This week in my math course we collaborated as a team of four to deconstruct a math unit on multiplication and division of whole numbers. Working beside my colleagues to learn and make sense of the curriculum was a wonderful learning experience. I was unfamiliar with the curriculum called Expressions that we worked with, so it was exciting to play around with the ways they suggest teaching a unit. I loved having the opportunity to take a concept that I was unfamiliar teaching, and breaking it apart with the help of my team to make sense of what the most important ideas of the unit were. When we worked together we were able to bounce ideas off of one another and help each other understand the unit in more depth.
Once we skimmed through the unit and understood what the learning objectives of the unit were, we mapped out how we would teach the content, and how each lesson would build upon the other. We discussed where and how we would incorporate “Math Talks” and “5 practice” discussions to deepen our students understanding of the concepts. As we mapped out the unit, we also determined the best opportunities to conduct summative and formative assessments of our students learning to help guide our teaching. Having the opportunity to see the whole picture of the unit and think about the best practices to teach our students the content was very beneficial. The picture below is my team’s sketch of how we imagined connecting the ideas and teaching our unit.
While out in my main placement I have had the opportunity to listen to similar collaborations on deconstructing a unit. This year my school adopted a new reading curriculum, so each lesson is brand new to even the experienced teachers. The teachers that I work with in my main placement find the ability to collaborate with their team mates very beneficial when planning these unfamiliar lessons. When they put their heads together they can come up with creative and engaging ways to teach the curriculum. I love the idea of working together as a team to make sense of a unit. As teachers we all need to work together to provide our students with the best learning opportunities possible.
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