crafting an engaging math professional learning community

Crafting an Engaging Math PLC

Jodi Bates, Herb Higginbotham, Andrea Kaufmann, Ann Richards, and

Britanie Risner

Hilliard City Schools

Reviewing Common Assessment Data

● Reviewed OAA Item Analysis

● Recognized a skill students needed to strengthen

● Decided to focus on strengthening communication of math thinking

Example of Data:

4th Grade 2010 OAA Number Sense Extended Response

0 points: 26%

1 point: 14%

2 points: 18%

3 points: 18%

4 points: 24%

Example of common

assessment to measure

communication skill of students

We noticed our students

struggled to “justify” thinking.

Realized students didn’t know what to do to “explain”

thinking

“Look Fors” in a High Quality Math Elementary Classroom

Instructional Best Practices in Math

List of Gathered Resources

● Math Coach

● The Math Process Standards Series: Introduction to Communication

● NCTM & Illuminations● Exemplars

The Math Process Standards Series 5

Books● Each book has its

own editable CD-ROM that includes 50+ pages of ready-to-use classroom resources

Rubric Creation

● After using common assessment, we realized we did not have a common language among ourselves to gauge how students performed

● Realized we needed an assessment rubric for students and teachers

● Gathered variety of examples

● Gathered variety of examples

OAA Rubric

?

Consolidated into one, kid-friendly rubric

Used 3-2-1 scale to reflect district

progress report

indicators

Student Sample

Student’s Rubric

Sharing and Reflecting

Benefits

● Students’ math communication improved

● Increased students’ confidence

● Used anchor charts for math

● Authentic problems

● Developed usable rubric

● Common language

● Collaborated across grade levels

● Students observed examples of peers outside of homeroom

Struggles

● Scheduling

● Spent larger amount of time on one concept

● Lack of exposure to communication math thinking

● Variety of ability levels

● Students not using efficient strategies

Why it worked…

● Student-centered● Teacher-centered● Terrific leadership● Data-driven● Collaborative effort across grade levels● Wealth of time for meeting● Abundance of resources● Supportive administrator

Resources & References

● The Math Process Standards Series (Heinemann)○ www.heinemann.com/products/E01273.aspx

● National Council of Teachers of Mathematics ○ www.nctm.org

● Illuminations○ illuminations.nctm.org

● Exemplars Standard-based Assessment○ www.exemplars.com