Hawk Herald
News and Notes for Teachers- Jan 15
Dear Staff
We had an awesome AVID family night. I was so impressed with what the students demonstrated for parents. It was truly amazing and a credit to all of you.
Tempers and rumors are flaring. Please talk to students about kindness and tolerance whenever possible.
We're heading down the home stretch for the semester. Make sure you are working with students with Ds and Fs to help motivate them to get their work in or retake a test.
Mary
MLK day-Monday
PLCs-Wed
Module 3 task
PLCminutes https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B8oCapJ_Lg9halpUNU1HU0tyTUE
Science observations
Meetings and Events
Monday-15 MLK Day
Tuesday-16 Check your Advisory Calendar
- Team Meetings-Cooper hawks and Red-tails Pod 4
- TRIO workshop
Wednesday-17
- PLCs
- Attendance 10:10
- Volleyball Game @SMMS v Poynter
Thursday-18
- Team Meetings-Sparrow hawks and Royal hawks pod 1(counselors)
- Coaches meeting 2:00
- Discipline Task Force 3:30
Friday-19
- SST
Orchestrating Productive Struggle in Middle-School Math Classes
In this article in Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Sararose Lynch (Westminster College), Jessica Hunt (North Carolina State University), and Katherine Lewis (University of Washington) use this mathematics problem to discuss the challenge of differentiating instruction in a diverse classroom:
Aunt Martha has 5 trays of cupcakes. Here is how they are arranged: There are 100 total cupcakes on the trays. The first and second trays have 52 cupcakes, the second and third trays have 43 cupcakes, the third and fourth trays have 34 cupcakes, and the fourth and fifth trays have 30 cupcakes. How many cupcakes are on each tray?
Lynch, Hunt, and Lewis say there are several common mistakes when teachers try to differentiate this kind of problem:
- Providing hints that remove the cognitive demand;
- When helping a student, focusing only on the procedure without giving the overall context;
- Providing formulas to solve the task without giving students the chance to engage with the math content;
- Considering only the characteristics of struggling students and not those of students working above grade level.
Lynch, Hunt, and Lewis suggest that teachers ask themselves the following questions as they strive to maintain mathematical rigor and get all students involved in productive struggle:
- What is the underlying mathematical concept the activity is designed to build? How can we differentiate the task and still address the underlying concepts?
- What are the prerequisite skills needed to complete this task, and how can I incorporate those into the lesson launch?
- How much time is sufficient to enable all students to engage with the math substance?
- What are the barriers a particular student might experience engaging with the problem?
- How can the student engage with the math goal in a way that builds on and extends prior knowledge?
- What feedback should I provide? What supporting or extending questions should I ask?
- What structures or discussions should I use to help support students’ understanding?
South Meadows Middle School
Email: mendezm@hsd.k12.or.us
Website: http://schools.hsd.k12.or.us/southmeadows
Location: 4690 Southeast Davis Road, Hillsboro, OR, United States
Phone: 503-844-1220
Facebook: facebook.com/SouthMeadowsMiddleSchool