Developing Mathematicians Walnut Creek School District Presented By Michele Blank Lisa Cheney Joy Inouye

At Murwood… SVMI Coaching Institute August 2011 Professional Development SVMI Monthly Professional Development Staff Meetings Number Talks Problem of the Month Collaboration MARS Tasks Lisa Five staff members attended the SVMI institute in August 2011 along with 5 teachers from Parkmead and Buena Vista. The professional development continued with monthly professional development sessions. We shared our learning with staff during staff meetings. Describe voluntary SVMI follow up sessions. Our presentation will focus on the introduction of Number Talks and Problem of the Month to the Murwood staff. Briefly describe how MARS tasks were introduced in two grades.

Staff Book Study Good Questions for Math Teaching: Why Ask Them and What to Ask, K-6 Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics Volume One (k-3) & Volume Two (3-5) Number Talks: Helping Children Build Mental Math and Computation Strategies Lisa – share how the book study was incorporated into the work at staff meetings and enVision Math. At the end of this section there will be a chance to ask questions and then Lisa will introduce Michele.

Number Talks “Helping children build mental math and computation strategies” Introduced to teachers over the course of three months and five staff meetings. The next several slides will describe the sequence used at staff meetings to introduce Number Talks.

Number Talks At the first staff meeting Teachers were shown a video clip: Talking About Number Talks. Why Number Talks? Next teachers were divided into two groups by grade level, K-2 and 3-5. In grade level groups they were shown a video of a grade level specific Number Talk. An SVMI participant teacher modeled a Number Talk. Teachers planned a Number Talk There were teachers with each grade level group who had attended SVMI and were familiar with Number Talks and already using them in their classroom.

Number Talks At the second staff meeting Teachers shared a number talk they had tried in their classroom. Teachers were given a chance to ask questions or get clarifications. A handout was given summarizing Number Talks.

Number Talks District Collaboration A Number Talk was modeled during this district staff development session. Teachers were encouraged to try a Number Talk. At the third staff meeting teachers in grade level groups shared Number Talks they had tried. Briefly explain district collaboration and format used at district collaboration to introduce Number Talks.

Number Talks At the fourth staff meeting we followed the format in Number Talks Chapter 9 for a school wide perspective. Teachers watched Number Talk video clips showing Number Talks in different grade levels. Following the video clips the staff discussed content and strategies observed in the Number Talks. The school wide perspective staff development used is found in Chapter 9 beginning on page 331.

Number Talks At the fifth staff meeting we continued to look at Number Talks from a school wide perspective. Teachers watched video clips. The video clips were discussed. Teachers worked in cross grade level teams to write a sequence of Number Talks building on strategies from grade level to grade level. The Number Talk sequences were shared with the entire group. When Michele finishes this section we can give them a chance to ask questions and then Lisa will introduce Joy’s section.

Helping children persevere to solve non-routine problems Problem of the Month Helping children persevere to solve non-routine problems Introduced to teachers over the course of three months and five staff meetings.

Problem of the Month At the first staff meeting everyone was given a POM to solve. Teachers worked on the POM in grade level groups and shared strategies for solving the levels. Ideas for trying the POM in the classroom were shared by SVMI participants. The POMs used at the staff meetings were selected by math teacher leaders. These were the teachers who had attended SVMI during the summer of 2011.

Problem of the Month At the second staff meeting the teachers worked on another POM in cross grade level groups. Teachers were shown a power point with the protocol for doing the POM and guidelines for creating status and explanation posters. Teachers worked in their groups to create status posters. Teachers were encouraged to try one of the two POM’s they had worked on in their classroom. Lisa adapted a powerpoint that had been used during one of the SVMI PD sessions.

Problem of the Month At the third staff meeting Teachers brought status posters that their students had created. The staff did a gallery walk and discussed the strategies they saw students using.

Problem of the Month Planning of the School Wide POM The school leadership team met and planned the event. A reflection sheet for students to use was designed with the following questions: Record the strategies and solutions that you see. What can you learn from the other groups’ work? Find a strategy you want to try next time.

Problem of the Month At the fourth staff meeting preparations began for the school wide POM. Teachers were given the POM selected to solve. Ideas for using the POM in the classroom were shared.

Problem of the Month At the fifth staff meeting the preparations for the school wide POM continued. The plans for the big event were shared. Teachers were given a list of suggested strategies to prepare their students for the event. Teachers were also given a schedule for viewing the status posters displayed in the hallway on the day of the event. The planning sheet teachers were given gave suggestions for what to do before the POM day, to prepare after students had worked on the POM and during the day. Describe the hallway set up and that we had students outside throughout the day explaining their posters.

Samples of student work for our school wide POM.

Status posters from the school wide POM – The Wheel Shop We will give them a chance to ask questions and then show the video clip of the School Wide POM. Through our focus this year we are developing students critical thinking and problem solving ability and as this video demonstrates their ability to communicate that thinking with others all critical skills for the 21st century.