#INspirEDmath
February 2019, Volume 7
"Anyone, anyone?"
Problem of the Month!
Get your students thinking with the problem of the month. Using the numbers 1-9 only one time each, create the sums listed for each row, column, and diagonal! If you're interested in finding more of these great puzzles, follow @1to9puzzle on Twitter. Still want more? Head over to Open Middle for a plethora of problems similar to this aligned to grade levels K-12! This is a great tool to truly up the rigor in your classroom!
February's Focus: Practice #5
- Establishing mathematics goals to focus learning
- Implement tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving
- Use and connect mathematical representations
- Facilitate meaningful discourse
- Pose purposeful questions
- Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding
- Support productive struggle in learning mathematics
- Elicit and use evidence of student thinking
Posing Purposeful Questions
The four purposes (types) of teacher questions are
- To gather information - Student recalls facts, definitions, or procedures
- To probe thinking - Student will need to explain, elaborate, or clarify their thinking
- To make the mathematics visible - Student will discuss structure and make connections among ideas and relationships
- To encouraging reflection and justification - Student shows a deep understanding of reasoning and action, including arguing for validity
Tips to Try
- PLAN your questions when you create your lesson. Establish your learning goals for the lesson and anticipate student responses. This will guide your own questions.
- POST purposeful questions in your class so you and your students can see and anticipate them! They are not a secret!
- Monitor YOUR participation. 80% of class talk comes from the teacher. Work towards balancing that scale then eventually putting more weight on the students!
- Elicit and extend STUDENT thinking. Ask probing, clarifying, and reflective questions! Make sure you don't just funnel them to a desired conclusion.
A Teacher's Task
Factual questions comprise the majority of questions asked in a mathematics class (Dougherty & Foegen, 2010). Let's change that! Forget factual questions, let's strive for:
- Reversibility questions - Promotes the ability to think in different ways; give the answer and have the student write the problem. Example - Find an expression that can be simplified to 15 + 3y.
- Generalization questions - Encourage students to find and describe patterns; ask them what they notice, what they wonder. Example - Find an algebraic expression with four terms that can be simplified to an expression with two terms. What do you notice about the terms?
- Flexibility questions - Allows students to solve a problem in multiple ways. Example - Write an equivalent expression to 3b - 8. Write another equivalent expression to 3b - 8.
Can the questions you're asking be answered with a simple "yes" or "no"? Click below for 100 question stems that promote deep thinking!
Who to follow on Twitter
@ExploreMTB0s
@joboaler
@Desmos
Math Extravaganza - There is still time!
Space is limited and locations are filling up every week but you do NOT want to miss out! The feedback has been amazing and we know that Indiana students are going to reap the benefits of all the passionate and dedicated math teachers this state has to offer!
The day will focus on promoting and developing ambitious instruction in the K-12 mathematics classroom using NCTM’s Eight Effective Teaching Practices as outlined in Principles To Action (2014). In the morning, educators will participate in an interactive presentation with the IDOE math specialists to discuss the research, resources, and strategies aligned to each practice. The afternoon session will be dedicated to guided implementation time. Educators will be given the opportunity to apply what they have learned in a safe and collaborative environment. Ideas will be shared and connections made!
Details:
Five PGP’s will be given for educators who attend the full day professional development
Educators should bring a laptop or other device
Each site will have the following schedule, with minor variations in time, dependent upon location:
8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. with a one-hour lunch on your own
Space is limited to 100 educators at each location - sign up quickly to reserve your seat!
Click here for locations, dates, and registration links.
Opportunities For The Field
7-12 Mathematics Content Expert Work Group - Round 2
HAMTE Mathematics Teacher Leadership Conference
Educator Spotlight: Matt Walsh
After serving as the assistant principal at Brownsburg West Middle School and the Director of Curriculum in Brownsburg, Matt has served the Brownsburg Schools as the Secondary Social Studies Administrator, known previously as Brownsburg Junior High School, in Brownsburg. In the summer of 2018, Matt left the Brownsburg Schools after 18 years. Currently, he serves as the Curriculum Specialist with the Indiana Department of Education.
When he taught global studies to seventh graders at Brownsburg, his diverse instructional strategies included the use of video demonstrations, PowerPoint and the Internet. As part of his "Building Better Communities" unit, Walsh's students addressed the city's complex transportation problems by interviewing experts worldwide. They then created a Web site presentation for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization about the potential impact on the city of a monorail system. In their "Youth Forum" unit, Walsh's students practiced writing editorials, some of which were published in the Indianapolis Star. Walsh also joined two other Milken Educators in designing a distance learning curriculum known as ELEVATE. Walsh serves on the Indiana University Education Alumni Board and Indiana's Education Technology Commission. In 2002, he was named Brownsburg Community School Corporation Teacher of the Year. In 2015, Matt was awarded the “Realizing the Dream” Award from Marian University. In his spare time, Matt works as a consultant for developing school administrators in the iLead Program at the University of Indianapolis.
Supports from Assessment
Your IDOE Mathematics Team
Robin Conti
Email: rconti@doe.in.gov
Website: doe.in.gov
Location: Indiana Department of Education
Phone: (317)-233-6098
Twitter: @RobinLConti
Beau Scott
Email: jscott3@doe.in.us
Website: doe.in.gov
Location: Indiana Department of Education, West Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone: (317)-232-9142
Twitter: @NerdCoreTeacher