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Success for Each Child and Eliminate the Opportunity Gap by Leading with Racial Equity

December 2020
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Hello PSESD Math Leaders! 

Happy December!!! 

We are a little more than a week away from two weeks of time that I hope you can use to relax and recharge before we head into a new year that we all have high hopes for. Here are a few things on my list to explore, read, or watch while snuggled up with a cup of tea and my dog. Let’s compare notes after break to see what you think! 

  • Mathematics for Human Flourishing by Francis Su. I started this at the end of the summer and loved it – after seeing Francis Su present at NCTM, I’m looking forward to some good rainy-day reading – pencil and paper in hand!  

  • Teaching Math at a Distance by Theresa Wills. Dr. Wills has been a wonderful resource via her website – for slides and tutorials, and I’m looking forward to learning more from her book.  

  • Dr. Kristopher Childs’ website – after watching Dr. Childs present at NCTM, on teaching mathematics for social justice, I want to dig in and learn more. He closed his session with a provocative question, “Are you teaching mathematics in a manner that pleases your soul? OR Are you teaching mathematics in a manner that pleases your student’s souls?” 

  • Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom by Adeyemi Stembridge. Our PSESD Emeritus Math Fellows are reading this together, and I’m looking forward to getting deeper into it. One of the ideas that has emerged is Equity as a Performative Construct – it’s your beliefs, AND the expression and demonstration of your beliefs.  

  • The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab – so, full disclosure, this is not a math book, but it is the best fiction book I’ve read in ages, and I’m looking for folks to talk with about it! 🙂

See you in the New Year! 

Leslie  

                                   3-circle venn diagram illustrating the ESD's math team core: Beliefs, mathematical content, and practices.
                   Success for Each Child and Eliminate the Opportunity Gap by Leading with Racial Equity
This month’s problem is from Desmos, and I learned about it watching Episode 2 of the Math Teacher Lounge! We are sharing this problem with you because it lives in a wonderful platform where students get meaningful feedback about their potential solution, modeling a powerful use of technology where students can tinker mathematically. Think about how you would solve the problem below and how some of your students might solve it, and then check it out at teacher.desmos.com and search for Paint or click here
 
 
 
  After solving this problem, students have the opportunity to create their own favorite color and then challenge their classmates to match it.  Irresistible!!!

Symmetry Labs By Henri Picciotto -  This is a unit about symmetry, hopefully suitable for remote instruction of middle school and high school students. Much of it should remain useful even after a return to the classroom. Read more 


Puzzle and games by Paulo Ferro – Discover 190 + articles about Mathematics in categories such as Puzzles, Games, Curves, Numbers, Polygons, Polyhedrons, Magic, Surfaces, Mathematicians, Tilings, and Animations.  Read More  


Fawn Nguyen had made the Mathematics Assessment Project CLASSROOM CHALLENGES
(MARS) lesson into Desmos lessons


Teacher Learning Center:  Using CGI in Remote Learning - Part 2: Observing Students as They Solve Problems, by Linda Levi - An essential element of CGI teachers’ math instruction is observing students as they solve problems. With the help of expert CGI teachers and CGI PD leaders, we have developed ideas and tools to help teachers observe students as they solve problems in remote learning situations.  Read More  (Part 1: Posing Problems)


In the Problem of the Month, we mentioned  Episode 2 of the Math Teacher Lounge! This is a wonderful resource hosted by Dan Meyer and Bethany Lockhart Johnson. This episode features a number of guests who discuss what technology can (and can’t) bring to the classroom – I appreciated ideas around giving students opportunities to tinker and making their thinking visible. It is an interesting conversation that you can listen to and then engage in via the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook  group.  


Carnegie Corporation of New York:  How to Accelerate Learning for All Students in the 2020–21 School Year by Stephanie Hirsh - Teachers are dealing with a number of challenges related to what educators are referring to as the COVID-19 slide or unfinished learning.  Read more 


Embrace the Challenge - Using Videos to Reflect on Practice, Student Identity, and Agency by Jenna.  “I hate watching myself on video. I squirm. I flinch. I last, I don’t know, a maximum of 9 seconds…?  And now I have to teach in an environment where a video of myself is running on my screen all day, every day. Painful. Exhausting!”   Read more 


Massachusetts Institute of Technology:  Grouping Mechanisms in Numerosity Perception by Lorenzo Ciccione and Stanislas Dehaene - Understanding the cognitive basis of numerosity perception is a central topic in the field of numerical cognition.  Read More  Dyscalculia connection:  Dyscalculia - Numberphile 


Save the dates:  2020-2021 District Mathematics Leaders meetings District and building mathematics leaders in the region in a collegial environment focus on student sense making. Our network will share instructional strategies and formative practices while we develop a collaborative professional learning community and focus on leading in the current climate. We will learn from each other and keep up-to-date on what’s happening in mathematics in the state. Meetings occur five times throughout the year and will be held via Zoom from 9:00am-12:00pm, all math teacher leaders are welcome. Please contact Leslie to be added to the email list for District Math Leader Meetings

Dates
9/21/2020
11/9/2020
1/25/2021
3/8/2021
5/10/2021


Clock hours will be available through PSESD.  Registration

Race and Equity Conversations in Math

Consider attending: Just Equations’ third annual Mathematics of Opportunity conference will bring a social justice lens to our continued conversations about how education systems, colleges, schools, and teachers can implement math pathways that enhance deeper learning and advance equitable outcomes.  This FREE conference is being held February 2 – 4, 2021. 

Addressing Unfinished Learning: Providing Equitable Access to Grade-Level Learning Part I.  Educators across the country are asking: How do we address unfinished learning this year while also staying focused on grade-level essential content for all students?  This webcast includes Key messages from SAP’s 2020–21 Priority Instructional Content in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics and CGCS’s Addressing Unfinished Learning After COVID-19 School Closures,   Webcast on-demand 


Just Equation/TODOS: Mathematics for All/Education Trust West:  "Social Justice Math in Action: From Educational Model to Educational Movement" - According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), supporting students’ ability to “understand and critique the world” is one of the purposes of math education. As educators address inequities amid the current pandemic and heightened concerns about racial injustice, how can math classrooms contribute?  Webinar Recording 
Desmos Live - Conversations about social justice math lessons with  Dr. Kristopher J. Childs, the new Chief Equity and Social Justice Officer at Open Up Resources, and Desmos lesson developer Shira Helft!  Watch video

TeachLab: Podcast Interview - Dr. Ilana Horn joins Justin Reich to discuss finding the strengths in every student, listening more closely to student thinking, and finding ways to shift curriculum from “school math” to the kind of math that’s both more engaging to students and closer to what real mathematicians do. Dr. Horn offers a slew of concrete strategies for teachers and teacher educators, from roster audits, to “becoming invisible” to mediated field experiences.   Podcast Recording


OSPI Math - K-12 Mathematics December Newsletter 2020   


This winter, the Washington State Mathematics Council (WSMC) is sponsoring:  Sip + Solve- Maximizing Math Moments.  Connect and collaborate with fellow math educators in a relaxed setting for engaging conversations about mathematics teaching practices.  FREE with up to 6 clock hours available ($3/clock hour).  Sessions will be held first Mondays (4-5 pm) and third Tuesdays (7-8 pm) (Attend any or all: 1/4, 1/19, 2/1, 2/16, 3/1, 3/16). Click here to learn more. Click here to register 


2021 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching nominations are open.  The PAEMST is the highest national honor for a K-12 mathematics or science teacher. Each year the award alternates between elementary and secondary teachers. This year's awards will honor science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teachers working in grades 7-12. Nominations close on March 1, 2021. Learn more about the program on OSPI's PAEMST webpage or visit the PAEMST.org website where you can find out more information about the award and nominate/apply.



PSESD offers access to additional services and resources in our monthly newsletters.

To subscribe to PSESD's monthly newsletters:
ELA newsletter please click here.
Science newsletter please click here.
Computer Science newsletter please click here.
To view archived Math Newsletters
 

For the past 30 or so weeks, a group of math teachers from all over Washington State have gathered on Friday afternoons from 4 – 6 for Friday Night Flourishing. FNF is a space where people come together to be curious about, engage in, and discuss mathematics. In particular, I have enjoyed puzzling over two area problems from Catriona Agg shared by my RMC Colleague, Tamara: 
 

 
 
 
  

The group began as an outstretch of a book study of Francis Su’s Mathematics for Human Flourishing. If you are interested in joining the group, they will be meeting on December 11th & 18th, and then will reconvene on January 8th. To join, please click here https://tinyurl.com/FnFsignmeup.  

Professional Development: We are able to meet with you and your district math leaders to construct a professional development program informed by the latest research in the field of mathematics education that is tailored to the needs of your students and teachers. We can: 
  • Meet with you and your math leaders to identify needs as well as areas of interest such as Common Core Content, the Standards for Mathematical Practice, and high leverage mathematics teaching practices
  • Conduct professional development sessions targeted at identified needs and areas of interest which are informed by research, on-going, and job-embedded
  • Support math coaches in classroom coaching, debriefing and leading PLCs
  • Support math leaders in conducting district wide instructional materials reviews to consider the match of district needs, research informed best-practices, and available instructional materials
  • Support math coaches and teachers in crafting and leveraging an assessment system that utilizes assessment resources already in place, including summative, interim/benchmark and formative assessments
  • Assist in collaborations within district between math teachers and other departments such as Special Education, English Language Learning, Blended Learning or content areas such as Science.
This is only a partial list. We are eager to work with you to support your students and teachers as we continue implementation of the Washington State Learning Standards and work to close the opportunity gap in mathematics. Please let us know if we can be of service.

Contact information:
 
Leslie Nielsen
Math Program Manager
lnielsen@psesd.org
 
Remy Poon
PreK - 5 Mathematics Systems Consultant
rpoon@psesd.org

Greta Bornemann
Director of Mathematics and Science
GBornemann@psesd.org
 
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