Brittany's+First+Page



 Informed Abstracts of Academic Articles:  This page,along with Brittany's page 2 are 4 informed abstracts of academic articles, along with a brief  response of the article. Following, on Brittany's Page 3 is a review of a WEB 2.0 tool that could enhance my lesson, which can be seen on Pythagorean Theorem Lesson page.

Article 1: //Writing in Math// by Marilyn Burns



The Article:  “Innovative teachers can make writing an invaluable part of math instruction.” This is the key notion defined within the article. The author of this article, Marilyn Burns, did not come into teaching knowing she was going to integrate writing as a tool in her math classroom. Over a period of years, Burns gradually became more appreciative towards writing, and began to use it as an invaluable tool. Writing allowed her to see how writing helped her students think more deeply about mathematics, and also helped her with assessing their learning.  Burns is able to detect how writing in the math classrooms supports her students’ learning. Writing requires her students to organize, clarify, and reflect on their own ideas in addition to their papers providing a window into their understanding, misconceptions, and their feelings about the content.  Burns gives some specific detail and scenarios that she had experienced in her classroom, as well as noting some suggestion journal writing questions, writing assignments, and some strategies for incorporating writing.

Response to some findings:  I found this article so useful for many reasons. First off I like how Burns notes that her skill and comfort with integrating writing into her math classroom evolved through many years of teaching. In hopes of being a future educator, one of my main concerns is how can I integrate all of these important areas into my classroom, such as writing? I realize that I may or may not be able to do it effectively or efficiently in my beginning years, but through experience and time, through mistakes and discoveries, I will be able to establish a stronger curriculum for my students.  Burns does note some classroom strategies in which I could incorporate writing into the math instruction. She notes important ideas such as establishing the purpose for writing by making sure that the students are aware of your reasoning behind it, which is to support their learning and to help me assess their learning. She also states that you should establish yourself as the audience by letting the students know their writing is to help you as the teacher better understand their learning. She also shares that asking students to include detail in their writing, having the students discuss their ideas with classmates before writing, posting important math vocabulary in the classroom, writing prompts on the board when necessary, and giving individual assistance to the students are some more strategies important for incorporating writing.  Burns also notes that keeping the students writings in individual folders, and/or maybe filing them may be a beneficial thing for your to do as a teacher. I find this to be a good idea for me as a future teacher. I like the idea of having the students progress on file, and it also serves as a tool for parent conferences. Not mentioned in the article, but what I would do as a teacher, is keep such writings on file in case I have the students add onto certain papers later in the lesson/unit, I have it on file versus leaving it in the students hands where they may lose it.  However, having a notebook in which the students can look back on is also beneficial for them as it serves as a chronological record of their learning experiences. If students need to go back into these writings and either reflect or add further details, they can. Or if I give another prompt later in the unit where they answer the same prompt given at the beginning of the unit, they can then compare the two pages to see if they progressed, learned any more about the topic, etc.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Disagreement: <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> The only disagreement I have with the whole article comes from when Burns states, “I consider myself the primary audience for my students’ writing, and I pay attention to what that writing shows about their math understanding—what they write, not how they write it.” I think my major concern here is the students may slack and not care about format, punctuation, sentencing, legibility. There are many aspects/tools in the “writing” world where this serves as a concern. What is the point of having them write, if they are not practicing writing properly? They must take writing seriously, as they should my classroom and math lessons. I want my students to succeed, and helping them slack in my own classroom serves them no benefit outside of it. <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Now I am not saying that they will have to proofread their papers, or will get punished for misspelling, etc. But I do want them to try and write respectively with writing tools in the back of their minds. I may be their only audience, but I want their writing to show me what they know both in respects to math and writing/comprehension.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Conclusion: <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Writing is a great way to get feedback from your students on their understanding, but furthermore can give you feedback on the effectiveness of your lessons, what works or doesn’t work. Whether or not the experience was challenging, interesting, accessible may also be found in the student’s writings. This can be important as to if you may need to switch up the lesson in the future, or if the students are not understanding, you may need to take more time to continue with the unit before moving forward in the lessons. There are many benefits that can come from such writing prompts and feedback. <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This article has been extremely beneficial to serving some of my goals I have as future educator, that being integrating writing into the math classroom. Although I will certainly learn as I grow and evolve through years of experience, the students can benefit greatly from the instruction. <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> My students will be able to better communicate their mathematical thinking, organize and consolidate their mathematical thinking, clarify and reflect on their own ideas, as well as better make sense of mathematics. And I as a teacher will be able to better assess their progress, gain insights into their learning, as well as get feedback on my lessons and classroom instructions effectiveness.

<span style="font-family: 'ArialMT','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Citation:

Burns, Marilyn. "Writing In Math." //Educational Leadership// 62.2 (2004): 30. //ERIC//. Web. 6 Nov. 2012.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Article 2: //Writing in Mathematics: An Alternative Form of Communication// //for Academically Low Achieving Students//

<span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This article is based on a study that was conducted for the focus of “writing to learn.” For a 7th grade math classroom of 28 students, the study chose 4 of these students, who were qualified for special education services, to base their research on. The questions that guide this study are: <span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">These three questions give us the basis of the research and the article. The teacher of this classroom uses methods in her classroom that promote writing as a way to express math, their emotions, understanding, etc. She uses a math journal in which students write in at least once a week. The teacher gives the students prompts that relate to mathematical topics, and other writing activities. <span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The result of this study was that the journals were a gateway for students to communicate their feelings and opinions. Although this is adds to the teacher’s workload, a teacher is able to gain insights into the student’s mathematical proficiency.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Summarize: **
 * 1) <span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">What does writing reveal about the students’ conceptual understanding?
 * 2) <span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">What does writing reveal about the students’ strategic competence?
 * 3) <span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">What does writing reveal about the students’ adaptive reasoning?

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Interpret and respond:

<span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">I found this article so beneficial to me as a math teacher. I love the use of journals, both as a benefit for me and my students. I believe that journals can serve so many beneficial purposes like explained in the article: 1. Improve student’s awareness of their own thought process, and 2. Facilitate students’ personal ownership of knowledge, as well as 3. relating to the mathematical topics being studied. <span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The challenge, as stated in the article, is to include all students in mathematically meaningful communication. This is so important for teachers to base their lessons on, and written assignments can help encourage the students to such communication. Class discussions and group activities can really help students to participate and communicate, but what about those students who cannot describe their mathematical reasoning in a coherent manner? That’s where writing may come in, as students are able to come out of their shells and express themselves in a way that is more one on one. This article says that a study shows low achieving students remain passive in small groups, further stressing the importance of the need of another method to get the students communicating. <span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The study may not be as detailed and accurate as it should be, seeming it was on such a small group of students, and in such a specific grade, but I believe that it raises the main idea being expressed here, and that is finding a way all students can express mathematical ideas and explain solution strategies. Participation and communication is key, and writing is another gateway for students to do so.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Usefulness:

<span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">I sort of touched base on it in the previous section, but I found this article beneficial as it raises the idea of inclusion, and how to include all students. Math can be expressed in various ways, and by writing to learn, math can be expressed through notes, brief explanations, drawings, and diagrams. <span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">When the teacher used journals, I thought it can only be beneficial. It gives students a further way to communicate and participate, as well as add depth to their knowledge and understanding. <span style="color: #8f0b93; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">I have always loved the use of journals, and have had in the back of my mind for a few years, and this article just adds more ideas on top of mine, as well as strengthens the ideas behind the use of a journal.

Citation: Baxter, Juliet A., John Woodward, and Deborah Olson. "Writing In Mathematics: An Alternative Form Of Communication For Academically Low-Achieving Students." //Learning Disabilities Research And Practice// 20.2 (2005): 119-135. //ERIC//. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.

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