Online Professional Development Sessions

The #MTBoS Never Sleeps

Hallway Math

I recently saw a tweet from Heather Dodge about her fantastic estimation bulletin board. I really like how interactive bulletin boards can bring mathematics outside of the classroom and into the broader school community. They help to create a positive culture of mathematics in a school.

Heather’s tweet made me think of the other examples of mathematics bulletin boards I’ve seen or heard about. Some math activities just seem to be a great fit for a spot in the hallway. Kim Figura shared an example of a Which One Doesn’t Belong bulletin board and Danielle Marchandshared her Year Game bulletin board.

Interactive bulletin boards seem like a great way to promote mathematical conversations and inspire collaboration. Tracy Zager, in her book Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You’d Had, wrote “Mathematicians frequently talk about standing around blackboards or whiteboards together, thinking and talking. […] This particular kind of collaboration – standing, talking, thinking and writing – is so inherent to doing mathematics that many buildings are designed around it.” If you don’t have space for a whole bulletin board… no problem. How about just posting a math puzzle or problem in the hallway? Sara VanDerWerf wrote a great blog post about how she experimented with this and the surprising results she saw. Read her post Even if they say they don’t like doing math, they secretly do. An Experiment you should try.

Written by Erick Lee (@TheErickLee)

Got Relationship?

Jenise Sexton gifts us with a brief, yet powerful post to reflect on the relationships we have (or don’t) with students. In here post, The Push Without Relationships, she shares a few experiences and practical bits of advice. These three quotes from her post say a lot about the impact of relationship.

A common confession about students:

“The ones who when they were absent I secretly rejoiced because I knew the class would run smoothly.”

About lesson plans:

“You can have the best laid plans for your classroom, but without relationship those plans can easily go awry.”

About the necessity of relationship:

“Relationship is the important aspect of teaching that gets you through the tough moments.”

But wait, there’s more… go read her post. It’s not too late to create positively impactful relationships with your students.

Written by Andrew Stadel (@mr_stadel)

Virtual Strangers

It’s been a week since NCTM in San Diego, but many observed that this meeting felt different.

Some have even blogged about their experience, including first-time blogger, Hema Khodai. Reading her piece, entitled Virtual Strangers, gave me the confirmation that relationships first formed through social media can indeed be the support that sustains us.

Hema shouts out the #ClearTheAir community and its intersection with math educators. And, she acknowledges that she received something she perhaps did not expect to receive: a sense of belonging. As we think about what we want in math spaces, I think her blog is an important piece of that puzzle. No more spoilers. Please read.

Written by Marian Dingle (@DingleTeach)