Johnny Get Your Hair Cut

I was not in the classroom on Wednesday because I was downtown working with the CPS Math and Science Department, helping to put together a series of professional development sessions for teachers.  I do that every once in a while.

The big thing in education these days is something called the Common Core State Standards.  In Math this means that there will be increasing focus on getting students to think like mathematicians.  There is an emphasis on problem solving rather than just answer-getting.  One of the ways that this is accomplished is for the teacher to facilitate for the students some interactive thinking– to get them to share their own reasoning and critique the reasoning of others.  A lot of teachers want to know just what that looks like in the early grades.  So this is one of the tools that I used at the meeting.  You may recognize some students, but have a look at their ability to explain their thinking.

And as it should be in Kindergarten, everything is a song.  This song is about getting their hair cut, and the make-believe that attends paying (and tipping) the barber.