Annotated Bib

This will always be a work in progress with constant updates. 

Works Cited

AmericasBestTV. "Russian School of Mathematics on Best of the Northeast." YouTube. YouTube, 07 Nov. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb8jpssb2dg>. The entirety of my project is to figure out what is missing in math education in our public schools, and why families are choosing enrichment programs, like the Russian School of Math. The focus in schools like these is 'critical thinking,' which will be the focus to fix in our schools.

Anderson, Jenny. "Making Education Brain Science." New York Times. 13 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/nyregion/at-the-blue-school-kindergarten-curriculum-includes-neurology.html>.

Ojose, Bobby. Applying Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development to Mathematics Instruction. Thesis. NCTM, 2005. 2008. Web. 8 Apr. 2012. <http://math.coe.uga.edu/tme/issues/v18n1/v18n1_Ojose.pdf>. This is a prime source for my paper. Since I am comparing Vygotsky and Piaget, this gives me a plethora of information to showcase Piaget's theories in action.

Pink, Daniel H. "Type I and Type X." Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York, NY: Riverhead, 2009. Print. After I string together what is wrong in our teaching, I want to explore other things that are missing, but from students. I predict, motivation will be one of them.

Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. New York: Basic, 2010. Print. Diane Ravitch works in education reform. This source will prove itself useful after I formulate what is wrong in the classroom. This book will be a potential gate to make the changes necessary.

RussianMathSchool. "A Glimpse into Our Younger Classes." YouTube. YouTube, 04 Feb. 2011. Web. 27 Jan. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8lbGhEBbbQ>. This is a video, much like I will be taking in other classrooms when I perform my field work. Clearly, the students are motivated to come up with solutions. But, more evidently, they know what is behind there answer, and can explain it with ease, demonstrating how a successful math environment works.

RussianMathSchool. "An Interview with Ilya Rifkin." YouTube. YouTube, 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6SzmFJt-6Q>. Ilya Rifkin demonstrates clearly why it is so critical to think in this day and age, circling around the importance of my project to fix the classrooms that are not encouraging thinking.

Steen, Lynn Arthur. "Connecting Math with Reason." Mathematics and Democracy: The Case for Quantitative Literacy. [Princeton, N.J.]: NCED, 2001. 31-60. Print.

"TEDxNYED - Dan Meyer - 03/06/10." YouTube. YouTube, 06 Mar. 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlvKWEvKSi8>. Dan Meyer is no revolutionary teacher. He is the epitome of what a math teacher should be. This type of teaching is the ONLY way we can still have hope that our kids can think in class.

Torgesen, Joseph K. "Recommendations for the Use of Diagnostic Tests in Reading First Schools." Web. 26 Jan. 2011. As I was lost in my ambitions, I thought diagnostic testing was the answer to all the problems. If we understood how a student's brain worked, we could model specific teaching plans to work best. But, this is pricey and inefficient. Clearly, in schools like RSM, there is no need for that, and students do exceedingly well.

Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. "The Six Facets of Understanding." Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1998. Print. As my project is searching for students to develop an understanding, this book helps me see how a teacher might evaluate such thing. If models like this are used, grade inflation can be disproved. Grades will be an honest representation of the understanding.

Willingham, Daniel T. Why Don't Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions about How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2009. Print. As I get into more of the students' contribution to the failure of a classroom, this book shows exactly what is behind the shortcoming.