During the last week of October, all of the Parkside Math Teachers worked together with the Border Land School Division Numeracy Coach to inquire into their instructional math practices. The goal of the week was for teachers to think about what we really want students to learn and understand in math and to discuss, try and reflect on different ways of teaching these foundational concepts to our students.
The week included time for the teachers to work together to plan a lesson to try in the classroom. In the classroom, their teacher colleagues and the numeracy coach observed the lesson in order to provide feedback and support a follow up reflecting conversation. Teachers explored different methods to teach conceptual ideas in math using traditional procedures as well as visuals, like math manipulatives.
Following each lesson, the teachers had more time together to talk about what worked well, what misconceptions students were still showing and what next steps they could take to address those student misconceptions.
It is powerful to create space for our teachers to work together to study their instructional practice. When teachers can closely examine the thinking required in the discipline of math, they are able to change their behaviours and challenge their assumptions about how to teach math so they are more responsive to the needs of the students they serve.
In March, our math teachers will have a second residency week with the Numeracy Coach to continue and follow up on their implementation between now and then.