Got Math? Elk Grove Students Do!

Talk about a close one! Major League Baseball narrowly avoided sharing its opening day with the kickoff of Mathematics Awareness Month. 

Starting in 1986 to "increase public understanding of and appreciation for mathematics," President Reagan issued a proclamation establishing Mathematics Awareness Week which has since evolved into a month long celebration. 

But why limit an emphasis on or celebration of math to just one month?

For the past two years the Elk Grove Unified School District under the educational leadership of Anne Zeman, the Director of Curriculum and Professional Learning, has been celebrating math by having entered into a collaborative partnership with Alameda County Office of Education, the Western Contra Costa County School District, California State University, East Bay, Center for Evaluation and Research to train teachers how to "Make Math Meaningful."

The result?

My personal testimonial would be this: In my 17 years of teaching, I have never had better math professional development experience ever! (NOTE: I've got a digital gift below you won't want to miss if you are a school-age child or the parent of a student.)

The first magical ingredient, I think, to making this program a success has been the opportunity to learn from REAL mathematicians at week long intensive professional development sessions followed up by frequent opportunities to work with math "coaches" who actually KNOW math theory and pedagogy. 

Phil Gonsalves is "THE" mathematical wizard behind the curtain orchestrating the content and delivery of the professional development in this project. He's a Cal State East Bay math professor who has taught all throughout grades K-12 and truly KNOWS how kids, math, and teachers think and work.

As a Director in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, Gonsalves has been instrumental in advancing the teaching of math not only in the Bay Area but throughout our state with his Mathematics Coaching Consortium. 

The second magical ingredient, I would argue, in this collaboration between the Elk Grove Unified School District and the Obi Wan Kenobi-like Phil Gonsalves is this: an emphasis on deep mathematical thinking and the use of "multiple methods" to solve problems. 

Want to see this concept put into action? Check out the video attached to this blog post created by one of my students, Sophie Ross. The thinking Sophie demonstrated, the concepts she wrote about, and the mathematical "syntax" she depicted using a tablet and an iMac showcase what Gonsalves and his team of coaches have been teaching many Elk Grove teachers over the past two years.

Unfortunately, this professional development opportunity was only offered to a limited number of teachers in grades 6-12. In other districts Gonsalves works with, teachers in grades k-5 have also been included. And sadly, the professional development grant draws to a close in the 2013-2014 school year. 

The good news, many of the resources provided to Elk Grove teachers are also accessible to the world at large!

Here's that "digital gift" I mentioned earlier. 

If you have kids in school, if you want to brush up on your math skills, if you are a teacher of math you will want to check out the West Contra Costa Unified School District's (WCCUSD) Mathematics webpage. 

On it you will find some AMAZING resources that are making a HUGE difference in my students' mathematical thinkning and understanding. Check out the "Parent Guides" to learn how you can help your child with vexing mathematical concepts that are often taught as a series of operations without REALLY understanding the mathematical theory behind them. For example, ever work with a child on dividing a number by a decimal and you've told them over and over you have to move the decimal in the divisor? Do you know why we do this? Are you confident you could mathematically explain this to a 5th grader? If you're like me, the answer was "No." Thanks to Gonsalves, however, I finally understand the reasoning behind this and most importantly, my STUDENTS now understand it, too! 

Check out the "Instructional Videos" to SEE how to "do math" with a real understanding of theory and correct syntax. This WCCUSD page is a work in progress with videos being migrated from Gonsalves California Math Demonstration Center webpage. To see more instructional videos, visit the Mathematics Coaching Consortium's "Content Presentations" page.  

These videos are tools I use in my class on a weekly basis. Sometimes students' math homework is to watch these at home with a parent.

The last digital gift is the "Lessons" and "Study Guides" pages of the WCCUSD math webpage. Need help with your K-12 student's math homework? Chances are you'll find what you're looking for here! The lessons take mathematical theories and clearly explain them with ample examples and correct "syntax" shown. These are another resource I use on a weekly basis. 

Math is fun. Math is creative. Math stimulates thinking and discussion and writing when taught using outstanding resources and with exemplary mathematical training and ongoing support. Watch Sophie's video again if you want proof of this. My students have written hundreds of pages of scripts this year while making the math instructional videos showcased on your YouTube Channel, Curiosity Films.

Anne Zeman and Phil Gonsalves have moved the Elk Grove Unified School District forward with our math instruction these past two years. As a teacher, I can only hope that we keep this momentum rolling afte this program ends with the 2013-2014 school year.