Ep 87: But I'm Required to Teach Algorithms

Do your standards require you to teach algorithms? What then? In this episode Pam and Kim discuss how they prepare their students for success on high stakes tests without ever teaching a step by step algorithm or process.
Talking Points:

• All year long invest your time wisely helping kids learn to reason, increasing their sophistication of relationships and solving more difficult problems.
• Students can and will perform well on standardized tests if they have been thinking and reasoning, experiencing new situations all year.
• Students will approach a standardized test with confidence and less stress if they have been given opportunities to struggle productively all year and become good mathematicians.
• Introduce the algorithm as a study of why the algorithm works for the very end of the year. Introducing the algorithm too early in the year risks giving students the option to turn their brains off.