A room full of math coaches!
NCSM Boston. Some of my Monday notes.
Jo Boaler’s Keynote
On teacher attitudes
We urgently need to shift teachers, parents, and students ideas about who can achieve in mathematics.
Students of color and girls show the sharpest increase in achievement with mindset interventions.
On achievement
The lowest achievers in the world are the "memorizers".
The highest achievers in the world are those who think about big ideas and connections.
On mistakes
Every time you make a mistake in math a synapse fires. When you get a question correct, there is no brain growth.
Teachers should encourage mistakes.
Students need open and challenging work so they will make mistakes.
Teachers need to change classroom culture to openly value mistakes.
Jo has a new version of her book, called What’s Math Got To Do With It
Jo is working on a Week of Inspirational Math, a series of free lessons designed to be used for the first week of school.
Susan Jo Russell
How "Lingering" on Ideas about the Meaning of the Operations Can Include All Students in Significant Learning
Access and equity
Engaging students with challenging tasks, discourse, and open-ended problem solving has the potential to raise the mathematics achievement of all students, including poor and low income students.
"Productive lingering" is essential to engaging in mathematical argument for all.
Amy Lucenta, Grace Kelemanik, Susan Creighton
Engaging ALL Learners in Mathematical Practices through Instructional Routines
All students must be able to…
Interpret and chunk complicated objects,
connect representations
change the form of the numbers, expressions, space, etc. to create and leverage equivalences,
recall and use properties, rules of operations and geometric relationships,
and find the right distance from a problem...i.e. shift perspective.
The math practices open doors for struggling students.
Problems were presented and the audience was asked what we noticed. We were encouraged to find “shortcuts”. However, the shortcuts are based on mathematical reasoning, and are one way to facilitate productive math classes.
If we don't seal the deal with a meta-reflection, we are just talking about strategies.
Students generate “Ask Myself” questions.
Next time I will ....before I calculate because....
Paying attention to ....is helpful because....
Deborah Ball, et al
How can explicitness about mathematical practices support equitable instruction?
Deborah Ball teaching video
Task: Make as many 3 digit numbers as possible using the digits 4, 5, and 6.
I would like someone to give a wrong answer to this problem.
Do others agree this is wrong?
Can someone share one reason why it is not one of the answers?
Explicit teaching…
… unpacks practices or knowledge to make it open to learners, not doing it for them.
...is not about the teacher demonstrating.
...seeks to maintain complexity but make complex practice accessible to all students.
Students do the work, teacher highlights what they just did. Makes elements visible, provides language and supports.
I have opinions about the idea that “mathematicians are lazy” and the term “shortcuts”. I won’t share those now, nor will I write about more speakers I saw on Monday, or all the other questions and thoughts I have, because I am tired and have to get to sleep. Another time.
