Common Core State Standards Summer Institutes for Oahu and East Hawaii

Title: Common Core State Standards Summer Institute Oahu and East Hawaii

Description: The training sessions are designed to help teachers successfully implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts and Mathematics. Sessions will include research papers and readings related to building deeper understanding of the CCSS, deconstruction of the CCSS, lesson planning and lesson revisions tied to the CCSS.

The training sessions will focus on: Goal 1: Assure all students graduate college-and-career-ready through effective use of standards-based education. In addition, the training sessions will link to the following Literacy for Learning principles: Guiding Principle #1: Assessment of and for learning drives instruction, Guiding Principle #2: Evidence-based instructional strategies, and Guiding Principle #4: Instructional Leadership and Professional Learning.

Date(s):
Oahu: July 9-13, 2012
East Hawaii: July 16-20, 2012

Time:
8:00-3:00 pm

Location:
Oahu: Japanese Cultural Center (July 9, 11-13) and Ala Moana Hotel (July 10)
East Hawaii: Imiloa Astrology Center

Facilitators: The Common Core Institute; Mr. Kevin Baird and senior faculty team

Registration: Pre-registration deadline: Friday May 18, 2012 (registration fees to be sponsored for eligible school teams).
For registration details, email jjbower@iaak.net or call (808) 237-5567.

Everyday math – Dan Meyer

We’re all Dan Meyer fans.  Just in case you missed it, here is an EducationWeek article that provides more insight into his perspectives and current projects.  I did not know that he was homeschooled through eighth grade.  You’ll also find a short video (four minutes long) in which Meyers shares a few examples of how to ‘hook’ students with a real-world question or problem and then step aside and “… let the math serve the conversation”.  I blogged about Meyer’s Ted Talk in December.  You can find that post here.

Developing ‘Patient problem-solvers’

I stumbled upon Dan Meyer’s TED Talk about teaching math.  It is the perfect complement to my last post about Wolfram’s TED Talk.  Meyer (a great presenter – wow, what a difference presentation and humor make) builds the case for re-defining math and developing students who are “patient problem-solvers”.  He, like Wolfram, believes that more emphasis needs to be place on formulating problems based on real world scenarios.  He shows how textbooks do the exact opposite.  In textbooks, math is served up, step by step, in neat little slices so students really don’t need to do any higher-level thinking but instead just complete computations.  Watch his TED Talk.  It will not disappoint.

A couple of great quotes from Meyer:

• “I teach high school math. I sell a product to a market that doesn’t want it but is forced by law to buy it.”
•  “Be less helpful.”

Check out his blog, too.  Cool stuff!

It’s All About Numbers… today

Math is on the brain this morning… first, I read an Education Week article sharing that U.S. significantly lags behind nations in producing high-achieving math students.  In fact, 16 countries had at least twice the percentage of high-achievers in math.  What’s particularly interesting about this study is the focus on advanced math level – many studies focus on the average performing group of students. Then, I read an interesting article about the importance of parents talking to their toddlers about numbers and how that effects a child’s numeracy.  So much emphasis is placed on building toddlers’ vocabulary for reading readiness, while not much emphasis is placed on talking about numbers.  The study, “What Counts in the Development of Young Children’s Number Knowledge?” found that “…parents who used more number words in discussions when the child was 14 to 30 months old were more likely at 46 months old, or just at preschool age, to be able to answer accurately when shown two sets of four and five blocks and asked to point out the set of five.”  It’s not rocket science but as a mom of a toddler I appreciate the findings – especially as my daughter has just taken a huge developmental leap in numeracy and is counting with brilliant accuracy!