Math Training, Day 2

Last Friday, I attended {day 1} of a math training.  Monday I attended part two. 

Overall, it was a decent training.  It's frustrating that due to scheduling issues, they condensed two days into one.  When they did this, we lost a lot of the processing, collaboration, and reflection time.

Clicks:

-We were in a smaller break out room. We were encouraged to talk to our neighbors.

-The focus was much more on using manipulatives (place value blocks, centimeter grid paper, etc) to show the math.  i think that my fifth graders don't necessarily get enough practice time and exposure to the concrete math, which leads to conceptual misunderstandings.  The focus was on shifting students from concrete to representational to abstract methods of problem solving.  (Manipulatives to diagrams with manipulatives to just numbers).  By fifth grade, the concrete step is often skipped but when students have conceptual gaps or it's a new concept, they need hands-on time to explore.

Clunks:

-There was no processing time.  It was very high paced and for six straight hours.  There was no reflection time to write down thoughts or think about where to use these strategies in the classroom.

-It was an hour away.  That's frustrating.

However, since 3/5 of my grade level was there, we are bound to use most of what we learned! I'm glad I'm not the only one responsible for remembering this information!