DWilson

I hadn't thought much about the negative aspects of praising children, but the text suggested using comments like "I wonder what would happen if you tried" or "tell me how you figured that out", rather than  offering praise for a right answer.[cha.1]  I agree with the idea that you must begin where the children are and allow them to solve problems by using their own ideas - to approach math in a way that makes sense to them.[cha.1]  After previewing the suggested activities, I plan to use quite a few of them in my classroom:  activity 2.1 - make sets of more/less/same, activity 2.4 - up and back counting, activity 2.6- counting on with counters (this is a difficult skill for many of my students), activity 2.13 - five-frame tell-about, activity 2.14 - crazy mixed up numbers and activity 2.18 - covered parts.[cha.2]  I'm anxious to see how my students respond.  I also plan to use some heterogeneous grouping - partner those students needing help with those who are more capable.  This interaction will provide an opportunity for the sharing of ideas and strategies.[cha.1]  I am going to make better use of my hundreds chart by incorporating some ideas suggested in the book.[cha2] I thought it was interesting that some kindergarten students are more successful at solving problems than older students, because they aren't familiar with computing skills so they pay closer attention to the problem and use manipulatives to find a solution.[cha.3] 

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