Judith McVarish's book on encouraging mathematical reasoning in the classroom is a very well written, informative resource for teachers that combines research, best practices and concrete suggestion for the classroom teacher. McVarish offers hands-on strategies to introduce young students to mathematics in a very approachable style, illustrated with classroom anecdotes.
Historical Perspective on Mathematics Education
McVarish begins with an overview of math education over the past 20 years, taking the reader from the old school, male-dominated course of study to the present day demands of No Child Left Behind and state testing regulations. This overview forms the framework for a new way of looking at math education and teaching it in the 2010 classroom.
Through a review of the effectiveness of past practices, coupled with classroom observation, McVarish has developed a series of conceptual convictions about math and math learning that inform her philosophy of mathematics.
Those convictions are:
- math is everywhere
- everyone’s voice counts
- it takes persistence to solve mathematical problems
- inquisitiveness is the beginning and end of problem solving
- patterns help in solving problems
- learning is bigger than a test
These, she believes, help develop students who will learn math with ease and will provide teachers with a new way of looking at math education.
Teach Reasoning Using in the Classroom, Homework and Lesson Transitions
McVarish examines ways classroom design can contribute to math learning. These are things teaches can change right away: room arrangement, use of bulletin boards and walls, and organization of materials can all contribute positively to math learning. McVarish discusses the impact of each of these and gives ready-made ideas to teachers to apply in their classrooms.
In the chapter titled “How Can I Tune Transitions to a New Key?” McVarish offers teachers various strategies for making the best use of classroom transitions. Building informal math activities into the down time between subjects, in the hallway, or while traveling to and from school all increase students' math exposure. Specific teaching ideas are given – again very easy, usable activities that teachers can employ right away.
Homework is tackled from the point of view of meaningful, interactive experience that replaces rote problem solving or practice for the sake of practice. Reasons homework is assigned, a look at research on homework and case studies of the effectiveness of homework round out the chapter.
Implications and Strategies for Teachers
Each chapter ends with a “Teacher as Researcher” section that ties the chapter content into several specific teaching ideas, questions or suggestions for teachers. Here are several examples which teachers can easily apply in their classroom right away.
In the chapter titled “Who asks the Questions? Who Answers Them?” McVarish takes on effective questioning techniques. Her assignment for teachers: keep a tally of the types of questions students ask in a day and use those to revitalize questioning techniques.
In “What is Real About Homework?” McVarish asks teachers to survey other teachers, parents, students and administrators about their views regarding homework to see how making changes in assignments can affect students’ performance and motivation.
Testing is an emotion-fraught issue. McVarish tackles this thorny topic in the chapter “How Do I Defang the Test?” After a full review of the pros, cons and issues related to testing, McVarish offers the following “teacher as researcher” thoughts to put testing into perspective. Teachers should keep a log of test day observations. They should interview students on their thoughts before and after test day. Teachers should also evaluate the results of testing following a project approach to instruction as compared to those following direct instruction, as a way of evaluating the success of each teaching method.
Teaching young children in a meaningful and positive way is the focus of Judith McVarish’s book, Where is the Wonder in Elementary Math? Using research, proven teaching techniques and investigative tools, this book is a very useful took for teachers looking to get real results in their math classrooms and classrooms in general.
McVarish, Judith. Where’s the Wonder in Elementary Math? Encouraging Mathematical Reasoning in the Classroom. New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2008.
Book provided courtesy of Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
