Mathematics Update
www.esc11.net/math
Check out what's new at MathIsFigureOutAble.com and join #esc11math chat with Pam on 5/2 at 8 PM!
Series: “Why Doesn’t Everyone Teach Math This Way?”
Part 1: Important Questions
Part 2: Rote Memorize versus Knowing
Part 3: Better Descriptors
Part 4: Working With Differing Views of Mathematics
Part 5: Why Haven’t I Changed the World Yet?
Take 3 1/2 minutes to see why numeracy is so important - even in higher math!
Clock models work well for some fraction work. We can develop this model with kids to use. "We're just adding fractions with unlike denominators, but using a naturally occurring denominator, like money, or now time, to find the sum of those fractions - without memorizing some algorithm, we're using natural relationships that we've got."
Algebra Problem Strings, any requests?
Pam is writing problem strings for exponential functions and logarithms. What concepts do your students have difficulty constructing? Let us know and we'll try to write a problem string to address it. Tweet it to us.
Real Teaching Video Library - Deadline Extended
The deadline for submitting videos to our Real Teaching Video Library has been extended to May 17, 2017. We have received many awesome examples of high impact strategies, but would love to see what is happening in your classrooms.
Any teacher who submits a video (even if it’s not selected for the library) will receive 2 free CPE hours for each video submitted, a cool t-shirt, and a chance to win a variety of prizes, including an ESC Region 11 coaching contract for your school. You don’t need any special equipment or editing skills; you can video from a phone or tablet. We are looking for 4-5 minutes of your awesomeness! If you’re interested in learning more, check out https://www.realvideolibrary.org/ We look forward to getting your submission!
Texas Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) Pilot Program.
The Texas Regional Collaboratives would like to invite you to participate in the Texas Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) Pilot Program. CGI is a teacher professional development program that helps teachers understand children’s mathematical thinking and how to use knowledge of children’s thinking to guide mathematics instruction. CGI is one of the only math PD programs with a research base to show that teachers'participation in CGI PD Seminars leads to increases in their students’ math achievement. CGI is not a curriculum but rather enhances teachers’ ability to use any curriculum materials to increase student learning.
The Texas CGI Pilot Program will include:
a 7-day CGI Professional Development Seminar for K-2 teachers (4 days in the summer: June 12- 15, 2017; 2 days in September; and 1 day later in the 2017-18 school year — all sessions will be held in Lake Dallas ISD)
teams of at least 2 per campus in order to support each other a team of three is preferred
a CGI Administrator Support Seminar (1 day in your region plus a half-day webinar in the 2017-18 school year)
one book per participating teacher: Children’s Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction
cost of $200 per participant
If you are interested in this professional learning opportunity, please contact Faith Schwope at (817) 740-7550.
ORIGO Early Childhood: Pre-K Mathematics
From the earliest of age, children hear and see numbers in their daily lives. They interact with them in many forms, from the language they hear and say to the quantities they see and represent, and by recognizing numerals in environmental print. At this session, we will explore children's symbolic and language misconceptions that can cloud their mathematical judgement and how using a research-based pathway, alongside a developmentally appropriate trajectory of counting principles, can negate these misconceptions and lead to early numeracy success. Presenter: Jessica BoBo, M.Ed., lead author of the ORIGO Stepping Stones Pre-Kindergarten Comprehensive Mathematics program. Register Now!
Proposed Amendments
SB 826 update:
Relating to the sequencing of required English language arts courses and mathematics courses in schools.
Committee Meeting Video Link: http://tlcsenate.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=42&clip_id=11895
To sign up for notices for bill movement, go to http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/.
Mathematics Process Standards
Summer Opportunity for Texas Educators: Improving Instruction Through Assessment
During the SBOE Meeting, TEA shared that they will be conducting "teacher institutes this summer to develop online interim and formative assessment items that align to the grades 3-8 math and reading State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®). These assessments will reduce district's need to purchase commercially-based test-prep materials by providing state-developed instructional materials that are fully aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) at no cost." Information about these institutes can be found in this flyer.
Math Academies
SB 934, 84th Texas Legislature, 2015 established mathematics achievement academies for teachers who provide mathematics instruction to students at the kindergarten or first, second, or third grade level. The Texas Legislature has appropriated funding to pay stipends to eligible teachers who successfully complete academies. The agency is required to grant priority for academy participation and stipend eligibility to teachers employed at campuses at which 50% or more of the students enrolled are educationally disadvantaged (eligible to participate in the national free or reduced-price lunch program). A teacher who successfully completes an academy will be eligible to receive a $350 stipend, minus applicable payroll and income taxes. Following the 2016 implementation of grade 2 and 3 mathematics achievement academies, 2017 academies will be made available by education service centers (ESCs) throughout the state as follows:
Summer 2017Kindergarten/Grade 1 Mathematics Achievement
Lists of priority campuses by ESC region are posted at www.tea.texas.gov/Curriculum/Academies. Teachers at campuses listed on the 2016 list, the 2017 list, or both will be eligible to attend academies in summer 2017. The agency does not anticipate that funding will be sufficient to allow all teachers at all priority campuses to attend an academy this summer. Consequently, additional prioritization will occur to allow teachers from as many priority campuses as possible to attend academies. ESC staff will contact district administrators with instructions regarding registration of teachers for the summer 2017 academies.
Additional information regarding the academies is posted at www.tea.texas.gov/Curriculum/Academies.
For questions regarding the academies, please contact the Curriculum and Student Support Division, by telephone at (512) 463-9581 or by email at curriculum@tea.texas.gov.
Grade 6 OnTRACK
Teacher2Teacher Videos
Teacher2Teacher Videos are available on the Texas Gateway. Three additional videos were recently published:
Addition and Subtraction Grades K–1,
Pre-Kindergarten guidelines
The 2015 update to the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines are now available in Vietnamese.
The current available languages include
English
Spanish
Vietnamese
ESTAR/MSTAR
Spring–April 3 –May 5, 2017
ESTAR/MSTAR Diagnostic Assessments
Spring–April 10 -May 12, 2017
Help Desk: mathtx@esc13.net or
1-855-462-8489
Revised Kindergarten and Grade 1 Supporting Information Documents Available
Be sure you have the most up to date Supporting Information Documents for K and Grade 1! Look for "April 2017" in the document footer.
Think Through Math (TTM)
Think Through Math is now Imagine Math
Contract continues to be available for grades 3-8 and Algebra I.
The current contract goes through August 31, 2017.
Texas Education Agency-Approved Mathematics Courses Available to Schools Statewide Through the Texas Virtual School Network Catalog
The Texas Virtual School Network (TXVSN) catalog is available to help all public schools across the state meet their educational goals as well as the individual needs of their diverse students. The TXVSN catalog offers 90+ high school, Advanced Placement (AP®), and dual credit online courses that are approved by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and taught by appropriately credentialed teachers trained in best practices for online instruction. All TXVSN courses are highly interactive and have undergone a rigorous course review process to ensure alignment with all applicable course requirements, including the TEKS, national standards for quality online courses, and TXVSN accessibility standards for students with special needs.
Mathematics courses currently offered through the TXVSN catalog include Algebra I, Algebra II (high school and dual credit), Geometry, Precalculus, Mathematical Models with Applications, Advanced Quantitative Reasoning, and AP Calculus AB. Approved courses continue to be added to the catalog throughout the school year.
The TXVSN teacher serves as the teacher of record. TXVSN courses may be taken for initial credit or credit recovery. Students are not required to be physically present on campus during instruction to be eligible to generate Foundation School Program (FSP) funding for a TXVSN course. Districts and charter schools can earn these funds based on a student’s successful completion of the course regardless of where the student is located while receiving instruction. For more information, see the TXVSN website at www.txvsn.org.
STAAR® results for first 2017 administration of 5th & 8th grade mathematics released
Eighty-one percent of fifth and 74 percent of eighth-grade students passed the STAAR mathematics test on their first attempt.
For additional detail, please continue reading this release.
STAAR Performance Standards
- A Commissioner's Rule amendment was proposed in December 2016 which finalizes the performance standards and replaces the old standard progression phase-in plan.
- The rule applies to testing in the 2016-2017 school year!
For STAAR and STAAR Spanish, the labels for the performance categories are
- Masters Grade Level
- Meets Grade Level
- Approaches Grade Level
- Did Not Meet Grade Level
STAAR Performance Labels and Policy Definitions (PDF updated 04/18/17)
STAAR 3–8 Performance Standards Chart (PDF updated 04/18/17)
STAAR EOC Performance Standards Chart (PDF updated 04/18/17)
Introducing the New Confidential Student Report (CSR)
The Texas Education Agency publishes STAAR® report cards for all students every year. To improve communication and transparency with educators and families, TEA has redesigned the Confidential Student Report (CSR). The goal of the redesigned CSR is to create a family-friendly report on student progress, specifically highlighting growth and improvement as much as proficiency. The new CSR features:
- Growth and progress information
- A summer reading list
- Lexile levels and trend data
- New performance level descriptors
- Resources and suggestions for parents to use at home
- Suggested questions for parents to ask teachers and counselors
The new CSRs will be available online and on paper beginning June 13th for the EOCs and June 30th for 3-8.
CSR Website
On June 13th, TEA is also launching a new CSR web site, which will include item-level analysis for each question on the STAAR, informational videos, and links to additional resources. For the first time, parents and teachers who log in will be able to see actual test questions from the current year’s STAAR exam. They’ll also find information on boosting reading levels and developing student-specific summer reading lists.
Pre-Launch Training Materials
To help you prepare staff and teachers for the changes, we have created a website, http://tea.texas.gov/studentreport, where you can find:
- Templates of the redesigned CSR for each grade level
- A list of the suggested questions for parents to ask their children’s teachers or counselors
- A training video for you to share with teachers, staff, and parents
- A downloadable presentation
- An annotated CSR example, describing each new section
If you have questions about the CSR, please contact the Office of Academics at (512) 463-8934.
WeTeach_CS Foundations of Computer Science for Teachers
WeTeach_CS Foundations of Computer Science for Teachers online course begins May 8, 2017. This six-week online course, hosted on EdX, is designed to help teachers prepare for the TExES 141 or 241 Grades 8-12 Computer Science Certification exam. The course provides extensive detailed instruction, examples and practice on everything from introductory programming topics such as variables, functions, loops and logical expressions to more advanced topics such as data structures, recursion, and object oriented programming. Basic enrollment is free of charge. Participants wanting to receive 36 CPE credit hours from The University of Texas at Austin upon completing the course can upgrade their enrollment to a Verified Certificate. Upgraded participants will also have access to weekly quizzes and the comprehensive final, which mimics the actual 100 question CS certification exam.
Tell Us What You Think
Researchers at Southern Methodist University have partnered with Dr. Deni Basaraba in the Bethel School District in Oregon to develop a survey to learn more about teachers’ perceptions of the role of language in mathematics problem-solving. The research study is called “Exploring teachers’ perceptions of the role of language and readability in solving mathematics word problems.” Teachers are asked to reflect upon the linguistic and readability features they think may support or hinder successful problem-solving for English Learners (ELs) and native English-speaking students, as well as information about what supports they provide for students who appear to be struggling to solve mathematics word problems. All teachers who complete this survey and provide an email address will be entered into a raffle to win 1 of 18 $25 Amazon gift cards. We anticipate this survey will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
This survey will be available for completion from April 2017 through May 2017 at the following link:
https://smu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8qb20nmFIefmrFH
If you have any questions, contact Dr. Deni Basaraba directly at Deni.Basaraba@bethel.k12.or.us.
Connect industry professionals with your classroom today!
We’re looking for a few good STEMnauts
And your students are prime candidates
Their six-week mission: to explore how NASA uses STEM* and programming, use problem-solving and coding skills to solve riddles and compete for great prizes – including the NEW limited-edition TI-84 Plus CE graphing calculator in Galaxy Gray and a $500 Amazon gift card.
Each STEMnaut crew must have an adult sponsor and up to five middle grades or high school students. They’ll get a new set of brainteasers each week. Correct answers earn points, and the team with the most points when the contest ends on May 31, 2017, wins the grand prize!!
Engaging Resources for Your Students
Pre-K–Grade 2
By yourself or against a friend, match whole numbers, shapes, fractions, or multiplication facts to equivalent representations. Practice with the clear panes or step up the challenge with the windows closed. How many socks can you win?
Grades 3–5
Fill a box with cubes, rows of cubes, or layers of cubes. The number of unit cubes needed to fill the entire box is known as the volume of the box. Can you determine a rule for finding the volume of a box if you know its width, depth, and height?
Grades 6–8
With this activity, you can visually explore the concept of factors by creating rectangular arrays. The length and width of the array are factors of your number.
Grades 9–12
IGD: Dropping a Perpendicular Line
Constructing a line perpendicular to a given line and through a point not on the line is one of the most important constructions in geometry. This process is known as dropping a perpendicular because a perpendicular line is "dropped" from the point to the line. Note: IGD refers to the Interactive Geometry Dictionary, which contains applets that allow the user to access various content.
The Math Forum
The Math Forum was busy earlier this month at the NCTM and NCSM Annual Meetings in San Antonio! Visit this page to view handouts, photos, and resource links from our sessions as well as Storify links from the Ignite events and links to YouTube videos of individual Ignite talks.
The Math Forum at NCTM is proud to present 62 sets of Math Forum Problems of the Week Resources that are free to NCTM members. Each Problem of the Week includes a scenario and a problem based on the scenario, and a teacher packet includes student work, standards alignment, sample solutions, and a problem-solving and communication rubric. Check out the #NCTMresources hashtag on Twitter to follow along as we share and discuss these and other NCTM classroom resources.
Math Education Webinars
NCTM has two new learning opportunities to collaborate with your colleagues from all over the country, no matter where you are. In May, Webinar Wednesdays will discuss the different pendulum swings throughout the history of mathematics and implementing effective mathematics teaching practices with the newly published Taking Action series (currently sold out, but will be available in mid-May).
Join us for these free webinars and share your insights before, during, and after the events on social media with the hashtag #NCTMLive. Join your peers in the mathematics education community and let's learn together!
Relive ShadowCon V3.0
ShadowCon V3.0 discussed academic language, technological integration, and more. Once again, the goal of ShadowCon was to expand access to and extend our engagement with the speakers' ideas. Each speaker's 10-minute talk served as a preview for a FREE 10-week online course! Thanks to Dan Meyer, Mike Flynn, and Zak Champagne for making this be one of the most must-attend events at #NCTMannual. Missed out? No worries! Relive the action via Facebook Live.