CREATING A CLASSROOM CULTURE OF CONFIDENT PROBLEM SOLVING Presentation at Palm Springs 10/24/14 Jim

Take a minute to think about, and then be ready to share with the others at your table:  Name  School  District  Something you are doing in implementing CCSS-M  One thing you hope to learn today Introductions 3

 Deepen understanding of a growth mindset and identify some ways we might develop it  Engage in hands-on classroom activities for grades 7-11  Special thanks to Sherry Fraser and the Interactive Mathematics Program  Special thanks also to Carol Dweck and Mindsetworks Workshop Goals 4

ATP Administrator Training - Module 1 – MS/HS Math Workshop Norms 1. Bring and assume best intentions. 2. Step up, step back. 3. Be respectful, and solutions oriented. 4. Turn off (or mute) electronic devices.

Never Tell An Answer Please remember the enormous responsibility we all have as learners not to spoil anybody else’s fun. The quickest way to spoil someone else’s fun is to tell them an answer before they have a chance to discover it themselves. Susan Pirie

Diagonals Illuminated  Please complete “Diagonals Illuminated”  Which Math Practices are being used in this activity?

Part 1: Standards for Mathematical Practice 8 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them 2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively 3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others 4. Model with mathematics 5. Use appropriate tools strategically 6. Attend to precision 7. Look for and make use of structure 8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning 2011 © CA County Superintendents Educational Services Association

Diagonals Illuminated  Please complete “Diagonals Illuminated”  Which Math Practices are being used in this activity?  How is this different from the way this material is typically presented?

Cultural Perceptions About Math  Please read “Struggle for Smarts? …” by Alix Speigel  How does this resonate with your experience with students and parents?  How would you respond to the question, “What does it mean to know and do math?”  How would students typically respond to the same question?  How would parents typically respond?

The Math Virus  Dan Meyer in “Math Class Needs a Makeover” identified 5 elements of a very prevalent and destructive math virus:  Lack of initiative  Lack of perseverance  Lack of retention  Aversion to word problems  Eagerness for formulas  Few math students in US do not exhibit at least 2 or 3 of these features!

How Do We Address The Problem?  Need to change the 2 cultural issues already identified:  Underlying perceptions about ability  Underlying perceptions about math

Mindset – Carol Dweck

Factors Contributing to a Fixed Mindset (from Jo Boaler)

The Causes  Societal beliefs and expectations  Stereotypes  Grouping  Norm setting  Tasks assigned  Questions asked  Grading and feedback  How we deal with mistakes

Introducing a New Topic  How do we provide students an introduction to a new topic?  Please do “Victory Celebration”  Imagine that you are a student who has very little if any knowledge of quadratic functions  What would you think students would in fact be able to do?  How do we traditionally introduce new topics?  What message are we sending students when we introduce a topic with a problem?

Extending the Topic  Please look at “Pens and Corrals in Vertex Form” and “A Big Enough Corral”  What is the math being done here?  How is it similar to, and different from, many Algebra textbooks?  Be careful with the message to students, parents, and other teachers!

Looking at Linear Functions  Please do “A Special Show” and then “Keeping Track of Sugar”  What math do students need to know in order to be able to do the work?  Where and how would you see students struggling?  Could we use a series of these activities to lead students to an understanding of “y = mx + b”?  Now look at “All Four, One – Linear Functions”  What is the understanding students will be developing and displaying?

Promoting a Growth Mindset  How do the kinds of tasks and questions that have been posed today support the development of a Growth Mindset?  What kind of feedback do we provide?  How do we deal with mistakes in the classroom?  How do we help students learn to engage in “productive struggle?”  Please enjoy these resources!

Websites with Resources  Growth Mindset:  Mindsetworks.org  Math Tasks and Ideas:  Blog.mrmeyer.com  Youcubed.org  Map.mathshell.org  Insidemathematics.org  Interactive Mathematics Program  Iat.com/courses/mathematics

Evaluations  Thank you for attending this section  Please take a moment to provide feedback on the session per the next two slides  Suggestions for improvement are welcomed!

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Send your text message to this Phone Number: Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree Disagree Agree Speaker was well- prepared and knowledgeable (0-3) Speaker was engaging and an effective presenter (0-3) Session matched title and description in program book (0-3) Other comments, suggestions, or feedback (words) ___ ___ ___ ___________ Example: Great session! 5 digit poll code for this session (no spaces) Non-Example: Great session! (1 space) Non-Example: Great session!