How did you teach it?

The idea of MTT2K began when a group of preservice teachers could not wait until the end of a Khan Academy video to voice their concerns about the quality of its content. (You can learn more here.) Once the movement to critique Khan Academy videos gathered some momentum, it was suggested that teachers do more than nitpick (although, as this post explains, nitpicking is important). Consequently, a group of bloggers set out to make 101 alternative lessons.

Nine alternatives were scheduled as of today - the day before the MTT2K prize deadline. While this is less than we hoped for, it is a start. The energy behind projects like the mathtwitterblogosphere demonstrates how we all benefit when teachers make their own lessons available for others to use and improve on.

The lesson I want to share comes from that same day when the preservice teachers watched the Khan Academy video. We were focusing on NCTM's Communication Standard that day, and I wanted to share examples of people communicating the ideas associated with integer multiplication and division. Many of the area schools use PowerPoints in their math classrooms, so I wanted to model how I might use this medium to communicate my thinking.

The think-aloud focused on my approach to trying to understand some integer rules I memorized years ago. I used "I language" to remind the learners that I am making my thinking visible, not telling them what to do. Afterward, we debriefed about what they saw and heard and how what I shared might support their ability to understand the concept for themselves. (The demonstration is split into two parts because Jing only allows for 5 minute recordings.)

Part One

Part Two

Having watched this demonstration, how would you respond to these points:

• What did I do?
• What did I say?
• What did I think?
• Develop a consolidated recount regarding multiplication and division of integers.

And how might you improve on this demonstration?