For many teachers, the idea of allowing students to struggle with mathematics is sometimes difficult to accept. "How and why should I allow students to wrestle with problems and not show them the solutions? Where can the right kinds of tasks be found? Where can I learn the mathematics content and information I really need in order to be able to teach this way?" With these and other questions firmly in mind, there are three objectives for this series of workshops:
- To help teachers understand what it means to teach in a student-centered, problem-based manner.
- To provide teachers with the mathematics content found in their grade level and how children best learn this mathematics.
- To provide instructional strategies and problem-based activities that engage students in the mathematics.
The work of John A. Van de Walle is the foundation for this training.