This Week in Math Ed: July 8, 2016

Math Ed Said

July 1: Mark Chubb starts us off this week with "Concept vs Procedure: An anecdote about what it means to be good at math." I highly recommend this post, and am reminded that the entirety of the learning experiences and assessment opportunities we design for students matter, not just the formal demonstrations of formalized algorithms.

Shared by: Mark Chubb, Margie Pearse, Mark Chubb, Chris Kalmbach, Robbyn Glinsmann, Julia Haun, Greg George, Barbara Rock, Chepina Rumsey, DeAnn Huinker, Jennifer Lawler, Julie Conrad

July 2: This October 2015 article from Eric Westervelt on the KQED Mindshift blog describes "How Adding Math to a Child's Home Routine Can Advance Achievement."

Shared by: Steph Gunning, Karyn Vogel, Alayne Armstrong, Kristin Frang, Gary A. Petko, Julie Wright, Jennifer Bell

July 3: From the Farnam Street blog, people (re)shared "Richard Feynman on Teaching Math to Kids and the Lessons of Knowledge." A post like this makes me glad the standard for mathematical practice is "attend to precision," not "be (a certain kind of) precise." Feynman had some good examples where curriculum materials in math and science stressed certain points or used certain language in the name of precision, but arguably did little to further student understanding.

Shared by: Earl Samuelson, Steven Strogatz, Jonathan Edmonds, George Woodbury, Ilona Vashchyshyn, Brian R Lawler, Eddi Vulić, Bridget Dunbar, Egan J Chernoff, Robert Gordon

Fireworks, Desmos style
July 4: It's a holiday in the U.S. You bring the math, and let Desmos set off...Fireworks!

Shared by: Desmos.com, Martin Joyce, Ron King, George Carganilla, Mr. Keller, TODOS

July 5: The title of this post speaks for itself: "Math, Desmos, and Artglass Windows." It's great to see some uses of Desmos beyond the classroom.

Shared by: Andrew Stadel, Eddi Vulić, Dan Anderson, Federico Chialvo, John Golden, Jen Silverman

July 6: Dan Meyer has a new blog series going, the latest of which is the post "Who Wore It Best: Maximizing Area." Two things I really, really like here: (1) I get to see three math ed technologies used side-by-side, which helps me understand the capabilities of each, and (2) Dan is putting the math first, and letting technology serve the math. That's hard to do with technology, as products are often presented as solutions in search of a problem.

Shared by: Nancy Terry, Dan Meyer, John Golden, Taylor Belcher, Craig Barton, Christine DiPaulo

July 7: Rafranz Davis wrote, "Another Night, Another Shooting," in the wake of yet more shootings of black Americans by the police.

Shared by: Nancy Terry, Jessica Faurote, Sara VanDerWerf, Christopher Danielson, Laura Wagenman, Nicole Bridge, Chris Hunter, Michelle Naidu, Megan Schmidt, Bob Lochel, Elizabeth Statmore

Around the Math Ed Web

The Global Math Department is taking a summer break and I'm not hearing much else other than people preparing for TMC. Let me know if I'm missing something!

Research Notes

The July 2016 issue of the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education has arrived:
Another article has been added to the September 2016 issue of the Journal of Mathematical Behavior:
The August 2016 issue of ZDM has the focus, "Survey on research on mathematics education."
There's plenty of math ed articles in the latest Journal of the Learning Sciences:
This article has been added to the October 2016 issue of Teaching and Teacher Education:
The open access journal Numeracy has published their second issue of 2016:

Math Ed in the News

Comment: The last of the above articles, written by Ben Christopher and originally appearing on Priceonomics, is probably the single best take I've seen on the issue of accelerating students through (or past) middle school mathematics classes. In particular, this article makes it clear that 8th grade math, as described by the 8th grade standards, largely is what parents remember as "Algebra 1" from when they were in school. SFUSD's work with the SERP Institute and mathematics course pathways comes through loud and clear here, and I look forward to seeing new data come in as fewer students are skipping through the curriculum on a rush to Algebra 1 and beyond.

Math Ed in Colorado

Mark your calendars for next year's Math on the "Planes" conference, presented by the Colorado Council for Learning Disabilities. The conference is February 24 and 25, 2017, at the Student Achievement Resource Center (SARC) in Centennial. You can download a flyer here.

We're still heavily into the math teacher hiring season:
  • NEW: There's an opening at Englewood High School and they're hoping to interview as soon as next week! If you are interested, contact Beth Hankle at beth_hankle@engschools.net for more information.
  • Roaring Fork Schools (Re-1) is seeking a dynamic and engaging, full-time alternative math teacher for Bridges High in Carbondale. This is an immediate hire to start in August for SY 2016-17. Roaring Fork Schools is 2.5 hours from Denver, has a world-class hot springs, and recently passed a $122 million bond issue. Apply here and contact Nate Adams if you have questions.
  • NEW: Prospect Ridge Academy in Broomfield is actively seeking an additional HS Math teacher due increased enrollment and the addition of sections. We are a college prep, math/science focus school with exciting growth potential. The position is currently a 0.6 (3 section) part time HS math position with the possibility of adding middle school math intervention and additional responsibilities to make the position full time if needed. Apply here.
  • A secondary math instructional coach is needed at Prairie Heights Middle School in Greeley. Email Vida Trevino for more information, or go here to apply.
  • Platte Canyon in Bailey needs someone to teach Algebra 1 through Precalculus. Apply at www.plattecanyonschools.org.