Posted January 29, 2007

Lincoln first grade teacher Lisa Buchholz is among a handful of area teachers who are finalists for one of the nation’s highest teaching honors, the 2006 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. This award is administered by the National Science Foundation on behalf of the White House in recognition of deep content knowledge and outstanding teaching ability. In even-numbered years, the award is given to elementary teachers (kindergarten-6th grade); in odd-numbered years, secondary teachers (grades 7-12) are recognized. The winners will be announced in March.

Mrs. Buchholz and her students tackle math every day after lunch, a time of day when you might have to fight low energy in the classroom. Not so in her classroom. Her students work with vigor-as a whole class or in small groups. The children set goals, identify what they already know, figure out what they need to learn, and measure their own progress. In “Give Me Five,” a five-minute, five-question informal mental math activity, children write their answers before the class goes through the questions together. Children learn if their answer was right, and if not, how to make it right. As part of a math assessment approach developed by District Math Specialist Linda Schwiekhofer and the Math Committee, Give Me Five is used regularly by teachers throughout the district, and the data collected helps each teacher--and the district as a whole--improve math instruction. After Give Me Five, Mrs. Buchholz’s students might gather ’round for a model lesson before breaking into groups to work on math problems; on a recent day they worked on the relationship between parts and a whole. Using an array of “manipulatives”…itty bitty plastic houses, dinosaurs and other figures that the kids use to learn math in a hands-on way, they illustrated the commutative property that says that the order in which numbers are added does not affect the total. Mrs. Buchholz is everywhere at once, explaining concepts, reminding the children to use proper math vocabulary, sorting out differences of opinion on answers, and encouraging perseverance. “I try to defuse math anxiety and want math to be non-threatening. I tell the children that mistakes mean we’re learning,” says Mrs. Buchholz, who also writes math books and articles. “I teach to the highest level, and want them to see the big picture, not just random facts.”