January 15, 2019

This Week at the Global Math Department

Edited By Nate Goza @thegozaway

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Online Professional Development Sessions

Fostering the Equitable Math Talk Community

Presented by Shannon Kiebler

Engaging students in math discourse is reliant upon a strong math community. How can we empower students and defeat helplessness in efforts to reach higher levels of math discourse? Come explore simple, yet transformative ideas to better your community and therefore better the discourse.

To join us at 9:00 PM EST for this webinar click here!

Next week’s webinar features Joel Bezaire who will share how he helps students see mathematics outside of the classroom. You can get more info on the session and register here.

You can always check out past Global Math Department webinars. Click here for the archives or get the webinars in podcast form!

On the Topic of Twitter Chats…

Twitter chats have been an amazing resource for the online math ed community. They’ve allowed math educators worldwide to engage in a wide range of focused, public conversations, where anyone is welcome to join. Two recent chats come to mind as representing some of the best that the Twitter platform has to offer: #ClearTheAir and #SWDMathChat.

#ClearTheAir had its first chat around the book “White Rage” by Carol Anderson last Wednesday (1/9). The #ClearTheAir chat is focused on issues of race in education and in general, and Val Brown gives an excellent introduction to the chat and its origins in this blog entry. I have yet to catch up on reading the book, so I chose to lurk rather than actively participate this time. However the schedule for the next three sessions are here:

And I must say, the chat was . Some people have been contributing to #ClearTheAir even after the last question was asked Wednesday night, so I strongly encourage reading people’s thoughts and contributions if you haven’t already done so. There’s a lot to process, but here’s just a sample of what went down. Shout out to Christie Nold!

The other chat I have to mention is #swdmathchat, which as you can probably guess focuses on math education issues impacting students with disabilities. The most recent chat (1/10) was facilitated by Theodore Chao, who is an amazing math ed professor at OSU. Check out he spring schedule for #swdmathchat:

The theme for this most recent chat was “What is Possible?” Participants discussed what was possible for engaging students with disabilities in mathematical thinking and reasoning. The common denominator denounced, rightly so, the isolation that can occur when special education students are physically, intellectually, and/or socially isolated from their gen ed peers, especially in math class.

@ScottGeisler12, @Julie12129030, and many others participated in last week’s chat.

I’ll close with a short list of books that I’ve read or are next up on my reading list in addition to “White Rage”. Such books highlight the multi-faceted, political nature of the work we do as educators.

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin Diangelo
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, by Richard Rothstein.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander

Written by Melvin Peralta (@melvinmperalta)

Like Melvin, the book “White Rage” by Carol Anderson is on my mind.

The book details the extent and depths and insidiousness of white rage, from “Reconstruction”, all the way through to voter suppression. Some sections will make you want to throw up (either from intense violence described, or from a “how can this even be real?” feeling).

Some brief notes about 1957, “Sputnik”, and Brown vs. Board of Education. Many of us are often scolded for tweeting about things other than mathematics, as if we have no humanity, no interests, outside of our jobs as eduators. Many who come from more conservative perspectives, both about the world and about mathematics, suggest that it can and must be “neutral”.

Some things are about mathematics are neutral, like the square root of any number, or counting to 100. Sure, fine. But the systems that mathematics are embedded in have their own axioms and their own beliefs that become encoded in what mathematics is taught, and how.

The book goes briefly into Sputnik, and the moral panic it inspired about mathematics. A clarion call for “back to basics” was issued, and the fault laid by some at the foot of “progressive education” (plus ca change…)

But at the same time, many states were fighting to keep segregated schools, outright defying Brown vs, Board of Education, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, ostensibly in the name of “state’s rights”. (What is it with America and “state’s rights”? Isn’t it possible that the conception of federalism your country uses just doesn’t work? Maybe the wrong compromises were struck, way back when?)

There was a school district in Virginia that closed all schools for 5 years, rather than let black students in. This is called “cutting off your nose to spite your face”, and yes, the powers that be were willing to close the schools even to the poor whites who might have needed them, rather than let blacks in (the rich, presumably, had their own schools).

So forget Sputnik, forget “back to basics”, and forget about mathematics as “neutral”: many students weren’t even allowed in to learn the basics.

That doesn’t even get us to gerrymandering, a whole other cruel and unjust use of mathematics. And that doesn’t even get us to human prejudices, encoded in algorithms (I am reading Hannah Fry’s “Hello World” now, and algorithmic prejudice is a new frontier of prejudice, don’t you think?)

Are we feeling “neutral”, yet? Not after reading this book, I am not.

I would add to Melvin’s list above of books for the #ClearTheAir shelf, Ijeome Oluo’s So You Want To Talk About Race.

Written by Matthew Oldridge (@MatthewOldridge)

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January 11, 2019

True Talk with the Gurus of Open Up Resources 6-8 Math (Part 2)

True Talk with the Gurus of Open Up Resources 6-8 Math Part 2

Presented by: Sara Vaughn, Martin Joyce, Morgan Stipe and Jen Arberg

Implementing a new curriculum is never easy – especially when it involves completely changing your teaching methods and philosophy. Each of these “Gurus” experienced such change when they adopted the problem based Open Up Resources 6–8 Math Curriculum. Learn from their classroom and district successes and challenges and get a glimpse of what makes a problem based curriculum engaging and challenging for all learners including Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners.

Join Sara Vaughn (@Vaughn_trapped), Martin Joyce (@martinsean), Morgan Stipe(@mrsstipemath), and Jen Arberg (@jenarberg) and leave with ready to use instructional strategies you can implement in your classroom tomorrow using this free and open curriculum.

NOTE: The file size for this webinar was too large. This is part 2 of the webinar.

Hosted by: Leigh Nataro

Note: Watch the full presentation at: https://www.bigmarker.com/GlobalMathDept/True-Talk-with-the-Gurus-of-Open-Up-Resources-6-8-Math

Presented on January 8, 2019

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January 11, 2019

True Talk with the Gurus of Open Up Resources 6-8 Math (Part 1)

True Talk with the Gurus of Open Up Resources 6-8 Math (Part 1)

Presented by: Sara Vaughn, Martin Joyce, Morgan Stipe and Jen Arberg

NOTE: The file size for this webinar was too large. This is part 1 of the webinar.

Hosted by: Leigh Nataro

Note: Watch the full presentation at: https://www.bigmarker.com/GlobalMathDept/True-Talk-with-the-Gurus-of-Open-Up-Resources-6-8-Math

Presented on January 8, 2019

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January 9, 2019

NCTM Favorites 2018

NCTM Favorites 2018

Presented by: Julie Ruelbach, Rose Roberts, Carmel Schettino, Karen McPherson, and Leigh Nataro

If you weren’t able to attend the NCTM Annual Conference this year or attended some sesssions that were less than helpful, then this Global Math Department webinar is for you. Come hear

Note: Watch the full presentation at: https://www.bigmarker.com/GlobalMathDept/NCTM-Favorites

Presented on May 8, 2018

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January 9, 2019

Helping Students See How Graphs Work

Helping Students See How Graphs Work

Presented by: Heather Johnson

Students see graphs in their daily lives. Students interpret and create graphs in math classes. But, what do students think graphs represent? I share how we can guide students to see beyond what graphs look like, and help students to understand how graphs can represent relationships. We will explore an interactive graphing activity that I developed in collaboration with Dan Meyer and the Desmos team. Three key takeaways: How students think about task attributes matters; Focus students on the whole and the parts; Two graphs are better than one.

Check out a recent Edutopia post about Heather Johnson’s work: https://www.edutopia.org/article/helping-students-see-how-graphs-work

Hosted by: Jessica Bogie

Note: Watch the full presentation at: https://www.bigmarker.com/GlobalMathDept/Helping-Students-See-How-Graphs-Work

Presented on April 17, 2018

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January 9, 2019

Math Talks: Adapting the Number Talks Structure for Secondary Mathematics Classrooms

Math Talks: Adapting the Number Talks Structure for Secondary Mathematics Classrooms

Presented by: Michelle Rinehart, Amy Multer

How can effective Number Talk routines be adapted to meet the needs of secondary classrooms? Explore strategies and resources for implementing Math Talks in Gr. 6-Algebra. See how Math Talks can provide opportunities for students to communicate and justify mathematical ideas, reasoning, and arguments within a concise, organized classroom structure.

Hosted by: Amanda Riske

Note: Watch the full presentation at: https://www.bigmarker.com/GlobalMathDept/Math-Talks-Number-Talks-Structure-for-Secondary-Mathematics-Classrooms

Presented on May 1, 2018

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January 9, 2019

This Week at the Global Math Department

Edited By Chase Orton @mathgeek76

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Online Professional Development Sessions

True Talk with the Gurus of Open Up Resources 6-8 Math
Presented by Sara Vaughn, Martin Joyce, Morgan Stipe, and Jen Arberg

Join @Vaughn_trapped, @martinsean, @mrsstipemath, and @jenarberg and leave with ready to use instructional strategies you can implement in your classroom tomorrow using this free and open curriculum.

To join this meeting when it starts at 9pm Eastern (or RSVP if it’s before 9pm), click here.

Did you miss last week’s webinar? Click here to watch “Catalyzing Change in High School Mathematics.”

The #MTBoS Never Sleeps

[Editor’s Note: I invited Amber and Howie to put an ear to the ground of the #MTBoS world and report out on some interesting conversations that are happening. Here’s what they found. We share these conversations because we think they matter, and we think you do too. So we invite you to click on the threads, read more, and participate however you feel inspired! Happy geeking out! And Happy New Year!]

Navigating Through Twitter

I saw this tweet from Tim Bennett about how we can all use social media more efficiently as teachers to find what we need. Our time is precious. When you’re looking for ways to be better at teaching a certain topic, it can be frustrating having to sift through posts that talk about building relationships with students. I really liked Kate Nowak’s tweet showing that it’s not all about relationships:

It is important to grow both in student-to-teacher connections as well as being able to build great, engaging lessons for our students. Unfortunately, sometimes my Twitter feed feels a bit lopsided on this matter. If you feel like Tim, or you want to help people like him, here are some of my suggestions:

Follow hashtags such as #geomchat, #alg1chat, and #statschat to find more content-specific advice. [Editor’s Note: Here are more hashtags.]
Just like Natalie Perez says, simply ask! The Twitter community is more than happy to help. Just like we cannot read our students’ minds, we cannot help other teachers if we don’t know what they are looking for.
Meg Craig suggests following some blogs that include lesson plans. I personally love Sarah Carter’s (@mathequalslove) blog.

Finding the information we need on Twitter may feel like finding a needle in a haystack, but it doesn’t have to be. Remember that we are all here to help each other in many capacities; all we have to do is ask.

Howie Hua
@howie_hua

Thoughts On Grading

Howie Hua (@howie_hua) posed this question to Twitter and got a great response.

The response was quite diverse often steering Howie away from grading using points. Kevin Santry (@MrSantry) talked of using a rubric instead of percentages or points.

I can tell from his responses that Howie has been considering using Standards Based Grading (SBG) in the future. I wonder if this exam and response from the student will be the push to move him in that direction.

This was an interesting response from Scott Figgins (@scott_figgins) that really talks to the purpose of grading.

Grading is such a hot topic and I love that Twitter is a great way to hear from so many points of views. Read through the entire thread of Howie’s post here.

Amber Thienel
@amberthienel

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January 3, 2019

Throw Everything and See What Sticks

Throw Everything and See What Sticks

Presented by: Jason Slowbe

What can the Dog Whisperer teach us about Class Culture? What can Restaurant Impossible teach us about Curriculum Design? Who can argue with NCTM’s slogan “More and Better Mathematics for Each and Every Student”? (I can, kinda)

As classroom teachers we get a bunch of resources, best practices, and other PD stuff thrown at us – most of which does not stick. We even throw a bunch of stuff at our students, hopeful that something (anything!) will stick to them. In this webinar I will share a few of the most influential metaphors, ideas, and best practices that have stuck to me. We have a lot to learn from each other, so I invite you to attend and share what has stuck to you also.

Topics:
Building Positive Class Culture and Student Motivation
My Favorite Questioning Strategies
My Love/Hate Relationship with Grading
Critical Thinking is for Teachers too

Hosted by: Paula Torres

Note: Watch the full presentation at: https://www.bigmarker.com/GlobalMathDept/Throw-Everything-and-See-What-Sticks

Presented on April 10, 2018

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January 3, 2019

Planting the Seeds of Algebra

Planting the Seeds of Algebra

Presented by: Monica Neagoy

Children of today, leaders of tomorrow, will use technological tools that far exceed our imagination. This reality begs the question: What is our purpose in teaching computation, for instance, when already-existing tools can compute, solve or simulate faster and more efficiently than we?” Recent standards for mathematics in many countries have answered the question by raising the bar for parents and teachers alike: our greater purpose for teaching elementary mathematics is to develop algebraic thinking, or better yet,deep mathematical thinking. This talk will give concrete examples of what this looks like, sounds like and feels like in grades K through 6, that teachers will be able to use with their students in the weeks to follow. Once you have seen the powerful bridges from elementary mathematics to higher mathematics, you will never look at odd and even numbers, subtraction, division, equality and other topics in the same way again…and your students will be forever empowered!

Hosted by: Shauna Hedgepeth

Note: Watch the full presentation at: https://www.bigmarker.com/GlobalMathDept/Planting-the-Seeds-of-Algebra

Presented on April 3, 2018

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January 3, 2019

Facilitating Discussion

Facilitating Discussion

Presented by: Eileen Mooney

Facilitating discussion in a mathematics classroom can be challenging. Many students have never been in a classroom where legitimate discussion about mathematical topics has occurred, thus developing such discussions can be awkward and seemingly impossible. Over the last five years, I have been facilitating daily discussions in my Geometry classes using a variety of curricula. In this presentation, I will share what I have learned, from the mindsets I adopted to facilitate discussion, to how I help students develop their own sense of certainty when mathematical concepts are not necessarily known or given, to how students model good “mathematician behavior” for each other, to encouraging risk and failure amongst their peers, and more.

Hosted by: Leigh Nataro

Note: Watch the full presentation at: https://www.bigmarker.com/GlobalMathDept/Facilitating-Discussion

Presented on March 27, 2018