overview
Developing Computational Fluency in Addition & Subtraction
(Grade K-4)
Kathy Ernst
Course Description:
As mathematics teachers, we are responsible for preparing children to meet the challenges of our world by teaching them to think, reason, and solve problems. Unfortunately, in many mathematics classrooms, students are taught to memorize procedures rather than to think and reason mathematically as they struggle to master the basic facts and number operations. In this course, Kathy Ernst will introduce ways in which students develop computational fluency- mastery with understanding. Participants will explore the big ideas underlying addition and subtraction, as well as some of the models, strategies, and contexts that support children's development of these ideas. By engaging in problem solving throughout the workshop, participants will have an opportunity to think more deeply and flexibly about their own strategies of adding and subtracting and to experience the true meaning of computational fluency. The interactive aspects of the course incorporate best practices identified in the research of James W. Stigler and James Hiebert, who did a comparative study of mathematics teaching practices in Japan, Germany, and the United States.
Kathy Ernst
Kathy Ernst has taught students in grades kindergarten through six, co-founded an elementary school, co-designed the Vermont Mathematics Portfolio Assessment Program, developed a gifted and talented program used in schools in New York and Vermont, and taught college courses on curriculum and assessment design. At Bank Street College of Education, she facilitated online mathematics courses for teachers and served on the faculty of the Leadership in Mathematics Education Program. Since 1995, Ms. Ernst has managed the implementation of NSF-funded standards-based mathematics curricula in schools throughout New York and New England, providing onsite and online support to teachers and administrators. She is also the author of Mentoring Mathematics Teaching and Learning, a chapter in the book, Student Successes with Thinking Maps. Her current work focuses on developing efficient, effective, equitable, and accessible coaching processes that lead to improvement in math instruction and student learning. Ms. Ernst received a B.A. at SUNY-Stony Brook and an M.S. at Bank Street College of Education.
