Below are some of the mathematics professional development offerings that we can offer in your school or district. We can also customize professional development sessions to meet the needs of teachers at your school or district.
Formative Assessment for Mathematics
Robert Marzano and his colleagues (Classroom Instruction that Works, 2001) identify providing students with feedback as a high-yield instructional strategy. Feedback that impacts student learning is corrective in nature, timely, specific to a criterion, and could be provided by students for themselves. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, Principles to Action, 2014) identifies eliciting and using evident of student thinking as a recommended Mathematics Teaching Practice. Formative assessment is an instructional strategy that harnesses the power of using students’ work to provide them with immediate feedback that can be applied to subsequent learning experiences.
In the Formative Assessment workshop, teachers will examine ways to use performance assessments as an instructional task for both determining what students know and structuring specific, corrective feedback for students. In a formative assessment context, teachers can analyze the students’ work on the performance task, gaining insights into deeper levels of student thinking. As a result, teachers can provide specific feedback to reinforce what students correctly understand and provide corrective feedback to redirect students who demonstrate misunderstandings or loose understandings.
Technology Applications for STEM Instruction or for Mathematics
NCTM describes tools and technology as “indispensable features of the classroom” (Principles to Action, 2014, p. 78) for meaningful learning of mathematics. The exact technology will depend on the grade level and the instructional task being selected by teachers and should enhance the mathematics being taught in the classroom.
Technology workshops from Cosenza & Associates, LLC, focus on using particular technology tools, such as graphing calculators, in service of learning content as described in the mathematics TEKS. Technology, content, and mathematical processes are intertwined so that teachers understand how these three ideas combine for powerful student learning.
Differentiation Strategies for Young Gifted Mathematicians (Elementary)
Participants in this workshop will explore specific differentiation strategies for gifted and talented learners as they are applicable to elementary students. This 6-hour session provides participants with an opportunity to explore mathematical extensions to increase rigor, depth, and relevancy of content. Multiple grade levels will be investigated so that vertical connections among differentiation strategies can be made.
Differentiation Strategies for Young Gifted Mathematicians (Secondary)
Participants in this workshop will explore specific differentiation strategies for gifted and talented learners as they are applicable to elementary students. This 6-hour session provides participants with an opportunity to explore mathematical extensions to increase rigor, depth, and relevancy of content. Multiple grade levels will be investigated so that vertical connections among differentiation strategies can be made.
Customizable K-12 Mathematics Options
Building from effective mathematics teaching practices identified by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (Principles to Actions, 2014), we will work with you to create half-day (3-hour) or full day (6-hour) workshops that align with campus or district goals and initiatives. Eight effective teaching practices are:
- Establish mathematics goals to focus learning,
- Implement tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving,
- Use and connect mathematical representations,
- Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse,
- Pose purposeful questions,
- Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding,
- Support productive struggle in learning mathematics, and
- Elicit and use evidence of student thinking.
