Try something new

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At CMC last month, I saw the graphic above.  It deflated me.  I didn’t have a full grasp on disillusionment at the time, but I was sure the significant dip November through January was not a good thing.  Google’s dictionary feature identifies disillusionment as "a feeling of disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as one believed it to be".

Do you feel the school year is not going how you wanted it to go?  Are you lamenting about how much better things were last year at this time?  Have you started to plan how things can be different next year? Are you concerned for your students?  Are you concerned for your school site? The chart suggests we have about 3 months of these feelings.  How can we speed up the process of rejuvenation and reflection sooner?  My offered solution:

It’s not over until it’s over

Stay focused on today, this moment, these students and this classroom.  How can we improve the reality we are in right now?  

Try something new

Wear a new outfit to school, add a new element in a lesson, physically move student desks around, do a number talk, change the path you take to get to your classroom, invite a staff developer to come and work with you in your classroom, change the color of pen you are using.  Ok that last one might be tough for some.  However, changing our routine can change our attitude and uncover new realities. Yes, some things can wait until summer, but many classroom changes can and should be tried during the school year in your current classes.

One of my favorite things on a radio station is each Friday they celebrate the small victories that have happened.  Small, manageable things like I took a walk during lunch or smiled and said hello to someone at the copier.  I challenge you to not only change something this next week but scroll down and in the comments below and share a small thing you plan to change this week.  We want to get excited about the little changes, because without those little changes, big change cannot happen.

Become a Math Instigator

Last weekend, our team attended the California Mathematics Council-South (CMC-S) conference in Palm Springs.  I was excited to run into so many RUSD math teachers at the conference, and I hope you had as positive an experience as I did.

I want to share some thoughts from a session I attended called "My Journey from Worksheets to Rich Tasks", which has had me thinking ever since.  The presenter, Michael Fenton, gave an open and honest account of his own evolution as a high school math teacher.  He asked us to define the job description of a math teacher, and he shared how his view of this role had changed over the course of his career.

A Google search of "math teacher job description" returns the following from study.com:

"Math teachers work in classrooms in elementary schools, middle schools and high schools.  They impart required mathematics curricula to their students, which might include helping them prepare for standardized tests and college entrance exams."

  

Not the most inspiring of descriptions, is it?  I think we can all agree that our job is bigger than that.  But if that's not it, then what exactly is the role of a math teacher?

In the first part of his career, Michael Fenton saw his role as "explanation-giver" and "answer-provider".  But no matter how hard he worked, he could see that all of the thorough, clear explanations he was giving and the neatly presented answers he was providing were just not enough to reach many of his students.  He was exhausting himself, and not getting the return he wanted on his effort.

Michael reached out to Twitter to try to get some help with this situation. In doing so, he discovered a community of math teachers who, like him, were looking for another way to work.  A little at a time, and with support from the Twitter math community, Michael began to redefine his role by presenting tasks that his students could think about, make sense of, argue over, and ultimately learn from, building their own mathematical understanding instead of depending on his.  He could clearly see the positive change in his students.  He now sees himself as "question-poser", "thought-provoker", "discussion-starter" and "math-instigator".  I'm not quite sure exactly what a "math-instigator" is, but I do know that this is the kind of job description I can get behind.

One of the toughest parts of moving from "explanation-giver" to "question-poser" is finding the right questions to ask.  Luckily, there is a large community of math educators working on this same journey, and many of them share their work for free.  On his website, reasonandwonder.com, Michael Fenton lists some of his favorite places to find rich tasks for students to tackle.  This list can be found under "My Journey" on the CMC-S page of his site (link here).  If any of you would like help getting started in using these resources, your RUSD Math Staff Developers would love to take that journey with you.

If All Else Fails, Read the Instructions

When I was growing up, I thought that this was my father’s original saying.  But it turns out that it is attributed to the poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson. It’s really such a simple idea. But how many times have we tried something, and then, as a last resort, gone back to the instructions? I think we can all relate.  

As we’re embarking on this Common Core journey, particularly in the courses using the MVP curriculum, we may feel pressed for time and overlook the “instructions” that are in the Teacher Notes.  

What we’ve learned about the Teacher Notes is that they contain a lot of helpful information that isn’t evident when looking at just the task itself. There have been a number of times when teachers have shared that they were initially unclear about the purpose of a task or how to lead it and then they went to the Teacher Notes and discovered a wealth of ideas and strategies.

There are several features in the MVP Teacher Notes that our RUSD colleagues have reported as being very helpful. Here’s a partial list:

• They give the purpose and standards for the task.
• They help write a learning goal for my students.
• They help me plan to orchestrate the task.
• They talk about possible ways that my students will approach the task.
• They give the talking points for student discussions.
• They sometimes have the answers to the problems in the task.

So - the moral of the story is - read the Teacher Notes.  Read them carefully and read them more than once. You’ll be glad you did!

Get Smart

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Do you ever feel, as a teacher, the pressure (self-imposed or otherwise) to be smart, to know everything, or to have all the answers? We should know what we're talking about each day. We are the guides, the shapers of young minds, the key to the future. No pressure. The challenge with this ideal is: where is the space to learn more? If we are to be the "experts," how do we grow? How do we get "smarter?"

We have an expectation for our students to learn more, but what about us? Recently, a teacher shared her trepidation when approaching a new unit this year. (I can totally relate. The first time I looked at this particular unit, I physically shuddered.) However, after persevering through the unit, she reflected on her experience. "I didn't think this would be easy. I feel so smart (I know [we're supposed to have a] growth mindset, but I think this unit actually made me smarter.: :-)"

What a great feeling! That excitement, that "Aha!" moment we wish for all of our students, is possible for us too. It doesn't mean we weren't smart to begin with, it just means we gained more than we had before. (A lot + a little = A LOT). Part of having a growth mindset is recognizing when we learn something and that learning something makes us smarter. So, if we take the position that we are both teachers and learners, then "getting smarter" is inevitable! :-)

Let's Learn Together

Greetings from the RUSD Secondary Math instructional support team!  As our team works to provide professional development, curriculum and coaching support to RUSD's 7-12 mathematics teachers,  we are continually amazed by how much we are learning and how much we still have to learn.  Some of this learning comes from research, conferences, and other outside sources, but so much of it comes from working with all of you.  We often return to our office after classroom visits or PLC meetings and wish we could communicate the conversations and experiences we've had with the whole RUSD Secondary Math team.  We hope that this blog will give us the opportunity to do just that.  We are looking forward to sharing insights and exchanging ideas with you as we continue to learn together to support RUSD students in achieving the Common Core math standards.

Kara, Sarah, Jen, Diane, Theresa & Rene

The RUSD Secondary Math Team