Math Talk Professional Learning

Today I facilitated a professional learning opportunity with about 10 teachers working with students grades kindergarten through 4th grade.  It was a fun and busy day of learning with fabulous discussions.  The content was developed utilizing online resources as well as content from Visible Learning for Mathematics (Hattie, Fisher, Frey), Talk Moves (Chapin, O'Connor, Anderson), and Number Talks (Parrish).  The books are fabulous, and I would highly recommend a read.  In the meantime, feel free to utilize some of the slides from these Google Slides I put together to help guide our work for the morning.

Math Talk in the Classroom: Open Shares and Targeted Talk

Earlier this week, I was honored to facilitate some trainings in my district around math talk and formative assessment in the classroom.  Above are the two resources that much of the information of the modules I presented was pulled from.  I read both over the summer and they give powerful primary and intermediate vignettes, highlighting powerful math talk in classrooms.  Because I was tasked with sharing information around math talk, the role of math talk in formative assessment and how these two work together to subsequently aid teachers in making sound instructional decisions in the classroom, I have been spending quite a bit of time thinking about my own math instruction.  My realization this summer is that I have some place to grow and that is an exciting prospect.  I am hoping to be a bit more effective and intentional when working with my students in mathematics.  I am using open shares and targeted talk all the time in my classroom.  Math talk is alive and happening everyday, but I don't know that I am as effective as I can be in utilizing that talk to assess my students understanding or misconceptions in math.  In the past I have moved between open shares and targeted talk without always being cognizant of that formative assessment piece.  Perhaps some of that just comes naturally as you teach and you aren't always fully aware of all of the "moves" you are making based off of the students responses, and in some ways that is probably okay.  I do think this will be a goal for me as I enter the school year-- keeping that formative assessment in math talk in the forefront of my mind.  Being aware of the decisions I am making and why.  Becoming more precise, and intentional through the math talk occurring in my classroom and finding more effective ways of pinpointing next steps for my mathematicians in whole-group, small-group and partner work.

For those who may be interested.  Here are some online resources that cover more on math talk, open sharing, targeted talk and formative assessment in math.

• The 5 Math Talk Moves
• How to Get Students Talking
• Four Ideas to Deepen Students Discussions
• The Formative Assessment Cycle
• Common Core and Formative Assessment in Math

Teacher's College @ Columbia University

I was fortunate enough to attend the Summer Institute for Writing Workshop hosted by Lucy Calkins and the other member of the the Reading and Writing Project.  For those who may not be familiar, this is a professional development opportunity offered yearly (or more) through the Teacher's College at Columbia University.  Wow, wow, wow!  That is all I have to say.  So much information, so many good ideas.  I am pumped about writing instruction this year (I NEVER thought I would say that in my lifetime by the way)!  I am still processing so much and I am sure I will have more to say and more resources to share as I work through all of this intense learning and the immensity of this incredible experience.  Here is a little photo collage with a few pictures taken during the week and the information for the Reading and Writing Project and their PD offerings.  More to come I am sure!

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The Reading and Writing Project:  This link has reading and writing resources, assessments, and instructional ideas that are founded in solid research.  An absolute plethora of info and teaching "stuff" for literacy specifically.

Teacher's College and the Summer Institute with Lucy Calkins:  This link will give you more information on the institute I attended as well as the reading institute that is also offered.  There are LOTS of other workshops and institutes as well, so make sure to explore a little.

Math Differentiation

Today was a fabulous day of professional development offered by my district around math instruction.  So much great learning around differentiation, math talk and formative assessment influencing thoughtful math instruction in the classroom.  As was absorbing lots of new ideas and thinking, I was reminded of a book I began utilizing really heavily last school year.  The book I am thinking of is "Good Questions: Great Ways to Differentiate Math Instruction", written by Marian Small.  This was recommended to me by a trusted colleague and I have to say it is my favorite resource in planning  my math lessons.  The focus of this book is on two easy to implement and extremely effective ways teachers can differentiate mathematics to meet the needs of their students in the classroom; through open questioning and through parallel tasks.  The first chapter or two of this book defines open questioning and parallel tasks for the reader and also outlines how teachers might create their own questions and tasks that inherently differentiated for the needs of learners.  If you look at the 2nd Edition, the final 3/4 or more of the book is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and gives both primary and intermediate examples of open questions and parallel tasks that can be used in the classroom.

What are open questions and parallel tasks?  I need more information...

• Open Questioning:  Open questioning is about asking broad questions that provide opportunities and access points for students at many developmental level to think about mathematics through a variety of approaches and responses.
• Parallel Tasks:  Parallel Tasks are sets of related task that look at the same big idea, but are designed to meet the needs of students at differing developmental levels and that lend themselves to discussions around strategy and thinking.
• Additional Information and Resources:
• Examples of Open Questions and Parallel Tasks
• Differentiating Math Instruction K-8
• Durham Catholic District School Board on Math Differentiation

Reading/Writing Connections Book Study

I feel extraordinarily fortunate that the teachers and administration from my previous elementary school teaching assignment have been so open and inviting when it comes to including me in the professional growth opportunities that they are exploring.  This summer they were kind enough to invite me to participate in a book study for primary teachers around the book "Reading and Writing Connections in the K-2 Classroom" written by Leah Mermelstein.  I am loving the book, but more than that I am getting so much from the expertise and insights of these wonderful teachers!!!

Today we met to discuss chapters 6 and 7 from the book, which cover the elements of balanced literacy as well as effective ways to plan and calendar for the year keeping in mind what you want student to know and have accomplished by the end of the school year.  First, I should say I have always considered myself relatively well versed in balanced literacy, my National Board certification is in Literacy: Early/Middle Childhood Reading and Language Arts for crying out loud, but this book drew out many wonderful and new (for me) examples and considerations.  Mermelstein really deepened my understanding on the subject and I was really pleased feeling as though I had some new knowledge to help me guide my students learning next year.  In this way, (and without giving out too many details-- you will have to read the book!) I really believe that a teacher at any level of experience and expertise can gain something from this read.  I was truly blown away though by the insights that my colleagues brought to the table as we began to discuss and delve into the application portion of the book study time and plan for instruction this upcoming school year.  Today we worked on planning and evaluating the first 30 days of our literacy instruction and discussed how we set-up the systems and expectations for reading, writing and word work lessons in the classroom so that students and teacher are able to successfully learn and utilize their time.  I contributed very little during this discussion (those who know me, know this is a rare occurrence-- I am a talker!), but instead sat back and took in some of the discussion about what has worked and not worked for these veteran 1st grade teachers in the past.  So much good insight that I can use as I start teaching in first this year!

I am really looking forward to next Tuesday.  The group will begin looking at the Benchmark Literacy (that is the curriculum our district uses) and will begin to go through the process Mermelstein suggests for planning the year into a curriculum calendar.  I am sure I will learn so much more!

Here are a few pics from our work today:

You Can Never Have Too Many Suggestions For Good Books, Right?

So, one more for all of you!  This one is just a fabulous read for a teacher's soul.  Reassuring, kind, funny at times and very positive messages overall.  It is a great one to maybe end a school year with or start a fresh year with.  My hussband Matt brought this book home for me just a day ago and I am already close to done with it.  I found it very captivating.  I may have to read some of his other books!

Summer Reading

So, I am reading two absolutely FABULOUS books this summer.  One I just finished, but I will likely re-read it as we get into August and I am doing more planning for the instructional practices in math.  The other I have just started.  I am so excited because I get to do a book study this summer with some teachers from my previous school.  Very smart ladies so I will learn a lot.  They were so kind to share a copy of the book with me and include me in their plans!  I am feeling very fortunate.

The book around math instruction covers how to implement a workshop model into your math block, but more importantly outlines that types of deeper thinking questions you might work with students on in small-group.  The significance of this being that you are then providing all students opportunities for analytic thinking no matter what their math ability.  This is somewhat counter to the way I have been previously utilizing small-group in my math instruction since I was often just re-teaching and giving additional practice with math concepts.  I am looking forward to trying out some of the ideas!  A couple of my wonderful colleagues and I already started the work of talking through the math block for our first grade classrooms next year!