SEEING AS UNDERSTANDING: The Importance of Visual Mathematics for our Brain and Learning

As Thomas West, author, states, there is a centuries-old belief that words and mathematical symbols are “for serious professionals – whereas pictures and diagrams” are “for the lay public and children” (2004). This idea is an example of a damaging myth in education, and this paper will present compelling brain evidence to help dispel the myth. We will also provide examples of ways that visual mathematics may be integrated into curriculum materials and teaching ideas across grades K-16. 

Read the recently published paper by Jo Boaler and Lang Chen Seeing as Understanding: The Importance of Visual Mathematics for our Brain and Learning. If it interests you, use the corresponding activities A Range of Visual Activities and Representations in your classroom.

Opportunity for Kalamazoo county educators

The INSPIRE Conference

Be sure to join the Learning Network for Greater Kalamazoo for the educators conference of the year on August 19th! Be among the first 1,000 people to register by Saturday, August 1st to receive a $25 gift card. 

Now in its second year, the Inspire 2015-2016 conference takes place on Wednesday, August 19th from 9 am to 12:15 pm. at Miller Auditorium in Kalamazoo. The event is open to anyone involved in education in Kalamazoo County; teachers, custodians, secretaries, tutors, the home-school community, volunteers and more. 

Register now.

The Foundation for Technology and Engineering Education (FTEE) - Dugger/Gerrish Endowment, in partnership with the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) has commissioned a study to determine to what extent students in United States public schools use a tactile hands-on process of problem solving involving "doing" in their elementary, middle, and high school courses. We are currently conducting the second of four rounds of this study. We ask that you participate even if you participated in the first round.

To start the survey, please follow the appropriate link:

• Elementary School Teachers: take survey
• Middle School Teachers: take survey
• High School Teachers: take survey

For the purposes of this study, the definition of "doing" is: A tactile/hands-on process of problem solving starting with human needs and wants that leads to the
principles of innovation such as designing, making/building, producing, and evaluating.

We ask that you respond to three demographic questions and answer Yes or No to 13 statements dealing with "Doing Based Learning." The survey will not take longer than five minutes to complete. The statements are based on Next Generation Science Standards, Standards for Technological Literacy, and Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.

Your input will not affect what you are currently teaching. There are no correct or incorrect responses. We are trying to determine what types of activities your students do in class. A space is provided for you to make comments, if you choose to do so.

This survey is totally voluntary. Please complete this survey before April 15, 2015 to be eligible for an iPad Mini drawing that will be held no later than April 30, 2015. Congratulations to Ms. Taylor, an elementary teacher from Murray, Utah for winning the iPad Mini from the first round. To participate in the drawing, follow the prompt at the end of the survey.

Thank you in advance for your assistance. If you have any questions or concerns, please address them to jmoye@iteea.org.

Thank you in advance for your valuable participation in this research!

Johnny J Moye, Ph.D., DTE
ITEEA Research Associate
International Technology and Engineering Educators Association
1914 Association Drive, Suite 201
Reston, VA 20191

Spotlight on Student Assessment and Accountability: January 8, 2015

Spotlight on Student Assessment and Accountability: December 18, 2014

Spotlight on Student Assessment and Accountability: December 4, 2014

Finally: Spring assessments decided

The Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM) would like to share the latest information from the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) informing educators across state on the new spring 2015 summative assessments. 

MDE has listed three key points:

• MEAP is replaced by the M-Step (Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress) test.
• Both Michigan developed content as well as Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) content will be included on the Spring 2015 assessment.  
• The deadline for schools to apply for a  paper/pencil waiver is today,  November 21, 2014.

The mathematics (grades 3-8) assessment will include a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT), a classroom activity, and a performance task.

The mathematics for grade 11 assessment will include ACT, WorkKeys, and M-Step summative assessments.  The mathematics portion of the assessment program will also contain content from the SBAC plus Michigan developed field tested items that will include a CAT, a classroom activity and a performance task*.

Note: Due to time concerns and restrictions for the 11th grade assessment, the Performance Tasks and their accompanying classroom activities will be recommended but not required for 11th graders.

To learn more please peruse the M-Step Assessment Transition document.

Fluency Without Fear: Research Evidence on the Best Ways to Learn Math Facts

By Jo Boaler
Professor of Mathematics Education, co-founder youcubed
with the help of Cathy Williams, co-founder youcubed, & Amanda Confer
Stanford University.

Introduction
A few years ago a British politician, Stephen Byers, made a harmless error in an interview. The right honorable minister was asked to give the answer to 7 x 8 and he gave the answer of 54, instead of the correct 56. His error prompted widespread ridicule in the national media, accompanied by calls for a stronger emphasis on ‘times table’ memorization in schools. This past September the Conservative education minister for England, a man with no education experience, insisted that all students in England memorize all their times tables up to 12 x 12 by the age of 9. This requirement has now been placed into the UK’s mathematics curriculum and will result, I predict, in rising levels of math anxiety and students turning away from mathematics in record numbers. The US is moving in the opposite direction, as the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) de-emphasize the rote memorization of math facts. Unfortunately misinterpretations of the meaning of the word ‘fluency’ in the CCSS are commonplace and publishers continue to emphasize rote memorization, encouraging the persistence of damaging classroom practices across the United States.

Read more on how to develop fluency effectively...

Why students hate word problems

In 2012, Dan Meyer gave a talk in Durham, ON looking at why students hate word problems, posing five ways to improve them, and introducing this thing called “three-act math.”

Time to collaborate: Math Workgroups

▪ Are you feeling isolated as a math teacher? ▪ Would you like to collaborate with other teachers from your grade/course? ▪ Are you looking for a network of teachers with whom you can share ideas? ▪ Would you like to work with others to develop solutions to your current teaching challenges? If your answer is “YES!,” then plan to come to Kalamazoo RESA’s FREE monthly Math Workgroups. These collaborative and supportive groups are scheduled for grade bands (K-1, 2-3, 4-5, and 6-8) and high school courses (Algebra and Geometry). The Math Workgroups have been designed to be peer-facilitated. Registration is not required. Rooms have been reserved for a one hour block as indicated on the schedule, but end time is flexible. Please bring your own laptop and refreshment.

We will use the following standing agenda as a framework for the workgroup time. We will adapt the agenda to meet the group’s current needs. 1) Working: What's working well--come prepared to share out 2) Not working (challenges): What are the current challenges - sharing 3) Problem-solving and planning: Brainstorm resolutions to current challenges, if applicable 4) Try this: New endeavors--collaborate to encourage implementation of new ideas and figure out what data we should collect to see if it’s working 5) Rotating discussion topics: student engagement, grading, higher level tasks, positive learning environment, classroom management challenges, etc. 6) Collaborating (based on textbook): break into groups based on the textbooks and collaborate.

Please check out KRESA's other PD offerings If you have any questions, please contact Danielle Seabold.

PD opportunity: Secondary Math Instruction & Assessment in Light of the Common Core: The Math Assessment Project

Professional Learning Series starts soon at Kalamazoo RESA

Dates & Times: 10/1/2014 7:30AM-2:30PM 11/5/2014 7:30AM-2:30PM 12/3/2014 7:30AM-2:30PM 1/23/2015 7:30AM-2:30PM Location: Kalamazoo RESA Service Center, 1819 East Milham Avenue, Portage, MI 49002 SCECH'S: 18 .. $15 fee is due at sign-in (cash or personal check only) Presenter(s): Diane Rogers

Tuition: $365 Consortium Member | $503 Non Consortium

Secondary Math Instruction & Assessment in Light of the Common Core This four-day series is activity-based; built around a collection of classroom formative assessment lessons aligned to the Mathematical Practices and Content called for in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Groups of teachers will be engaged in constructive discussions about their own practices and how these could change. Teachers will be provided with time to plan to teach a lesson using these ideas in their own classroom, and meet again to reflect on their experiences.

Registration help: Linda Bussema @ lbussema@kresa.org or 269-250-9210 View all Kalamazoo RESA PD offerings

Fall Virtual Lecture Series from Illustrative Mathematics

This school year Illustrative Mathematics will offer two series for math educators. In the fall they are featuring “Working with Number in the Elementary Classroom” and this spring they will offer “Incorporating Mathematical Practices into the Middle and High School Classroom.” 

The intended audience for these series is classroom teachers, district and state mathematics specialists, and mathematics coaches. The five hour long sessions will include 40 minutes of presentation from national experts on Adobe Connect, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A. The sessions will also be recorded for participants that are not able to join in person. The cost to virtually attend each series is $150.

Working with Number in the Elementary Classroom

The following lectures are scheduled in the series on Thursday nights from 7-8pm Eastern on Adobe Connect.  Watch them live with the ability to ask questions, or watch the recordings at any time:

September 25, 2014 Linda Gojak, Immediate Past President, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Director, The Center for Mathematics Education, Teaching, and Technology, John Carroll University "Using Representations to Introduce Early Number and Fraction Concepts"

October 23, 2014 Dona Apple, Mathematics Learning Community Project, Regional Science Resource Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School "Supporting students' conceptual understanding about number through reasoning, explaining and evidence in both their oral and written work"

November 20, 2014 TBA!

December 11, 2014 Francis (Skip) Fennell, Professor of Education McDaniel College, Past President NCTM "Fractions Sense – It’s all about understanding fractions as numbers (and this includes those special fractions – decimals!) – use of representations, equivalence, comparing/ordering and connections"

January 22, 2015 Susan Jo Russell, TERC: Mathematics and Science Education and Deborah Schifter, Education Development Center (EDC) "Operations and Algebraic Thinking in the Elementary Grades"

Sign-up here!

Khan Academy, Smarter Balanced, and Illustrative Math Collaborate to Provide CCSS Math Resources

Want to offer your student opportunities to practice with solving math tasks online?

Do you want to track the progress of your students' learning in math over the course of the year?

Khan Academy’s Common Core math resources have been developed in collaboration with Smarter Balanced, IllustrativeMathematics, and 40 educators to provide thousands of new, interactive math problems fully aligned to every Common Core State Standard (CCSS) for mathematics. Students can work at their own pace through grade-level “missions” and track their progress through personalized dashboards. All problems are accompanied by step-by-step solutions specific to each problem. Successful completion of missions is charted on a progress report on the student’s dashboard while “coaches”—whether teachers, tutors, or parents—can see a student’s progress with access through a class code or coach ID. Learn more about these resources from Khan Academy founder, Sal Kahn, in a recent EdSurge article. 

Share your idea and win $1,000

In a world increasingly shaped by science and technology, STEM education has never been more critical. If America is to meet the challenges of the 21st century, we must STEMtheGAP™ in science, technology, engineering, and mathematical education.

Who better to turn to for new ideas than you—the teachers in America’s classrooms?

Share your best ideas for improving STEM education.

The Center for Science of Teaching and Learning (CSTL) and Dow have come together to support STEM education in our schools. STEM education is absolutely vital for our children and our future. We need to encourage children to pursue science, technology, engineering and math related fields. Our real challenge lies in how to achieve our goal of improving STEM education.

We would like to introduce the STEM THE GAP Teacher Challenge. Teachers of all fields are invited to submit their ideas for increasing STEM education in the classroom. The top 25 entries will earn a $1,000 grant to be used in the classroom!

Submit an entry by May 16, 2014.

Michigan Statewide Assessments Transition

• Want to find out about all of the educational assessments Michigan will be offering (and which will be required) starting in the 2014-15 school year?
• Curious about how Michigan plans for us all to transition to new assessments and a new platform all at the same time?

Check out the April 2, 2014 release of "Michigan Statewide Assessments Transition" bulletin which outlines the transition to Michigan's Future Assessment System. This comprehensive system will provide accurate, in-depth and timely student performance and growth information to meet state and federal accountability requirements and provide educators and parents with the tools they need to help students graduate from high school, career- and college-ready.

If you're interested in finding out more while having an opportunity to ask questions and plan with your colleagues, register to attend "Smarter Balanced & Michigan´s Balanced Assessment System for Mathematics" at Kalamazoo RESA on May 9, 2014.

Mathagogy: Math + Pedagogy (classroom and teacher videos)

Hear from fellow math educators on how they teach different math concepts. Each is illustrated in a quick, 2-minute video created by the teacher.

Division and Multiplication of Whole Numbers MOOC-Ed

• How do children move beyond the notion that "multiplication is repeated addition" (MIRA)?
• What mathematical distinctions do students make when reasoning with multiple contexts for multiplication and division?

TurnOnCCMath will soon take up these and other questions with its next free, Massive Open Online Course for Educators (MOOC-Ed).

"Division and Multiplication of Whole Numbers: Bridging to Fraction Understanding" will explore how students begin to recognize contextual problems and model with multiplication and division problems, properties, and number facts. Along the way, the MOOC-Ed will identify "where some of the key misconceptions are hiding."

Open to elementary and middle grades educators seeking to understand student multiplicative reasoning, this free MOOC-Ed runs through early May. Even though it begins today, Monday, March 17, registration for this self-directed course will stay open through Monday, March 31. REGISTER NOW.

Stoplight exit slips

Do you ever wonder if

• your students got out of a lesson what you wanted them to? What did they learn?
• your students formed any questions based on your lesson? What questions do they have?
• your students were stopped in their tracks during your lesson? What are they confused about?

If so, watch this quick 1-minute video that outlines an easy-to-use, daily procedure for getting this information from each of your students.

Free ratio and proportion lessons for Grades 6-7

Looking for some lessons to supplement your textbook?
Are some of your students struggling with ratio and proportions?
Download 3 free lessons from It's All Relative. These lessons have been designed to address key misconceptions sixth and seventh graders have about ratio and proportion and to help develop deep conceptual understanding.
Check them out today.

Illuminations: Resources for teaching math

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) recently unveiled its re-designed website of free resources for teaching math Illuminations.
The Illuminations site now sports a right-hand panel for searching its interactive tools and instructional support according to the NCTM Principles and Standards along with Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM).

You can use Illuminations to find lessons and online, interactive math activities. Check it out today!

Illuminations is a project designed by NCTM and supported by the Verizon Foundation.