Oregon Math Leaders Webinar This Week!

Honoring Tribal History/Shared History in Mathematics

The Oregon Math Team recognizes Native American Heritage Month in November as an opportunity to celebrate and share culture, traditions, music, crafts, dance, and ways and concepts of life.  

In 2017, the Oregon Legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB) 13, now known as "Tribal History/Shared History". This law directs the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to create K-12 Native American Curriculum for inclusion in Oregon public schools and provide professional development to educators. This work includes lessons connecting a variety of subjects including mathematics. Learn more about this project and the available resources on the Senate Bill 13 website. 

Please join us on 19 November for an opportunity to learn more about SB 13 and lessons that have been developed. 

Title: Math Leader Network: An Introduction and Overview of SB 13 Tribal History/Shared History 

Date/Time: Thursday, November 19 from 3:00-4:00 Pacific

Description: This presentation is a brief introduction to SB 13 Tribal History/Shared History. During this presentation participants will be introduced to a place-based curriculum from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and how math is integrated through a Native lens. 

Registration Link: https://www.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsd-itpz4iH4K7PbSferkreXFDFJCAq78 

Confronting Bias and Building Trust: Strategies to Create Inclusive Environments for Black Teachers

Date/Time: Wednesday, December 02 from 1:00 p.m.–2:15 p.m. Pacific Time

Description: Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest is hosting a webinar on Wednesday, December 2, that will showcase how retaining Black teachers is a high-leverage strategy for improving student outcomes, particularly for Black students. During the webinar, researchers will present information on the importance and challenges of retaining Black teachers, as well as evidence-based strategies that can increase retention rates for Black teachers. 

Practitioners will also share strategies that educators can implement to create inclusive and antiracist work environments. Register today and join us.

Tools for Teachers Resource of the Month

Curious about the resources in the new Tools for Teachers website? Each resource is written by educators, for educators. This month’s featured resource is available publicly this school year to all users! Check out “What's Your Angle?,” a math instructional resource that helps students practice the skills needed to meet one of the grade 4 Oregon State Standards about understanding concepts of angles and measuring angles.

This instructional resource provides teachers with step-by-step directions and supporting documents that can be easily printed or used virtually for classroom implementation the very next day. (Note that this lesson requires the use of a protractor. Virtual options can be found for students to use online if they do not have a physical protractor.) This resource integrates each of the Standards for Mathematical Practice. 

In the lesson, students begin with a vocabulary jigsaw review activity. Next, they practice composing and decomposing angles of a specific measure. Finally, students independently work to find unknown angles, constructing a viable argument to defend their thinking. This resource embeds formative assessment strategies such as Jigsaw, Think-Pair-Share, Fist to Five, Strategic Questioning, and Exit Ticket. There are also accessibility strategies and other instructional differentiation considerations to help teachers meet various student needs in the classroom.

“What’s Your Angle?” is part of the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessment Connections Playlist, “Measurement and Data.” The instructional resources listed on the playlist help students understand the topics assessed in the “Measurement and Data” Interim Assessment Block. An OSAS Portal account is required to have full access to the resources in Tools for Teachers. The Tools for Teachers website is available at smartertoolsforteachers.org.

For more information, contact Andy Byerley, Mathematics Assessment Specialist.

Math Content Panel Update

The Oregon Department of Education will be continuing the review and revision of our K-12 math standards after being put on hold this past spring. The aim of this work will be to present updated standards to the State Board of Education (SBE) by the end of the 2020-21 school year. A general schedule of upcoming work to meet this goal will be:

• Nov-Dec 2020: Review and revise draft document from March 2020 panel
• Jan-Feb 2021: Public review opportunities for the revised K-12 math standards
• Mar-Apr 2021: Incorporate feedback from public review and prepare first read for the SBE
• May-June 2021: Presentation of the updated standards to the SBE for adoption

At this time, the goal will be to post a draft version of the K-12 standards on the ODE website by January 2021, which would include online surveys to provide feedback.  

In addition to surveys, ODE will be looking to organize regional virtual focus groups for feedback in January and February 2021. Please contact Mark Freed if you are interested in assisting in organizing a virtual meeting in your district or region this coming winter.

Oregon Open Learning on OER Commons

You may have heard a lot from us recently about Data Science. We think of Data Science as the intersection of computer-based tools, statistical methods, and context. Last month we highlighted the idea of data talks as a way of introducing data science in small chunks. Over the last couple years, a variety of openly-licensed curriculum has emerged. One of the recent resources included in Oregon Open Learning (OOL) is the Bootstrap Data Science Module. The 23 lessons in the module are designed to be integrated into multiple content areas. To learn more about the thinking behind this module, read the Bootstrap Blog, Data Science is Here.

We invite you to join the Oregon Mathematics group on OOL and share your favorite Open Education Resources.  Whether you're sharing your favorite OER or browsing the resources that already exist, this is one way to stay connected as a math community.

2020 - 2021 PAEMST Grade 7-12 Nominations Open

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) are the highest honors bestowed by the United States government specifically for K–12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teaching.

Anyone—principals, teachers, parents, students, or members of the general public—may nominate exceptional STEM teachers who are currently teaching grades 7–12 for the 2020–2021 award year. Teachers may also apply directly at www.paemst.org.

The nomination deadline is March 1, 2021, and the application deadline is April 1, 2021, for secondary teachers (grades 7–12). Elementary teachers (grades K–6) will be eligible to apply during a future cycle.