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:

• Research Commentary: The Promise of Qualitative Metasynthesis for Mathematics Education by Kateri Thunder, Charlottesville City Schools; and Robert Q. Berry III, University of Virginia
• Taking Stock of 40 Years of Research on Mathematical Learning Disability: Methodological Issues and Future Directions by Katherine E. Lewis and Marie B. Fisher, University of Washington
• Graduate Teaching Assistants' Enactment of Reasoning-and-Proving Tasks in a Content Course for Elementary Teachers by Kimberly Cervello Rogers, Bowling Green State University; and Michael D. Steele, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Book Review: A Review of The New Math: A Political History by James Fey, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland
• A Review of Mathematics and the Body: Material Entanglements in the Classroom by Elizabeth L. Pier and Mitchell J. Nathan, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Another article has been added to the September 2016 issue of the Journal of Mathematical Behavior:

• Students' understanding of algebraic notation: A semiotic systems perspective by Aaron Weinberg, Joshua Dresen, and Thomas Slater, Ithaca College

The August 2016 issue of ZDM has the focus, "Survey on research on mathematics education."

• Blended learning, e-learning and mobile learning in mathematics education by Marcelo C. Borba, UNESP; Petek Askar, Hacettepe University; Johann Engelbrecht, University of Pretoria; George Gadanidis, Western University; Salvador Llinares, Universidad de Alicante; and Mario Sánchez Aguilar, Instituto Politécnico Nacional
• Survey team on: conceptualisation of the role of competencies, knowing and knowledge in mathematics education research by Mogens Niss, Roskilde University; Regina Bruder, Technische Universität Darmstadt; Núria Planas, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Ross Turner, Australian Council for Educational Research; and Jhony Alexander Villa-Ochoa, Universidad de Antioquia
• Assistance of students with mathematical learning difficulties: how can research support practice? by Petra Scherer, University of Duisburg-Essen; Kim Beswick, University of Tasmania; Lucie DeBlois, Université Laval; Lulu Healy, Anhanguera University of São Paulo; and Elisabeth Moser Opitz, University of Zurich
• ICME international survey on teachers working and learning through collaboration: June 2016 by Ornella Robutti, University of Turin; Annalisa Cusi, University of Turin; Alison Clark-Wilson, University College London; Barbara Jaworski, Loughborough University; Olive Chapman, University of Calgary; Cristina Esteley, National University of Córdoba; Merrilyn Goos, University of Queensland; Masami Isoda, University of Tsukuba; and Marie Joubert, African Institute of Mathematical Sciences
• Recent research on geometry education: an ICME-13 survey team report by Nathalie Sinclair, Simon Fraser University; Maria G. Bartolini Bussi, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia; Michael de Villiers, University of Stellenbosch; Keith Jones, University of Southampton; Ulrich Kortenkamp, University of Potsdam; Allen Leung, Hong Kong Baptist University; and Kay Owens, Charles Sturt University

There's plenty of math ed articles in the latest Journal of the Learning Sciences:

• Constructions of the Self as Learner: Perspective-Taking and Positioning in Mathematics, History, and Science Learning by Josh Radinsky and Iris Tabak, co-editors-in-chief
• Designing Disruptions for Productive Hybridity: The Case of Walking Scale Geometry by Jasmine Y. Ma, New York University
• Friendships and Group Work in Linguistically Diverse Mathematics Classrooms: Opportunities to Learn for English Language Learners by Miwa Aoki Takeuchia, University of Calgary

This article has been added to the October 2016 issue of Teaching and Teacher Education:

• Creating partnerships between teachers & undergraduates interested in secondary math & science education by Lauren H. Swanson and Lorelei R. Coddington, Whittier College

The open access journal Numeracy has published their second issue of 2016:

• Numeracy and Evaluating Quality in OA Journals by Carol Ann Borchert and Jason Boczar, University of South Florida
• Grassroots Numeracy by H. L. Vacher, University of South Florida
• Journalists, Numeracy and Cultural Capital by Steven Harrison, Liverpool John Moores University
• Rethinking the Numerate Citizen by Ander W. Erickson, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• Words Matter: Discourse and Numeracy by Samuel L. Tunstall, Michigan State University
• Quantitative Literacy at Michigan State University, 3: Designing General Education Mathematics Courses" by Samuel L. Tunstall, Vincent Melfi et al., Michigan State University
• Attitudes toward Statistics Studies by Orly Lipka, Haifa University; and Itay Hess, Lewinsky College
• On a Desert Island with Unit Sticks, Continued Fractions and Lagrange by Victor J. Ricchezza and H. L. Vacher, University of South Florida
• Review of Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air (MacKay 2009) by Kira Hamman, Pennsylvania State University, Mont Alto
• Algebra as a Social Problem: Review of The Math Myth, and Other STEM Delusions by Andrew Hacker (2016) by Joel Best, University of Delaware
• The Problems of Contemporariness and Voice: Review of Literacy & Mathematics: A Contemporary Approach to Quantitative Literacy by Jay P. Abramson and Matthew A. Isom (2005) by Gizem Karaali, Pomona College
• Parts of the Whole: Teaching Quantitative Reasoning in an Exponential Decay Model by Dorothy Wallace, Dartmouth College

Math Ed in the News

• In Memoriam: BC Mathematics Education Margaret "Peg" Kenney (Boston College News)
• Math boot camp preps students for college (Times Daily)
• Alexis M. Scott: For Her Love of Mathematics (Huffington Post)
• Why Math Education Is Getting Better Despite All The Controversy (Forbes)
• Stanford-led collaborative to grow efforts to improve mathematics teaching and learning in the early years (Stanford Graduate School of Education)
• Why San Francisco stopped teaching algebra in middle school (Business Insider)

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.