Edcampottawa Session 3/4 Restructuring the Math Classroom.

Bit of a ramble in this post as I wrote it live. Everything in this post is not thought out, everything in this post is not my thoughts, everything in this post is what I heard or said at #edcampottawa, everything is not linear (ideas are as they were heard), everything in this post is the collective of #edcampottawa. Have fun reading this. My apologies to everyone that was there as I was doing this (typing slowly) instead of truly engaging. I did this so I could share my experience so more people would see the value in #edcamp. Also I left this one after session three as I had to go coach my son basketball (Priorities)?

Struggle with how to change a math class.

How to pull it all together?

Good feedback, formative assessment, activities, warm ups, tasks.

Spiralling versus unit based.

Sounds like a nice continuum from elementary to intermediate to secondary in terms of talking about math / explaining your thinking /making it visible. 

Open number line. Start with a line with no ticks. They chose the ticks. Here is the number line for 100.  Where is 50? Where is 30?

Bruce's analogy of getting all students across the street at the same time. Kindergartens across the street holding a rope are slow. Let them go. They get there on their own time. Chaos. Scary for some.

Assessment- all the kids on the same day answer the same question. How about when they are ready?

Bringing math in their lives and showing how it relates there and maybe how it could relate to other things.

Homework meaningful? What is the purpose? Assessment for learning, assessment as learning-this should be the purpose of homework. Who is doing the homework? Is it just mimicking? Where is this strategy in their homework coming from?

How about the next year? If my class is so different do you get flack about it the next year?

Ok this is me ranting: I hate this. I am a teacher. I teach! Next year is next year. My job is not to prepare them for next year. My job is to engage them in learning this year.

Warm up activities . Estimation 180, visual patterns, headbanz, would you rather, fast fingers (adding by speed), number talks, Jessica Shumway stuff,  daily Desmos challenge, counting circles, bizz buzz, math mistakes.

Resiliency- mistakes are cool - that is how you learn. My best "no". Purposefully make a mistake in your work is OK. Non-permanent surfaces are better for mistakes-more willing to take risks.

Thanks to Mary Bourassa for leading this! Sorry I had to go :(