More than 60 educators from several school districts gathered in Columbia, Missouri on Wednesday to discuss and embrace various aspects of math success – from the value of productive struggle to the importance of data-driven instruction.
The reason for bringing educators together, some from as many as 3 hours away?
"We know that teachers are the ones that make a difference and we need to give them the resources to make that difference," explained Dana Hibbard, District Math Coordinator in Columbia Public Schools, at the start of the day.
Fortunately, many guests shared their favorite insights from the day on social media.
Importance of Data-Driven Education
Dr. Michael Murphy (@mdmstc), Superintendent of St. Clair R-XIII District, and a former math teacher, shared insights and the imperatives for data driven instruction. Murphy, marvelling at the robust technological tools available to educators today, urged action and engagement over a wait-and-see approach. "We are at a point of a pendulum with public schools, that will either guide directly to success or failure based on those who choose to wait, see and watch versus those who choose to reach out and do," he said.
But, it won't be easy, he cautioned. "Anything that educators do that is good for children ... is painstakingly difficult," said Murphy. "It's hard work. It comes with barriers of resistance."
Parents are ok with doing math the way it was done the past 50 years. Challenge the process #MOMATHSUMMIT
— Mrs. Sarff (@mrssarff) February 3, 2016
Dr Michael Murphy Superintendent St. Clair @mdmstc "Its about our children being able to compete on a global scale" @JiJiMath #MoMathSummit
— Mrs. Sarff (@mrssarff) February 3, 2016
Murphy and and co-presenter Markie Lampkin (@CoachLampkin) shared their full presentation online.
Interested in @mdmstc's and I presentation slides @JiJiMath #MOMathSummit? Here it is: https://t.co/66U3is0WdK
— Markie Lampkin (@CoachLampkin) February 3, 2016
The Value of Productive Struggle and Growth Mindset in Math
From there, the conversation turned to the importance of productive struggle -- the practice of persisting and learning through failure -- not just for students, but for teachers, too.
Math needs to be about thinking & problem solving; not just about rote & procedure! #MOMATHSUMMIT #STMath @JiJiMath pic.twitter.com/jr6yXGkIDl
— Dr Chris V Templeton (@ChrisVTempleton) February 3, 2016
Rm 116 knows that learning feels uncomfortable. The #MOMATHSUMMIT is teaching teachers to be okay with struggling too. #cpsbest
— Miss Heins' Class (@MissHeinsClass) February 3, 2016
Math is a mystery to too many! Math is about thinking! ALL kids can think; they CAN do math #MOMATHSUMMIT #STMath pic.twitter.com/2fxBhOzkM9
— Dr Chris V Templeton (@ChrisVTempleton) February 3, 2016
Getting Hands-On
One way to help kids realize they can do math is to let them experience it as a game. Guests at the summit closed the day by playing with ST Math and exploring ways to provide students with a deeper conceptual understanding of sometimes tricky notions, like the number line and fractions.
Kids think a fraction is pizza. We need to use many more visual models to create a deeper understanding of the concept. #MOMATHSUMMIT
— Edward Schumacher (@ColumbiaPapa) February 3, 2016
@TwoMile1963-Ms Raynor & I are learning with @JiJiMath today but it feels like we're playing #cpsbest #momathsummit pic.twitter.com/vHxIkeXkZu
— Miss Heins' Class (@MissHeinsClass) February 3, 2016
Dana Hibbard, who opened the conference in the morning, posed this thought-provoking question to close the day:
How does the tool illuminate the math that you are trying to teach? #momathsummit
— Dana (@DanaMathforall) February 3, 2016
Calli Wright was the Marketing Manager at MIND Research Institute. She loves playing and designing board games, which she often talks about on twitter @CalliWrights.
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