Steve Leinwand - American Institutes for Research, Washington, D.C.
There is perhaps nobody better at shouting math education's rallying cry than Steve Leinwand. Knowing that my notetaking could not keep up, I recorded Steve's talk for later review. Graciously, Steve has granted me permission to post it here. (Which saves me a ton of typing!) You can find slides for Leinwand's "Tilling the Soil" talk on his website.
Check this out on Chirbit
Dan Meyer covered the tweeting duties during the talk:
“Anyone who teaches multiplication by anything but partial products should be drawn and quartered.” /by @steve_leinwand #NCTMDenver
— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 19, 2013
“Algebra II is an insipid course. It’s connected to nothing in the real wold.” /by @steve_leinwand #NCTMDenver
— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 19, 2013
“But we love Algebra II. It put hair on our chest twenty years ago.” /by @steve_leinwand #NCTMDenver
— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 19, 2013
“The most imp. 9 words in the CCSS are ‘Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.'” /by @steve_leinwand #NCTMDenver
— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 19, 2013
“Show me a class where SMP3 happens and I’ll show you a class where the other practices are happening.” /by @steve_leinwand #NCTMDenver
— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 19, 2013
“Standards don’t teach. Teachers teach.” /by @steve_leinwand #NCTMDenver
— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 19, 2013
Recommending learnzillion.com videos if you want an image of particular standards. /by @steve_leinwand #NCTMDenver /cc @jonathanwray
— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 19, 2013
“My kids are going to have to demonstrate the standards like THAT?!” Encourages you to head to SBAC and PARCC sites. @steve_leinwand #NCTM13
— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 19, 2013
“We need PD that supports a culture of collaboration.” Banging a loud drum for coaching and peer observation. @steve_leinwand #NCTMDenver
— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 19, 2013
“Everyone tapes themselves once a month and one is played/critiqued randomly at staffmeeting.” On practices at good schools. @steve_leinwand
— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 19, 2013
“We have standards for practices and content. Where are the standards for implementation?” /by @steve_leinwand #NCTMDenver
— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 19, 2013
My takeaway? Math teachers need to push for more and better collaboration. No longer can teachers just teach what they enjoy, or pretend teaching is mostly improvisational. If we are truly professionals, we need to do serious work around our new standards and curriculum, including critiquing the teaching of colleagues, reviewing and refining lessons over time, and recognizing the body of knowledge about teaching mathematics that can be built upon and further contributed to. But listen for yourself.