Our Wildwood, Summer 2018, Volume 43

“We had more math work, and I liked it better because it was harder and I like hard math.” — POD STUDENT “I used to not like it, but now I do and feel more confident.” — 3RD GRADE STUDENT “I loved how we took on a problem of the world and did research on it and tackled it together as a group. I loved how we would connect math to other things, real things, like the education gap in the United States, for example.” — 5TH GRADE STUDENT

How did your learning of math feel this year compared to previous years?

While keeping the student at the forefront of all this work, we know it’s also important to keep the classroom teacher close in mind. Teacher support and professional development will play a key role, which is why we are in the first year of what we expect to be a multiyear process of intensive math professional development. This year, we focused on studying the Singapore Math approach, with the help of a math education consultant, using the Primary Mathematics program as our unifying guide. (Singapore’s textbooks were adopted in the United States and are known here as Primary Mathematics.) Our teachers continued to teach in the rich and meaningful ways they always have, and were able to demonstrate their new learnings alongside their students, which is an invaluable example for children to see. While we are using Primary Mathematics as our guide, we will also incorporate other effective resources: Cognitively Guided Instruction methods from UCLA, John Van de Walle’s student- centered teaching practices, Jo Boaler’s growth mindset work, and Marilyn Burns’ reflective learning strategies, among others. We know a program is only as good as its teaching. Programs come with a one-size-fits-all approach, and Wildwood is not a one-size-fits-all school. We chose a program to help guide us, one that aligned closely with our philosophy and mission, and now we are making it our own. W

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OWW SUMMER 2018