Putting It Together: Middle School Math in Transition [Paperback]

Gary Tsuruda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0435083554 | ISBN-13: 978-0435083557

Meeting the challenge to transform one's math teaching is a daunting prospect. Most teachers are aware of the need for change and know which individual aspects of their programs they would like to reform-if only they could make the needed changes in some easy, safe way. However, by its very nature, the transformation of a learning program is neither simple nor without risk.

In Putting It Together, Gary Tsuruda discusses how his personal belief system about learning underwent a significant transition and describes in detail how he put the results of this transition to use in a middle school mathematics classroom, where real mathematical thinking became the driving force.

The author describes the "bits of evidence" which over the years made it apparent to him that traditional methods were not working. The book includes sections on the use of essays, journals, and other forms of writing in the math classroom, as well as assessment alternatives such as portfolios. In the "Problem Solving" chapter the author writes about his use of "Problems of the Week" and "Problems of the Day" in the classroom, which encourage students to solve nonroutine problems on a regular basis and have fun doing so.

Putting It Together is for every middle school teacher looking for help and guidance in meeting the objectives of the NCTM Standards.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Every mathematics teacher can find help and guidance from reading this book.”–Teaching Children Mathematics

About the Author

Gary Tsuruda teaches seventh-and eighth-grade mathematics at Jordan Middle School in Palo Alto, California, was a member of the 1992 California State Mathematics Framework committee, and served as school coordinator for the Bay Area Math Project in 1993. He earned his B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Southern California in 1969 and his M.A. in Math Education from the University of San Francisco in 1977. From 1973 to 1983 he was an instructor in mathematics education at the college of Notre Dame in Belmont, California; he was also a K-8 curriculum consultant in math and science from 1980 to 1985. He received the Teacher of the Year Award from the San Mateo City School district in 1988 and was a finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching in 1989.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann (April 18, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0435083554
• ISBN-13: 978-0435083557
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 7.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,466 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could change the way you teach !, June 28, 2001

By 

Daryl Anderson (Trumansburg, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Putting It Together: Middle School Math in Transition (Paperback)

I'm a 6th grade math teacher whose practice was transformed by this slender little book. Although comfortably into my 40s, I am only now concluding my 3rd year of a new, second, career in middle school math. Four years ago, in the middle of my K-6 Master's program I did a search on "Middle" and "Math" - probably right here on Amazon. There was (and still is) precious little to be found. But I found this book and it was enuff !

If you would like to build a math classroom centered around problem-solving - not itty-bitty "word problems" that every kid knows are just dressed-up arithmetic sentences, but real, meaty, challenging mathematics - this is the book to start with. Tsuruda's approach to - "Problems of the Week" or POWs establishes in everyone's mind, from day one of class, that something significant is afoot. The book itself is short, sweet, personal and inspirational.

Three years ago I looked around and realized my school system would allow me the freedom to create my own math program. Unlike many younger new teachers, I was not only professionally captured by the alternatives opened by the NCTM reforms of 1988, I found a way to put them into place. I was emotionally able to shrug-off the institutional and collegial pressures toward teaching a traditional program out of a text - to teach, as so many do, as I had been taught. "Problem of the Week" sounded like a great place to center a reform-based program. It is.

Tsuruda encourages his classes to create substantial, meaningful write-ups of their problem-solving process and describes the rubric he used to score them. Both supported the notion that the PROCESS of mathematics is at least as important as the PRODUCT. Both write-up and rubric placed only partial value on a final answer... and his 'problems' were such that a single number, so often the end-point of mathematics in kids' minds, was rarely the centerpiece of their answer.

Tsuruda acknowledges the hardest part of such a program to be the crushing burden of reading and assessing such a large volume of written work. Furthermore, he states his opinion that falling below some threshold number of POWs in a year significantly diminishes effectiveness of the broad-spectrum of learning goals associated with the approach. From a few years of experience, I would have to agree. This past year I had the unique pleasure of teaching two sections of writing and I'd have to say that the demands of the POW program are greater in many ways.

If you are considering a POW-based classroom you should definitely read this book before reading the dryer collections of problems and/or 'technical' books that preach problem-solving taxonomies (although definitely read Polya's book). Be prepared for an, ahem... complex reaction from parents. Few will have seen mathematics in this form and many will, at first, perceive such extensive problems - no matter how simple the underlying arithmetic - as being "too hard". Naturally that opinion, if spread around at home, can be extremely damaging to the students confidence. This sort of thing is not typical to POW-based math programs but more general in reform mathematics. Nevertheless, you will enjoy having the inspiration of this book to launch you into a rewarding, if sometimes challenging approach to your classroom.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Teaching in the Middle Grades can be an Education, October 13, 1999

By 

Jill J. (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Putting It Together: Middle School Math in Transition (Paperback)

Great book for those of us who are interested in having the best classroom possible. Presenting real world challenges and assessing work in a meaningful way will help our students be prepared for their work in the world. Well done!