also listed in:
Lesser, Lawrence M.
(1999). Investigating the Role of Standards-Based Education in a Pre-Service Secondary Math Methods Course. In Myra L. Powers and Nancy K.
Hartley    (Eds.), Promoting Excellence in Teacher Preparation:  Undergraduate Reforms in Mathematics and Science [juried monograph for
NSF-funded Rocky Mountain Teacher Education Collaborative], pp. 53-64.  Ft. Collins, CO:  Colorado State University.
 

To help preservice mathematics teachers.....

1.  ....become fully active team-players in the K-16 education community (including parents, students, peers, etc.), and become more aware of professional organizations, professional dress and deportment, availability of resources, literature, expectations, habits of mind, and how these can enhance classroom teaching.

2. ....develop purposeful and appropriately innovative lesson plans, curricula and pedagogies and understand how they are connected to each other (pedagogical content knowledge) and to the NCTM Standards

3.  ....more appropriately address issues of gender, ethnicity, learning style, special needs, language abilities, and other variabilities among students so that all students may achieve success in a significant common core of mathematics. (Also, teachers will appropriately handle humor and value-oriented issues in the classroom.)

4.  ....appropriately choose, use and explain a variety of enthusiastic approaches to teaching mathematics (e.g., cooperative learning, technologies, manipulatives, inquiry-based approach, problem solving, student-collected data, projects, reading, writing, speaking) that motivate students who arrive with a variety of learning styles, attitudes and misconceptions (about mathematical content and/or the nature of mathematics itself).

5.  ....develop understanding of integrated curricula that makes connections within mathematics and/or between mathematics and science and/or to real life.

6.....appropriately choose and use traditional and performance-based approaches to teacher-assessment, peer-assessment and self-assessment, that are integrated into lesson plans and aligned with objectives/standards

7.....learn strategies for classroom management that create an effective classroom climate where all students are consistently on-task and feel safe to be creative, to take active responsibility for their learning, and to engage in metacognition and critical thinking.

8.  ....(learn how to) learn from their (and their peers’) prior and/or concurrent reflection, student teaching and observation experiences in middle and secondary schools and micro-teaching in the methods classroom, increasing self-awareness as a reflective practitioner of one’s teaching philosophy and pedagogical tendencies and how to integrate them with those of the school.

9.  ....solidify ability to relearn/learn any necessary mathematical content knowledge using available resources.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

for reference, here's the syllabus I used the last time I taught this course at UNC

METHODS OF TEACHING MATHEMATICS
Course Information Sheet for MED 441-008       Aug. 26, 1998

(Headings alphabetized for your convenience)          course ID #1277

Grades:  Your course average is determined (using a traditional percentage method; see p.331 of our text) by:
 30%  individual written assignments related to course standards
  (e.g., textbook exercises, short papers, article reviews)
 30%  teaching presentations (probably two of them)
 15%  in-class midterm exam (sometime in mid-October; exact day    TBA; combination of essay and short answer formats;
  one 3”x5” index card of notes allowed)
 25%  in-class final exam as scheduled by UNC: Fri., Dec.11, 1:30-4;
  two index cards allowed;  essay and short answer formats;
   Attendance/participation will be considered if course average
   is just shy of a letter-grade cutoff.
For assignments that are letter-graded, the following conversions apply:
A+ = 100, A = 96, A- = 92, B+ = 89, B = 85, B- = 81, C+ = 79, C = 75, C- = 71, D+ = 69, D = 65, D- = 61.

Instructor:    Dr. Larry Lesser    351-2455    Ross 342
Currently, office hours are MW 4:30-5:30, F 1:30-2:30 and by appointment.   Changes will be announced in class and/or posted on my door.  On occasion, I may hold office hours in a larger room, in which case I’ll put a note on my door telling you where.  Outside regular office hours, I can handle quick questions on a drop-in basis, and make appointments for extended discussion.  More background and contact info is on our course home page:   http://etip.unco.edu/courses/MED441/MED441.htm
Meetings:  MWF 2:30-3:20 in Ross 300(0) through May 1, except Sept.7 and November 27.   (Also, no classroom meeting on Friday, Oct. 9  because of the CCTM State Conference -- Professional Participation)

Observations:  As your methods teacher, I’m required to observe your STEP 363 teaching once during this semester.  This observation offers you important feedback but does not affect your MED 441 grade.  Because there are many students I must observe (in this class and in other classes) and we all have busy schedules, please give me as much written notice as possible (day, time, school, room, etc.) of every time you are scheduled to teach, and bring to that lesson your observation form (with the top filled out) and an extra copy of your lesson plan.

Prerequisite:  Full admission to Professional Teacher Education Program.
Secondary Clinical Experience(363) is a co-requisite.

Standards:  Since Colorado’s K-12 schools now have a standards-based system, it’s appropriate to reflect upon the standards I set for our course after considering the standards and goals of the UNC Secondary PTEP Program, the Rocky Mountain Teacher Education Collaborative, the CO Educator Licensing Act of 1991, as well as the teacher education literature:

To help preservice mathematics teachers.....

1.  ....become fully active team-players in the K-16 education community (including parents, students, peers, etc.), and become more aware of professional organizations, professional dress and deportment, availability of resources, literature, expectations, habits of mind, and how these can enhance classroom teaching.

2. ....develop purposeful and appropriately innovative lesson plans, curricula and pedagogies and understand how they are connected to each other (pedagogical content knowledge) and to the NCTM Standards

3.  ....more appropriately address issues of gender, ethnicity, learning style, special needs, language abilities, and other variabilities among students so that all students may achieve success in a significant common core of mathematics. (Also, teachers will appropriately handle humor and value-oriented issues in the classroom.)

4.  ....appropriately choose, use and explain a variety of enthusiastic approaches to teaching mathematics (e.g., cooperative learning, technologies, manipulatives, inquiry-based approach, problem solving, student-collected data, projects, reading, writing, speaking) that motivate students who arrive with a variety of learning styles, attitudes and misconceptions (about mathematical content and/or the nature of mathematics itself).
 

5.  ....develop understanding of integrated curricula that makes connections within mathematics and/or between mathematics and science and/or to real life.

6.....appropriately choose and use traditional and performance-based approaches to teacher-assessment, peer-assessment and self-assessment, that are integrated into lesson plans and aligned with objectives/standards

7.....learn strategies for classroom management that create an effective classroom climate where all students are consistently on-task and feel safe to be creative, to take active responsibility for their learning, and to engage in metacognition and critical thinking.

8.  ....(learn how to) learn from their (and their peers’) prior and/or concurrent reflection, student teaching and observation experiences in middle and secondary schools and micro-teaching in the methods classroom, increasing self-awareness as a reflective practitioner of one’s teaching philosophy and pedagogical tendencies and how to integrate them with those of the school.

9.  ....solidify ability to relearn/learn any necessary mathematical content knowledge using available resources.

Professional Growth (part of SPTEP Professional Behavior standard):

• REQUIRED:  For this class, you are required to attend at least most of one full day (your choice:  Fri or Sat) of the CCTM State Conference meeting October 9-10.   You will write a short paper based on your experiences at your choice of three of the sessions at the conference.  Your registration form is attached.    (TIP:   Friday has more choices of sessions, exhibits, and an orientation(8am) for first-timers.)

• SUGGESTED:  Join the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics as a student member at 1-800-235-7566.  Your $28.50 dues get you a journal subscription (I suggest Mathematics Teacher or Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, depending on your focus) and other perks such as free admittance to NCTM Regional (e.g., November 11-14 in Reno, NV) or National meetings.

Technology:  This course incorporates a variety of hands-on technologies used in mathematics classrooms.  You need a graphics calculator  (if buying one, I suggest a TI-82 or TI-83).   In addition, a number of useful and important resources for this course are available via electronic links compiled on our course Internet home page:         http://etip.unco.edu/COURSES/MED441/MED441.htm
 

Textbooks:
• Cangelosi, James S. (1996).  Teaching Mathematics in Secondary and   Middle School: An Interactive Approach (2nd ed.).  Englewood Cliffs,   NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Johnson, David R.  (1994) Motivation Counts: Teaching Techniques that   Work(1st ed.)  Dale Seymour.
• Other articles and materials will be put on Michener reserve (e.g., the NCTM Assessment Standards volume), handed out, or be available on the Internet (e.g., http://www.nctm.org/Standards2000/).

Topics and Corresponding Readings (subject to change by instructor):
week(s) of
August 26 & 31   Overview of Course
    NCTM/CO Standards (Cangelosi 1, 2, 12, C; Internet)

Sept. 9   Classroom Management (Cangelosi 8); also, see the      STEP 363 book, Emmer, E.T., et al. (1997). Classroom     Management for Secondary Teachers.  Prentice Hall.

Sept. 14   Reading & Writing in Mathematics;
    Planning a Daily Lesson & Unit of Study
    (Cangelosi 2 & 3; Johnson)
Sept.21,28;Oct. 5   Using Technology in the Classroom (including                          mathematics software, manipulatives, graphing      calculators, Internet)   (Cangelosi 7, D)

Oct. 12   Small Group / Cooperative Learning (Cangelosi 9)

Oct. 19    Diversity and Equity Issues (Gender, Ethnicity,       Special Needs, etc.);

Oct. 26, Nov. 2  Learning Theory, Constructivism, Misconceptions   & Nov.9   Creativity, Problem Solving, Discovery, Proof       (Cangelosi 4,5,6)
     Assigning Homework and Projects;
    Standards and Content-Aligned Assessment;         (Cangelosi 10)

Nov. 16, 23, 30   Gaining Self-Awareness as a Teacher;
    Belief Systems;  Micro-Teaching (Cangelosi 11)