Overview
Student-centered mathematics instruction engages all students through creativity, exploration, and collaboration. It encourages the development of mathematical language alongside conceptual understanding and results in authentic procedural fluency.
The Student-Centered Mathematics Virtual Workshop Series is created to serve as your learning community’s launch into a student-centered math initiative. This experience draws on tenets of active pedagogy to create a learning environment where teachers can dive into some of the pillars of a student-centered math approach, including the leveraging of meaningful math discourse and a problem study orientation. The workshop prioritizes an understanding of these approaches through modeling and experiencing the concepts as learners, and debriefing to discuss steps for implementation. The five 2-hour virtual sessions provide participants with a structure that is job-embedded and continuous, and support participants to try, measure, and learn in a cyclical format as a learning community.
- Session A: Getting Started with Student-Centered Math
- Session B: Developing Understanding through Discourse
- Session C: Using Scaffolds and Choice to Support Math Learning
- Session D: Humanizing Math Class to Create Positive Learning Experiences
- Session E: Using Visual Representations to Support Math Reasoning
Audience
This product is for educators who teach math at any grade level.
Specifications
- Three, four, or five 2-hour sessions
- Up to 20 educators per BetterLesson Coach
Outcomes
Participants will reflect on each of the following questions and collaborate to answer them for their specific school context:
- What is a student-centered approach to teaching math and why is it preferable?
- What is the difference between conceptual understanding and procedural fluency?
- How can math discourse be structured to support development of concepts?
- How can student representation of math concepts support deeper understanding?
- What are some key indicators of teacher success in a student-centered math classroom?
- How can a discourse and representation routine support growth and mastery over time?
- How can we plan for all students to be successful within a student-centered approach?
- How can we create a classroom environment with the norms, procedures, and culture in which students develop a growth mindset and a positive disposition toward math?
Learning Experience
Session B: Developing Understanding through Discourse
- Define mathematical discourse & its role in student-centered math.
- Explore strategies & approaches that promote math discourse.
- Build a plan for promoting mathematical discourse.
