- extra help sessions
- personalized/targeted learning experiences
- use of informal/formal assessment data to develop programs
- working closely with families, colleagues, and students to develop programs
- regular reading, research, and collegial investigation
As educators, we also have to be well aware of the questions and desires we have, questions and desires that will develop our practice more. My questions and desires include the following:
- How can we better teach our students who appear to have math challenges?
- How can we better serve our students who have what seems to be weak math foundations (less math play, less early math learning, skills, knowledge, concept)?
- How can we better utilize our resources to serve students better?
- How can we deepen and broaden our use of the best technology to develop all students' ability to learn math?
- How can we move from mostly "workbook on a page" tech to deeper, more meaningful, three-dimensional technology to develop students' math understanding and learning?
- How can we integrate math with other subjects more?
- How can we embed worthy, relevant, and meaningful math projects into the math curriculum more to match the research that supports those projects and the growth and engagement the projects inspire?
- How can we embed a regular diet of coding for all students in our school so that by the time students leave 5th grade they are able to solve simple or sophisticated problems with coding?
- How can we work with parents to support greater at-home math-related play, talk, and activity?
- How can we use better process during team meetings to develop our math collective genius?
- What are the best resources for math growth and development?
- How do we best share ideas that work?
- How do we best spiral our programs towards betterment?
We also have to be well aware of the work we need to do and can do to develop our capacity to teach well. For me that means the following:
- Another room make-over to match current goals and teaching including science lab update and math materials renovation.
- Review of students' unit three tests and reflections.
- Creation of RTI scaffolded assignments and priorities to guide our efforts in this area.
- ATMIM membership update
- Inquiry and reflection on math roles, idea share, and protocols.
The clearer we are about our direction, questions, desires, and right-in-front-of-us opportunity to better and grow the work we do, the better teaching and learning we'll do too.
