#INspirEDmath
July 2018, Volume 1
Welcome to our Math Community of Practice!
What is your WHY? The beginning of a new school year provides an opportunity for reflection and professional growth. What motivates you? Why do you do what you do? Only you can answer these questions. Take a moment to consider what drives your passion and enthusiasm!
Your Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) mathematics team offers its encouragement and support as you focus on your WHY. Our goal is to establish a community of practice where we engage each other in discussion, provide best-practice exemplars, educator highlights, and continued growth in our shared passion - teaching mathematics! You are already signed up to receive our monthly newsletter. We hope you enjoy it! Please take time to join our online community via Moodle. You will need to create a Moodle account if you do not yet have one. Then, you will self-enroll in the Mathematics Community of Practice, within School Improvement, using the enrollment key INspirEDmath. We look forward to seeing you there!
Teach Inspired!
Problem of the Month!
Do you have it figured out? Try it for yourselves. Or better yet, try it with your students! Follow this link to access the images used by Dan Finkel. How might you use this task in class? For what ages of students do you think this task might be appropriate? Login to our Moodle account and share your thoughts on the Discussion page!
Spotlight: Jennifer Jensen, Assistant Director of Math Intruction
Greetings! I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and tell you about the exciting things that are happening at IDOE! As a classroom teacher and department chair for more than 20 years, I understand the joys and heartaches of the classroom teacher. I believe that mathematical literacy is just as important as language literacy, and that it is an essential component for future success. I am passionate about fostering excellent mathematics teaching and learning across the state!
We have a number of exciting things planned to support you in this endeavor:
- Utilizing NCTM's Principles to Actions text, we will be providing supports for the eight effective teaching practices and the guiding principles for school mathematics. We will highlight a teaching practice or guiding principle in each newsletter. We will also present on these topics at conferences and in schools. Soon we will have online PD modules for interested individuals!
- Indiana's math standards resource guides will all be refreshed. Please visit our website and check it out! Resources will support the effective teaching practices. If you have an awesome (free!) resource to recommend, please email us so that we can add it to the page.
- An Assessment Roadshow is coming this fall! Stay tuned for specific dates and locations.
- This newsletter is an important resource. Have your friends email us to join the mailing list or sign up with the link on the Math Standards page! We want to use this space to highlight the good work happening across the state!
We will unveil more plans throughout the year. Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions or concerns. We are here to support you!
Meet Your IDOE Mathematics Team!
Dr. Jennifer Jensen
Email: jjensen@doe.in.us
Website: doe.in.gov
Location: Indiana Department of Education
Phone: (317) 232-6673
Twitter: @DrJenJensen
Robin Conti
Email: rconti@doe.in.gov
Website: doe.in.gov
Location: Indiana Department of Education
Phone: 317-233-6098
Twitter: @RobinLConti
COMING SOON!
Location: Indiana Department of Education, West Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA