Summer Workshop Plans

MS2 Summer Institute 2000

Monday 8/21/00 through Friday 8/25/00, 8:30am to 4:00pm each day.

How many teachers do you involve in your workshops?

41 "Teacher Leaders" (TLs)attended, some of whom are school-based full-time staff developers. We were joined, on 8/23, by 11 principals from the schools served by (MS)².

What are your major goals for your workshops in terms of content and pedagogy?

Content Goal: To further TLs' understanding of mathematics and specifically geometry.
Most of the geometry topics were "known" to the TLs as rules they had memorized, but were not accessible to them as useful when they appeared in an unfamiliar context - one which did not ask them to recite the rule but required understanding its meaning in order to use it to explore a mathematical idea.

Pedagogy Goals: To provide an experience in teaching/learning with understanding.
We separated into two groups by recommended curricula used in most of the schools represented: Connected Math and Math in Context. TLs from schools that have not yet selected a curriculum were invited to attend sessions for each, in order to help them to advise their principals when making that choice. The TLs were reminded of the existence of established standards for math education. We looked at the standards advocated nationally (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics), by the state (NYS Education Dept's Mathematics Core Curriculum) and the city (NYC Bd. Of Ed.'s 1st edition of Performance Standards: Mathematics), relating them to the geometry topics taught in the recommended curricula.

Assessment was a component of these sessions. We cannot teach without knowing what the students do and do not know. The importance of continual assessment throughout a lesson, done through questioning, was stressed. We also had the TLs create rubrics for written work. Equity in math education was another area of focus. This is a requirement of the standards, is a purpose of the recommended curricula, and is one of the reasons for the emphasis on continuous assessment. Sessions about the role of the TL were an important part of the SI. These were intended to help the participants to keep their study groups focused on math education and to avoid various derailing events that have plagued some of the study groups during the past year. They also emphasized the importance of the TL's role as facilitator rather than dictator, and methods to include the ideas of all members. Each night, the TLs were assigned homework in mathematics and a reading response to an article about equity or pedagogy.

Are you offering professional development on specific curricula that you are hoping will be used in the classroom? If so, which curricula are you using?

Math in Context and Connected Mathematics.

Are you using specific professional development materials?

NYC Performance Standards: Mathematics
NYS Mathematics Core Curriculum
NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics
TIMSS video and prof development materials
Facilitating Systemic Change in Science and Mathematics Education: A Toolkit for Professional Developers
NYS standardized assessments from previous years.
CMP and MIC Teachers' Editions