1. Math Department November 9, 2015

2. Objective To share what has driven our instructional decisions To share how we engage students in their learning every day

3. Big Analogy Watching David Ortiz take batting practice is fun, but does it help the observer improve as a hitter?

4. Students learn from doing the work, while also receiving timely feedback. Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect. The homework dilemma… How to Practice

5. The Role of the Coach Observe Practice Provide Timely Feedback More Opportunities to Practice More Feedback Game Time (Assessment)

6. The Old Traditional Approach Review homework Take notes on new lesson The same 4 students answer all the problems New homework assigned The Problem: Retaining the information taught in this setting is very difficult.

7. Get in the Game It’s time to get out of your seat and get in the game Get in the batting cages Listen to your swing coach Take batting practice Play in the game

8. More Analogies Batters become fantastic fastball hitters during batting practice What happens when they see their first curve ball? Can a batter make adjustments in a game-time situation? Batters rely on muscle memory. Students solve problems with ease that are similar to the ones they practiced What happens when a problem looks different on a test? Can students apply what they have learned to a new situation? Students rely on understanding concepts.

9. How to Create Muscle Memory The Standards of Mathematical Practice Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them Reason abstractly and quantitatively Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others Model with mathematics Use appropriate tools strategically Attend to precision Look for and make use of structure Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

10. Make Sense of Problems and PERSEVERE in solving them Student Friendly Language: I can try many times to understand and solve a math problem

11. Reason Abstractly and Quantitatively Student Friendly Language: I can think about the math problem in my head first

12. Construct Viable Arguments and Critique the Reasoning of Others Student Friendly Language: I can make a plan, called a strategy, to solve the problem and discuss other students’ strategies too.

13. Coaching versus Teaching Why do students come home and say: STUDENT: My teacher told me today that s/he wants me to struggle? STUDENT: I asked my teacher for help today and they told me to ask three classmates before asking them… STUDENT: Why won’t my teacher simply give me a list of steps to follow that work in any problem solving situation that I can memorize?

14. Questions?