EDU-EDU8405 - Checking for Understanding in Elementary Math

Course Description

This teacher professional development course will teach you how to structure your math classroom to help you best check for student understanding of concepts and identify and address misconceptions. You will consider how you build a productive classroom culture, learn specific strategies to check for student understanding, and evaluate math misconceptions to construct a plan for support in your lessons.

The course's content is tailored to kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms, making it suitable for aspiring or novice teachers looking to plan effective lessons, and experienced teachers seeking to refine their teaching practices for enhanced learning and classroom culture in math education. You will also design a plan of action that is ready for implementation by using several templates and tools provided within this course.

Course Outline

1. Establishing a Math Community

Analyze components of classroom culture that help establish a strong classroom community, then reflect on an area of growth you would like to consider for yourself in a future classroom.

2. Checking for Understanding

Learn 12 check for understanding methods and when each are best used in the classroom, then reflect on several methods appropriate for your current or future class and grade level.

3. Interventions

Analyze three intervention methods to re-teach class content, then reflect on how you'd re-teach a concept specific to your grade level.

4. Common Math Misconceptions

Review the common misconceptions in elementary math and reflect on misconceptions your own students would experience at your grade level.

5. Putting it All Together

Using the sample provided, build a plan to check for student understanding for an upcoming math lesson.

6. Applying What you Have Learned

Get ideas on how to implement the concepts into your classroom, find a list of online resources that supports the lesson content, and read the research behind math instruction that addresses misconceptions and utilizes specific methods to check for understanding during instruction.

Learner Outcomes

Evaluate how to establish a strong classroom culture that supports math learning
Plan for methods to check for understanding and execute an intervention strategy to areas of misunderstanding
Identify the 12 most common elementary math misconceptions students make and a variety of ways to correct those types of math misconceptions
Build a lesson plan with class culture, student understanding, and misconceptions in mind

Notes

This is an asynchronous online course offered through the third party vendor ed2go. This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook. The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online. You will have three months to complete the course, and may complete the course earlier than the three month period. Editing of a Microsoft Word document is required in this course. You may use a free version of Microsoft Word Online or Google Docs if you do not have Microsoft Office installed on your computer.