Effective Practices for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of K-5 Mathematics

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Hosts

Mike Flynn and Sarah Bent

January 13 – Session 1

Tracy Zager – Lost in Translation: From Writer’s Workshop to Leveled Math Groups

Description: In K–5, we often take ideas from literacy and apply them to math. Sometimes that works well, e.g., sense-making strategies for story problems. Sometimes, however, we oversimplify an approach, losing its power and purpose. In this session, we’ll look at grouping formats used in elementary math today (such as math workshop or guided math) through this lens. What were the original ideas? What have they morphed into? What does that transformation mean for students?

You can watch the session with captions here: Session 1 with Captions

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 1 Feedback Form

January 20 – Session 2

Kristin Gray – Writing in Mathematics: The Why, When, and How

Description: Writing in math promotes a deeper understanding of concepts and procedures. NCTM highlights that, “Students who have opportunities, encouragement, and support for speaking, writing, reading and listening in mathematics classes reap dual benefits: they communicate to learn mathematics, and they learn to communicate mathematically.” Writing can promote an individualized and constructive approach to learning, but is more complex than giving students a journal. In this session, we will discuss opportunities and structures to support writing in math class.

You can watch the session with captions here: Session 2 with Captions

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 2 Feedback Form

January 27 – Session 3

Christina Tondevold – Stop Teaching Strategies, Start Teaching Sense

Description: Too often students have been taught multiple strategies but then never use them or get them all confused. This session will investigate why we need to help children develop strategies, instead of teaching them, in a manner that makes sense and lays a solid foundation which can be transferred to addition and subtraction of all numbers.

You can watch the session with captions here: Session 3 with Captions

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 3 Feedback Form

February 3 – Session 4

Kaneka Turner – Using Routines to Promote Access

Description: In this session we will examine 3 frequently used routines, assumptions we may bring to each routine, intentional moves we might make within each routine to promote access and equity and consider benefits of using a routine for targeted instruction.

You can watch the session with captions here: Session 4 with Captions

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 4 Feedback Form

February 10 – Session 5

Zak Champagne – Playing the Long Game: Examining Routines, Tasks, and Structures that Support Student Learning Over Time

Description: This year I’ve returned to my happy place – the classroom. After eight years of serving in various roles in education, I’ve decided that it’s time to get back where it happens. I’ve already learned so much, but the overarching idea that keeps permeating my space is that this is a long game. We have to understand that this isn’t a one off. It’s a long term strategy. So, we’ll examine the routines, tasks, ideas, and pedagogical structures that are built to support students over time and how we can work to have those built amongst your entire school team.

You can watch the session with captions here: Session 5 with Captions

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 5 Feedback Form

February 24 – Session 6

Graham Fletcher – Building Math Residue with Lessons that Stick

Description: Many times throughout the course of a year, we teach a lesson and the understanding goes out with the trash because student retention is minimal. What only makes things worse is that all the misconceptions we thought we addressed resurface towards the end of a unit. Let’s explore how task selection can play a pivotal role in building math residue. Mathematical residue helps understanding stick and it can reduce the number of times that misconceptions rear their ugly head.

You can watch the session with captions here: Session 6 with Captions

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 6 Feedback Form

March 2 – Session 7

Mario Valdez – Releasing Control to Our Students Through Socratic Sense-Making

Description: This session centers on how to release control to our students within a mathematical discussion. Participants will gain insight into obstacles that prevent sense-making from being the authority in our classroom. Participants will learn how to prepare, monitor, and implement a Socratic Seminar within mathematics.

You can watch the session with captions here: Session 7 with Captions

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 7 Feedback Form

March 9 – Session 8

Howie Hua – Counting Around the World

Description: How did humans start to count? We will look at how different civilizations began their journey in the counting world and we will experiment with counting and operations in different systems.

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 8 Feedback Form

March 16 – Session 9 

Marian Dingle – The Singing Math Teacher: Using Music to Connect to Memory and Joy

Description: Are you looking for a fun way to make sense of mathematics through music? Music is a powerful medium that can be used to help students build conceptual knowledge. Once called The Singing Math Teacher by a parent, I have used my love of music to create songs, rhythms and chants that have become consistent features in my mathematics classroom. Join me for an exciting session in which you will learn to create your own!

You can watch the session with captions here: Session 9 with Captions

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 9 Feedback Form

March 23 – Session 10

Marta Garcia – Productive Lingering – Nudging Beyond Noticing

Description: During this session, we will spend time examining strategies that support productive lingering. We will engage in mathematics tasks and then unpack the opportunities that the task opened up for productive lingering. We will analyze three aspects of lingering and connect those aspects to the mathematics we worked on. The connections to mathematical argument and the role of representation based proof will be examined as well.

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 10 Feedback Form

April 6 – Session 11

Christopher Danielson – Looking for Mathematical Structure

Description: What does it mean to “Look for and make use of structure”? We’ll explore this question across a couple of contexts, including counting and patterns. An important outcome will be noticing that there are usually many ways to see and describe mathematical structures, and this fact opens opportunities for more people with diverse experiences and viewpoints to participate in mathematics.

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 11 Feedback Form

April 13 – Session 12

Annie Fetter – Connecting Concepts and Procedures by Leveraging Students’ Methods

Description: Traditional math classes are often very procedure oriented, since the ultimate goal tends to be to get answers quickly. More and more educators are focusing on developing conceptual understanding, but sometimes struggle to connect that to the procedures that we do, in the end, want students to be able to use. We’ll explore one example of the concept-method-procedure continuum, and talk about how to apply it more generally.

When you finish watching the video, please share your feedback using this form: Session 12 Feedback Form