Yesterday I began taking a workshop for a curriculum that, while new to me, has been around for over 20 years. This well-thought out series of lessons, activities, assessments, and more hides behind its simple name: College Prep Mathematics (CPM). The workshop I am participating in will lead us through the first four chapters of the textbook/guidebook while also explaining a lot of its philosophy of instruction.
Before I began the workshop my impression of this curriculum was fairly positive - I heard that it was mostly a set of lab activities that encouraged students to think, write, and dialog with each other about math topics so that they would develop a deeper understanding of the material. It sounds interesting to me but I'd never had an in-depth explanation of its intricacies nor guided instruction in how to use it.
Enter: my new colleagues at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies. They started using CPM a few years ago and have seen some very interesting results. Two of them are helping to lead the workshop I am taking.
Before I began the workshop my impression of this curriculum was fairly positive - I heard that it was mostly a set of lab activities that encouraged students to think, write, and dialog with each other about math topics so that they would develop a deeper understanding of the material. It sounds interesting to me but I'd never had an in-depth explanation of its intricacies nor guided instruction in how to use it.
Enter: my new colleagues at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies. They started using CPM a few years ago and have seen some very interesting results. Two of them are helping to lead the workshop I am taking.
One of the major differences of this curriculum is its emphasis on group work and discovery learning. Teachers - whether they want to or not - are forced to become the "guide on the side" in their classrooms. William Glasser researched and developed this idea and it is at the core of how CPM functions - when students engage strongly in the material they will retain more of it. With that in mind, most (if not all) activities are conducted in groups of four with rotating responsibilities (like recorder, facilitator, task manager, and resource manager). During the past two days we modeled this approach in our own activities and it was an interesting challenge to ensure that all members were on task at all times.
Thus far we have used a variety of different methods, all neatly described on the eBook website (sorry - no link; it's only accessible to paying members) and I can tell I like how it runs already. I will update more as I go!
Thus far we have used a variety of different methods, all neatly described on the eBook website (sorry - no link; it's only accessible to paying members) and I can tell I like how it runs already. I will update more as I go!
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