I so enjoyed working with you all! Thank you for your willingness to engage in the mathematical tasks, share your thinking with each other, and continue to ponder how you can best help your students.
Here is a PDF of my slides: Fetter Tutors for Kids April 2023
I told two stories near the end of the session that are included in this 5-minute video that I presented at a conference – complete with hand-drawn stick figures! I thought you might enjoy seeing the more theatrical version:
Three more five minutes videos you might enjoy:
Finally, here are links to the newsletters that feature Debbie Wile’s articles leading up to my visit and reference the three 5-minute videos above and include some of Debbie’s stories.:
February 2023 March 2023 April 2023
My thanks to Debbie for inviting me to come and work with you all. I look forward to hearing some stories from your work with the students!
Sometimes it’s hard to see past a student’s deficits when the deficits are so massive and glaring. Imagine what it’s like to be that student, carrying those deficits. They know how far behind they are! Then imagine being that student who is being asked to share their thinking about a mathematical situation with a special adult. “Oh! This tutor wants to know what I think!” WOW!!! While we might not be able to close the knowledge gap, asking a child what they think and why they think that way, thus valuing their ideas, could help that child stand a little taller and start to believe “I Can!!”
While our “Exit Ticket” format was not specific to Annie’s “Talking With Tutors” presentation, here are a few insightful comments from those sheets:
“How about suggesting Annie’s workshop for the Teachers?”
“So interesting to me how much I loved this workshop!!”
“In what other areas could we take this same approach?”
“Great meeting.”
“I am not a tutor yet but I need to become a tutor!”
“Interesting and motivational”
My wife and I just bumped into Steve at Spring Lake Village in California. Of course, we talked about math! Among other things, we talked about DragginMath, my iPad app for teaching and learning algebra. Looking forward to reading your site.