Last week the third graders at my main placement began to learn multiplication. They were so excited about it, and they all cheered when the teacher began the lesson. She used Envision to introduce the lesson, and it was a race to put their hands up and answer the questions. They paid attention and answered questions carefully--no one wanted to miss a chance to have their turn by answering the wrong question.
As I looked around the classroom, I could see examples of multiplication lessons. Here are two groups of four desks. How many desks total? There are three students at one table group, and four at the other. Can we use multiplication to find out the number of students at the two groups?
Pretty soon, all I could see were multiplication lessons. Rows of posted art work, bins of books, cubbies of coats. An equation for everyone in the class, regardless of ability.
I think the Envision creates a great support to the lessons, and I also think that worksheets have a place. Though I wouldn't want to use them exclusively, they are a quick and easy way to assess learning. The real-life examples help by showing the relevancy of the lesson. The important part is in maintaining the engagement and enthusiasm. It makes it so much easier to keep the momentum of the learning going. I'm sure the difficult part is in balancing all of it to teach in the most effective way. My cooperating teacher does a great job of this.
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