They didn t have the answers. So DePriest read the research on using real-life problem solving to help students learn math, and began building it into her program. Right when I read it, I knew it would work. She covers the material set out in the Alaska mathematics standards, which are similar to the national standards, but she does so primarily through hands-on activities. While she s questioning students, she s prodding them to think.
Students reflect on their learning in journals which are turned in at the end of a unit of study.
The projects and individual assessments allow DePriest to adapt her instruction to meet the needs of students at different levels of learning in her multigrade classroom. DePriest job-shares, teaching science and math afternoons while teaching partner Lynda Chud handles language arts and social studies mornings. Whenever possible, DePriest combines her two subjects. This spring, the class explored the principles of flight. The students set up scientific experiments to collect and examine data on how different variables affect flight.