CMP-Inquiry Middle School Interview

Stacey,

Sorry for the DELAY.  I have been swamped and not feeling well.

CMP has developed units that are to address the National Standards that we will start to 
implement this year and more in 2012-2013.

Students that are behind with their basic skills need lots and lots of practice to help 
cement their foundational skills.  Applying these basic concepts to the students 'real 
world' helps the students to see a connection of how the "skills/concepts" are 
used.

CMP does not really have a philosophy for HW.  Everything is to be done in partners or 
groups so that the students can discuss what they have discovered/learned.  The work they 
do is again apart of the cementing. I give HW so that I know what the student knows or 
does not know.  Studebts need practice in order for concepts to 'stick'.

With the larger class sizes this year it has become part of the class to breakdown 
everything into smaller instructional/discovery pieces. I try to do 10-15 min. of 
instruction and then 5 min. of think/share time and then repeat the 'cycle'. The time is 
an estimate depending on what the topic is. In the share time I will be walking around to 
listen to what the students are discussing.  Sometimes it is on topic and then again 
there are times when they are not.  We are giving assessments based on the standards but 
in math we are also assessing the students foundational skills.  Your second question is 
a reason for this assessment piece.

I hope this has helped and again I apologize for the lateness.

Lori