Hands-On Mathematics: Preservice Teachers Supporting Home Learning During COVID-19

Mathematics manipulatives, or the physical objects and concrete materials that children use to make sense of concepts, have long been incorporated in early childhood classrooms to support children in building mathematical reasoning skills. During the pandemic, as schooling shifted to the home context, schoolteachers of young children confronted dilemmas in planning hands-on mathematics lessons as commercially prepared manipulatives were not available in the home setting. In this chapter, we draw from data collected in a multiple case study of ten preservice teachers planning lessons during an alternative practicum focused on supporting home learning during school closures. Our findings detail how preservice teachers included common household materials for hands-on mathematical experiences and invited family members to participate in the activities they designed for children in kindergarten to Grade 2 (4–7 years). Our exploration was guided by constructivist theories that identify the importance of young children’s active and purposeful manipulation of objects supported through conversations to build mathematical understandings. The results of the study illustrate that the preservice teachers attempted to support hands-on learning in different ways;the variation of these afford new ways of thinking about the configuration of pedagogies, children, families, and materials. This chapter offers insights into how early childhood educators in a variety of settings may redesign mathematics learning opportunities to support young children’s knowledge construction through flexible lessons that invite young children and families to use whatever materials are available to engage in hands-on mathematics activities. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

A critical assessment of canadian earthquake monitoring and alerting practice versus the initial challenges of the 2020 COVID-19 experience

We describe the regular pre-COVID mode of operations for the Canadian National Seismograph Network and the associated monitoring, alerting, and analysis for earthquakes in Canada;we describe how the current operational posture evolved and discuss the ways in which the posture was and was not suitable to respond to the challenges and constraints of the COVID-19 situation in Canada. We find that many of the design and operation decisions that have been taken over the last several decades for earthquake monitoring in Canada, collectively driven largely by considerations of resilience and cost-effectiveness and further refined after the experience of the H1N1 pandemic, resulted in a system that continued to function effectively under lockdown conditions. There were many earthquakes in Canada that required seismologist response during the lockdown, all of which were handled remotely without issue. Specific challenges and lessons learned from the first few months of the pandemic are noted. © Seismological Society of America