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Lesson 6-7 Question
Take a moment to reflect on your journey. Make a comment on the question: What is your biggest takeaway from your learning over the last 6 modules?
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182 Replies
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Long story coming. I began my teaching career as an English teacher and am now at a school where I teach English, history, music, and math. I teach Algebra because I am comfortable doing so–and at my tiny school, when they learn you can do it, you end up doing it! (I’ve made them promise that they will never make me teach art.) The confession is this: for many, many years, math was the subject I did ZERO planning for. I just opened the book to the next page. Luckily, I could usually come up with an interesting delivery and multiple ways of thinking about a concept on the fly. Sure, my favorite lessons were the ones that I planned out, but I did not have time to do that every day for English AND history AND math — not to mention music! Last summer, I redesigned my American history curriculum to make it more inquiry-based. It’s a bit like what you guys have done for math. Instead of moving chronologically, I started with questions (problem-solving) and then went back and taught what kids needed to know in order to answer those questions. It was exhausting and brand new, and I was terrified about “covering” the curriculum thoroughly. But what I know we did was think, ask questions, explore, examine, research, ask more questions–and while the kids might not know the date of the Stamp Act as well as previous classes might have (or might not have!), they had some agency in determining what was interesting to them, and they discovered how to spot incomplete narratives in American history and dig for the whole story. And nobody, and I mean nobody, thinks history is boring in my class. So this summer, it’s math’s turn. My colleague Maggie and I are joining forces to shake up our math teaching, from the structure of the whole curriculum to the structure of the daily lesson. It’s exciting, and it’s SO MUCH MORE PLANNING than I have ever done for math! I’ve been working on this all June, and I have one unit mapped out. I think it’s going to be WONDERFUL, and I just want to apologize to the world that I thought math could be taught without planning before. My school has always been a hands-on, discovery-based school, using cooperative groups and a policy of no grades to help students love learning. So I do believe that math has been okay thus far. But from this point on, we are going to be on fire. I can’t wait. Thank you for helping me make my students love math–in advance. I’m that confident.
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My biggest takeaway is the 10 effective strategies that promote learning. I used to give grades in homework assignment and marks for tests. Many students only care about the grades and marks and ignore my feedback and suggestions. Only very few students will re-do the questions using my suggested approach. Hope that by not writing the grades and marks, students can focus more on their learning and improvement.
I’ll continue to assess my students via conversation, questioning, observation and remind myself not to rely on the average test scores or exam scores.
I’ll try my best to spread my practices to my mathematics colleagues. Hope that a few of them will learn the practice and apply in their classes.
I’m happy to have tried 3-Act tasks, WODB, What if …?, Two Truths One Lie, withholding information, etc.
This workshop has been very useful to my professional development. I’m thrilled that I can improve further in teaching mathematics after teaching for over 25 years.
Thank you so much, Kyle and Jon, for all the preparation to make this workshop so unforgetable and fruitful!
Hope to continue to learn from you two from the podcast and Facebook page!
Wish all teachers good health and safe!
P.S. I have already promoted your workshop to my ex-colleagues and current mathematics colleagues.
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One big takeaway from the modules is the importance of sparking curiosity in students. I also have learned that I do not have to implement everything at once. I liked the module on assessment as this is an area where I need to grow anyway. The one starter strategy that I think is most helpful for me is to find a buddy. Since I am a special education teacher who pushes in to the general education classroom, I can observe and collaborate with general education teachers to practice making math more meaningful for students. I also really want to switch over to withholding information to provide opportunities for my students to notice and wonder. It was comforting to see that my efforts to build relationships with my students will help with introducing this new way of teaching. Also, I like the idea of doing “think back Thursdays” to keep concepts fresh in students’ minds. I think the most difficult part for me may be spiraling, though I think I can manage spiraling once concept throughout the year and adding to it as I gain confidence. Overall, I feel like the tools and strategies from this course have made be more reflective and I am excited to apply what I have learned.
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@susan-eaton We’re so glad you’ve put the work in to improve your teaching. We’re looking forward to continue to see your growth.
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This has been an incredible learning journey. There have been so many “aha” and “yes” moments. For me, my biggest takeaway from the 6 modules would have to be the 10 Effective Strategies that Promote Learning not Labelling. I am going to start with the ones that I can implement in my own classes – small steps. I have more freedom to make changes and do things differently in my Year 9 Support class of 11 students as I can adjust the Learning Program to fit with the learning needs of these students, and because they follow an adjusted program, there are no grades shown in the reporting system, just feedback. Some of the things I have been trying already with them have already instilled more confidence to have a go, though interestingly, their focus is still “will this be on the test?”!!! I am determined to change this mindset!.
In my other classes, I will look at how I can make small changes in how concepts are taught over a unit, thus still following the same timeline as my colleagues, but (hopefully) getting better learning outcomes from my students.
Thankyou Jon and Kyle for these Workshops. I may even have to join Facebook to join the MMM community!!!
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Although I am a little overwhelmed, I am super excited with my new toolbox of skills to help spark curiosity and develop grit and perserverance. These are the main things lacking in my instruction and also in the instruction of many of the general education teacher’s classrooms that I am in each day. We need to gets these kids noticing and wondering and therefore excited about learning. The more engaged they are, the more we are fueling sense making and the better chance we have of them sticking with us un til the end and not losing focus or the desire to be successful.
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I love it when I finish a PD and I feel invigorated and excited about trying so many new ideas in my classroom. While a little overwhelmed, that’s how I feel now. Before I attempt spiralling, I feel like I can make small changes right now that will still make a big impact on my students’ learning. My biggest take away was your advice about assessments. This PD has really made me reflect on my current practices. I feel like both my students and I are getting so much more out of assessments that are shorter, learning goal focused, and quickly returned with constructive feedback. Thank you so much for providing your rich resources to all of us.
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The importance of sparking curiosity and having lessons that truly engage the students. There were so many ideas that it can be overwhelming, but knowing that I can just start with one or two and can still impact the growth of my students and my teaching is helpful. One of the first things I want to do is look at spiraling for next year. I am looking forward to using the tools I have learned here.
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Curiosity is so important to continue to encourage students to learn. I have totally changed the way I teach High School math, since I started over 20 years ago to now, and struggling to keep students engaged during COVID-19 isolation and school closures. I look forward to returning to the classroom to be able to work with the students in person.
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I would say the biggest takeaway for me has been watching you reinvigorate a love for new learning, inspire new ideas and make connections between big mathmatical ideas for all of the participants. As a coordinator it has made me reflect more on how to spread ALL of this, especially the passion to my colleagues.
Thank You so much.
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I love the curiosity path and the Hero’s Journey analogy. This workshop has re-energized my thinking about how to build engagement and authentic interest in math. I have also really appreciated all of the practical tools, steps, lists and resources that you’ve shared.
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I’m looking forward to using the curiosity path in creating lessons this year. Hopefully, we will be able to meet and plan some together at school.
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I’m excited for my students to feel like they really own their math learning, and that they can be excited to learn more!
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These six modules have been a game changer. I have so much that I plan to implement in the future. I am going to revamp my current practices, mainly because I do not feel students are learning the way I want them to. This workshop came at exactly the right time for me. I don’t feel like it’s the end, as your presence on social media is strong. I have so many connections to make in cyberspace!
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We’re so proud that you got so much out of the workshop! It was also great seeing you in the Live Q & A’s each week. Stay in touch!
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My biggest take away is some of the lessons that we went over. What do they notice and wonder about a problem. Can you solve the problem/question without all the information needed? This will keep it very and interesting for my students.
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My biggest takeaway has been the 3 part framework and re-formatting my class into an inquiry approach to math concepts. Before my school went to distance learning, I was rewriting many of my math lessons to try to spark wonder and curiosity. I was actually having more fun teaching. For so many reasons, I can’t wait until regular school begins, but I also look forward to continuing this invigorating approach to teaching and learning.
Thank you!
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Wow! Looking back on my first few reflections from Module 1 and I can say that a lot of my mindset has changed (and I already thought of myself as a pretty constructivist-focused teacher to begin with). I’ve noticed that throughout the last 12 weeks, I’ve almost unintentionally started crafting many inquiry based tasks, pushing the envelope further and further towards adopting these strategies in my class. There’s a lot of things that I’m eager to try with a new group of students next year, since I find it hard to reestablish the class culture this far in (and especially since we’re all teaching from home during the pandemic right now). But I am very grateful to have been apart of this workshop. I’m very eager to get planning and thinking ahead. Thanks Jon and Kyle!
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So happy to read all of the reflections.
@kieran-mills brings up a great point about behaviourism vs. constructivism. It is like a spectrum. While I believe to have been more on the constructivist side of things for the majority of my career, it is only recently that I noticed that I was still trying to DO the constructing FOR students instead of allowing THEM to do it.
So happy you’ve enjoyed the learning and we look forward to continue learning with you as you build these ideas into your teaching practice.
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My biggest take away is to not be afraid to change. We ask the kids to change all of the time, but we settle into our “sweet spot” of teaching. I agree that I don’t want to teach the same thing 30 times over my career. If I’m asking my kids to step out of their comfort zone, I need to do the same. I need to give myself permission to fail, but to learn from my mistakes. I need to understand that not every lesson will go as planned, but I need to look at what I can take from each experience and grow. I need to stop making excuses for not trying things and look to see how I can impliment some of the ideas (like spiraling) even if I can fully impliment them in my classroom. Being flexible and open to new ways of thinking is what I ask of my students, and I should ask the same things of myself.
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Those are some great reflections, @jay-dimuzio
So happy to have been learning alongside you during the online workshop. Keep up with that progress log and let us know how we can continue to help support along the way!
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I became a Middle School Math teacher because I had experiences with doubt of my abilities with mathematics when I took Algebra in 8th grade. I realize as I became an adult that my lack of understanding was not due to intelligence but rather my need to learn differently than my teacher expected. Teachers had a different method of teaching back then and my goal was to make sure students had the time to understand and really learn.
As I became a middle school teacher, I have spent the last 6 years working with students who need intervention. I have attempted to use Growth Mindset Concepts within the curriculum of my classroom to build trust, use number talks, and help encourage my students to build their confidence in learning mathematics knowing that if they believe in themselves, work hard, struggle, ask questions, and persevere, they will improve their ability in mathematics.
It is nice to take a course that takes this prior knowledge and expands it into a way to enhance it further than I have been able to go. Having data and research to back up my new approaches to teaching really helps staff understand my ways of teaching.
You can teach an old dog new tricks as my first classroom was over 20 years ago and I was definitely the traditional teacher who followed the basics we all learned to do in college with teaching students.
There were some methods I used back in the late 90s that I realize was the introduction of what I have learned in these last 5-6 years of motivating students with sparking curiosity, getting students to talk about their thinking, discourse with other students, so that they can all deepen their understanding of the content.
I have a passion for helping students who don’t like math because I don’t demean them for their foundation gaps and lack of knowledge. I build trust and respect which has been validated as an important part of helping students learn in the classroom.
Thank you for your caring, passion, and sharing of knowledge to others. It helps take all the research and books I have read and pull much of it together into this new concept that I hope I will be able to try out in the fall with my students. Learning how to do some of this online will be a new an interesting trial as with other new things I Have learned along the way. I have learned through my years, as you validated in your course, that as I share my new learning with students and want to try new things and get their opinion, it lets them understand why teaching changes, why they are asked to be more involved and how all of this enhances and improves their learning overall.
Thank you again. Please stay safe with you and your family during this time !
Kelli Fisher
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Thanks so much, @kelli-fisher for sharing this great reflection.
It is so energizing when I read reflections from experienced teachers who still have an open learning stance and are just gobbling up every opportunity to get better in the classroom.
Thanks for sharing your learning with us and for allowing us to learn alongside you!
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This has been an amazing journey! I have learned so much. As an instructional coach, I am processing how I can spark my teacher’s curiosity to the benefits of changing the way they teach math. I’m so glad I have the summer and a thought partner to get this planned out. You guys do phenomenal work not only on this workshop but your podcast as well. Thank you for all you do!
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I have learned so much from this workshop it is very hard to narrow it down to my biggest takeaway! Since you are asking me to choose, I would have to say the 3-part framework. You guys did a great job explaining the why it matters and how it can be done regardless of your level of expertise (it doesn’t all have to look like your tasks-major video productions). I really appreciate the work you both do on this website and your podcast. I always walk away w/ a new nugget of teacher knowledge and excitement for the work I do. Thank you!
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The whole course has been quite helpful. I started last fall, didn’t finish, then restarted this spring. I went through the modules, but didn’t respond, so I just went through every thing again and hearing it twice has helped with retention! I have to say the most helpful for me were creating problems that spark curiosity and teaching through problem solving. I tend to run a very structured classroom. Though I use a lot of noisy turn and talks and think/pair/share and peer support, I tend to have to be in control. I guess I’ve seen that fun, interactive lessons and engaged students with movement in the classroom don’t necessarily equate to out of control or off task behavior. I see ways to include more student voice but still keep structure.
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So glad that you made it through and now, with some added retention! Yay!
Yes, it can be difficult to give up some of that control, but finding balance is key. You don’t want to completely lose control and then allow noise that becomes unproductive. It truly is a balancing act!
So proud of you for reaching the finish line!
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This course has jam-packed a TON of information all at once and I think I really would probably have to go through some of the modules again in order to really be able to nail down the learning a bit better. But I am so thrilled that I got the opportunity to try some new things out and see how they would work in a distance and in-person classroom setting. My biggest take-aways are to:
1. Know the material
2. Engage my students in problem-solving and sparking curiosity
3. Continue the conversation
4. Provide multiple opportunities and really put to use the 3-Part framework as often as possible
5. Keep on trying because it will get easier
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Hi @tera-chow
Great reflection here and you’re absolutely right: there is a TON being thrown at you in this workshop. You certainly can’t change everything all at once, so your big takeaways are amazing takeaways for how you might want to approach making this transformation yourself… continue the conversation and provide YOURSELF with multiple-opportunities to know, understand, and do the ideas we’ve shared through the online workshop.
Super proud of you!Also remember that Academy members maintain access to the Online Workshop. So if you aren’t an Academy Member yet, get yourself “upgraded”!
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I love the 3 part framework. I hope to inspire and engage my students -especially the ones who are “falling through the cracks” and just floating along which creates even more learning gaps than they already have.
I am excited to try using curiosity and problem solving as a means of learning.
The 10 assessment strategies are extremely helpful and make total sense. Assessment has always been a struggle.
The whole course has been amazing – so many new learnings for me. Thanks, Kyle and Jon, for sharing your knowledge, intellectual property, and your goofiness. (Your praise videos always make me laugh
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Hi @marianne-aamodt!
We are THRILLED to know that you found the online workshop worthwhile and that the goofiness was enjoyable (I’m sure not everyone thinks so! HA!).
Keep on working towards those goals by setting yourself a progress log. Those in the Academy have them in the forum, so stick around and let’s work on this together!
Enjoy your summer!
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I had two major takeaways from the course. The first was the lesson on how to take a general textbook problem and turn it into one that sparked curiosity. I am so excited to realize that we don’t have to pull out all the bells and whistles to make math moments for our students — it can be as simple as just not providing all of the problem upfront and having a series of notice, wonders, and estimations along the way. The second major takeaway is the work that you’ve put together on spiraling. I have learned of spiraling, but I was not sure how to begin to approach it. I am excited to begin the work now of breaking down my learning goals and strands so that I can plan out what it will look like in a spiraled format. Thank you both for all of the amazing work you’ve put into this workshop. I really appreciate it!
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I had two major takeaways from the course:
1) The lesson on how to take a typical textbook or written problem and turn it into something that sparks curiosity. This was mindblowing because I had always assumed we needed to have something out of the box, visual, or showy if we wanted to spark curiosity. But by simply leaving out some information, words, or data, we can have meaningful notice, wonders, and estimations. I was so excited to see that explained.
2) The second thing that was so exciting was the section on spiraling. I have always wanted to spiral ever since I was exposed to it midway through this year. But it was a daunting concept to look at. I love that you have ways to start and examples of how you began to look at all of your learning goals and sort them into a spiral format. I am no so excited to begin that process over the summer as we look towards next year. I also think it will be so important to spiral this coming year given that we have had so much interrupted learning due to school closures from the pandemic!
Thank you both for all of the work that you’ve both put into this course! I am so thankful to have done this.
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Congrats @kyle-ferreira-van-leer !
Thank you for committing to transforming your teaching practice. These are two huge take-aways and I’m so happy that they resonated with you. It sounds like you have two areas that you can continue digging into over the summer while you continue to learn in those areas.
As an aside, we have a Spiralling course inside of the Academy that builds off of the lessons from inside the Online Workshop.Check ’em out and good luck!
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Jon and Kyle,
Previously I was stuck in a rut and honestly wanted to give up. I didn’t enjoy teaching any more and honestly didn’t know what to do. Everything I knew was not working for me and I knew there had to be more. The biggest take-away from this course for me has been that “I can do this!” I can spark curiosity in my students, I can help them understand and learn math. I honestly have a renewed sense of hope. I worked hard during this course and plan to work even harder to implement the strategies and skills you both have so wisely laid out here. You are a Godsend! This week I told two educators from my school about this course, and I hope to grow a local learning community centered on Making Math Moments that Matter.
Thank you
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Thanks so much for the kind words, @sheila-akinleye
Your reflection actually reminds me of myself before I began this journey from “procedures first” teaching to a more problem based, concepts-first approach. I was getting very worn delivering the traditional lesson to students who were only there because they “had to be”.
Both @jon and I feel so energized when we see the transformations taking place through the online workshop, the podcast, and all of the other methods we have to help learn together with the math community.
We are so proud of you and hope you’ll be sticking around with us as an Academy Member!
Cheers!
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I have taught for 23 years – this course has reinvigorated my enthusiasm for teaching math! Thank you! So many resources! I love the idea of leaving students wondering – in the past I have used many projects and activities – but I think I rushed to the algorithms WAY too quickly!
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It is so satifying when we hear hard working educators like yourself having gained so much from the Online Workshop. So happy to know that moving forward, you’ll be looking for ways to probe for student generated algorithms and, when appropriate, explore some of the standard algorithms that we are all so accustomed to using based on our own very procedural educational experiences!
Enjoy the rest of your summer and please do stay in touch via the Academy or otherwise!
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I think my two biggest takeaways are spiraling and going for standards-based grading. I have given lots of feedback and opportunities for retakes in the past but the standards-based grading will allow the students to see their progress throughout the whole year instead of on the unit test. And knowing that they will see the material again and again and that the reflection of their understanding will continue to change will hopefully change the way they approach math class. I have a lot of communicating to do – with administration, parents, fellow teachers, and students – to implement this in the fall.
Thank you for this workshop! I feel like I now can choose a new path for my math classes.
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So great to hear your reflections, @elizabeth-robertson
These are awesome take aways and next steps to continue reflecting on and planning towards implementation.
You’ve nailed it regarding communicating to your admin, parents, colleagues, and students. I think something I didn’t do well when I started this journey was communicating to my colleagues… it is easy for them to feel “blindsided” by a completely new and maybe competing approach to the methods that the majority are employing.
Excited to hear how it goes!
ALSO – if you haven’t checked out the Assessment course inside the Academy, it’s definitely worth a look!
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My biggest takeaway that will hopefully be stuck with students 5 years from now is that math was interesting and required critical thinking and long term retention. ELA has always been discussed in parent/teacher conferences as a class that spirals. When the shift in discussion has gone to math, and we’re discussing a standard that is currently a weakness for a student, I’ve always struggled to come up with ways to help that student gain the knowledge missing since my previous math curriculum didn’t spiral back to concepts. I feel empowered to start taking small steps so I may make math moments that matter on a regular basis, one being spiraling with cumulative assessments. I think one of my first steps will be to get my colleague that teaches math to the other half of fourth grade students in this online course so we can be at the same starting point! Thank you both again for a very enlightening course!
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This is awesome to hear that you have some new found strategies in your back pocket to help you from an ELA standpoint! For so long we have thought math is so different than other subject areas, but more and more, we start to realize there are so many similarities. Good luck moving forward and keep on learning!
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Thank you so much @kyle
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I really like the Curiosity Pathway. I have always done bits and pieces of this and I KNOW IT WORKS but giving the steps names and devoting time to develop these individual stages will help me to become a more purposeful teacher.
In 5 years, I hope my students come back and tell me that they are proud to be lifelong learners. I pray that they find a career that fills their heart… one that they would do for free, because that’s how I view my job. I love it and hope I always do!
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The biggest take away is how to not feel overwhelmed by what I don’t know and what I think others are doing better. With help, I can plan lessons that will engage my students and hopefully make them lifelong learners in math. I try to show them ways that we use algebra in everyday lives.
Thank you for a wonderful workshop. I truly appreciate the effort and time you put into making this an enjoyable online experience.
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@laurie-ortkiese Thanks so much for being apart of our summer cohort! I think you have a valuable big takeaway there! We were honoured to have aided in that!
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My learning takeaways the last 6 modules are:
1) Learning how to engage my students in a positive, enjoyable and interactive math lesson that spark curiosity while using the three-part framework.
2) Learning how to take a textbook problem and transform them into captivating activities for the students. I also really enjoyed learning about the different ways to start a math fight.
3) Learning what is Spiralling the Curriculum as well how to take small steps to integrate spiralling in my lessons, activities, and units.
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Hi @tracy-martel !
These are all great take aways and I’m guessing focusing in on planning and implementing these ideas will keep you busy for a while! Be sure to not overwhelm yourself and take one step at a time. Thanks for sharing your thinking along the way!
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I guess I jumped the gun. I created a class document and posted it in the 6-6 forum that pretty much covered this. Although I will add that the learning the curiosity path has made a HUGE difference. Now to go out and conquer my course planning for the Fall!
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We’re so excited to hear that you’ve found the learning helpful – especially the Curiosity Path. I’d argue getting the path as “natural a process” as possible when planning lessons is a HUGE help as we push students to fuel sense making. We’ve enjoyed your commitment and reflections along the way throughout the Online Workshop!! Thanks for learning with us.
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Every day does not have to be fun for all students, but if we are able to create a classroom culture and spark their curiosity just one day out of the year then that’s worth it for me. I want my students to find math relevant in their lives and I’m hoping this framework will help.
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That’s a great perspective. Start with one day of the year and try to up it to 2… then, over time, every lesson will be pushing curiosity to get your students leaning in!
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I did not hear anything during this course where I said to myself, “That won’t work with my kids…” and that is a way of life for alternative school teachers, usually. I am thankful for all of the printable resources because I will need to review and revisit a lot of the lists while planning. Thank you for the planner, too! Do you have any instructions on how best to use it?
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This is so satisfying to read. One of the goals that was at the top of our list for this Online Workshop was ensuring that the ideas were broken down into finer parts and truly help each math educator meet all students where they are – regardless of their mathematical readiness. So excited to hear that you’re gobbling it up and can see how you can use it in your own classroom.
As for the planner, we don’t have a full blown walk through, but I’m wondering if @jon and I should get on a “mini course” in the Academy to get folks working through it? Do you have anything in particular you see as challenges / wonders about implementing the planner?
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Sorry for the late reply…I guess I just would like to see how you guys would use the format in your planner for a lesson in a classroom…or ‘zoomroom’ depending on what situation we are in!
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I am so excited to implement what I have learned in this course and am so grateful for all the terrific ideas to transform my math classroom. I think my biggest takeaway is finally understanding how to use a low-floor, high-ceiling problems that will invoke curiosity (thanks to your guidance!) as the launching point for learning goals. I always thought students, particularly struggling learners, would be frustrated if they didn’t first learn the algorithm, but through your well-planned tasks, I can see how students will be able to approach the tasks in multiple ways and how I can then use those student generated solutions to move towards our learning goal. I was so concerned at the beginning of this summer about how I was going to teach Pre-Algebra to a group of very diverse learners and now I feel confident that I can help students who self-identify as being “bad at math” to build their mathematical confidence while still challenging those high-flying math students. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, your time, and your resources!
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Thanks for the excellent final reflection regarding the Online Workshop. After reading this post, I can hear in your voice the shift from a “pre-teaching” approach to an “investigative” approach where we can truly spark curiosity in all students and meet them where they are. So excited for you as you move forward!
Keep in mind that we have problem based lessons and full problem based units available in the Tasks area of the Academy: https://learn.makemathmoments.com/tasks
They are wide open to use even if you’re not an Academy Member (although the teacher guides / walk throughs are available only to members). Have a look and hopefully they’ll give you the boost to get started!
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What an amazing and enriching learning journey! Throughout all the modules there were many light bulb moments but the biggest takeaway that came to mind was the 10 Effective Strategies that Promote Learning not Labelling. I am first going to go through all of them and implement the ones that I can within my own class, in small steps. Since I will be teaching FDK (Kindergarten) in the Fall and I mainly assess these young learners via feedback I am excited to see how many strategies I can introduce and/or use with this group (especially since traditionally I tend to focus on the number of concepts that are taught within a unit, but now to emphasize putting more success on getting better learning outcomes from them).
Thank you for everything!
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This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Anisha Baboota.
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This is great to hear. So happy to know that you’ll be implementing some of those assessment strategies with your kinders! So awesome. Thanks for being great and good luck next school year!
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This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by
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This has been a wonderful workshop full of practical steps that can make a huge difference in the way I teach math. I want my students to learn how to be resilient problem solvers in math class and then take that and use it in the rest of their lives.
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Amazing to hear! Are there any strategies you plan on trying to focus on first?
Thanks for being great and please keep in touch!
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This is probably very basic but my biggest takeaway is just how important this type of pedagogy is to improve:
-students understanding of math concepts
-student perception about math as a subject
-student self perception about their ability to “do math”
-problem solving and thinking skills of our students
and so much more!!
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Awesome to hear! My BIGGEST wonder is if you were to pick ONE of those items from that list to focus on… which would it be and exactly how will you get started planning and/or implementing?
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I love the notice and wonder step and I think this is so important to draw students in. There is so much information in this workshop that I find valuable. Students are going to build grit on the hero’s journey. Grit is such an important trait that humans need and parents and teachers have a difficult time watching kids struggle, but it is beneficial in our lives. Some of the spiraling and assessment ideas I am already doing, but I am definitely going to continue to put more into practice. I really want to implement standards based assessment. I have shared some of the ideas with my co-teacher and we are looking forward to building strong math students this year.
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These all sound like huge take aways! Which one – do you think – you’ll start with?
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Being a teacher in Canada for one year makes me an infant in the profession. Everything that Kyle and Jon shared is a fire starter for me. Now, I am more confident to face my Grade 8 students. God is with me and God used you, guys, to help me big time. Thanks very much! God bless you all more and more!
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This is so energizing to hear! I’m wondering if there are any specific parts you hope to implement right away?
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When I interviewed for my first teaching job 17 years ago, it was a round-table interview with principals from all three middle schools in the district. The interview went well, and the last question I was asked was what subject do you want to teach? Emphatically I said, “Anything but math or science.” A week later I was offered a job to teach 8th grade math, and thus began my journey as a math teacher, and a formerly math-injured student, began.
As a math teacher, I have struggled with helping students understand the math that I memorized formulas for when I was in school. I believe this struggle has helped me empathize with students and understand the challenges many of them have every time they enter my ‘math’ classroom.
I have been a huge proponent of mathematical mindset, but I have struggled with how to continue to challenge students to grow on a consistent basis. The Making Math Moments That Matter course has given me tools I can use to move forward to continue to challenge myself and students to engage in worthwhile and meaningful mathematics understanding.
I am excited to take the heroes journey with my students and I am very grateful for this course.
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It sounds like you’re well along your OWN hero’s journey as you began wanting nothing to do with teaching math and you’re now ready to start making some serious math moments in your classroom. Bravo my friend! Keep it up!
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Thanks so much for this opportunity! Your program was exactly what I needed learn about in order to create a math environment that my kids can grow in. I am excited to start with problem solving and spark curiousity. I’m excited to spiral so my kids can review all math concepts, improve their fluency and see the relationships between math learning instead of teaching things in isolation. I’m excited that I can track student progress from September all the way to June by assessing using learning goals and pivot my lessons based on student need. By doing all of these things, I’m hoping to make math class a dynamic and interesting time of our day where my students can learn to be problem solvers and risk takers, make connections to other ideas and see themselves as successful mathematicians.
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I am so stoked to put this into action but I have to admit, its daunting. I’m anxious about it because I know I will flop. Probably the first few times. But I am still excited to try and learn. But now I am disappointed because my school will be distance learning (which I am actually thankful for) and now I will need to make this work from home. I have seen the information you have put out regarding this, I am just worried about its effectiveness and getting my teaching partner on board. This method of teaching is completely different from what we do and I know that trying something new during this time will be a stretch.
I think the part that I am caught up on is sparking curiosity. How do I REALLY get students to engage in noticing and wondering asynchronously? I have ideas but I also see ALLLLLLL the pitfalls. This is not a culture we have at school already so how do I make it the culture when I don’t have this time with them?
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My biggest takeaway is engagement. Without engaged learners, we can’t accomplish our other goals.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Joanna Brown.
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I am confident that I can create a fun, engaging, challenging math class where my students will build confidence, conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. In five years I want my students to feel like they can attack any problem thrown their way. I want them to feel good about math.
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I hope my students remember my math classes as being engaging, fun, and challenging. I hope they remember feeling that their ideas and strategies count and are worthy of being shared. I do feel overwhelmed yet excited to try so many of the new things I’ve learned during this workshop. I can’t wait to try a 3 Act task, to spend time noticing and wondering, and engaging in meaningful math conversations with my students. I think I’m ready to switch things up and create a classroom culture where every voice is heard. My goal is to worry less about the final report card comments/grades, and focus instead on the learning process, meaningful descriptive feedback, and true learning. Thank you so much to both of you for an amazing workshop!!
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I feel more freedom to address students where they really are, and not feel I need to punish or motivate them into memorizing steps and procedures.
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I have certainly learned a lot! My biggest take away that I will use first is how to spark curiosity. I was simultaneously completing this workshop while attending an in-house professional development with some of my colleagues (a bit overwhelming at times) and I shared the “sparking curiosity path” with my colleagues. I explained how we can change the way we engage our students using notice & wonder and withholding information. Let’s just say, their curiosity was sparked! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and resources!
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Woohoo! So glad you could share your learning with others!
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The first thing I want to say is thank you, thank you for giving me the courage to make some changes in my classroom. I have wanted to make some of these changes for a while but felt like I was alone on an island in doing so so I became hesitant. I also have three colleagues, we do not teach the same grade level, that are taking this course this summer and that gives me encouragement as well. My next course will be “Distance Learning.”
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We’re honoured to have helped with your courage Luanne! Our hearts are warmed because showing people they’re not alone or don’t need to be alone in this was one of our main goals of the workshop! Both Kyle and I were alone to start too.
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I have so much to take away from this course starting with withholding information to spark curiosity (Noticing and Wondering). Then going into anticipating and using think-pair-share as students work together to solve problems. I want to start more math fights! I want to give better feedback and assessments…lots to do and think about with only a month to go before school starts again. Thank you for making me really think about how I teach and how I can do it MUCH better with getting the students to do more of the thinking! This is only the beginning…
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Congrats on your accomplishment! You’re right, this is only the beginning!
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I will be taking away and implementing the three foundations to start. I have to start there for I am entering a new school and need to assess the ins and outs of the district.
I plan on going back and reviewing each lesson and summarize them so that I can draw on future goals. Thank you so much and I enjoyed your enthusiasm.
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I love it when I learn somethings at a workshop that I can implement in my classroom right away (well, when school starts in a couple of weeks). The best part was you inspired me to become a better math teacher.
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Wow Steven. We’re just so glad to have aided in your goals! Keep it going…
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I have learned so much over the last few weeks. I am so grateful that both of you paired up and put it on your hearts to create this course. My biggest take a ways are: how to integrate concrete manipulatives strategically, moving through the lesson based on the lowest level of understanding up (Prince model), spirally to create connections and keep fresh, and most of all anticipation and teacher moves. Although I finished the course a week ago, I could not slow down. I am daily planning and selecting both on and offline tools to prepare for September. I look forward to engaging in your remote learning and math facts course. Thank you for everything.
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Great stuff Marsha! We’re so glad you came with us on this journey!
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This has been a very enriching course. I have learned so much from both of you. Among so many things, I have learned how to develop problem-solving and engaging lessons that will Spark Wonder and Curiosity in my students. Applying this technique will encourage all my students to participate actively during our math class. I have also learned how to use problems from textbooks and change them into problems that would spark curiosity in my students. While viewing those videos, all the time, I was thinking of how to implement all these new learning into my lessons to help my students. I also liked the way the 10 effective assessment strategies have been discussed in this module. I would say that this has been a very wonderful experience for me. Thank you, Jon and Kyle!
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Thanks for sharing your great insights! We’re honoured to have been apart of your journey!
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This course has been refreshing. About 3-4 years ago, I read Jo Boaler’s book “Mathematical Mindsets,” which completely changed my thinking about math instruction and students learning. I took her online courses as well, and I have attempted to implement some of the strategies I learned. I have been passionate about changing the way I teach math because of my lackluster experiences with math when I was a student and over my first several years teaching math in 4th grade. It has not been an easy journey, and I have often felt a sense of loneliness on that journey because it is not easy to convince my fellow teachers to do the same. Too often I hear teachers revert back to the same old excuses for math progress, such as they don’t have their facts memorized, that we need to go back to the “basics,” or we need to teach the way we use to learn. When I hear that, I start thinking: Where has that gotten us? Another challenge I have faced in changing my instruction is that students are not used to a “different” way that is engaging and more open. However, this course has provided me with practical<i style=”font-weight: bold;”> ideas and strategies that I can use in my classroom right away and that can utilize the resources that I already have. As we begin this unique school year in 2020, I am looking forward to implementing the Curiosity Path in the best way that I can. We will be on a hybrid schedule with full classes for 3 hours and then remote for 2 hours each day (that may change though since cases are increasing in our county and in Illinois). If I am in-person, I can begin making the Curiosity Path a part of our culture. If we switch to fully remote learning, it will be more challenging. Already I am hearing from other teachers that they want to just teach the basics and make videos that show how to do the skills so that students can copy and practice. I’ve already said that I need to attempt some of these strategies from this course, even if it is challenging considering the circumstances. Although I will not be able to implement everything from this course this year, I’m excited to give it a start. In doing so, I hope that my students will enjoy math and look forward to lessons that are not typical and boring. I would like to attempt some type of spiralling but may have to focus on spiralling practice problems or warm-ups instead of the entire curriculum. I do have a question about that though:
In the spiralling module of this course, you recommend taking the first 3 lessons of each unit and making that a “unit.” And then taking the next 3 lessons of each unit and making that the next “unit.” If I were to do that, I feel like I would not make it around to a repeated concept until many weeks later because of the vast amount of fifth grade Common Core Math standards. Do you have any guidance regarding this?
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What a great reflection and massive journey over years of hard work! Awesome job!
While applying the Curiosity Path is always more smooth in a face to face environment, the same elements can be used via synchronous and asynchronous experiences. Those in the Academy (learn.makemathmoments.com/academy-upgrade) can dive into the From A Distance course to see how the Curiosity Path and 3-Part Framework can be applied in an online model.
As for spiralling, you must be Ok with not being able to do “everything” given the limitations of the remote learning models many folks are or will be in. I’d recommend getting those big ideas down on sticky notes and starting to organize content and determination what you MUST do (in your opinion) what would be GREAT to do… and what you MIGHT NOT do. This might help you ensure that priority is set on more important skills and concepts over less important ideas.
Hope this helps!
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My biggest takeaway…..how do I pick just one! Like changing textbook questions to spark curiosity or the 3-part framework or the different effective assessment strategies. There are so many starting points for different areas of the math classroom that I am going to modify or try to implement some of these strategies in the coming years. One thing that is sticking out for my current situation is the different ways/levels of spiralling a math course. Last year I was in a new grade and had a colleague (who was teaching a similar grade and had previously spiralled her year) share her spiral with me. That was a huge help and made it easier in my first attempt to spiral the math curriculum. Seeing as I don’t know what my teaching assessment is going to be in September, I found this section to ease some of my worries about not getting enough time to learn the curriculum and plan for that grade. Being able to spiral at a smaller level may be what I have to do for this coming year, just based on the current situation. This way I will still feel that the students are practicing those retrieval skills and making connections between the different concepts. I am also excited to use some of the planning templates in the real time when I get to start planning for the current school year.
I have always been a math girl and knew that I had a passion for it. Since I have started teaching I have taken both the Math Part 1 and Part 2 Additional Qualification courses (here in Ontario) to help build a deeper understanding of how to teach math. In complete honesty, I have learned more this online course than I have in both those 2 courses combined. So thanks to both of you, Jon and Kyle, for taking the time to put together this amazing course and sharing your knowledge with all of us! I am sure that it will be something that I refer to frequently in the coming years.
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Kayla, thanks so much for joining us and sharing your experience. Working towards spiralling is a great step for you. It’s humbling to hear how our course provided you so much value compared to the AQ courses! That was one of our goals. Practical ways to change your math classroom!
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I took this course because I knew that I had gaps with technology. I had a lot and I mean a huge amount of anxiety around technology due to bad experiences a.k.a. cyber-bullying. You have shown me the positive usage of technology. Being a visual learner means that your lessons have reinforced major concepts and ideas in math. As I went through each and every module I realized that you guys have read a lot of books and articles on everything to do with math from Jo’s website, Marilyn’s books, Ministry of Education guiding principles etc. and so I was blown away with your knowledge and all the reading and synthesizing you have done. You have added to my math toolbox. I want to use your resources and implement some of your sparking curiosity and wonder tasks. Thank-you.
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We’re so happy we were apart of your learning journey Natalie!
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Thank you all very much – I really enjoyed this course. I’m excited for this upcoming school year to try to make memorable math moments. It may have to be baby steps with all the other changes coming this school year, but I’m going to keep growing in this year after year. I’m excited to make math more relevant and interesting this year!
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We are so proud of you!
Baby steps is ALWAYS the best approach – even during more “normal” times – so don’t overwhelm yourself as that will only lead to frustration.
If you’re an Academy Member, you’ll keep access to the Workshop content and can always come back to dive deeper into an idea when the time is right for that shift / change!
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It’s hard to know where to start since the workshop has been so jam-packed! I will work to implement the Curiosity Path by transforming problems from textbooks and other resources to get that buy in from students right from the get go. I can also see this working well across a variety of subject areas with the Notice and Wonder and withholding information feature to spark that curiosity! Within the structure of my week, I want to include check-ins or Mastery days so students can continue to work on areas they have not yet consolidated and so I can give them as many opportunities as possible to allow that to happen. These check-ins will also allow me as the teacher to assess my students and really know them well to help with my planning to push everyone forward. Within my planning, I am going to see which spiralling path will work best for me as a starting point, so we are constantly revisiting and building on skills and concepts to ensure the learning sticks (my biggest hope so that students don’t say say they have never seen concepts before!).
Thanks Jon and Kyle for providing this amazing resource, along with the podcasts, the Academy, your websites!!! After coming off a teacher funded leave year, this workshop is what has inspired and excited me to return to the classroom in the fall, despite the craziness of the Covid challenges.
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Wow, @barb-fleming how awesome is that? You’re done! Bravo!
Huge take aways here and the key will be trying to just take one bite at a time.
Love your idea of starting with the Curiosity Path and applying it to other subjects as well!
Keep us posted in your progress log!
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My biggest takeaway is that Math can be fun & engaging – and it’s up to me to make it feel that way for ALL of my students.
I work with my students on growth mindset and I find ways to encourage and praise, especially those students who don’t think they are “math people”.
This course was great at taking some everyday, real-life ideas and turning them into fun and engaging math activities.
My goal will be to implement some different teaching strategies, as well as assessment strategies to continue to encourage all of my students to become “math people”
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If you haven’t taken Jo Boaler’s course on Math Mindset, I highly recommend it.
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I love this reflection.
While you have the “wheel” on how we can engage our students and help them perceive mathematics productively, be sure not to put too much pressure on yourself too fast… baby steps!
Excited to continue learning alongside you!
Kyle
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Math needs to be problem solving based and engaging. Math teaching should not just focus on procedures and rules. This class brought together best math teaching practices in a format that seems doable. The 3 Part Framework is something I plan to implement.
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So excited to hear that and we are rooting you on! Hopefully the framework will be easy enough to remember and implement consistently for you!
Keep up the great work!
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It has been a month since I last logged on to this workshop. Not exactly what I had planned when first starting this workshop, BUT I do think stepping away has been beneficial. In that time lots has changed with my school and my teaching assignments, and I have really had to think about what changes are worth taking on. What I keep coming back to is the idea of the hero’s journey – the idea that we are waiting to explicitly teach until that peak moment. This is what I want to commit to this year. Hopefully next year I can include full-fledged spiraling on top of that!
Thank you for providing a very thought-provoking workshop, and a whole slew of helpful resources as well!
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Amazing to hear and I do think that the universe works in mysterious ways. So while stepping away sometimes makes us feel anxious or guilt, look for the positives and the growth / reflection time in between may have helped make the timing for the learning “just right”.
Happy that you’re making progress and feeling positively moving forward! Congrats on a big win as you finish the workshop!
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I taught math for 10 years, mostly in the traditional style but was always searching for new and better ways of teaching. I’ve been away from math education (been in Special Education department) for the past 10 years and now I’m transitioning back to teaching secondary math. I am looking forward to it but had been feeling like a “new teacher” as so much has changed. I was overwhelmed by all the new terminology and research. I knew I couldn’t go back to the old style and your course answered all my big questions (and gave me more to go and research). My biggest take away from this course is the confidence and resources to start fresh with a new perspective on planning, teaching and assessment and how to implement them in my classroom. I am excited to start this new adventure in math education and hope to never revert back to my old ways.
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Congrats @bonnie-Currie !
We are so thrilled that you not only took it upon yourself to seek professional learning as you’re about to head back into a math classroom, but also how committed you are to implementing what you’ve learned to lead problem based lessons rather than using the gradual release of responsibility model (I do, We do, You do).
It’ll take time to plan, reflect, implement and revise moving forward, but it sounds like you’ve GOT THIS! 🙂
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I think my biggest take-away from the workshop is to not be afraid to try different things. Regardless of what happens, the students are still getting access to the math. Within the realm of planning, I need to present students the opportunity to be curious about my lessons, rather than being so direct and giving them all the information up front. Allowing students to grow by taking an active role in their learning will help them as math students, but also as long-term learners.
I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to take this workshop. I only wish I would have had others from my school site complete it with me so that we could discuss and collaborate with all the ideas and strategies you presented. However, I know I’ve got a great support team in the Facebook group y’all have as well as with all the materials I’ve gained in this workshop!
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Fantastic to hear that you’re geeked about the new learning!
Yes – having folks from your building to dive into with would be fantastic and it isn’t too late: we do run the online workshop twice a year. Maybe the Feb cohort is right for your colleagues?
Don’t forget that the Academy is also a great spot to continue the learning through ongoing discussion and courses that build on the 3-Part Framework!
Good luck this coming school year!!
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This has been a great learning journey and also an eye opener. My biggest take away is the need to spark curiosity through notice and wonder and how to break problems in chunks to fuel sense making. I also learnt a lot on how to use problem solving questions and how they are important to motivate students.
Thank you both Jon and Kyle !
It was worth it and you’ve contributed a lot to my learning experience.
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My biggest take away is sparking curiosity with my students. We’ve had PD in my district where we were shown 3 act math, WODB, and other activities to do in our math class, but never really given a direction with it. Now knowing to start my lessons with curiosity with activities, getting my kids engaged right from the start, is something that I will do for the rest of my teaching days! I’m so glad that I was able to take this workshop and grow! Thank you!!
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So happy to hear that you found the workshop helpful to put some of those shared resources to good use!
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My biggest takeaway from this is that Math instruction and planning doesn’t have to be scary. Math is going to be fun and instruction will be at the level and speed that the kids need.
Also, this isn’t a solo process. Working with others is key to get the job done.
Planning should make sense and done in a way that students have the opportunity to find the solution without me just giving it to them, because there are many different ways to solve a problem.
Thanks for the course. It was truly one of the best ones I have done in a long time!
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Hi Gregory! That is great to hear. You’re so right about math not being scary yet so many students and teachers feel it is…
Also great to hear that you’ll be trying to plan collaboratively moving forward. Thanks for being a Math Moment Maker! -
@gregory-napoleon We’re so glad you were with us on this journey. You’re right it’s not a solo process. We’re here for you on your next steps as well. Keep in touch.
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I’m really glad I decided to take your course, you have provided many pathways towards excellence in teaching, math and even other areas of the curriculum. I think the curiosity path is the most revelatory for me and I can see how key it is to developing more dynamic problem solving and enriched interaction amongst students and teachers. I really like how curiosity path opens up space for natural human interrogation of an experience or observation. I really like the structure of the lessons and how you create a real purpose for estimation in student problem solving. I’ve struggled to make estimation a valid tool for students over the years.
Linking the path with the hero’s struggle adds a real depth and further refines your approach as an attempt to allow for more fundamental human intellectual and emotional needs in our classrooms, a noble achievement! I’m also grateful for your enthusiastic and candid testimony about pedagogical problems and solutions for developing better math teaching and more dynamic opportunities for kids we teach. There is a lot to return to in the course, but I feel like I have a clear direction and the tools to get better. Thanks Jon and Kyle! I hope I can live up to the promise your approach holds.
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@marc-rumball Thanks for your kind words on the work we’ve done here. We’re so glad we could help make a dent in your students’ learning. Keep it going!
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I ultimately want my students to have a better awareness of their own learning. I want them to able to identify what they know and what they don’t know often so that we can put a plan in place to help fill in the gaps. I want them to not only be confident in learning math but become confident in learning anything they choose because they feel they have the tools to do so. I want to help them take a step in the direction of becoming a lifelong learner.
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I was and English teacher and Socials teachers so long that when I moved to Elementary 4 years ago and had to teach math I was so overwhelmed.I would spend half my time just planning math. I got better but I felt I was not engaging students in problem solving. This approach really resonated with me and is getting me very excited to be back in the class. Because of the pandemic, I had lost a lot of joy being away from the classroom, and spending the summer looking at math ideas has helped me get the joy of teaching back. Thank you so much.
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This was a fantastic course as it provided me with the backup I needed to move forward with the way I wanted to teach. Your resources were great and extremely helpful. The best part I enjoyed was how you demonstrated out to create lesson, plan for the year, and incorporate a variety of activities into the teaching. Alls of these were a huge help.
If you ever get a chance to record yourselves working with a colleague on creating a lesson (cycle) or spiral planning, I would love to see it. I think if we saw first hand how you do the work, it would be beneficial.
This is also a course that i will share with my department chair. I feel that all new teachers should take this course as it would help them become better teachers and gain the knowledge needed to plan effectively. Basically, I think it would help the newer teachers from burning out.
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We’re honoured to be apart of your learning Brent. If your school/department is looking to get a group registered for the next cohort let us know and we can provide a discount!
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My biggest takeaway from this is how doable it is! For me, there have been sooooo many light bulb moments but, in particular, I came here for the application of the skills I teach and PBL. I’ve always said; “aw yeah I always do that” but, I wasn’t actually applying it fully or equipping the kids to do so either. I now know how much credit I should give the kids for actually working things out and how much they actually enjoy a bit more time to solve problems rather than me just telling them the answer because I hated watching them struggle (productively!)
The notice and wonder has now become a ritual and the kids even practise it themselves mimicking me using it when they have free time at the end of the week with pictures or sums they’ve written (lol).
Overall, I’ve really enjoyed the course and it’s been a stress free, practical piece of PD that has soooo many takeaways and resources. I hope that, with all I’ve learned, I have began to create collaborative, lifelong learners 🙂
Thank you Kyle and Jon!
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Woot Woot! We’re so glad you were apart of this workshop!
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Although I do not teach math, I still wanted to learn how to make math engaging and interesting for kids. I have learnt a lot and the most interesting part is the ‘I wonder and I notice’. Whenever, I will be teaching math in my life, I will definitely use these strategies. I do feel more prepared for teaching math, though. Thank you Kyle and John for boosting up my confidence!
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@suttee-chatooah We’re so glad we can aid you in boosting confidence! It’s one of the main things we try to do in all of our PD opportunities.
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In taking this course I learned about the importance of intentionality in each lesson and activity that I am working on with my students. Why am I doing this activity? Why am I assessing now? What am I looking for?
I also learned some simple and practical ways for spiralling my math curriculum and easy ways to get started.
AMAZING INSPIRING LEARNING!!! WOW!
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So proud of you that you made it this far! Well done!
Awesome take aways. Intentionality is so important yet so easy to miss or just gloss over.
We are pumped that you found the learning inspirational. Keep up the great work!
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Wahoo, I am glad I made it at last. To be honest, my take is the entire package. However, I am incredibly grateful for a load of resources, how to craft math packages and specifically the clarity on the use of assessment in promoting learning. I must also mention the brain research on learning, this is key for me. I would need to revisit it often to get focused when the goings get tough. Lastly, I am fortunate to find this community of learners, I feel confident that I have one and more I can fall back to from time to time.
Thank you guys for putting this all together and being there throughout the journey.
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Wow! We’re so proud you’re here! We’re so glad a big takeaway for you is the community! We’re better together.
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My biggest takeaway is the “Don’t Break the Chain,” template and the many planning template tools. This will help me get and keep organized. I loved everything about the workshop, I am glad that I took the leap and registered for the workshop this summer! Best wishes for a great school year to all!
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Amazing stuff @alyse-olivieri ! We’re so honoured to be apart of your journey!
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Biggest takeaway: the emphasis on collaboration.
To not have the burden of initiating change on your own…To welcome other math professionals to assist in the planning, observation, and reflection of new, engaging techniques in the classroom to help our students develop a deep conceptual understanding of mathematics is a remarkable change.
And I´m so proud of myself for completing this course.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Nicole Jackson.
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We’re proud of you too! Well done.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by
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I liked the way presented to transform text book word problems into curiosity sparking problems.
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Congrats! We are so proud of how far you’ve come. We look forward to continuing to learn along side you in the academy!
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I think my biggest takeaway is that creating this environment in my classroom is going to take time and that it’s okay for me to start small. Sometimes I want to dive in 100%, but then I become overwhelmed and may fall back on old habits. I think taking small steps will also get me to the place I want to be.
I also need someone in my department who is willing and interested in going on this journey with me. Several teachers are on their way to retiring in the upcoming years and I would like to mentor some new teachers to have a partner interested in joining me on this journey.
I also need to reevaluate the way I assess students and figure out what will work best in my classroom.
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Congrats on making it to the end of the course!
Some big takeaways here and I couldn’t agree more. This will take time and incremental changes. Grabbing a buddy to embark on this journey with will prove very helpful! Looking forward to continuing this learning with you.
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My biggest takeaway are related to the different ways to spiral content and making me reflect on how to better include all the different level of learners I have in the classroom!
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Woot! Woot! We’re excited to hear more about your journey as you implement these takeaways!
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I am feeling both very overwhelmed but also excited about everything I have learnt! Full disclosure, this “6 week course” has taken me over a year to complete so I definitely need to go back and reread my notes (luckily I have taken comprehensive notes!) to fix everything together in my mind. As I have said before, I don’t know what pedagogical change on a larger scale I will be able to enact in my school but I am looking forward to making progress in my own Year 7 class to make Maths Moments that are engaging, interesting, stretching and affirming for every student! Thanks guys!
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So glad to hear that you’ve found value in learning with us in this “year long” course! 🙂
To be honest, stretching it out is probably the most effective way so that you can be implementing and reflecting at each stage vs. trying to “do it all” then implement later.
What pebble in your shoe are you currently addressing in the math classroom? Where do you see your greatest growth?
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My biggest take away from the course is the 3 part framework. I hope to be able to implement more problem based lessons in order to spark student curiosity. I have done a lot already with the “notice and wonder” as well as withholding information. I like the idea of spiraling as well because I have been really struggling with my students’ retention of previously learned concepts.
Although much of this is overwhelming at times, I am committed to trying some new things to get my students more curious and build better problem solvers in my classes.
Thanks so much for all you do!
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Always remember: one step at a time! You can’t do everything tomorrow – so pick your first step and go! Pleasure learning with you!
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One takeaway?! Impossible. Honestly, Jon and Kyle thanks so much for this workshop. It has definitely been the most meaningful professional development and learning experience as a math teacher. I’m very grateful I have been able to access these resources early enough in my career that I can implement these philosophies in the years to come. From week 1, I could immediately use the sparking curiosity and 3 act tasks models into my lessons. The structure has added a level of depth and enjoyment for both teacher and student in my classroom. There’s not a lot of PD courses out there that allow math teachers to go into action right off the bat, so this is truly a gem. Even though I may have heard of a lot of the bigger ideas you talk through on a theoretical level, this course is the only one that allowed me to have actionable and manageable moves to get me to where I want to be. I feel like a sponge that has soaked up an immense wealth of knowledge and excitement for refreshing lessons. You’re both fantastic educators and leaders, thank you for sharing your experiences and learning with all of us to make teaching and math education the best it can be. Keep up the great work. I will be giving high praise and talking about this workshop for years 🙂
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This is so fantastic to hear. So honoured to have had the opportunity to learn with you and have an influence on your teaching moves! You are clearly a dedicated educator and your students are so lucky to have you. Thanks for the kind note!
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Amazing Tarini! Would you be open to having us add your comment on our Workshop Information page? I think hearing your perspective will help others jump on board the train!
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Hey Jon and Kyle, absolutely, feel free to use it and I hope fellow educators find it as meaningful as I have!
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I often leave experiences like this feeling guilty, like I’m not doing enough. Looking back over this course, I’m going to change my mindset by saying that I’m on the right track. I am doing many of the things outlined in this course, and I’m interested in trying some of the things I haven’t implemented yet. This experience has given me some motivation to get through the rest of this school year and some excitement about implementing some new practices for next year.
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This is great to hear! The course has a TON jammed into it – more so you can find “a” place to start rather than changing everything immediately. We certainly are glad that you’ll take one step at a time as it is a process, not a snap of the fingers. Honoured to have the opportunity to learn alongside you. Good luck in your journey forward!
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This course has given me a lot to think about. I has reaffirmed some of the new practices I had already taken on and encouraged me to continue to change my instructional delivery and assessment strategies. I know it will be a long road to a complete shift but throughout this I have come to believe the effort will be worth it.
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I have truly enjoyed this program. I like your guys enthusiasm, it is contagious. I have gained more confidence in making more thoughtful learning opportunities for my students. I believe I said I wanted my students to remember me as a fun teacher and someone who makes them want to be engaged in learning in the next five years. I think I have made some progress, but there is always room to grow. I look forward to trying all the techniques in the 6 modules and mastering them.
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Thank you both for your time, creativity, and dance moves. My biggest take away is to look at the systems in my class that are inconsistent with each other or my beliefs and and ask ask “What else could this look like?” For example, I believe students can constantly deepen their understanding of a concept, and often understand a concept better months down the line because they’ve seen it interwoven into other topics. However, because they took the test on the topic right after they learned it, that new understanding isn’t formally documented. Now, instead of being annoyed by that because of assessment and retake policies I can be proactive and just design assessments so that they include previous material and then students will be accurately and formally credited for their understanding.
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Great takeaways Zorica! We’re excited for you to continue this journey!
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This workshop has been an amazing journey and I want to share it with all the teachers in my district! I think this is the way teachers should teach so students have a positive experience in Maths. My job now is to get this training to all teachers in our district. Thank you for putting this workshop together, any plans on creating a curriculum??
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I have thoroughly enjoyed this workshop. It has helped me reinvesting sparking the interest and curiosity of my students after a long two years of distance learning. My biggest takeaway is the power that curiosity has on student engagement. I want to strategically plan my units for the next school year to consistently incorporate strategies like “Would you rather?” and “3 Act Lessons”.
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Hi David,
Love to hear it! Glad you found the learning worthwhile and we can’t wait to hear how things are going as you continue the journey!
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My biggest takeaway is to engage students to the point where math becomes relevant to them regardless of their level. Once I achieve that, math can start making more sense and confidence will increase.
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Thanks for learning with us! Always remember that relevance can often be achieved by simply making the math accessible through context, strategies and mathematical models. Go get ‘em!
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Since I’ve been teaching math to students who struggle in math, I have been jumping around to find the perfect curriculum that will work for them. After taking your course, I have come to understand what a good engaging lesson looks like. I am so ready to make my classroom an engaging place to explore math, where all my students regardless of their opinions about math, can be curious. I have confidence in myself that I can teach math without a specific curriculum. I can take bits and pieces to create that curriculum with your resources and I look forward to doing that this summer. Thanks again.
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Amazing to hear Stephanie! Go get em!
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My biggest takeaway is trying to get more students involved by sparking their curiosity. I only had a few opportunities to use this before school was over, but I did see a lot more participation than usual, so I am hoping that will be the case in the upcoming school year.
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My biggest takeaway is making those math moments daily (or super close to it). I have been trying to incorporate more hand on and group tasks but I did not include open ended problems. These are what I need to keep students engaged and thinking as much as possible. I also so this as a refreshing change to what I have been dong the last 12 years. I want to stay active in my teaching and don’t want to do the same thing every year because I would get bored. This is a big change but I have a large part of my department willing to dive in with me and it will be good for teachers and students at our school!
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This is amazing to hear and I’m excited for you as you continue along this journey. The beautiful part is you still have so many more years to continue shifting your practice and keep yourself excited to teach math class. You’re going to be so glad you decided to make the shift!
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I have a few take aways from this workshop.
The first thing I need to do is get familiar with the curriculum of the four math classes I will be teaching this year and be confident with the curriculum,
I love the idea of sparking curiosity and making math meaningful for students. I took this course because I wanted to get away from the traditional way of teaching math that I have seen not work for my students who have learning support needs. I am excited to know that my idea of working with real life and exciting ideas for all math concepts is real- it just takes a bit of work and it can become meaningful to students while meeting the curriculum guides/standards.
Interleaving the curriculum is perfect for a student who has difficulty learning math and is in an intervention math course. The strategies of spiraling warm ups, think back Thursdays, Monday Makeovers and interleaving assessments are things that I can see myself doing even though this will be my first year teaching math courses.
I am beginning to understand the ideas of how to set up a daily math class and will be looking at more of your YouTube or past podcasts for more information.
I would love to access your planning sheet that you had indicated would be listed below video, as well as the Learning Log document. Those are great tools!
At the beginning of the workshop you asked “What are three things you want students to remember about your math class 5 years from now?” I wrote:
1. An enjoyable experience
2, Math is relevant to everyday life
3. That they were understood and appreciated
I want to update my response:
I want students remember having fun while learning math (curious learners that received positive feedback)
I want students to remember the feeling of being successful and walk away still being successful in math (get rid of the fear/anxiety).
I want students to remember that I, along with their classmates listened to them and supported them,
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This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by Deanna Semyon.
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Great takeaways here Deanna! I love that you updated your original 3 goals!
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This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by
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I now have more tools in my toolbox for sparking curiosity and fueling sense making than I did before. I like the idea of notice and wonder at the start of class to get kids thinking about the possibilities there could be in what they are looking at. I remember my own experiences in education and the one thing I always hated doing was estimating – I never saw a use in it (other than my answer should be in this area). But now I can see how getting students to predict (estimate) something they are curious about, give them some more information, let them revamp their estimate, and then continue with the problem solving is a way to suck students into estimating for a purpose. I just have to find things students are curious about that is related to our curriculum. This class has given me many resources 🙂 Feeling very thankful for taking this class. I have many things to pass along to the teachers that I coach!
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This is so exciting to hear, Julie! Glad that you find value in the learning here and are eager to implement and share with those you mentor! Don’t be a stranger! 🙂
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My biggest takeaway (although I had many) from the course is the importance of knowing where students are coming from and where they are going. I am starting a new role in grades that I have never taught before (K-2). I need to learn pre-k through 3rd grade standards really well in order to anticipate effectively in my lessons. I will be spending a lot of time before the school year starts studying these standards so that I am able to best support the students I will be working with this year and be able to plan effectively for intervention as well as spiralling skills.
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My other big takeaway is the importance of curiosity in order to engage and help students to retain information. I am very excited to try these strategies in the fall with my K-2 students.
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Congratulations for making it through the Online Workshop and now becoming a Make Math Moments Certified Educator! Woot woot! You are well on your way!
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I am very excited for this school year to start. To understand my excitement level we have to go back to Covid Spring. While my school was remote I made it my goal to not waste the extra time I had on my hands. After some phone calls and emails I came across Peter Liljedahl. I talked with him about his style of teaching and he said I needed to hear the MMM podcast. I was hooked from the beginning. I was hooked on Peter’s style of delivery and I was hooked on John and Kyle’s approach to teaching. I was so fired up for school to start in the Fall.
In the Fall, however, like most schools we started remotely and try as I might to introduce and implement all of my new ideas, it was a struggle. Fast forward to last fall. Again I am very excited to build culture at the beginning, do all the things and have a great year. I didn’t get a chance because I started the school year in the hospital and wasn’t able to return to class until mid November. The students and I did the best we could, but there had been significant damage done by the 10 or so substitute teachers that filled in for me while I was gone.
So this year! I am ready! I think the tool I am most excited to use is the planner. To have constant reminders to not break the chain and things like that will keep this all front brain for me as the dog days of the school year set in.
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Congrats on making it through the Online Workshop and for being so amped up for this coming school year! So happy that you landed on Peter’s work and found your way to our 3-Part Framework!
So excited to hear how things progress this year. When you’re ready for a check-in mentorship moments episode, let us know here:
Go get ‘em!
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Takeaways from this course include the ability to breathe and know that whatever curriculum we are given, I need to remember I am doing my best teaching when I stay true to my teaching values. I have better tools now to spark curiosity, fuel sense making, and help build students’ problem solving muscles. Now I am excited to create lessons that support students by using these values and create better thinkers and problem solvers, who can hopefully transfer learning from one concept to another.
Grading and what middle school grades really mean has been a struggle. This course has given me a lot to think about, and really use the 10 strategies in both the assessing and evaluation process.
I want kids to feel like they are engaged and growing. That my class is a collaborative class that helps them be better thinkers and be rewarded for that. Thank you, Kyle and Jon, for giving me more tools and ideas to improve on this! I hope to never again hear, “When will I ever use this in my life??”
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Great takeaways here Marion! We’re so glad you were with us this summer.
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My biggest take away is that I need to relook at my lesson and do the work to revamp them into more of a thinking style. I like the framework of using the CuriosityPath to help spark the curiosity. I am going to use this to start revamping some of my lessons.
Another take away, is that I also realized that even through I might need to change somethings that I am actually doing several of the things mention in this course.
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Two great take aways! Always important to recognize that we are doing a lot of great things already – never throw the baby out with the bath water!
Congrats on making it through!
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I honestly don’t think that I can pull out just ONE takeaway. Every Module and lesson it felt like had yet another thing that made me want to get back to school and try. I am looking forward to seeing my students’ responses to my lessons as I truly work to spark their curiosity and explore with math. Although I would not have wanted to cram to finish as I did these past few days. I did find that having all of the information at one time and being able to go from module to module right away was great. I am not sure how I would have survived waiting to have the next Module released. Even though this did start the end of May, I was not able to get into it until I was fully on vacation as the end of the year was so crazy hectic. Honestly I am extremely grateful that I was able to participate in this workshop as I feel as though I will be a better teacher for my students come the first day! THANK YOU!!! 🙂
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This is so great to hear! We agree A cramming is never best, but happy you pushed through and are excited to implement!
Remember, if you are an academy member, you’ll keep access to the online workshop indefinitely!
Good luck!
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Ahh…Where to even start! I started this Course in February and probably should have waited till the summer to do so, however I feel like the breadth of knowledge and conceptualization a teacher undergoes is a lot. While some of these ideas I have had in my mind for years, listening to podcasts, taking advantage of quick board offered PD, and exploring various online resources, I feel having the full package has allowed me to bring all these ideas forward to really envision how to implement in my class. To me, an educator needs various different strategies and mindsets in order to really make a change in their classroom. That being said I think the biggest take away is the ideas of re-branding Math Learning. Thinking about it, it is the subject that is the most stripped of joy and most beaten with formal assessment. Using the various strategies and frameworks the full Making Math Moments Course uncovers, we can ourselves think of math class differently, essentially de-colonizing the learning of Mathematics.
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So happy you made it through! As you mentioned, there are so many nuances to consider and therefore giving yourself the extra time to finish might be better for longer / deeper retention!
Congrats and go rock your math class!
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I’ve been juggling many of these ideas in my head over the last few years and this course has given me a clear path on which to align and compile everything into a cohesive framework. From empowering learning by sparking engagement, to supporting all learners, to rethinking assessment practice, I truly appreciate the depth of understanding that your course has provided me.
My biggest takeaway is the idea of rebranding assessment as something for students to use as a learning tool rather than a judgement. While the reality for many of us is that we do have to have a final judgement of a student’s success, it’s that clarity of that judgement and the knowledge that it is derived through a triangulated process that involves direct conversation, observation and documentation. I’m lucky to have the flexibility to assess in this manner and have started to shift assessment towards a task neutral rubric that helps students see their development towards a particular skill or learning outcome. By using this same continuum in all contexts of assessment, i’m hoping to clarify the idea that success in mathematics is much more than whether or not you get the right answer. It’s a long journey, but always and interesting one.
Thanks again.
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Right before COVID hit, I had taken a class on teaching math as a Math Workshop. Many of the practices that I learned in this current course were in alignment with the Math Workshop style. I had made a few lesson plans and was starting to get into changing my practice this way but then COVID hit and there were too many new things to learn to really dive into this method. Now that we are back to a more normal school year where students can work together and move more freely around the room, I really needed something to push me back to a more student centered classroom format. Making Math Moments that Matter has not only pushed me back to doing Math Workshop, it has helped me to internalize how to more naturally come up with lessons in this format and teach them.
Instead of giving students notes, practicing a few problems together, then practicing more until we move on and start the process again with another concept, I now think how can I engage students from the beginning of a lesson without actually telling them how to do what we are learning.
I have been doing a lot of noticing and wondering lessons and I find that once we reach the final answer, I have said all the vocabulary that are in the notes and students have worked through the entire concept rather than steps being piecemeal to them. I still do notes but I do them at the end. They go really fast and students understand the vocab and steps through the application they have just worked through with their peers rather than me just telling them. Students are up and moving, they are using the white boards, talking with each other and I am a facilitator to help them when they get stuck, make connections, dig deeper in the understanding and questions why things work the way they do. For the most part, I believe most of my students are engaged and enjoy math class this year. I also enjoy teaching this way so much more. I am talking less and listening more. I notice I have zero discipline problems this year. Maybe this set of students are better but I tend to believe that they are better because the format of the class is better for them to feel safe, heard and a sense of accomplishment because they are the ones teaching themselves.
I look forward to finding new lessons and tweaking old ones to this better format. Thanks for getting me back on track and giving me more resources at my fingertips.
