Rocky Hill School Awarded $10,000 Algebra Grant
Rocky Hill School has been named as a 2004 Toyota TIME grant
recipient. Thanks to the efforts of nationally recognized math education expert
and Rocky Hill School's Math Department Chair, Terry Coes, funding will be
used to do an in-depth study of Rocky Hill's Algebra 2 curriculum. The project
is called "Math of the Round Table: Integrating Technology, Tools and
Talk," and will take advantage of the new classroom building's Harkness
Tables and student laptop computers. The tables are large ovals that will
make an excellent environment for discussion, and the laptops will enable
students to use the latest technology in their exploration of mathematics.
One goal of the project is to find out what Algebra 2 will look like in this
new setting. Another goal of this project is to produce eight replicable Algebra
2 lesson modules combining round table discussions, student laptop explorations
using software such as The Geometer's Sketchpad and Excel, and physical models
from dice to rubber-band rockets. The ultimate goal is growth for students
and teachers. The intense development of this hybrid course will deepen teachers'
understanding of the different ways that students learn mathematics. The ability
to refine and replicate the program makes its adoption by other schools a
viable possibility and Rocky Hill plans to invite teachers from other schools
to summer workshops to help improve math education abroad.
The Rocky Hill School feels fortunate to have the leadership and expertise of Terry Coes. Mr. Coes was recently invited to the "Assessing Students' Mathematics Learning: Issues, Costs and Benefits," conference at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) in Berkeley.
"Participants were selected on the basis of their ability to contribute substantively to the discussion at the workshop, which also included top policy-makers, mathematics educators, and mathematicians. Discussions focused on: the nature of mathematical proficiency and what is worth measuring; purposes and needs for mathematics assessment; challenges of designing meaningful, useful assessments; supporting instruction; issues of equity, sensitivity to culture, and pressures on urban and high-poverty schools; and the intended and unintended consequences of high stakes testing. Terry has been contributing insightful comments and observations to the workshop, much of which involves intensive interactions among the participants, and we are pleased that he could come to this ground-breaking conference."
-Robert E. Megginson, Deputy Director
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
UC Berkeley
How are students benefiting from the Math program at Rocky Hill? Sophomore William Shore of East Greenwich received a gold medal at last week's Academic Decathlon for his achievement in mathematics. In addition, a few middle school students signed up to compete in the Rhode Island "Math Counts" competition held February 28. Rocky Hill math teacher Karen Siegemund met with students over several weeks to prepare for the competition. While many of the high ranking schools at this competition were intensely competitive, Siegemund wanted to introduce students to "Math Counts" without adding a lot of pressure. "Many of the students at Rocky Hill participate in a lot of different kinds of activities. We wanted to add another kind of event sort of as an adventure. We're really pleased with how well our students did, and everyone did have a great time. They're clearly getting a lot of math and problem solving skills right in the classroom." The Rocky Hill students placed 6th out of the 24 teams that competed from RI. The middle school students competing were:
Kelly Bescherer-East Greenwich/Potowomut
Sam Martin- West Warwick
Steven Tilley- Saunderstown
David Shippee- North Kingstown
As stated in the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute website:
It is often said that mathematics is too abstract; too remote from "real life" to be of interest to the general public. It is a commonplace that mathematicians are too far up in the clouds" to be able to explain their science to the layman. Yet, mathematics underlies almost all of real life as we know it today (computers, satellites, finance), and successful attempts to explain mathematics are popular with the general public (i.e., K. C. Cole's The Universe and the Teacup, R. Osserman's The Poetry of the Universe). Mathematics CAN be presented intelligibly to the public and there is genuine interest when that happens.
At Rocky Hill School, we recognize the importance
of improving math skills and enthusiasm for learning math on a national level.
How students best learn math is a top priority for educators at Rocky Hill.