Two Muskingum University education students, Megan Duke and Valerie Toothman, co-presented with Dr. Rae White, Chair of the Department of Education, at the annual Appalachia from an Assets Perspective Conference. Hosted at Shawnee State University by the Southeast Ohio Teacher Development Collaborative (SEOTDC) with five universities in partnership, the December 3, 2012 session was entitled Teaching to the Common Core K-8.
Both Ms. Duke and Ms. Toothman are teacher candidates preparing to be mathematics educators, so they engaged the attendees in developing learning targets to set clear goals for students, breaking down the skills and concepts from the Ohio Math Common Core Standards. By using dice, cards and manipulatives they modeled ways to help students understand concepts of median, probability and reinforce multiplication skills. Fluency, including automaticity in computation and understanding, were addressed. Resources were drawn from Dr. Ky Davis’ Math Toolkits for grades K-8. The team built on the keynote presentation of Dr. Davis in how educators can use interactive strategies to foster mathematical knowledge and skill.