Summer 2019
If I could tell my first year teacher-self anything, I would tell her... well, a lot. I never saw a first day of school when student teaching, so I didn't know what to expect when I walked into my classroom. I didn't think about grouping desks so everyone could comfortably see the board, planning more activities than needed in case something ran short, or printing my attendance rosters a week before AND the night before in case of enrollment changes and/or printer failure. Little (and big) pieces of advice could have helped me so much as a first year teacher.
That's why I'm inviting our veteran teachers to share tips and tricks for our "newbies" and preservice teachers: what do you know now that you wish you knew then? Email your advice to me at christine.koerner@sde.ok.gov, and I will include it in our "back-to-school" newsletter.
Also, send me your first year teacher photos, and I'll create a collage for our "back-to-school" newsletter. (I've included my first four years of teacher photos, above.)
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Are you willing to be a mentor? Do you want a mentor? Are you looking for another person to collaborate with? Sign up for the OKMath Mentor program!
- Sign up on the OKMath Facebook group.
- Once you sign up to have/be a mentor, you will have the opportunity to see other teachers who are interested in networking/working on the same topics.
- Click "message" next to the educator of your choice to start a conversation.
- Once the conversation is started, prompts will be sent to discuss, goal-set, and get to know each other.
This could be a great way to connect to educators across the state!
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During the 2018-19 academic year, teachers across Oklahoma identified the need for guidance in the areas of Intermediate Algebra (4418), Trigonometry (4750) and Precalculus (4611). Two groups of educators were formed with the task of creating competencies for these subjects. Competencies provide a pathway for teachers who are looking to guide their students to the next mathematical level.
The committee members looked at existing competencies within and outside of our state, Oklahoma high school and college course syllabi, vertical alignment documents, our Oklahoma Academic Standards for mathematics, and the NCTM Essential Standards for High School Mathematics to determine which essential skills should be included in our Oklahoma competencies. The result is guidance (linked below) that will help our students become college and career ready.
Oklahoma higher education professors, curriculum coordinators, and math teachers have had a chance to review previous drafts. We invite you to use this guidance during the 2019-20 academic year and provide your feedback (form linked on the competency documents). We value your input!
Download: Intermediate Algebra Competencies
Download: Precalculus & Trigonometry Competencies
 Oklahoma Excel
2019-2020 Academic Year
OSDE is proud to announce the upcoming launch of Oklahoma Excel, which is part of the department’s Champions of Excellence initiative.
Oklahoma Excel is a year-long professional learning opportunity for teachers. Participants will spend a year learning about, implementing, and refining high-leverage instructional strategies.
Oklahoma Excel will provide educators with:
- Up to 54 hours of sustained year-long professional development in the areas of math, ELA, science, social studies, fine arts, and safe & healthy schools (held in the Oklahoma City metro area)
- Additional on-site professional learning and instructional coaching
- An opportunity to network with other educators from across the state
- Practice in implementing evidence-based, high-leverage instructional strategies
- Ongoing opportunities to collect and analyze data related to instructional practices
- A chance to participate in a cutting-edge, nationally recognized endeavor
To learn more about how your district can participate in this exciting new opportunity, visit our Oklahoma Excel web page.
If you have questions, contact Dawn Irons, Director of Oklahoma Excel, at dawn.irons@sde.ok.gov.
 Bootstrap Computer Science/Algebra Integration Fall Cohort
Oklahoma State Department of Education
For: Pre-Algebra and Algebra I teachers, Curriculum Coordinators
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.
Application Deadline is August 13th. Apply here!
 Starting August 24th: Open Up Resources Mathematics Curriculum Cohort
Oklahoma State University- Willard Hall
For: 6-12th grade Teachers, Curriculum Coordinators, Math Instructional Coaches
OSU College of Education, Health and Aviation’s Center for Research on STEM Teaching and Learning (CRSTL), in collaboration with the Oklahoma State Department of Education, will be providing a year-long (20+ hours) professional development opportunity for schools using the Open-Up Resources Mathematics Curriculum. There will be an in-person session August 24, then virtual meetings throughout the 2019-2020 academic year.
For more information, click here.
ACT College and Career Readiness Workshops
Various Locations
For: 9-12th grade Teachers, Administrators, Counselors
Building a comprehensive system, aligning curriculum, selecting assessments, and implementing high quality instruction is the primary job of any education decision maker. Whether you’re an educator, principal, or counselor, preparing students for the next step is easier when you have the right resources at the right time.
At the 2019 ACT College and Career Readiness Workshop you will:
- Learn about resources for your ICAP implementation
- Learn about new instructional resources for 2019
- Learn how to prepare your students for the workforce
- Learn a process to align your curriculum to the ACT
- Create a comprehensive assessment plan
Register Now:
- Please register at least two weeks in advance of the workshop date to ensure availability of workshop materials.
- Workshops are typically three hours in length.
- In person and virtual workshop options are available!
Register here: https://forms.act.org/learningevents/workshops/register.html
Additional Fall Opportunities (More information coming soon!)
- College Career Math Ready Course Training
- ReengageOK: Regional Meetings
In the past two months, the OKMath community had multiple opportunities for professional learning, cohorts, and more. Below is a summary highlighting some of the summer fun, along with how you can participate in future math opportunities:
College Career Math Ready (CCMR) and Ready for High School Math (HSMR) Trainings:
In these trainings, middle and high school educators got to experience the CCMR and HSMR curriculum first-hand. Teachers collaborated to solve problems, analyzed units, and presented their findings during their three-day experience. If you missed out, have no fear! Additional trainings are coming for fall 2019, spring 2020, and summer 2020.
Visit http://sde.ok.gov/ccmr to learn more about these courses.
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Bootstrap Computer Science/Algebra Integration Cohort
This group of teachers got hands-on experience with the Bootstrap curriculum, using Pyret (coding platform) to make connections to algebraic functions and data sets. During this blended online/in-person experience, teachers and curriculum coordinators made constant connections between the worlds of Computer Science and Math and gathered resources to implement the curriculum into their classrooms in August.
A new, fall cohort will be starting soon! Application Deadline is August 13th. Apply here.
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Assessment Item Review
During these meetings, educators came together to evaluate and analyze test items for our elementary and middle school state assessment. Approved items will eventually be piloted and potentially be adopted into the state testing question banks. Many said the three days were "eye-opening" and worth experiencing.
If you would like to take part in item review next summer, email Sarah Owens, Math Assessment Director.
Math Teacher Circles Summer Workshop
This week-long experience impacted teachers in great ways. Math Teacher Circles worked to accomplish the following goals:
Goal 1: Reflect on one’s cultural and mathematical identity, and recognize every student has a unique cultural and mathematical identity.
Goal 2: Develop strategies and a safe classroom culture to help students self-identify as mathematicians, reflect on their relationship with mathematics, and embrace themselves as mathematicians.
Goal 3: Foster an educator community that is built on a foundation of mathematics and values educator voice, mutual trust, openness, and reflection.
Goal 4: Apply the principles of the Math Teacher Circle community in the mathematics classroom to create an inclusive community built on productive struggle, student/educator voice, mutual trust, openness, collaboration, and reflection.
Goal 5: Purposefully plan mathematics instruction that builds an all-inclusive classroom community responsive to the goals and needs of underrepresented students.
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Educators developed their own mathematical identities by participating in open-ended, challenging math tasks. Facilitators included national math celebrities Fawn Nguyen, Josh Zucker, Tatiana Shubin, and Jana Talley. A part of the week-long experience included hearing from speakers about bringing equity to the mathematics classroom and developing students' mathematical and cultural identities.
Interested in participating in a Math Teacher Circle? Regional Math Teacher Circles are coming soon to an area near you! Dates for the 2019-2020 academic year are coming soon.
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Open Up Resources
In this two-day training, middle school and high school teachers practiced multiple problem solving strategies such as Notice and Wonder, True/False, Sketch It, and Mystery Stories. They also dove into the Open Up Resources curriculum, learning about how they could introduce collaborative, engaging practices into their math classrooms.
There will be a second, similar training for Open Up Resources on August 24th at Oklahoma State University. For more information, click here.
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EngageOK on the Road
EngageOK on the Road provided 50 minute "teaser" sessions on many different topics, but many teachers chose to spend the whole day talking about math strategies! We got to see hundreds of teachers over the course of the week-plus-a-day.
Here were the math sessions at EngageOK this year (plus a bonus Computer Science session!):
Elementary:
Secondary:
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Additional Summer Events
Additional OKMath summer events included the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of Mathematics (OCTM) conference, Oklahoma State University's STEM Conference, the Tulsa Math Teacher Circle Immersion Workshop, and many more. The "for teachers, by teachers" Northeast Oklahoma Math Teachers Conference is also coming up July 31st in Jenks! It is fantastic seeing so much engaging, impactful work being done in the OKMath community!
Link to additional summer presentations: bit.ly/christinekoerner
Are you starting to look for quality problems and back-to-school resources? Here's a list to get you started!
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OKMath Framework Suggested Learning Progressions
Have you seen all of the lesson plans, activities, big ideas, essential questions, and more on the OKMath Framework pages? Available for Pre-K through Algebra II, the OKMath Framework Suggested Learning Progression features a pacing guide filled with projects, great problems, and more. When you go to the OKMath Framework, click on your grade level, then "Suggested Learning Progression." From there, explore!
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3 Act Math Tasks
A good book or movie keeps you intrigued by giving you just enough information at a time that leaves you wanting more. 3 Act Math tasks follow those same rules by giving students engaging situations with only a few facts at first and then asking them to create a solution. Then more information is given, and students revise their thinking. Lastly, a cliffhanger comes along and really gets the kids invested in the math and solving the problem using everything they know. Interested in using these math tasks in your classroom? Check out Graham Fletcher’s website for a plethora of great tasks!
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24 Game
How do you get students excited to solve math facts? Put a little competitive edge to it as a game, and everyone wants to play. The 24 Game provides fabulous math facts practice, and it's so simple: just make the number 24 from the four numbers on the card. You can add or subtract or multiply or divide using all four numbers on the card—but use each number only once!
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Open Middle
Open Middle are challenging math problems worth solving. These problems have multiple ways of solving them as opposed to a problem where you are told to solve it using a specific method. They may appear to be simple and procedural in nature but turn out to be more challenging and complex when you start to solve it.With so many open-ended possibilities, students will love talking about what numbers they used and how they solved their problems.
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Open Up Resources (Grades 6-8) and Mathematics Vision Project (Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Integrated Mathematics)
Both of these free, open educational resources feature easy entry, high-challenge tasks for students. Teachers have access to assessments, teaching guides, accommodation suggestions, and more. Training is available for this curriculum starting August 24th. For more information, click here.
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SET
Set is a card game that makes students use logical reasoning and spatial thinking to match cards based on color, shape, and quantity. Every game has multiple answers and combinations so the possibility are endless. SET puts out a daily puzzle that can start your day or fill in those few minutes before the next class. It’s Triple Matching Mania that anybody can play, but nobody can stop!
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