The fall seemed to zip by…I noticed that last year I posted several times on the blog during the fall, and this year–well, you can just see the “Welcome Back” post below!
That being said, I think it means I’ve been working with teachers and students more, which is a great thing. I’m working on developing number talks as a strong mathematical routine that can help all our students with the curricular competencies in math. I’ve loved visiting some classrooms and getting to know the elementary students. I am excited by the creativity of our students. Yesterday, when doing a number talk at Forest Grove, a student explained how she mentally visualized the face of a clock to do efficient multiplication by 5’s. Today at Suncrest, a student cleverly used the answer to the first problem as his starting point for the second problem–an efficient strategy that worked. The goal of number talks is to let students explore and share a variety of strategies so they can see the creativity and flexibility in math, and aren’t held down to a single method for problem solving. In the New Year, I’m offering “Lunch and Learn” sessions at schools, where I will come and hold a 45 minute mini-workshop on a specific math routine. January and February will be focused on Number Talks. E-mail me for more info: donna.morgan@burnabyschools.ca
If you are interested in number talks as a routine for your class, some great resources include Dan Meyer’s Math For Love, any book or video by Sherry Parrish, or the book Making Number Talks Matter by Cathy Humphreys and Ruth Parker.
Curriculum Implementation Day–January 28
There are several offerings available on Curriculum Implementation Day–check the Staff Development Calendar for details and to sign up. Three that I am involved with are–
Place Based Learning at the Burnaby Lake Rowing Pavillion, 8:30 am – 1: 30 pm; Guest Speakers Dr. Gillian Judson (Walking Curriculum) and Lori Snyder (Metis herbalist). Suitable K-12.
Standards Based Assessment at Burnaby Mountain, 8:30 am – 12 noon. A look at the use of standards based assessment in Secondary Schools.
Math Connections–A session for Intermediate Teachers at Cariboo Secondary–examine how math 6 and 7 tie into math 8. Hosted by Cariboo math teacher Lori Bernard.
Spring Staff Development Offerings
Most spring offerings in math (and science) are posted on the Staff Development Calendar. Sign up now!
Spring Book Club–Jo Boaler’s Mathematical Mindsets.
Carole Fullerton–intermediate and primary sessions, May 8th.
Math Games Night–if you want to host one for your class or for several classes or even the whole school, drop me a line.
Over the Holidays
I hope you have a restful and energizing break. But if you want your students to do a bit of fluency practice over the holidays, please direct them to the parent section of this blog, where they can find some fun math games. Also, if you need a great gift idea, I personally recommend Prime Climb–a board game that can engage kids from 5-95.
Enjoy, and I’ll see you in January.
-Donna
