A series of carefully selected video clips will provide you with a sense of how scaffolding strategies in combination with the project experience come together for presentations. It is here that you will see and read about 1) how I reflect on my assumptions about what it means to support student learning 2) how I address it, 2) and how students respond. The emphasis on "toolkits" as a means for building and using mathematical langugage is demonstrated here. Toolkits are compiled over the course of the year. Each student has their own recording of toolkits that can be used during tests. I also require students to refer to them during group work and use them as resources. The specific toolkits here are the same ones listed in the presentation grade sheet: combining like terms, factoring, multiplying, dimensions, area. What does the audience get out of this? The boys you see in the audience are new students to the school and were enrolled at the beginning of the second semester. Although they have been in my Algebra class for only a month, they have received the message that "toolkits" are important. You will hear one student say "so we'll need toolkit papers?" because he knows that recording and maintaining them on the special gold colored paper is critical to his success in the class. In fact, I use gold colored paper purposely and often introduce toolkits as resources that are "like gold." The recording of toolkits is one way that I impart a sense of value to the students about mathematical language. I often give participation points during discussion based on how well students refer to and use their toolkits in their explanations and conjectures. By introducing the presentations as an opportunity to obtain toolkit information, I am sending a message that "the math that is actually happening" in the painting project has vocabularly that is important. "It's not right" Throughout the painting project, Steve always appeared to be working with ease and catching his own mistakes. I assumed that his presentation would run smoothly. But you will hear me coaching him through the content of his presentation. In this clip, you will hear Steve's unique understanding of a variable in relation to his color choices. He decided that it was especially important for the audience to know about a mistake he made in his first sketch. He emphasizes that assigning one color to both the constants and the variable "is not right." Although Steve is not using the words "variable" and "constant" in this clip, I remember making a conscious effort not to interrupt with the words "variable " and "constant." At the time of the presentation, I felt confident that his understanding would carry over to the work I anticipated for setting up and solving equations. I felt that an interruption would undermine his emphasis on conceptual understanding. "Commutative property is when....." "If I wanted to use combining like terms...." Jumping off from Kenny's presentation for new "toolkits" More discussion of Kenny's toolkits Entire toolkit discussion