Recommended+Reading

An article of interest--Dialogues-CalculatorsNCTM.pdf
**REFLECTION:**
 * To what extent do you think technology can be intrinsically motivating?
 * Which curricular concept areas do you expect to change in the future due to easy access to technology? Which will not change?

If you're interested in starting a journal writing program, then please look at the following document:
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Journalist Michael Blastland and internationally known economist Andrew Dilnot delight, amuse, and convert American mathphobes by showing how our everyday experiences make sense of numbers. The radical premise of The Numbers Game is to show how much we already know and give practical ways to use our knowledge to become cannier consumers of the media. If you've ever wondered what "average" really means, whether the scare stories about cancer risk should convince you to change your behavior, or whether a story you read in the paper is biased (and how), you need this book. Blastland and Dilnot show how to survive and thrive on the torrent of numbers that pours through everyday life.
 * Blastland, Michael., and Dilnot, Andrew. //The numbers game: the commonsense guide to understanding numbers in the news, in politics, and in life//. New York: Gotham Books, 2009.**

The Skillful Teacher explores the assumption that skillful teaching is grounded in constant research into how students experience learning. The book explores the three R's of skillful teaching: respect, research, and responsiveness. Brookfield offers practical guidance on aspects of the teaching experience that range from lecturing creatively to giving helpful evaluations. The book also lays out a plan for constantly renewing one's engagement in teaching.
 * Brookfield, Stephen D. //The skillful teacher: on technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom//. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006.**

Multiple intelligences (MI) theory has been introduced and implemented successfully in numerous countries around the world. This is the first collection to review, synthesize, and reflect on this unique cross-cultural and educational phenomenon. Through this synthesis and reflection, the book's authors provide a fresh and fuller understanding of MI theory. In addition, they develop more specific knowledge about why MI theory has been welcomed in so many countries, how its use can be appropriate in diverse cultures, and what has supported and fueled travel of the MI meme.
 * Chen, Jie-Qi,** **Gardner, Howard, and** **Moran, Seana. //Multiple intelligences around the world//. San Franciso: Jossey-Bass, 2009.**

This indispensable guide combines proven curriculum design with teaching methods that encourage students to learn concepts as well as content and skills for deep understanding across all subject areas.
 * Erickson, Lynn H. //Concept-based curriculum and instruction for the thinking classroom//. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press, 2007**

With puzzles involving coins, postage stamps, and other commonplace items, this book challenges readers to account for perplexing mathematical phenomena. Although sufficiently complex to capture the essential features of mathematical discovery, the elementary methods and solutions permit focus on the way the material is explored. Complete solutions.
 * Gardiner, A. //Discovering mathematics: the art of investigation//. New York: Dover, 1987.**

We live in a time of relentless change. The only thing that?s certain is that new challenges and opportunities will emerge that are virtually unimaginable today. How can we know which skills will be required to succeed? In Five Minds for the Future, the author shows how we will each need to master "five minds" that the fast-paced future will demand: (1) The disciplined mind, to learn at least one profession, as well as the major thinking (science, math, history, etc.) behind it; (2) the synthesizing mind, to organize the massive amounts of information and communicate effectively to others; (3) the creating mind, to revel in unasked questions - and uncover new phenomena and insightful apt answers; (4) the respectful mind, to appreciate the differences between human beings - and understand and work with all persons; and (5) the ethical mind, to fulfill one's responsibilities as both a worker and a citizen. Without these "minds," we risk being overwhelmed by information, unable to succeed in the workplace, and incapable of the judgment needed to thrive both personally and professionally.
 * Gardner, Howard. //5 minds for the future.// Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2008.**

We are all aware of the number of global problems that need to be solved in order to save the future of the world: financial crises, the environment and terrorism, to name a few. But as the author makes clear, it is not enough for us to wait for governments and international companies to sort things out. We all have to realise our global common ground amidst differences everywhere in our lives, both at home and at work, locally and abroad. At the moment we are putting forward piecemeal solutions to global issues when we really need to start seeing ourselves as citizens of the world if we are to effect real change. Only when we have all truly become 'global citizens' does he believe we will become fully-fledged members of the human race, and start to solve the many crises facing our world.
 * Gerzon, Mark. //Global citizens//. Rider, 2010.**

When do the hands of a clock coincide? How likely is it that two children in the same class will share a birthday? How do we calculate the volume of a doughnut? Mathematics for the Curious provides anyone interested in mathematics with a simple and entertaining account of what it can do. Author Peter Higgins gives clear explanations of the more mysterious features of childhood mathematics as well as novelties and connections that prove that mathematics can be enjoyable and full of surprises. Topics include: the truth about fractions, the questions and their answers, and the golden ratio. Higgins poses entertaining puzzles and questions tempting the reader to ponder math problems with imagination instead of dread. Mathematics for the Curious is an accessible introduction to basic mathematics for beginning students and a lively refresher for adults.
 * Higgins, Peter M. //Mathematics for the curious//. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.**

//Mathematics for the Imagination// provides an accessible and entertaining investigation into mathematical problems in the world around us. From world navigation, family trees, and calendars to patterns, tessellations, and number tricks, this informative and fun new book helps you to understand the maths behind real-life questions and rediscover your arithmetical mind. This is a follow-up to the popular //Mathematics for the Curious//, Peter Higgins's first investigation into real-life mathematical problems. This is a highly involving book which encourages the reader to enter into the spirit of mathematical exploration.
 * Higgins, Peter M. //Mathematics for the imagination//. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.**

Drawing from a wide range of neuroscience research as well as related studies, Jensen reveals that the human brain is far more dynamic and malleable than we earlier believed. He offers a powerful new understanding of how the brain can be “enriched,” across the board to maximize learning, memory, behavior and overall function. The bottom line is //we have far more to do with how our children’s brains turn out than we previously thought.//
 * Jensen, Eric. //Enriching the brain: how to maximize every learner's potential//. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006.**

In //Brain Rules//, Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule - what scientists know for sure about how our brains work - and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.
 * Medina, John. //Brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school//. Seattle: Pear Press, 2008.**

Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He demonstrates that while carrots and sticks worked successfully in the twentieth century, that’s precisely the wrong way to motivate people for today’s challenges. In // Drive //, he examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action.
 * Pink, Daniel H. //Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us//. New York: Riverhead Books, 2009.**

What does it really mean to be intelligent? Ron Ritchhart presents a new and powerful view of intelligence that moves beyond ability to focus on cognitive dispositions such as curiosity, skepticism, and open mindedness. Arguing persuasively for this new conception of intelligence, the author uses vivid classroom vignettes to explore the foundations of intellectual character and describe how teachers can enculturate productive patterns of thinking in their students. Intellectual Character presents illustrative, inspiring stories of exemplary teachers to help show how intellectual traits and thinking dispositions can be developed and cultivated in students to promote successful learning. This vital book provides a model of authentic and powerful teaching and offers practical strategies for creating classroom environments that support thinking.
 * Ritchart, Ron. //Intellectual Character//. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002.**

In //Zero//, Science Journalist Charles Seife follows this innocent-looking number from its birth as an Eastern philosophical concept to its struggle for acceptance in Europe, its rise and transcendence in the West, and its ever-present threat to modern physics. Here are the legendary thinkers—from Pythagoras to Newton to Heisenberg, from the Kabalists to today's astrophysicists—who have tried to understand it and whose clashes shook the foundations of philosophy, science, mathematics, and religion. Zero has pitted East against West and faith against reason, and its intransigence persists in the dark core of a black hole and the brilliant flash of the Big Bang. Today, zero lies at the heart of one of the biggest scientific controversies of all time: the quest for a theory of everything.
 * Seife, Charles. //Zero: the biography of a dangerous idea//. New York: Penguin Books, 2000.**

From ancient Babylon to the last great unsolved problems, an acclaimed mathematician and popular science writer brings us his witty, engaging, and definitive history of mathematics In his famous straightforward style, Ian Stewart explains each major development--from the first number systems to chaos theory--and considers how each affected society and changed everyday life forever. Maintaining a personal touch, he introduces all of the outstanding mathematicians of history, from the key Babylonians, Greeks, and Egyptians, via Newton and Descartes, to Fermat, Babbage, and Godel, and demystifies math's key concepts without recourse to complicated formulae. Written to provide a captivating historic narrative for the non-mathematician, this book is packed with fascinating nuggets and quirky asides, and contains plenty of illustrations and diagrams to illuminate and aid understanding of a subject many dread, but which has made the world what it is today.
 * Stewart, Ian. //Taming the infinite: the story of mathematics//.**

The authors draw on the conclusions of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) -- an innovative new study of teaching in several cultures -- to refocus educational reform efforts. Using videotaped lessons from dozens of randomly selected eighth-grade classrooms in the United States, Japan, and Germany, the authors reveal the rich, yet unfulfilled promise of American teaching and document exactly how other countries have consistently stayed ahead of us in the rate their children learn. Our schools can be restructured as places where teachers can engage in career-long learning and classrooms can become laboratories for developing new, teaching-centered ideas. If provided the time they need during the school day for collaborative lesson study and plan building, teachers "will" change the way our students learn.
 * Stigler, James W., and James Hiebert. //The teaching gap: best ideas from the world's teachers for improving education in the classroom//. New York: Free Press, 1999.**

A book of facts that address a broad range of global issues. Each is followed by a short essay explaining the story behind the fact, fleshing out the bigger problem lurking behind the numbers. Real-life stories, anecdotes and case studies help to humanize the figures and make clear the human impact of the bald statistics. The facts paint a picture of a world of inequality: unheard-of and often ludicrous prosperity living alongside crippling poverty. Some of the facts will make you rethink things you thought you knew. Some illustrate long-term, gradual changes in our society. Others concern local issues that people face in their everyday lives.
 * Williams, Jessica. //50 facts that should change the world//. Cambridge: Icon Books, 2004.**