March 2019
Have you thought about your Professional Learning (PL) focus lately? How is your PL focus shaping your goals and driving your decisions in the classroom and in your professional learning choices? For more information about the PL Focus, click here.
What are your goals? What is your PL focus? We have developed a quick survey to collect data on all the amazing work educators are doing across our great state. Please take a minute and complete the survey by clicking this link. (Thank you to all of you who completed the survey last month!)
Remember, you are amazing! You have been working with your students all year; the skills you are teaching this year will help your students for the rest of the year and beyond.
We have a long list of opportunities for teachers of grades Pre-K through 12!
March 30-April 6: NCTM Annual Conference
San Diego, California
Join thousands of your mathematics education peers at the premier math education event of the year! Network and exchange ideas, engage with innovation in the field, and discover new learning practices that will drive student success.
The 2019 NCTM Annual Conference will bring experiences, networking, education, and inspiration together to foster personal and career growth.
Oklahoma Presentations (We would love your support!):
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Christine Koerner (OSDE): Feedback without Fatigue: Ways to Provide Students with Effective Feedback While Avoiding Burnout
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Becky Archibald (Edmond Public Schools): No More One-Size-Fits-All Assessments. Explore Student-Designed Assessments in Secondary Math
For more information, click here.
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June 3-5: SREB Math Ready Trainings
Wilson Teaching and Learning Center, Tulsa &
Mid-Del Technology Center, Midwest City
These free trainings are for teachers from schools who will be implementing either the College Career Math Ready course or the Ready for High School Math Course in the 2019-2020 school year. Curriculum specialists and school administrators are welcome to attend, space permitting.
To register for either training, click here.
June 6-7: OCTM Annual Conference- Call for Proposals
Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City
The Oklahoma Council of Teachers of Mathematics is now accepting speaker proposals for the 2019 OCTM Annual Conference. This is your opportunity to demonstrate what you are currently doing in and for mathematics education. The conference will be held at Oklahoma City University on June 7, 2019 (there will be a pre-conference on June 6, 2019, with John SanGiovanni as the keynote speaker). Current OCTM membership is expected for any presenter from Oklahoma.
Proposals are due March 25. Submit your proposal here.
June 10-12: Bootstrap CS Integration
Tom Love Innovation Hub, the University of Oklahoma - Norman
The Oklahoma State Department of Education is partnering with Bootstrap to equip mathematics teachers with curriculum, pedagogy, and skills to integrate Computer Science into the Pre-Algebra & Algebra 1 sequence, using free Bootstrap materials. Participants will learn, grow, have fun, and engage their students in a mathematics learning experience that connects them to the world of computer science. No previous coding experience is necessary!
As part of the free online pre-workshop and 3-day workshop, participants will:
- Participate in an immersive demonstration of the curriculum
- Learn innovative pedagogical techniques for teaching the order of operations and mathematical modeling
- Learn how the Oklahoma Math and Computer Science standards can be met through a unique programming curriculum
- Explore cutting-edge research on algebra education
- Join the next cohort of Oklahoma teachers shaping math/CS integration
- Receive ongoing support, including access to mentors after the workshop
- Receive an additional 5 hours of virtual professional training
- Receive a stipend of up to $500 at the completion of the program
Applications due April 26th. Submit your application here.
Acceptance letters will be emailed during the week of May 5th.
June 10-12: Tulsa Math Teacher Circles Immersion Workshop
The University of Tulsa- McFarlin Library, Tulsa
Join the Tulsa Math Teacher Circle group this summer for an intensive three-day program! Comments from last summer’s teachers.
- “Other workshops might give me a different approach, but not a deeper understanding of math like this workshop does.”
- “I loved all the problem solving and collaboration!”
- “Loved learning how to approach a word problem at any level, even the harder ones.”
- “Excellent presenters!”
- “Exciting Math Problem-Solving Sessions.”
Join K-12 and college math educators and professional mathematicians!
Applications due April 19th. Apply Here.
June 24-28: Oklahoma Math Teacher Circle Summer Workshop
Rose State College, Midwest City
Come together as a state and have fun with math! Attend the Oklahoma Math Teacher Circle Summer Workshop to see how math circles restore creativity, amplify voice, and help build strong math communities. Let’s learn and grow together.
Learn more and apply here.
August 1: Back to School Bash
Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma City
Teachers, school staff, and their families are invited to spend an evening at the Oklahoma History Center to discover what museums and student-based organizations across the Oklahoma City metro and around the state are offering in the upcoming school year for science to social studies subjects. Educators and museum staff will be on hand to answer questions about field trips, free teacher resources, special events, and other opportunities for schools and students. Door prizes will be presented throughout the evening to teachers with identification. Admission to the event is free; registration is preferred but not required.
Register here.
SAVE THE DATES
We have even more learning opportunities coming the summer. More information about these opportunities will be coming soon!
June TBA: Elementary Math Teacher Workshops
Be on the Look Out! OSDE is offering a three-day summer math workshop for elementary teachers, coaches, and administrators across the state of Oklahoma. The major focus of the workshop is centered on supporting and improving content knowledge. Applications will be available soon on the #OKMath Facebook group and in a future OKMath newsletter.
July 10-11: Open Up Training (Hosted by OSU)
Open Up Mathematics Curriculum is a free, high quality, open educational resource for grades 6-8. Oklahoma State University will be providing a low-cost teacher and administrator training on July 10-11. More details, including how to sign up, are coming soon.
July 15-18, 23: Engage OK
We are looking forward to seeing you!
- July 15: Woodward
- July 16: Lawton
- July 17: Durant
- July 18: Tulsa
- July 23: Moore
Tulsa Girls' Math Circle
Tulsa Girls' Math Circle has registration open for its spring quarter, April 2-May 7, 2019. If you know any girl who you think might be interested, please send her their way. The math circle meets for 1-1/2 hours on Tuesday evenings for 6-week quarters. They present "low-threshold, high ceiling" problems for girls in grades 6-8. Any girl who's interest in mathematics, likes puzzles, and would like to meet others who do too, would be a good candidate to join our circle.
Please contact Donna Farrior or Kimberly Adams if you have any questions.
Girls can register here.
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Children's books are being used more frequently to teach mathematics. With literature, children are able to experience the wonder of mathematics in the same way they appreciate the wonders of a great story.
Children's literature is an effective tool for mathematics instruction because it:
- Incorporates stories into the teaching and learning of mathematics
- Introduces math concepts and contexts in a motivating manner
- Acts as a source for generating problems and building problem-solving skills
- Helps build a conceptual understanding of math skills through illustration
How Does Children’s Literature Connect to Mathematics? Watch this quick video by Marlyn Burns to find out. Click this link.
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2019 Mathical Winners Announced
The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) announced the 2019 winners today of the Mathical Book Prize, which recognizes outstanding fiction and literary nonfiction for youth ages 2-18. The announcement took place at the Critical Issues in Mathematics Education conference, where math educators discussed strategies for incorporating literary works with mathematical content into primary and secondary school curricula.
The Mathical Prize, now in its fifth year, is selected annually by a committee of PreK-12 teachers, librarians, mathematicians, early childhood experts, and others.
Click here to view the 2019 winners.
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Have you heard about the Math Ready coursework options? The Southern Regional Education Board, in collaboration with the Oklahoma State Department of Education and Oklahoma teachers, has developed two math remediation courses designed to help students develop a deeper understanding of mathematics and have fun while tackling tough math. College Career Math Ready (taken after Algebra II) and Ready for High School Math (taken in middle school or freshman year of high school) both will help your students be prepared for their future math journeys.
Information about the courses:
College Career Math Ready (CCMR) is a free course designed for high school seniors who have completed Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II, and need a transition course to get them ready for college-level coursework. By engaging students in real-world applications, College Career Math Ready develops critical-thinking skills that students will use in college and their careers. College Career Math Ready has a proven track record of increasing student readiness.
View an informational webinar about CCMR, hosted by Christine Koerner, here.
Ready for High School Math is a free course designed for eighth grade students to develop critical-thinking skills that they will use throughout their high school studies. The course addresses elementary and middle school standards, including the topics of number sense, ratios and proportions, expressions and equations, algebra, functions, geometry, and statistics and probability, agreed to as essential college and career-readiness standards for most students.
If you have any questions, send an email to Ready@SREB.org, or find more information on OSDE’s CCMR webpage.
Online Practice Tests
Online practice tests for the OSTP are available for grades 4-8 here. Practice tests are available in both English and Spanish.
Parent-Student-Teacher Guides
Parent-Student-Teacher Guides for grades 3-8 are available here. These guides are available in English and Spanish.
We Want to Hear From You!
Are there awesome things happening in your classroom? We would love to hear about it! Please feel free to email Shannon (elementary) or Christine (secondary) pictures, lessons, math tasks, or other activities related to math.
Math Centers in Mustang
Check out the amazing math centers going on in Jamie L's (Mustang) 1st-grade classroom. What a great way to show multiple representations of how to make a number.
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Rainbow Name Collection Clouds. “First we rotated through groups to practice name collection boxes, and then they each made their own rainbow cloud!” |
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Elementary:
This month's problem has multiple routes to the solution. We hope this will make you curious about finding different approaches!
One possible approach
Show the grid below, or hand out this worksheet, or display this slide.
Ask your students:
"Each symbol has a numerical value. The total for the symbols is written at the end of each row and column.
"Can you find the missing total that should go where the question mark has been put?
"This is a really interesting problem because it can be solved in lots of different ways. Can you find more than one way to do it?"
 Secondary:
Exploring Exponents:
This task is an opportunity for students to think about why the rules of exponents work, so they can use them with that understanding, rather than trying to remember rules. The handout has a table with some sections already completed so students can complete the rest by noticing patterns and discussing them.
The first page allows students to explore the relationship between positive and negative exponents, and the second one is about generating rules for operations on exponents.
An important part of this task is making sure that students share their reasoning with each other and are able to justify their thinking. Make sure the students have plenty of scratch paper so they can try out ideas before putting them down on the table. Encourage them to color code in order to show the connections in their thinking.
Access this activity by clicking here.
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