathematical Concepts</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mathematical+Logic%22">Mathematical Logic</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mathematics+Instruction%22">Mathematics Instruction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Numeracy%22">Numeracy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Patterned+Responses%22">Patterned Responses</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Patterns+in+Mathematics%22">Patterns in Mathematics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Perception%22">Perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reflective+Teaching%22">Reflective Teaching</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Guides%22">Teaching Guides</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: After 10 years of teaching rule-driven, procedure-based, algorithm-oriented mathematics, an elementary teacher describes how she began to rethink her teaching style after returning to school for a graduate degree. Her rethinking is based on the first of four student teaching events that spanned an entire school year in which she used the Comprehensive School Mathematics Program (CSMP) and its pattern system. The start of her change was her recognition that the CSMP teaching guide was only a guide, not a step-by-step procedure to follow without deviance. After 3 years of teaching as a graduate student, she came to realize that mathematics is a science of patterns, and it is the search for these patterns that drives mathematicians. Understanding these patterns helps children understand mathematical relationships, not just find the right answer. Recognizing, describing, and creating a wide variety of patterns provides the foundation for exploring these relationships in numbers in later grades. By way of conclusion, Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi" is used to construct parallels between Twain's early learning experiences and the teacher's, mainly in the sense of his growing understanding of the nature of what he needed to learn and the usefulness of a text in doing the work. What the teacher took from her project was the need for a new sense of purpose, the questions she would need to ask, and an understanding of why this sense of purpose is important in the kind of math teaching she had been learning to do. (Contains 46 references.) (NAV)
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 1996
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: ED392790
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=ED392790
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 53
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Classroom Communication
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational Change
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Elementary School Mathematics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Elementary School Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Grade 4
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Graduate Study
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Higher Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Intermediate Grades
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mathematical Concepts
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mathematical Logic
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mathematics Instruction
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Numeracy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Patterned Responses
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Patterns in Mathematics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Perception
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Reflective Teaching
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Teaching Guides
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: What Is a Pattern?: An Elementary Teacher's Early Efforts To Teach Mathematics for Understanding. NCRTL Craft Paper 95-1.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: National Center for Research on Teacher Learning, East Lansing, MI.
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Heaton, Ruth M.
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 10
              Type: published
              Y: 1995
ResultId 1