Thinking Mathematically

Our Classroom Poster of the 8 Mathematical Practices!

Last spring I had the chance to gain a different perspective of our classroom, seeing it in action, not as the teacher who needs to make sure that engagement is high and problems are appropriately challenging, but as an outside observer. What I noticed amazed me and had me thinking and reflecting on what THINKING MATHEMATICALLY means in the new day and age of the CCSS.

More Great Reading Moments

Celina, as usual, inspired me to jump on the blog and reflect on what I have read so far this summer. So far my Kindle has been my go to resource for reading, as I can stay up and read as late as I like without complaints!

My first read was the book Well Spoken by Erik Palmer about teaching speaking to all students.

This book caught my eye when I was researching the CCSS in speaking and listening anticipating where we will be going in the fall with our next shift in instruction. Our kids have done a lot of speaking this year, as we chose to work with what they are really good at: TALKING!  We consciously focused on teaching our students how to turn & talk effectively. I quickly noticed a transformation in the way kids communicated with each other. Conversations were more purposeful and students began to add on to their partner's thinking as opposed to simply telling their one-sided point of view. We used more debate in our classroom, as well as building on our work with Arts Impact to help students more effectively express themselves in character.

Well Spoken is about teaching speaking skills and so much more, making it highly relevant for the 21st century classroom. Several things that stuck with me: Effective communication requires building and performing, not unlike reading, writing and skills in math. Speaking requires being mindful of audience, content, organization, using visuals effectively and the way in which you present yourself.  We work on many of these same skills in writing, building effective beginnings and endings, organizing our writing to explain or entertain and viewing our work through the lens of what makes writing interesting to read. When we presented our Passion Projects throughout the year, students also had the opportunity to use visuals and presentation skills, yet from reading Well Spoken I can see some areas where we can help our students to more effectively share their message. Palmer also suggests 6 Traits of effective speaking, otherwise knows as PVLEGS or Poise, Voice, Life, Eye Contact, Gestures and Speed. I saw many connections between these performance needs and building fluency in oral reading, such as expression (Life) and pacing related to what you are reading for effect (Speed).

I can't wait to use these ideas to effectively draw our students into effective communication, not only with speaking but also listening actively for these traits, writing clearly in building essays and speeches, as well as reading with expression and fluency.  When the work connects across more areas, I see my students finding greater relevance in the learning and more meaning in the strategies and ideas. Plus I love finding ways to prepare my students for the uncertain future, as Palmer says, "Now, let me make a radical statement: the mission of education should not be to make students better at school but rather to prepare them for life."

My second read was Who Owns the Learning? Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age by Alan November, a recommendation I found via Twitter.

 This book pulled me in with thinking about the digital age and how students can be helped to take their learning on a larger scale. It speaks to a Digital Learning Farm model of instruction where students are doing authentic work with purpose, working as tutorial designers, scribes, researchers, and global communicators and collaborators. The model reframes the educational structure by increasing autonomy for students, publishing student work to a global audience, and creating a community of contribution within the classroom. November sees technology as a "transformational tool to change the culture of teaching and learning" not just pushing in lots of technology where it just becomes the "thousand dollar pencil". The significant take away was the shift in control, as November states, "Much of what used to be teacher directed in the traditional model is powered by students in the Digital Learning Farm model." This so fits my thinking about education, the more that students have the opportunity to direct their learning, the more they are engaged with the learning itself. ~Ann

Wow, April?

It is shocking and amazing to realize that we are well into April. The longer days, warmer weather and upcoming testing remind us that we are well into Spring! Our students are a bit more chatty and restless, yet we are also seeing the work we have done over the year expand the capabilities and processes within our classroom. 

We've been working on debating issues about the environment for this month's Passion Project. We've discussed endangered biomes, water use and even the #1 most endangered river the Colorado River. Students are backing up their opinions and assertions with evidence, seeking reliable websites for resources, and even discussing point of view and bias. What I love is they just get more thoughtful, excited and engaged. One student, who is traveling to Colorado this summer, told her dad all about the endangered Colorado river, which had him checking out the websites too.

At the same time, Celina's work with CCSS ELA has our kids doing close readings of songs, poems and informational excerpts on math concepts. Students are making connections back to culture, discrimination and personal acceptance. They are marking their texts with their thinking and wonderings. I love that when I come back to school after a meeting I am greeted by a student who is gleefully telling me about the Text Talk song they listened to! So much delight over connecting words, feelings, thoughts and ideas.

Today was our first day of the "testing season" with a measure of reading skills. Our students were so focused and on target, it was inspiring to me to see their determination and perseverance with this assessment. It reminds me of all the hard work they are capable of, renewing in me that sense of pushing through in my own goals and matching their drive!

Our theme this year is "Learning is Growing" and our students are certainly coming into their own as we wind down. It makes for an exciting time of year, there is much to celebrate!

Welcome Spring!  ~Ann
 

 

(The photo above is of a card my dad picked up for me this week at Trader Joe's (by Angela Duncan) to tell me that he and my mom are super proud of me! It was fitting that a line came up in the book I am reading called Point of No Retreat by Colleen Hoover that fits this card to a T --"Sometimes it feels good to have your biggest fears discounted with a simple compliment.")

Pathways to the CCSS

Earlier this summer Celina and I attended a training centered on moving to the Common Core in math.  Over the two day workshop we had the opportunity to work with other educators to discuss the standards at grade 4 and develop common assessment questions related to those standards.  We decided as a group to go “all-in” on transitioning to the CCSS this fall. 

Thinking about the standards in math soon had me thinking about how the CCSS plays out in literacy, which had me dipping into the first two chapters of a book I bought in May called Pathways to the Common Core by Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth and Christopher Lehman.