Reply To: Lesson 3-3: Discussion Prompt

[Lizann “Lizzie” Herrera]

Our district uses Bridges Math as the K-5 curriculum. This curriculum, by The Math Learning Center (the suggested digital manipulative site), encourages the use of manipulatives and workplaces every day. However, as I walk the classrooms, only some teachers are actively using these and providing exploration to students. I feel that the issue stems from “time”. There’s not enough time for students to explore, so teachers jump to the algorithm because, hey, “there’s state testing at the end of the year and they need to know how to do (insert skill) quickly; they won’t have manipulatives during the test and it’s a timed test.” This mentality really hinders good teaching and creates students who end up hating maths.