TEAM-Math: Addressing questions that have never been answered

Article from the Chambers County School System Connection
November 2004

It is still a fact that 2 x 3 = 6, but what is important to the learner is why this is the case. To say to students that this is the way that it is because I said it is not acceptable. Mathematics is a language that can be understood when properly addressed. The approach that TEAM-Math is taking helps students understand why we do what we do in mathematics at all levels and why 2 x 3 = 6.

Chambers County schools has joined hands with 12 other school systems in this region working with Auburn and Tuskegee Universities in making a difference in the way that math is taught. This involves continuous in-service of teachers, principals, central office staff, and parents. This movement towards Transforming East Alabama Mathematics (TEAM-Math), which began as a goal of those who gave birth to it, has since been funded to the tune of $9 million. I am proud and excited that Chambers County is a part of this change.

The activities that are involved are aligned with the Alabama Course of Study and the National Standards of Mathematics. It is designed to meet the needs of all students; it engages all students in making sense of math using an inquiry based technique; it focuses on the usefulness of math, and it is a broad view of mathematics in general. The ultimate goal of this project is to improve the achievement of all students, including increased performance on the ARMT, SAT-10, the AHSGE, and to decrease gaps between subgroups of students.

This change will not occur overnight. We did not gain gaps in subgroups overnight and they will not go away with the twinkling of an eye. TEAM-Math is organized in such a way to have a lasting effect on teaching and learning. Students who enter Auburn and Tuskegee Universities in mathematics education are being taught to utilize inquiry based teaching methods so that the needs of our students are met. This means that our college professors are now teaching our prospective teachers to use methods that will allow the students in the classes to explore mathematics rather than simply using the show-and-tell method.

What will this new approach to teaching do for our students once they exit high school? I have heard over and over again from employers that they are getting individuals in their plants and corporations who are unable to think. The employee can do what he or she is told or shown, but does not exhibit the ability to think beyond what is before them. Our schools must graduate students who are abler to work independently and as a team. The approach to teaching mathematics will address this as well.

Our students are being required to work together in figuring out problems, write their own methods of solving, and make presentations to their classmates. This is true teaching, allowing the students to use knowledge gained from the teacher, the text, resources, and from their peers in completing assignments. Using this approach, we will graduate students who will understand what they are doing, why they are doing it, and why it works.

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