Mathematical
Reflections and Translations: November, 2015
Announcements
- IMIII CPM Parent Guide is now available! (It looks like the Spanish version is coming soon) Parent guides are now available for all courses. They offer parents and students an overview of the major topics of the course, along with examples and extra practice. Download for free on cpm.org in "Textbook Resources"
- Reminder: 2014-15 Math Final Exams (IMI,IMII,IMIII,Math Analysis) have been released to assist with Final Exam creation this year. You can find them in Canvas: Curriculum & PD Course under "Archived Tested Curriculum"
Tech Tool: Desmos Activity Builder
Needing a good closure activity? You can easily create your own activity using the Desmos Activity Builder. Once created, students go to student.desmos.com, enter the code you give them and they can get started. You can display all student graphs and answers while they work!
Semester 1 Content Pull-Out Days this week!
While IM7, IM8, IMI, APCalc, and APStats have already met this semester, these remaining courses have (optional) pull-outs this week:
Wed 11/18 IMII @ District Office Rooms A&B
Thurs 11/19 IMIII @ District Office Rooms A&B
Fri 11/20 Pre-Cal/CIMIII @ District Office Rooms A&B
Fri 11/20 CSTEM @ PDC
All meetings will be from 8am - 3pm.
The goal is for PLC groups to collaborate with other sites in planning and creating curriculum.
You can always verify workshop details by referencing the SUHSD PD Calendar.
Try this Problem!
CPM Teacher Tip of the Week
Week 14:
In our desire to make sure students all have a “right answer,” it is easy to get hung up on a specific problem. But resist the urge to go over every question’s answers with the whole class. (This is a common mistake). When answers are routinely provided, students quickly learn to just sit back and wait until the teacher goes over the answers as a whole class, instead of doing the work themselves. Be mindful of which problems require a whole class discussion and which do not. When you circulate, take note of which problems everyone understands and which problems seem to be causing difficulties. Purposefully choosing a study team strategy like a Swapmeet will provide a way to share answers within teams, rather than as a whole class.
Teachers often report that they find it difficult to fit closure into each daily lesson. But we know that closure is an essential part of how students make meaning and deepen their understanding of the concepts taught, so find a way to make it a part of your daily practice.
This week try setting a timer that will go off—or choose a student to remind you—when there are 5-10 minutes left of class and force yourself to stop and make time for closure. There are many good options for closure and suggestions for concluding each lesson in the lesson notes sections of your Teacher Edition as well as in a tab in the front of the Teacher Edition.
One way to make closure a habit is to do the same type of closure each day for
a week. For example, you could have students do a Learning Log entry each day
this week, or an Exit Slip, or use a Reciprocal Teaching strategy to review and
summarize the day’s work.
For a list of all the Teacher Tips, click Here
Second Quarter Cohort & Zone Workshops
Site Specialists identify "anchor papers" for math tasks
Zone teams of leaders problem-solve
Site Specialists and administrators collaborate
Administrators and Site Specialists study anchors
Site Specialists work in teams
Site Specialists annotate anchor papers with descriptors
Zone workshops connect PLC teams to CPM and SUHSD colleagues
Colleagues compare anchor papers for IMIII task
Teachers compare student work to anchor papers
Site Specialists facilitate calibration sessions
Teachers participate in team-building activity
Marshmallow Towers!
More info and TED Talk
Feedback from Q2 Workshops Reflects Appreciation from Teachers
- I liked that the focus was on feedback and grading.
- I appreciate having the ability to talk with colleagues about what works. Calibration across teachers and sites is important.
- I appreciate having time to assess and evaluate performance task work with my PLC.
- I liked being able to go through the lessons and preview what I will teaching/facilitating in upcoming chapters for CPM.
- Having anchor papers explained was very useful.
- It was great to learn how to use the graphing calculator to better teach statistics.
- I received clarification on how much to cover for the entire years so students are ready for further math courses.
- Presenters did a good job modeling and then allowing us to practice.
- The presenter adapted to our needs and desires to receive training and get assistance in topics beyond what was scheduled.
- I enjoyed sharing best practices and talking about assessment/grading for learning.
- I had fun building a tower with spaghetti and a marshmallow.
- I appreciate having time to discuss classroom strategies and some hands on experiences.
- Today’s activities were very applicable, useful and informative.
- I like the in-depth conversations that we had in small groups.
- What I like best about today’s workshop was the activity of asking questions for understanding.
- I look forward to next session.
See here for feedback summaries for all 2015-16 math workshops to date.
This month's theme: How good is "good enough?"
Calibrated scoring of semester 1 performance tasks
Calibration Steps for District Performance Tasks
1. District and Site Curriculum Specialists review student work and select "anchor papers" representing each score point on the rubric
2. PLC Leader/Site Curriculum Specialist selects "blind papers"
3. PLC Leader/Site Curriculum Specialist assembles reference packets including prompt, rubric, anchor and blind papers.
4. PLC meets to review prompt and rubric. Content group facilitator walks teachers through directions and clarifies understanding of key vocabulary and terms.
5. PLC reviews each anchor paper, justifying score with language from the rubric.
6. Pairs of teachers review each blind paper and assign score. For each paper, content groups reach consensus on score, justifying with language from the rubric.
7. Content groups discuss issues and realizations. Facilitator works to build consensus.
8. Teachers review and score each paper for each criterion on the rubric. They also assign a holistic score to each paper and attach the completed rubric to the student response.
9. Using the criterion-specific score recording sheet, teachers review and score each paper for each criterion. They also assign a holistic score to each paper.
10. When finished scoring the sample of papers, teachers return papers to colleagues.
11. Each teacher submits her/his score recording sheet to the content group facilitator.
12. Content group facilitator assembles all score recording sheets into Excel spreadsheet, calculates average scores by criterion and overall, and generates descriptive charts to describe relative student strengths and weaknesses.
Calibrate Scoring for a Representative Sample of Papers and Draw Conclusions about Relative Student Strengths and Needs
October 15, 2015 Family Math Night at ELH Engages Parents, Guardians, Teachers and Students in Inquiry!
Family members join parents and guardians
Many parents/guardians brought ELH students and their siblings to the Family Math Night. All worked together on a problem accessible at various levels.
Teachers facilitate math activities
A significant amount of time during the evening was devoted to "doing math:" participants worked in groups to investigate a dimensional analysis problem.
Mathematics is fun!
C-STEM and Other Teachers Visit Qualcomm's Thinkabit Lab on 10/16/15!
Qualcomm's Ed Hidalgo Orients Teachers to the Lab
Daniel Cordova (SOH) and Andres Parra (ELH) Build a Circuit
Students Build and Program Robots in Teams
Math Curriculum Team
Mimi Williams (Math curriculum specialist-Middle School)
Carla Jacobs (Special Education Support)
Ivette Sanchez (SEI and Bilingual Support)
Email: mimi.williams@sweetwaterschools.org
Website: curriculum.suhsd.k12.ca.us
Location: 1130 5th Ave, Chula Vista, CA, United States
Phone: (619) 600-4947