Upcoming Conference: Conversations among Colleagues

Join colleagues in mathematics and mathematics education for engaging and stimulating conversations on current and ongoing topics in mathematics teaching and learning!

Saturday, March 23, 2013

8:30 AM to 5:00 PM

Making Practice Core: Mathematical Practices and the Practice of Teaching

Location

Pearce Hall, Central Michigan University (Parking in Lot 22)

Keynote Speaker

​	​ Jere Confrey Joseph D. Moore Distinguished University Professor Professor of Mathematics Education William and Ida Friday Institute for Education Innovation College of Education North Carolina State University

Closing Panel

• Jere Confrey (North Carolina State University)
• Ruth Ann Hodges (Michigan Department of Education)
• Valerie Mills (Oakland Schools; President-Elect, National Council of Supervisors
  of Mathematics)

Conversations among Colleagues was designed in 2003-2004 to engage mathematicians, mathematics educators and leaders in mathematics education in a day of sessions and conversations to share learning related to mathematics education and the development of mathematics teachers in the state of Michigan. 

The conference addresses policy, projects, course and curriculum development, mathematics needed for teaching, teacher development, assessment, data analysis and other topics of interest and pertinence to the improvement of mathematics teaching and learning at all levels.

REGISTER NOW

Grandparents, Grandkids, Grand Valley (G3) Summer Camp

G3 is for grandparents and grandchildren (ages 8-12) to share a three-day educational experience while spending time together on the Grand Valley State University (GVSU) campus.  Participants will enjoy the college experience of living and dining on campus and attending classes while sampling many of the great opportunities that Grand Valley State University has to offer!

Grandparents and grandkids attend hands-on classes together which will be taught by GVSU faculty in a range of disciplines.  Evening activities will include swimming, the climbing wall, volleyball, biking, and games. 

June 25 - June 27, 2013 

Registration is now open!

The power of a good mistake

The Power of a Good Mistake

By NCTM President Linda M. Gojak
NCTM Summing Up, January 8, 2013

 “It has been a long trip,” said Milo, climbing onto the couch where the princesses sat; “but we would have been here much sooner if I hadn’t made so many mistakes. I’m afraid it’s all my fault.”

“You must never feel badly about making mistakes,” explained Reason quietly, “as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.” 
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth 

How often do our students consider their mistakes to be signs of failure? How many students, as well as parents, believe that the goal of learning mathematics is solely to get the correct answer? How often, on arriving at an answer, do students believe their thinking about the problem is finished? In The Phantom Tollbooth, author Norton Juster offers a valuable contrasting perspective: read on...

Share your use of technology in your classroom with others: Call for speakers

Come and share your ideas and experiences with mobile technology for teaching and learning. Present an interesting and exciting session at the Mobile Learning Conference!
The conference will be held in Portage Michigan at Kalamazoo RESA on May 10, 2013.
PRESENTATION TYPE
Concurrent Sessions: 60-minute sessions are offered by an individual or a team of presenters. These presentations are informative, focusing on various aspects of mobile technology for teaching and learning.
SPEAKER SELECTION
The planning committee will evaluate your proposal for:

• Content—does your description clearly outline the objectives? Can your topic be covered in a one-hour presentation?
• Appropriateness—is the topic current and of relevant educational value for participants?

INTERNET CONNECTIVITY
Internet connections will be available in all session rooms.
REGISTRATION AND HOUSING
Registration and housing information will be available online soon.

TO BE A SPEAKER AT THE Mobile Learning Conference go to submit your proposal now.

Submission Deadline: April 10, 2013. Speakers receive a complimentary registration!

The way we understand our intelligence and abilities deeply impacts our success

Based on social science research and real life examples, Eduardo Briceño articulates how mindset, or the understanding of intelligence and abilities, is key.

When students or adults see their abilities as fixed, whether they think they're naturals or just not built for a certain domain, they avoid challenge and lose interest when things get hard. Conversely, when they understand that abilities are developed, they more readily adopt learning-oriented behaviors such as deliberate practice and grit that enable them to achieve their goals. But this belief is itself malleable, and there are clear actions we can all take to establish a growth mindset and enable success for our children, our peers and ourselves.

Eduardo Briceño is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mindset Works, an organization that helps schools and other organizations cultivate a growth mindset culture. The growth mindset was discovered by Stanford professor and Mindset Works co-founder Carol Dweck, Ph.D., and is described in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Mindset Works offers Brainology, an innovative blended learning program to teach a growth mindset to students, teachers and schools, as well as teacher professional development and tools.

Watch Eduardo Briceño's TEDx talk introducing Mindsets now.

[reposted]

Math in Action Conference

Mark your Calendars! Math in Action will be held in Mackinac Hall on the GVSU Allendale Campus on Saturday, February 9, 2013. 

Math in Action is of interest to K–12 teachers of mathematics, administrators, curriculum directors, parents, prospective teachers, and college and university mathematics education, mathematics, statistics, and education faculty.  
Check out the 2013 MIA conference information now and register soon.

Help spread the word, like the Math In Action Facebook page  and follow us on Twitter. 

6th grade teachers: steal these lessons!

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has released the first of its Model Curriculum Units for Mathematics and it's in support of 6th grade ratios and rate.

Check out the entire UNIT of 14 LESSONS and 1 PERFORMANCE TASK.
You've got your planning for Ratios and Rate under the Common Core done. Try these lessons out this year to help your students get on track with the Common Core.

More InfoThrough the Race to the Top Initiative, teams of educators from across the Massachusetts will develop more than 100 pre-k to grade 12 model curriculum units in English language arts and literacy, history/social science, mathematics, and science and technology/engineering. Four of these draft model curriculum units are now released to the public and all districts for try-out and feedback.

Educators needed for Smarter Balanced

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium will be developing an online digital library designed to be a one-stop site with professional development opportunities to learn more about balanced assessment systems, in particular formative assessment practices. The digital library is envisioned to have an extensive selection of resources necessary to transform classroom instructional and classroom assessment practices in support of student readiness for career and college.

The Michigan Department of Education is looking to recruit 75 – 90 Michigan educators to become members of a network of educators from other states within the Smarter Balanced Consortium with the purpose of identifying and recommending resources for the SBAC Digital Library and educating colleagues on the purpose and use of the SBAC Digital Library.  

More information regarding the role of Michigan’s educators in the development of the SBAC Digital Library, including expected time commitment and reimbursement is included in the application. 

  

The deadline to complete the online survey application is THIS Friday, January 25, 2013.

If you have questions, please contact: Kimberly Young, SBAC Formative Assessment Practices and Professional Learning Work Group, at 517-373-0988.

Have your students join an online math league

Do you like to measure, estimate, and play around with technology? Then join the FermiOff-the-Wall Math League!
This Internet-based math competition welcomes students in grades 1-9 from around the world who seek enrichment, small group work, and creative, technology-rich experiences.
A Fermi question is posed with limited information given. For example,

• How many water balloons would it take to fill grandma's bathtub?
• How many cockroaches will fill the trunk of a VW Beetle?
• How much fabric would it take to make a camo-suit for Moby Dick?
• How many eggs would fit in the Trojan Horse's body?

Fermi questions require that students ask many more questions; emphasize process rather than "the" answer; demand communication and writing; and utilize estimation, rounding numbers and guesses.
Registration opened last week for the six-week Winter '13 season, which starts Tuesday, January 29th. 

Fall 2012 MEAP Item Descriptor Booklets Now Available

The Item Descriptor Booklets for reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies can now be accessed on the MEAP webpage under the “Standards and Rubrics” heading. The writing rubrics are also available – these have not changed. Science item descriptors are undergoing final revisions and will be made available as quickly as possible. Writing Scoring Guides for grades 4 and 7 writing will be posted when they become available in mid to late February to accompany the release of MEAP writing CDs to districts.  

Michigan Interim Assessment Pilot – Schools Needed by January 18th

The Michigan Interim Assessment Program is in need of schools to pilot Michigan’s new interim assessments. These assessments will be online, pre-post assessments given at the beginning of a grade/course and end of a grade/course, and may be used as one possible measure of student growth. 

Participation as an interim assessment pilot site will meet the 2012-2013 school year online participation requirement (Category One #4) of the Technology Infrastructure Grant, and provide a low-stakes opportunity to test the school’s connectivity and bandwidth capacity for online testing. The Michigan Interim Assessment Program will offer scheduling flexibility for schools participating in the pilot. 

The first opportunity to experience these new assessments for teachers and students in grades 3 through high school is pilot testing in science and social studies, which will take place in April and May 2013.

Science
Grade 3 – 7 
Grade Level Assessments
Based on Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCEs) High School 
Course-Based Assessments
Based on High School Content Expectations (HSCEs)
• Earth Science
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics

Social Studies
Grade 3 – 8
Grade Level Assessments
Based on Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCEs) High School
Course-Based Assessments
Based on High School Content Expectations (HSCEs)
• U.S. History and Geography
• Word History and Geography
• Civics
• Economics

The minimum technology requirements for the online assessments include:
Apple

• MAC OS X® 10.5 – 10.8
• 256 MB of RAM or greater
• 1024x768 or greater screen resolution
• 10 MB hard disk space
• 400 MHz processor

Windows

• Windows XP® or 7
• 256 MB of RAM or greater
• 1024x768 or greater screen resolution
• 100 MB hard disk space
• 700 MHz processor

To participate in the Michigan Interim Assessment pilots, please complete this survey.  Surveys must be completed by Friday, January 18, 2013. 

Districts may have several buildings participate, but each building must register with a separate survey.  

Educators needed for Smarter Balanced Digital Library Development

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium will be developing an online digital library designed to be a one-stop site with professional development opportunities to learn more about balanced assessment systems, in particular formative assessment practices. The digital library is envisioned to have an extensive selection of resources necessary to transform classroom instructional and classroom assessment practices in support of student readiness for career and college.
The Michigan Department of Education is looking to recruit 75 – 90 Michigan educators to become members of a network of educators from other states within the Smarter Balanced Consortium with the purpose of identifying and recommending resources for the SBAC Digital Library and educating colleagues on the purpose and use of the SBAC Digital Library.  
More information regarding the role of Michigan’s educators in the development of the SBAC Digital Library, including expected time commitment and reimbursement is included in the application.  

HURRY! The deadline to complete the online survey application is Friday, January 25, 2013.
If you have questions, please contact: Kimberly Young, SBAC Formative Assessment Practices and Professional Learning Work Group, at 517-373-0988.

What do administrators need to know about the CCSS?

What do district administrators need to know about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)? The September 2011 “Spotlight on the Common Core State Standards” reviews actions district administrators should consider taking now to prepare their schools for CCSS implementation. Included in the four-page brief are suggestions for drafting an implementation plan; planning long-range, articulated professional development; developing a transition plan and curriculum framework; and more.

See the other issues in this series.

Education Northwest repost