ERLC Presents …

1. ERLC Presents… A 12-Step Program for Student Success in Mathematics With Marian Small

2. A 12-step program for student success Marian Small February 2010

3. Hello there • Just so you know with whom you’re talking…. • Have a look-see!

4. And so I know you… • I’m curious as to what division you are in. Could you let me know? • A for Division 1 • B for Division 2. • C for Division 3. • D for Division 4.

5. What led me here • Teachers’ love of lists • The existence of other “twelve step” programs

6. AA twelve steps 1. Admit life out of control 2. Admit greater power could restore you. 3. Decide to turn to a higher power. 4. Make a personal inventory. 5. Admit the problem to self and another.

7. AA twelve steps 6. Be ready to remove defects. 7. Ask for help in removing shortcomings. 8. Be willing to make amends to those harmed. 9. Make the amends.

8. AA twelve steps 10. Continue personal inventory and continue to admit wrongs. 11. Prayer and meditation 12. Carry message to others.

9. Our variation

10. Step 1: Recognizing a problem your students might feel in your classroom

11. What do you see as the biggest problem? A Not enough academic success B Not enough confidence C Not enough engagement D Not enough joy

12. Step 2: Deciding you are the one to do something about it

13. A teacher’s role • To your students, math is “you”- not a book, not algebra, not numbers, not shapes. • If things aren’t working, blaming lazy kids, poor parenting, your principal, your superintendent, your trustees, the Ministry or the world gets you nowhere.

14. Step 3: Becoming self-aware without condemning yourself

15. Be kind • We want students to honestly face their learning struggles without making them feel awful. We owe ourselves the same kindness.

16. Think to yourself • What do I do as a teacher that is really great? Will somebody share here?

17. Think to yourself • Which kids seem not to connect with me? Why might that be? • Which colleagues seem not to connect with me? Why might that be?

18. Think to yourself When colleagues seem not to connect with me…. Is it because: A I’m so good; they’re jealous B I’m so bad that they don’t want the association. C We teach different grades or subjects. D Our philosophical approaches are just too different?

19. Step 4: Looking for a “sponsor”– working with other teachers

20. What makes us change? • If our ideas are “confronted” either through personal interactions or through reading. • Where do we find our sponsor? It might be a colleague, an administrator, a coach, a consultant,… Can someone share one experience where such an interaction made them a better teacher?

21. Step 5: Gaining better insight into what and how you are teaching by talking (to your sponsor and others) and reflecting and/or by reading and reflecting.

22. Value of interaction • We teach students about the value of working in groups, teamwork, etc., so we need to practise it. • It’s about really hearing what someone else does and why and being forced to tell someone else what you do and why.

23. If you don’t have to talk to someone about what you are doing, you often don’t notice some of the things you’re not doing or realize alternatives you could be doing.

24. For example… • You are teaching your students about half/double, i.e. if you multiply two numbers, you can halve one and double the other (e.g. 18 x 25 = 9 x 50) • You say it works since you are doing the opposite to each number. • I (a colleague) come along and ask….

25. So how come that doesn’t work for division? (Why isn’t 300 ÷ 50 = 600 ÷ 25?) • It is only then that you realize that there were some glaring omissions in what you had told your students.

26. Would you: A Just clarify by saying it only works for x B Explain why it only works for x using examples C Explain why it only works for x using reasoning D Ask kids to figure out why it only works for x?

27. 8 x 6 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

28. 8 ÷ 2 x x x x x x x x 4 ÷ 4 x x x x Not enough stuff and too many sharers

29. Or… • You are teaching students how to solve proportions. Lots of students struggle when solving a proportion such as 4/x = 3.2/80. • You talk to another teacher to get an idea, e.g.

30. Ratio table

31. Or… • You are teaching students how to calculate the mean of 58, 57, 55, 70 and 68. • You never realized, until you talked to someone else, you could think of each number in terms of 60, so it’s really the mean of: 60 – 2, 60 – 3, 60 – 5, 60 + 10 and 60 + 8, so you could calculate the mean of -2, -3, -5, +10 and +8 and just add 60.

32. In addition, a conversation with other teachers can help you clarify what your learning goals can or should be, different pedagogical approaches you could take, or missed opportunities.

33. What to read? • Our math teaching benefits by reading math-specific material. Whether they are books and articles that give us more insight into the math content we teach or pedagogical approaches ….

34. What to read? • Whether they are books and articles that are research based or that are personal reflections…. • Whether they are in print or on the internet….

35. Step 6: Teaching through problem solving

36. What does it mean? • You don’t teach a whole bunch of techniques so that kids can solve “problems” of a certain type. (They aren’t problems if the kid knows the type they are anyway.)

37. What does it mean? • Instead you present the problem and let kids try. The problems are not random; you make a professional judgment about where your students need to and can go.

38. What does it look like? • In Grade 4, I might ask my students something like: • I used 43 sticks to make triangles, squares and hexagons. What did I make?

39. What does it look like? 43 sticks to make triangles, squares and hexagons. Choose which answer might be reasonable: A: all triangles B: all squares C: 5 hexagons and some squares D: 3 hexagons and some squares and triangles

40. What does it look like? • Or, more specifically…. • A) How many of each shape might I have made? • B) How do you know that at least one shape was a triangle?

41. What does it look like? • In Grade 6, I might ask my students something like: A parallelogram has an area of 32 cm2. What might its dimensions be?

42. What should I ask now? A: Could the parallelogram be really long? B: Could the height be 4? C: Could the height be just a little less than the base length? D: What do you know about the parallelogram?

43. What should I ask now? A: Could the parallelogram be really long? B: Could the height be 4? C: Could the height be just a little less than the base length? D: What do you know about the parallelogram? Someone explain their choice.

44. What does it look like? • In Grade 9, I might ask my students something like: Without using a protractor, how do you know that these line segments on a geoboard are perpendicular?

45. What does it look like? • Look at the rises and runs.

46. Step 7: Planning ahead what to ask and, as much as possible, how to respond, but with a willingness to change.

47. Planning questions • When you write a lesson plan, you could be thinking about the questions you should ask that bring out the big idea and that ensure that all students’ needs are addressed.

48. For example… • You are teaching a grade 4 lesson on dividing two-digit numbers by one-digit numbers, e.g. 78 by 6. • What do you think are the one or two most important ideas you want students to walk away with?

49. Is it… A That division describes the equal groups when you divide up a whole. B That you can accomplish division by thinking about subtraction or multiplication. C That you should estimate before you calculate D The procedure for dividing

50. So what might you ask.. • Describe a situation where you might divide 50 by 4. • Now describe a situation where you are forming groups but you would not divide.