I must admit that my journey with this project started before I received the TLLP approval for my project from the Ministry, in February 2012. I had already been involved in an inquiry in mathematics as part of the OAME’s initiative, launched in October 2011 through their Leadership Conference and whose focus was creating collaborative communities of practice in mathematics with a focus on assessment. I decided to conduct such an inquiry and share my learning at the annual OAME Conference in Kingston, Ontario in May 2012.
My presentation at the OAME conference was entitled “Students Observing Students” and it was co-presented with Caroline Rosenbloom, a coordinator and pre-service instructor from OISE/UT. Caroline was the strongest supporter of my work from the first day I met her. It was through her CLMT (Collaborative Learning for Teaching Mathematics) initiative, developed in partnership with TDSB that strengthened our bond. Her project had at its heart the intention of creating collaborative communities. TDSB teachers and teacher-candidates co-planned, observed and discussed each others’ lessons, co-taught and collaborated during the project.
As a former math instructional leader with Toronto District School Board, Caroline knows that the best experiences and knowledge about math teac
hing are a result of teacher inquiry and action research. My inquiry and collaboration with her focused on the following formative assessment activities:
- – students observing students solve problems in mathematics (developed and piloted during one of the teacher candidates placements in the classroom in spring 2010) and how this activity impacts their own problem-solving skills
- – students observers reflecting on their learning after observing the problem solving done by their peers in order to strengthen mathematical self-knowledge)
- – the use of kidblog.org as an online collaborative “journal” and vehicle of strengthening our math community ( as well self-knowledge in mathematics, self-confidence, communication and self-regulation)
- – the use of technology in the math classroom facilitate collaboration through the use of online whiteboards, such as Cosketch and Twiddla
- – the use of livescribe pens ( learned from Caroline) to record the entire problem –solving process during a math class.
Caroline Rosenbloom and I co-presented at the 2012 Annual OAME conference in May and at the local TEAMS conference in October 2012. Both presentations received great feedback from the audience.
In May 2012 when the TLLP was launched I had a chance to share some of my artifacts with the teachers who had the same research focus a few of my findings related a blogging site for students: KIDBLOG.
We are currently collaborating on a project involving the use of KIDBLOG in mathematics. The progress has a new dimension: it involves another colleague of mine from school and the participation of OISE teacher candidates partnered with my students for an innovative learning and assessment initiative.
The following are a few of the questions that we intend to focus on during this project:
A. What happens when students collaborate outside school hours on solving problems, reflecting on mathematical learning, making connections and providing constructive feedback that is detailed and directly connected to the success criteria discussed in class.
B. What happens when teacher-candidates monitor the learning of a focus group of students and their collaboration as well as they provide additional descriptive feedback.
C. What are the implications for teachers pedagogical knowledge and student knowledge?
D. What impact does this collaboration have on student learning, and teacher knowledge of student performance (assessment knowledge)
E. What are the social implications for students?
F. How does this experience motivate students and builds their self-confidence, particularly when the learning experience becomes a less private – a public experience?
For whoever reads this: Thank you for you interest and enjoy the ride!
Mirela
