The 2017 Alt+Shift Summer Institute will be held June 20-22 at the Hagerty Center in Traverse City. Online registration is now open. Download the Summer Institute program for information on sessions and speakers.
Tuesday, June 20 - TED-style talks and breakout sessions on ideas that allow educators to teach literacy and mathematics to every student, integrate assistive technology, allow students with complex communication needs to communicate, create systems that support high quality and innovative education, and increase student engagement.
Tuesday, June 20 - Speaker Encounter Reception where speakers will each host a table and participants may engage with speakers through questions, conversations, and networking while enjoying appetizers and soft drinks. RSVP on the registration form.
Wednesday and Thursday, June 21 and 22 - Two-day intensive institute that go in depth on the same topics addressed in the TED-style talks and breakout sessions. Participants will spend two days exploring a topic and leave with specific skills, knowledge, and strategies to use when returning to their settings. Select from seven institutes when you register.
Information, including registration, session descriptions, and hotel information, are available at the (Mi)^2 website.
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Educator: Carol Poole
District: Battle Creek Public Schools
Position: Tutor for students in grades K-8 receiving special education services
I began attending Foundations of Math in 2013, which started me on a journey that has been the most valuable experience of my 15-year teaching career.
As a special education teacher, my academic responsibilities were side spread and the range of skill deficits of my students was equally wide. I was a resource teacher, in 6th and 7th grade math, and worked with both students in special education and general education who were struggling. I was also dealing with my own math deficits. Together, the students and I did our best to figure things out, but I was never satisfied with the results.
Fast forward to 2013. I was a retired teacher, tutoring students, and sitting in Foundations of Math. The first two days were overwhelming, but the course gave me think time to delve deeper into the concepts being taught.
Understanding was not as in depth at first, but the clearer the picture became, the more I re-read the information from Foundations of Math and looked at information referenced in the course. The more I learned, the more my students learned. The more I heard, "I get it, Mrs. Poole, I get it," the greater my desire became to understand even more about the concepts that Foundations of Math presented.
I have attended Foundations twice and as I think back to my ability to understand students' mathematical thinking after the first time and my ability to understand it now, my conceptual understanding has really grown. I specifically remember teaching 4th graders about division and fractions. My understanding of quantity, models, and drawing helped me to help them understand and make sense of concepts that hadn't been there before.
I also became more confident in my ability to evaluate curriculum and information about math education. A major benchmark in my learning occurred when I could start to marry Foundations of Math and the Common Core State Standards. To really understand how to build solid math skills, I needed to understand prior and future grade level standards. Given this information, I am not able to develop specific road maps to remediate each student's skill deficits.
Foundations of Math is not a curriculum or a program (I have found curricula and programs, on many occasions, limiting at best) but a body of information that teachers the "why"s, what the "why"s mean, and what to do with the "what's next." Given that information and understanding, I can now make informed decisions about specific student academic needs. How powerful!
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Thank you for your feedback and continued support of this work. Revisions, based on feedback from the field, are underway. The revised course, facilitator training for new facilitators, and re-certification for current facilitators, will be offered in late fall or early winter 2017. Our intent is to support our current facilitators in this transition as well as to add additional facilitators in areas not currently served. Keep an eye on this newsletter and the Enhancing Mathematics webpage for more information, including registration announcements.
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Tier 2 intervention lesson development continues throughout the 2016-2017 school year supported by regional math consultants throughout Michigan. The progression of the fraction readiness standards was recently completed and is currently available on the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th grade web pages.
As teachers and interventionists use the tier 2 intervention lessons, their feedback is encouraged to assist in the continuous improvement process. Last month, modifications were completed for the 6th and 7th grade lessons, multiplying and dividing fractions. Modifications included dash marks on manipulative fraction squared and drawing guides to help students fold and draw fractional parts with greater efficiency and accuracy.
If you have questions about Delta Math tier 2 intervention lessons or would like to learn more about the Delta Math RtI Program, please email Mike Klavon.
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The Global Math Department offers free webinars on a variety of topics which are archived at their website for later viewing. Recent webinars include Cultivating Mathematical Reasoning, which presents several problems from a variety of skill levels that cultivate mathematical reasoning and demonstrates how teachers can use these problems with their lessons; Making Sense of Logarithms, which is a helpful review for teachers assigned to students in secondary mathematics but do not necessarily have a background in mathematics; Exploding Dots: Uniting Elements of the K-12 Curriculum and Beyond, a visual way to understand and connect key elements of the K-12 curriculum; and Problem Strings: A Lesson Format for All Students in which Pamela Webber Harris explains her teaching method that builds conceptual understanding of math concepts.
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- June 20-22, Alt+Shift Summer Institute, Traverse City
- June 21-22, Two-Day Preview of Foundations of Math: Teaching Students with Significant Disabilities (part of the Alt+Shift Summer Institute), Traverse City
- August 7-8, Foundations of Math, Days 1 and 2, St. Johns
- August 9-10, Foundations of Math: Teaching Students with Significant Disabilities, Days 1 and 2, St. Johns
- October 16, Foundations of Math, Day 3, St. Johns
- October 17-18, Foundations of Math: Teaching Students with Significant Disabilities, Days 3 and 4, St. Johns
- November 8-9, Foundations of Math, Days 4 and 5, St. Johns
- November 10, Foundations of Math: Teaching Students with Significant Disabilities, Day 5, St. Johns
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Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM) Book Club
The 16th MCTM online book club is underway. The book club is studying Visible Learning for Mathematics: Grades K–12 by John Hattie, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Linda Gojak, Sara Delano Moore, and William Mellman. The book is available at corwin.com. There is no cost to join the book club other than the cost of the book.
Each week, the book club reads and discusses one of the chapters. Questions are posted to a Google doc and emailed at the beginning of the week and members have the week to read, reflect, and respond.
If you would like to join or have questions, please email Kevin Dykema.
Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST)
Do you know or are you an exemplary math or science teacher in 7th through 12th grade? Please consider nominating him or her for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). The PAEMST is the highest recognition a K–12 teacher can receive for outstanding science or mathematics teaching in the United States.
For more information, download the PAEMST flyer. Deadline for applications is May 1, 2017.
Moore Mathematics Competition
Albion College’s second annual Moore Mathematics Competition will be held on Friday, May 12. In this competition, teams of four 9th and 10th grade students work on one individual and three team events generally involving material from algebra and geometry, but also providing an opportunity to explore some areas of mathematics not in the standard curriculum. New this year in the competition will be a mathematical build where teams will create a mathematical sculpture to take home for the classroom. Each team must be accompanied by a teacher/coach who serves as a proctor throughout the day. There is no charge for participants. For more information and to register, visit the Moore Math Marathon website.
Teaching With Spatial Technology
The Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors is sponsoring a free weeklong professional development opportunity for Michigan grade 9–12 teachers. Teaching with Spatial Technology (TWIST) is designed to provide grade 9–12 teachers with meaningful and challenging lesson plans about using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in the classroom. The workshop, which will be held June 25–30 at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, is intended to provide participants basic proficiencies about some of the many aspects of spatial technology which is growing in importance in this global environment. Have a question? Email event coordinator Karol Grove.
AP® Computer Science Principles (CSP) Professional Learning Series
The Michigan Math and Science Center Network is offering the AP® CSP Professional Learning series this summer for schools offering AP® Computer Science next fall. Interested schools will submit an application to attend the five-day conference-style workshop designed to introduce the computer science concepts from the curriculum, AP® elements of the course, and core teaching practices. The series runs from July 31 to August 4, 2017. For more information, including the application for participation, visit the CSP Professional Learning Series website.
Save the Date: Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM) Annual Conference
The 68th MCTM Annual Conference will be held July 25–27 at Traverse City Central High School.
Keynote speakers include Margaret Heritage, speaking on formative assessment, and Jason Zima, a lead writer of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.
Keep an eye on the MCTM website for registration announcements.
Save the Date: Detroit Area Council of Teachers of Mathematics (DACTM) and Metro Detroit Science Teachers Association Joint Annual Conference
The joint conference will be held in Warren at Cousino High School on Saturday, November 11, 2017. Keep an eye on the DACTM website for details as they become available.
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The Detroit Area Council of Teachers of Mathematics (DACTM) proactively supports Michigan math educators’ continued professional growth.
The Michigan Council for Exceptional Children (MCEC) is part of a national community of educators who are the voice and vision of special and gifted education.
The Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM) is the professional organization for Michigan mathematics educators at any grade level, pre-K through college.
The Michigan Mathematics and Science Centers Network (MMSCN) collaborates with partners across the state to improve math and science teaching.
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