Volume 1, Issue 4

Secondary Math Coordinators

Cobb County School Distri ct

Upcoming Webinars

8am:

Grade 6 – Unit 6 1/22/13, at 8:00

a.m. :

https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?

sid=2012003&password=M.BDF49

C6837BC6ADD80274D0D33872B Grade 7 – Unit 5 1/23/13, at 8:00 a.m. https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2012003&password=M.62D9AC2CFBDB20911177541FF12C1F Grade 8 – Unit 6 1/29/13 at 8:00 a.m. https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2012003&password=M.BA302DB9E7641805371057D0C28FE7

All session archives /webinar schedules may be found at: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Common-Core/Pages/Math.aspx.

Teacher Spotlight: Belle 2

Teacher Spotlight: Jones 2

Teacher Spotlight: Moore 2

Teacher Spotlight:

Sorenson

3

Teacher Spotlight:

Welskop

3

TI Webinars 3

Rigor & Relevance 4

Inside this issue:

Do you have engaged or compliant

students?

Teaching that emphasizes active en-

gagement helps students process and

retain information. It leads to self-

questioning, deeper thinking, and

problem solving. Children who are

engaged show sustained behavioral

involvement in learning activities

accompanied by a positive emotional

tone. They select tasks at the border

of their competencies, initiate action

when given the opportunity, and ex-

ert intense effort and concentration

in the implementation of learning

tasks; they show generally positive

emotions during ongoing action, in-

cluding enthusiasm, optimism, curi-

osity, and interest.

A procedurally engaged student is

one who follows traditional rules of

behavior. He or she is quiet, looking

at the teacher, has the book turned to

the correct page and may even help

the teacher collect the homework.

A substantially engaged student is

one who not only attends to the built-

in procedures of instruction but also

interacts with the content of the les-

son in a deep

and thoughtful manner.

Teacher behaviors that promote en-

gagement:

High expectations

Personal relationships

Link learning to prior

knowledge/experiences

Continual assessment/

feedback

All student always have

something to do

Variety of interaction modes

& room arrangements-

novelty

Structure tasks in rigorous,

active & accountable ways

Consider the 6 C’s:

Choice

Collaboration

Connection

Challenge/Competition

Communication

Commotion

Engagement in the Classroom...

November/ 2012-January 2013

Debbie Poss, 2012 Gladys M. Thomason Recipient

Debbie Poss teaches

engaging courses at

Lassiter High School

in Marietta. It is not

uncommon to see stu-

dents working in

groups to solve a task

with graphing calcula-

tors and manipula-

tives to simulate real

world experi-

ences. Stu-

dents have to

justify their

work with

multiple rep-

resentations

and written

explanations.

As a T³ in-

structor, students bene-

fit from con-

stant inter-

action with

the TI calcu-

lators in her

classroom.

Marcella Jones, 8th grade teacher at Lindley Middle School, models dif-

ferentiation in her classes on a daily basis. After the whole-class open-

ing, her students are divided into three groups for the work session. Stu-

dent groups change on a daily basis based on student data, interests,

and learning styles. During work sessions, students may be using the

iPad on “field trips” around the building to find examples of right trian-

gles, presenting new packaging containers to the manager of the local

grocery store, writing a letter to administrators stating why a particular

ramp is not ADA compliant, or updating their personal websites. During

the closing session, students summarize their learning from the work

session and how the learning relates to the standard.

Anne Belle, Lindley Middle

School, teaches a small group

of 7th and 8th grade stu-

dents—math, science, social

studies, and ELA.

Belle’s classroom exemplifies the principles

of brain safety. She uses brain science prin-

ciples to create an environment which will

allow for maximum learning. Soft music is

often playing in the background and a bub-

bling water fountain contribute to a sooth-

ing environment. Plants and soft lighting

also contribute to the effect. Much of the

classroom is also decorated in light blue as

that color creates a calming environment.

The physical environment is also arranged

for success. Each of the four walls in

the room highlights one of the content

areas. Both tables and desks are used

as needed based on the activities for

the day.

Mrs. Belle knows that students must

feel safe, loved, and respected for

learning to occur. Her students take

pride in the classroom and take owner-

ship for maintaining the environment.

Marcella Jones

Anne Belle

Laura Moore

PAGE 2 SECONDARY MATH COORDINATORS VOLUME 1, I SSUE 4

Laura Moore, math connec-

tions teacher at Barber

Middle School, has her

students communicate both

their successes and chal-

lenges. Students in Hoan

Bomar’s class (Lindley 6)

keep constant track of their

own data and use every

available minute of class

time to remediate and

correct.

CALLING ALL TEACHERS!!!!!!!

To make Picasso a success for all, share any as-

sessments, performance tasks, vocabulary activi-

ties, practice sheets, discover/inquiry learning

tasks, differentiation etc… from units that you

have taught by emailing them directly to:

michelle.mikes@cobbk12.org . Please include the

course, unit and lesson that the shared document

belongs. If you have something that fits into an up-

coming unit, that would be welcome too. High

school teachers on block-this could help build

your second semester tool box.

Picasso Notes:

Mr. Welskop’s Accelerated Coordinate Algebra class is understanding

transformations of functions from the graphing calculator.

As a cultivator of the flipped classroom model, students are able to

view understanding of the transformations the night before class and then

put it into action with the calculators in class.

Engagement in Mr. Welskop’s classroom include the 3 r’s: rigor, rele-

vance and relationships. As for rigor-students need material that challenges

their ability level; relevance-why it is important; and relationships-the stu-

dents know that the teacher genuinely cares about them, gets to know them

and there is a mutual understanding and respect in the classroom.

Dan Sorenson

Texas Instruments Webinars

Mike Welskop

and do. Hopefully, they see it as

intellectually, emotionally, and

physically active. Eventually, they

change from being annoying little

high school math students wor-

ried about their grade into peo-

ple confident in their ability to

change their world. They learn to

appreciate the scope, depth and

detail involved in real problems

and grow to believe in their own

abilities to handle every-

thing involved in those

problems.”

What is the sugar density in a

skittle? If you visit Mr.

Sorenson’s AP Calculus

course, you may find students

working with spitwads, flying

giraffes, yoga or even razor

scooters!

As Mr. Sorenson states: “My

goal for the class is to create

an interesting environment

where the kids want to come

PAGE 3 SECONDARY MATH COORDINATORS VOLUME 1, I SSUE 4

http://education.ti.com/calculators/pd/US/Onlin

e-Learning/Webinars

Fund for Teachers

Fund for Teachers is a national nonprofit or-

ganization that provides opportunities for

teachers to enrich themselves through personal

and professional growth. Teachers who partici-

pate become “lead learners” in the realm of

world studies and travel. Educators may apply

for up to $10, 000 toward self-designed summer

learning experiences. Teachers in all public,

private and parochial schools/districts are eligi-

ble to apply. The deadline for accepting pro-

posals is January 31, 2013. Visit

http://www.fundforteachers.org for more infor-

mation, the application, and an online tutorial

for creating a successful proposal. Any ques-

tions please email info@fundforteachers.org or

call (713) 296-6127.

Presidential Awards for Excellence

in Mathematics Nominations

Nov.-Jan. Hot Topic: Engagement

P. 145 in Teaching Mathematics Today

Nov.-Jan. Differentiation Strategy:

Problem-Based Learning

P. 219 in Differentiation Strategies for

Mathematics

www.cobbk12.org

Math Blog:

http://cicobb.typepad.com/math_middle/

Relevance includes competency in the 21st century skills. Students need to feel a connection with what they are learning and have meaning daily for learning the math.

Current events play a vital role in en-gaging students in the mathematics that play a role in our every day lives.

It is not good enough to say that you need to learn this for the test or next year’s math course...

“Rigor is the goal of helping students develop the capacity to understand content that is complex, ambiguous, provocative, and person-ally or emotionally challenging.”-2001, Silver, Strong,

Perinie

What is the 21st century criteria?

Critical Thinking

Analytic Reasoning

Problem Solving

Writing Skills

Oral Communication

Depth of understanding How?

Project based instruction-inquiry model

Connection to the world-emotional & personal

Strategies for students for challenging text & gathering rele-vant information

Giving students the skills/motivation to meet expectations

Rigor & Relevance

Math 6-12 Supervisor:

michelle.mikes@cobbk12.org

Pass the Word!!! It's time to nominate outstanding Math

teachers for Grades 7-12. They must have 5 years of expe-

rience prior to this year, be highly qualified and teach Math

at least one period a day.

The nomination process is quick and easy.

1. Go to www.paemst.org

2. Click on "Nominate a Teacher"

3. Fill in the form

4. You are done.

Textbook Adoption

At the end of January, teachers will review the ma-

terials at local schools and public review will take

place in March of the final proposed adopted materials..

Please take the time to fill out a review form of the textbooks

for your course to help the committee make a final decision.