Multiplication/Division

I really enjoyed the lesson on Monday already going through the classifications of the 11 addition and subtraction word problems made multiplication and division much easier. After the videos we were quickly able to see the differences. It's so eye opening something that you thought was one way all your life as been completely redefined. It's amazing! I wish every CCSD teacher could take this course. Although I know not everyone would agree and be so inspired by it. I'm glad we are taking this class as a pre-service teacher before the school district, policies, lack of funding, and other things (just go in the teacher's lounge you'll hear them all) break our spirits and ideas. Of course I'm not saying that this happens to everyone but just looking at the number for a majority of us it will. Sometimes I find teachers who are not willing to change or try anything new. I feel sorry for their student.
In other new I am starting to work with six student who need help in graphing. There are kindergartners so it is a simple bar pictograph. When I gave them their assessment they didn't do so well, but when I pulled three of them to work with me in the hallway they did much better. I had them write on white boards to show me their answers to the problem how many blue and red candies are there and it was interesting to see how each individual solved it differently. One girls just wrote a number sentence 5+2=7 while another drew dots and inserted symbols between her dots.