Communication Center  Conference  Projects Share  Reports from the Field Resources  Library  LSC Project Websites  NSF Program Notes
 How to Use this site    Contact us  LSC-Net: Local Systemic Change Network
Newsclippings and Press Releases

LSC Reference Materials

LSC Case Study Reports

Annual Report Overviews

Summer Workshop Plans

Summer Workshop Plans

  New!     

MS2 Summer Institute 2000

submitter: Middle School Math Standards Project: (MS)2
published: 09/22/2000
posted to site: 09/22/2000

(MS)2 Summer Institute Info

How long do your workshops last?

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


(MS)2

Summer Institute 2000

AGENDA

Monday, August 21, 2000

8:30 - 9:15 Welcome & Opening Discussion
  • Course requirements
  • Monthly Seminar dates
  • Data collection & display: Who We Are
9:15 - 10:45 Mathematics Content Activity & Discussion
  • Coordinate geometry
  • Geometric models
10:45 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 12:15 Standards Review & Discussion
NCTM Geometry Standards for Grades 6-8
  • NYS Core Curriculum Modeling/Multiple Representation Grades 5-8
  • NYC Performance Standards: Mathematics, Middle School Geometry
12:15 - 1:15 Lunch
1:15 - 2:15 Leadership Discussion
  • What is a "Teacher-Leader?"
  • Teacher as change agent
  • The collaborative process
2:15 - 2:30 Break
2:30 - 3:30 Assessment & Standards Activity
  • Investigating several assessment tools & the standards they assess (Individual work that will be collected.)
3:30 - 4:00 Processing/Reflection
Assignment: see assignment section in your binder

 

(MS)2

Summer Institute 2000

AGENDA

Tuesday, August 22, 2000

8:30 - 9:00 Practicing Leadership & Collaboration
  • Using our work to learn about learning
9:00 - 10:45 Mathematics Content Activity & Discussion
  • Properties of triangles
10:45 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 12:15 Standards & Assessment Discussion
NCTM Geometry Standards for Grades 6-8
  • The standards as a guide to what we should assess
  • Comparing the assessment tools we examined yesterday
  • What question might we ask next?
12:15 - 1:15 Lunch
1:15 - 2:15 Equity: Teaching All Students
  • Mathline video from www.pbs.org/teachersource/mathline
2:15 - 2:30 Break
2:30 - 3:30 Leadership Discussion
3:30 - 4:00 Processing/Reflection
Assignment: see assignment section in your binder

 

(MS)2

Summer Institute 2000

AGENDA

Wednesday, August 23, 2000
Principal Day

8:30 - 9:00 Practicing Leadership & Collaboration
  • Using our work to learn about learning
Program Overview
Teacher Leaders
  & Principals
9:00 - 10:45 Mathematics Content Activity & Discussion
  • Area measurement
Teacher Leaders
  & Principals
10:45 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 12:15 Leadership Discussion
  • Continue discussion of MathLine video
Standards Introduction
Teacher Leaders
  & Principals
12:15 - 1:15 Lunch
1:15 - 2:15 Technology & Pedagogy / Math In Context Session
  • Using the Internet (Computer Room)
Third International Mathematics & Science Study & Principals (TIMSS)
Teacher Leaders
  & Principals
2:15 - 2:30 Break
2:30 - 3:30 Technology & Pedagogy / Connected Math Session
  • Using the Internet (Computer Room)
Classroom Observations
Teacher Leaders
  & Principals
3:30 - 4:00 Processing/Reflection Teacher Leaders
  & Principals
Assignment: see assignment section in your binder

(MS)2

Summer Institute 2000

AGENDA

Thursday, August 24, 2000

8:30 - 9:00 Practicing Leadership & Collaboration
  • Using our work to learn about learning
9:00 - 10:45 Mathematics Content Activity & Discussion
  • Similarity, Congruence, Transformations, & Symmetry
  • Proportional reasoning
10:45 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 12:15 Leadership Discussion
12:15 - 1:15 Lunch
1:15 - 2:15 Standards
  • Teachers' expectations of students & the effects of those expectations on teaching style
  • Third International Mathematics & Science Study (TIMSS) video
2:15 - 2:30 Break
2:30 - 3:30 Standards Discussion Continued
3:30 - 4:00 Processing/Reflection
Assignment: see assignment section in your binder

(MS)2

Summer Institute 2000

AGENDA

Friday, August 25, 2000

8:30 - 9:00 Practicing Leadership & Collaboration
  • Using our work to learn about learning
9:00 - 10:45 Mathematics Content Activity & Discussion
  • The Pythagorean Theorem
10:45 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 12:15 Standards & Assessment Activity & Discussion
12:15 - 1:15 Lunch
1:15 - 2:15 Teaching All Students
  • Responding to the learning needs of all students
2:15 - 2:30 Break
2:30 - 4:00 Standards Discussion Continued
3:30 - 4:00 Summer Institute Assessment
  • What do you know about mathematics, question types & standards that you didn't know at the beginning of the week?
  • What do you think of when you picture yourself as a teacher-leader?