Mathy Math Mom

Octoober 20, 2017            I wanted to take a moment to write about interdisciplinary professional development. Whenever I have the opportunity to attend an interdisciplinary PD, I am hesitant because the mathematics is either nonexistent or extremely superficial. Today I went to a professional development put on by LACOE and it was focused on integrating art and the new social studies standards. The presenter referenced the new common core standards, including ELA, history, art, and even science. The only content they didn’t seem to recognize was mathematics, which was not a surprise.          What I didn’t anticipate was when we discussed pedagogy and different strategies for teaching art, I would recognize my own structures in mathematics.        For example, she talked about taking the time in silence to look at a painting and really appreciate what was happening. She called it notice, wonder, a...

August 9, 2017 A girl has many names. (Reference: GOT) Mom, wife, daughter, TOSA (instructional coach), mathematician, runner, traveler, wine enthusiast, etc. I learned last year, a TOSA has many names too. Textbook distributor, bag stuffer, event organizer, website maker, PD planner, facilitator, etc. I just got another that I wasn't expecting,                                                  Co-Teacher My position is a full time TOSA. However, due to the needs of my district, I have been asked to teach one class per day at one of my 5 high schools. Today was my first day BACK in the classroom! It is intimidating going into the classroom after being a TOSA (or in my case, while being a TOSA). It feels like the expectation is extrem...

March 4, 2017 (FINALLY posted April 28, 2017)       So when Dan Meyer calls you out for not blogging saying "your a blog has gone dormant", you decide that it's time to pick it up again :-)   I have been having trouble deciding what to blog about. In my position (Instructional Coach aka. TOSA) I feel like if I'm not careful, I will start to complain which is unprofessional. I was having trouble balancing this feeling with talking about what is meaningful to me.  However, just because my blog has been silent, doesn't mean I haven't been busy! Over the past few months I had the opportunity to do a webinar through West Ed and the California Department of Education. The webinar series was called "Speaking and Listening" and I was asked to present with a focus on mathematics. My great friend, Meg Rowe ( Arithmetallk ) joined me in this endeavor and it was an amazing experience. Here is the archive:  Calculating the Gift of Gab for Literacy in S...

November 11, 2016 (posted April 28, 2017<---oops) Last weekend I had the amazing opportunity to attend CMC South. It was invigorating ! Not only did meet many illustrious educators, I got to hear them speak about their passions, successes, and failures during their journey. Many sessions mentioned number talks, one of which by Dan Luevanos (@danluevanos) from San Diego, CA. He gave several awesome secondary examples of number talks using clothesline math. Essentially, it is an interactive double number line. He challenged us to decide if we had a true conceptual understanding of concepts such as systems of equations using elimination, distributive property, and sale price. Obviously I do....right? This picture is an example of solving systems of equations by elimination. No calculations, no writing. Mind blown! Anyway, I needed to try this out ASAP. The opportunity presented itself today at a principal's meeting. We were trying to give our principal's an...