ImagineIT Update March 5, 2016
My ImagineIt project is to create a professional learning community in my math department where STEM becomes the focus of our classrooms. STEM is definitely about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. But, it is even more about productive struggle where students need to problem solve, in the moment, by themselves and with others. The idea of productive struggle is the same as the Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice 1 which is about making sense of problems and persevering in solving them. Perseverance and productive struggle will be the topic for our first philosophical discussion about math teaching and learning with my PLC. The school purchased Jo Boaler's new book: Mathematical Mindsets. Unleashing Students' Potential Through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching.
Update: The books arrived! We read chapter 2 and below is a documentation of our response to questions I created on a Google Doc. The italicized comments were made during our weekly PLC meeting. I am trying to push teachers to really think about what their vision of a classroom is and how that affects their teaching. Next chapter: Creating Mathematical Mindsets: The Importance of Flexibility of Numbers. Most exciting news: two Science teachers are joining the discussion!!! And, I can't wait to get to chapter 8 which will really push my team to think about how they grade assignments! Moving forward, I am also piloting a standards based grading unit that will allow my students to know what they are learning and push me to provide more opportunities to work in groups (and struggle)!
Update: The books arrived! We read chapter 2 and below is a documentation of our response to questions I created on a Google Doc. The italicized comments were made during our weekly PLC meeting. I am trying to push teachers to really think about what their vision of a classroom is and how that affects their teaching. Next chapter: Creating Mathematical Mindsets: The Importance of Flexibility of Numbers. Most exciting news: two Science teachers are joining the discussion!!! And, I can't wait to get to chapter 8 which will really push my team to think about how they grade assignments! Moving forward, I am also piloting a standards based grading unit that will allow my students to know what they are learning and push me to provide more opportunities to work in groups (and struggle)!
READ ON TO LEARN ABOUT THE RESULTS OF MY PLC SURVEY....