Program Manager's Message:
Welcome to October! Enjoy our newsletter as we move toward our KSDE Annual Conference.
Welcome to October! Enjoy our newsletter as we move toward our KSDE Annual Conference.
Martin Gardner was a mathematics writer. He devoted his life to creating and studying mathematical puzzles. For many years, he had a column at Scientific American where he wrote about these puzzles.
Do you want to network with other math teachers across the state? What about an opportunity to share questions you have for KSDE? Do you want to brainstorm ideas on implementing effective teaching practices? Then join our monthly collaboration meetings.
Math Curriculum Leaders Collaboration
October 25, 3pm (Zoom Registration Link)
Math Teacher Collaboration
October 25, 4pm (Zoom Registration Link)
Are you doing something amazing in your classroom that you would like to share with others?
Please submit ideas to sking@ksde.org to be showcased next month.
USD 501's young mathematicians have been working on thinking tasks on vertical non-permanent surfaces. Students enjoy and love doing thinking tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving. Students work collaboratively to analyze and solve problems!
If you're looking for some task resources, click here for non-curricular tasks and here for curricular tasks.
Do You Want to Learn More About Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics? Check out some opportunities below.
The KSDE Math Teacher Leader Team is extremely excited to hold Building Thinking Classrooms (BTC) collaboration and practices sharing throughout the school year. This is a great opportunity to share learnings from the book, implementation experiences, tips, tricks, etc. Let us grow together and collectively build thinking classrooms in Kansas. Check out the dates below:
October 6 | October 27 | November 17 | December 8 |
February 2 | February 23 | March 23 | April 13
Don't have a Building Thinking Classrooms (BTC) in Mathematics book or have not read the book yet? No worries!
You can learn more about BTC from the Sum of It All Podcasts. You can also check out more podcasts on the BTC website.
Nominate a 7-12 grade math teacher for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching!
It takes 2 minutes and changes lives! Need support? Click here to register for our support series.
September 15 - October 15: Join and/or visit TODOS: Mathematics for All for high-quality mathematics education resources related to Latinos/as/x in mathematics. TODOS is an NCTM Affiliate whose mission is to advocate for equity and high quality mathematics education for all students—in particular, Latina/o students.
NCSM: Leadership in Mathematics Education and TODOS: Mathematics for ALL (TODOS) prioritize policies and practices that position multilingual learners (i.e., children learning mathematics in languages that differ from their students’ first languages) so that they can access, engage, and thrive in mathematics education. Accomplishing this will require a systemic approach and investments that influence policies and practices. These include professional development, infrastructure, curriculum, family/community engagement, language development, and mathematics teaching, learning and assessment.
"Overgeneralizing commonly accepted strategies, using imprecise vocabulary, and relying on tips and tricks that do not promote conceptual understanding can lead to misunderstanding late in students' math careers." -Karp, Bush, Dougherty
Here are the 13 Rules that Expires in Elementary Math Classrooms.
Tang Math provides many resources: books, games, problem generators etc. Greg Tang works with some of the highest performing and most improving schools and districts in the country. He is the NY Times best-selling author of The Grapes of Math, gold medal eBook Math Appeal, and 6 other books from Scholastic.
Mathematics Vocabulary Cards contains math vocabulary cards for Kindergarten through 8th Grade and Secondary 1 Mathematics. These cards can also be found in Spanish, Chinese, and French under the Dual Immersion menu. Portuguese, German, and Russian vocabulary cards are located at the following website: USOE Dual Immersion Vocabulary Cards
The Inside Mathematics Problem Solving problems are non-routine math problems designed to promote problem-solving in your classroom. Each problem is divided into five levels of difficulty to allow access and scaffolding for students into different aspects of the problem and to stretch students to go deeper into mathematics complexity.
Have you seen Mrs. Park Shine's freebies? Run and check out her amazing slides and Jamboard templates.
K-5 Math great site that contains K-5 teaching resources. Their mission is to transform the teaching and learning of mathematics, improving outcomes for all students in elementary and middle school.
Real World Tasks: Have you used Robert Kaplinsky's Open Middle Tasks and Real-World Problems? Great resources of math tasks that promote problem solving and reasoning.
Do you use Illustrative Mathematics to supplement lessons ad GeoGebra as a tool? Access free Illustrative Math in GeoGebra now!
"Overgeneralizing commonly accepted strategies, using imprecise vocabulary, and relying on tips and tricks that do not promote conceptual understanding can lead to misunderstanding late in students' math careers." -Karp, Bush, Dougherty
Here are the 12 Rules that Expires in Middle School Math Classrooms.
"Overgeneralizing commonly accepted strategies, using imprecise vocabulary, and relying on tips and tricks that do not promote conceptual understanding can lead to misunderstanding late in students' math careers." -Karp, Bush, Dougherty
Here are the 15 Rules that Expires in High School Math Classrooms.
This site is a spreadsheet with links to approximately 60 lessons that each linked to one or more grade 6 through high school Common Core Math Standards and one or more Standards for Mathematical Practice.
Desmos Graphing Calculator - Graph functions, plot data, evaluate equations, explore transformations, and much more – for free! Also available as an app on Google Play and Apple App Store
Calculate84 - a graphing calculators for iPhones
CALC 84 - a graphing calculator 83/84
Wabbitemu - creates a Texas Instruments graphing calculator right on your Windows, Mac, or Android device.
The Inside Mathematics Problem Solving problems are non-routine math problems designed to promote problem-solving in your classroom. Each problem is divided into five levels of difficulty to allow access and scaffolding for students into different aspects of the problem and to stretch students to go deeper into mathematics complexity.
Access digital math activities that engage students into problem solving, thinking and reasoning. Premade Desmos activities are available but teachers can create their own.
Real World Tasks: Have you used Robert Kaplinsky's Open Middle Tasks and Real-World Problems? Great resources of math tasks that promote problem solving and reasoning.
Do you use Illustrative Mathematics to supplement lessons ad GeoGebra as a tool? Access free Illustrative Math in GeoGebra now!
Do you enjoy Marian Small's (@marian_small) Open Questions? She takes a traditional problem and opens up parts that lead to interesting explorations and math conversations.
Do you want to learn more about it? She's got an online workshop about creating & using open questions: https://grassrootsworkshops.com/workshops/how-to-create-and-use-open-questions-in-math-class
T³ Regional Summits
Each regional summit offers a variety of interactive sessions, and you can select those that interest you the most.
Participants will receive a Certificate of Attendance, which may be accepted for school or district continuing education credit.
First Educational Resources: "Help! They Don't Know Their Facts!" Moving beyond Memorization by Developing Fact Fluency
Have you ever wondered why students don’t know their basic facts? We have all had that thought, “if they just knew their facts…” So, what if they did know their facts, and it was built by constructing relationships with numbers and by using models and strategies that promote conceptual understanding? In this 90 minute virtual session, we will explore the difference between fluency and memorization, barriers, and how to build fact fluency through conceptual understanding and developing students’ number sense.
Shelly Daun and Amanda Ironside have many years of experience working with teachers to successfully meet the diverse mathematical needs of their students by providing teachers with increased knowledge of how students learn math and what teachers can do to move their students along a continuum of deeper understanding. Click here to learn more about the it.
First Educational Resources: Leveraging Small Group Instruction
Small group instruction allows teachers to understand their student’s instructional strengths and areas of need. This allows teachers to tailor lessons that meet students where they are along their journey of learning and understanding mathematical concepts. Individualized attention towards students boosts confidence and provides an environment where students feel comfortable with risk-taking, asking questions and receiving feedback to their learning. This series will provide teachers with many tools to build their “tool box” to meet the needs of the diverse learners in their classrooms through small group instruction.
Shelly Daun and Amanda Ironside have many years of experience working with teachers to successfully meet the diverse mathematical needs of their students by providing teachers with increased knowledge of how students learn math and what teachers can do to move their students along a continuum of deeper understanding. During this series, Amanda and Shelly will share practical small group instructional tools and activities that teachers can use instantly in their classroom to leverage student success and conceptual understanding of various mathematical concepts. Click here to register.
First Educational Resources: Productive Struggle: Strategies and Tasks for Promoting Perseverance in Your Mathematics Classroom
In this 90-minute session, participants will explore the meaning of productive struggle and how it encourages risk-taking in the classroom. We will learn the importance of valuing perseverance, how mental stamina can be built through problem solving and how identifying multiple entry points to a task increases engagement and helps identify and maximize potential. In this session, we will investigate strategies and tasks that provide students with the appropriate level of challenge from a mathematics lens. Register here.
Did you know that the National Council of Teaching Mathematics has a webinar library on recent shifts in Math Teaching practice? Check out their topics here.
They are amazing tools for personalized professional learning and great communities to network with other educators and leaders. Check out @KSDETCHRLEADERS and @KATMWebmaster on twitter and Kansas Association of Teachers of Mathematics on Facebook. #KSMath
Want to network with other math educators and leaders about Building Thinking Classrooms? Follow Dr. Peter Liljedahl, the author of BTC in mathematics, and you'll find tons of math educators and leaders to collaborate with.
Another great BTC resource is the BTC Facebook page where teachers share tips, ideas, success stories, and ways to address some challenges and struggles.
Looking for a good math podcast? Wondering how to create a classroom culture where students don't want to stop exploring mathematics when the bell rings? Kyle Pearce from TapIntoTeenMinds.com and Jon Orr from MrOrr-IsAGeek.com team up to uncover how we can Make Math Moments That Matter for every student in the math classroom from Kindergarten through Grade 12. Discover how you can build easy to plan and fun to deliver maths lessons that kids will not only love but also learn from using the Making Math Moments That Matter 3-Part Framework.
The Build Math Minds podcast is for my fellow Recovering Traditionalists out there. We are math educators who used to teach math the traditional way. Flip lesson by lesson in the textbook, directly teaching step-by-step how to solve math problems.
But now, we are working to change that to a style of teaching math that is fun and meets our students where they are at, not just teaching what comes next in the textbook. We want to encourage our students to be thinkers, problem solvers, and lovers of mathematics.
WHAT: The Shake Up Learning Show is a weekly podcast hosted by Kasey Bell.
The show features a variety of episodes for K12 teachers and educators, including tech tips, lesson ideas, practical advice, on-air coaching, student interviews, and interviews with inspiring educators.
WHEN: New episodes are released every Tuesday.
HOW: Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart, or any of your other favorite podcatchers. You can also stream on ShakeUpLearning.com.