California Mathematics Council (CMC) South Conference

I just got back from participating in the CMC-South Conference in Palm Springs for the first time. What a great experience! I was lucky enough to have a joint speaking proposal accepted, so 2 colleagues and I shared our experiences and "advice" for starting implementation of Common Core.

The first thing I learned from the experience is that a LOT more middle school teachers are feeling pressured and overwhelmed about Common Core than I was aware of - they just don't know where to start! I will admit, I was in the same boat when we began this journey, but I am also incredibly grateful that my district had the foresight to jump in when we did. We are already in our second year of implementation, and we feel like we are still learning, changing, and growing so much. Yet, we also see how far we still have to go! So, I can understand the concern from educators who are faced with a rapidly shrinking window of time to get things figured out before they are expected to be masters of Common Core - leading students on a path to college and career readiness.

If you are interested in our presentation, it is available as a Prezi here: http://prezi.com/h-umx9hcgzqn/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

BUT, since you probably just want to skip to the juicy bits (since you are probably an overwhelmed and overbusy educator yourself) I will highlight the key pieces of our Q&A session at the end here:

1. What should I ask for from my school/district/county to make Common Core happen?
1. Collaboration - I will be honest. The best thing we did was work together. It is VERY DIFFICULT to navigate Common Core alone. There is so much to understand and think about. The content isn't much different, but the way we (as educators) think about it, teach it, and help students think about it is a huge shift in California (and I'm sure in most other states). If it were just about WHAT we teach, it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but we are talking about fundamental changes in the HOW and WHY we teach. Believe me, you will want to have some rich discussions with like-minded individuals. They won't all be pretty or fun (we had our fair share of disagreements), but you will all be better teachers for it. If you happen to be a one-(wo)man show and are the ONLY math teacher at your school/district, I highly suggest you reach out to others in your county, or even to other math professionals across the state and country. Our county has a huge number of these positions, so they actually created a county-wide "small schools consortium" where these individuals can come together to collaborate with the support of the county. (I can put you in contact with the county personnel who are running this program if you comment or message about it). Also, we used a wiki to plan and track our collaborative lessons and units. You can make one for free here: https://my.pbworks.com/
2. Time - This stuff is deep, complex, and new. You will need time NOT ONLY TO PLAN INSTRUCTION, but to understand how to even do the problems using common core strategies yourself! We had something like 10 full days of professional development and planning for implementation our first year, and we were still under water at times. Even now, in our second year, there are times where we are living day by day. 
3. Expertise - If you can find a knowledgeable and reliable source who can support your growth and knowledge about the common core, it will be a huge help in guiding your path. We are lucky enough to have a fantastic team of county math consultants who have offered embedded and enrichment opportunities for growth and understanding in Common Core math. Find someone who knows what they are talking about and use their knowledge!
2. Where should I start in terms of planning?
1. Understanding the Core - Many districts/schools are already offering general PD on understanding the Common Core. You have to take some time to wrap your head around the shifts in instructional practice that will have to happen in order to ensure that students are reaching these standards. Also, watch and listen to Phil Daro. He's my common core hero: http://serpmedia.org/daro-talks/
2. Assessments - Take some time to check out SBAC and PARCC released questions (I am an SBAC state, so I don't have much experience with PARCC). You will be surprised at the expectation for your grade level. You may have moments of anxiety at this time.... BUT, at least you have a chance to see the challenges you and your students will be dealing with. I do suggest checking out the SBAC practice test for your grade level at http://sbac.portal.airast.org/practice-test/
3. Progressions - I CANNOT RECCOMMEND THESE ENOUGH! I know, I just typed a whole sentence in all caps. ELA teachers of my past will come to haunt my dreams tonight... But, it really is THAT IMPORTANT! If you are trying to plan your instruction, the Progressions will show you examples with multiple solutions using common core strategies. They highlight common themes through grade levels, and more clearly define what the goals are for each grade, what students should be coming in with, and where they need to go. They are heavy reading, so prepare to reread some passages multiple times, underline, highlight, make notes in the margins, etc. These are kind of like "an instructional guide to common core math" and they are indispensable. They are also still in draft form, so some of them aren't even there yet. But they are constantly being updated, so start with what is there, and by the time you figure that out, there are usually more available. Here's a link: http://ime.math.arizona.edu/progressions/
4. Math Practices - Okay, hopefully you've actually seen these by now. They often get touted during the preview/overview portion of Common Core professional development, and then everyone starts looking at the content standards and these fall to the wayside. Here's the deal - it is totally possible to teach the content of the common core standards using the strategies and tools of the common core, but without hitting any of the math practices (for example, if I teach solving an equation with a tape diagram, but I just teach the tape diagram as another procedure without focusing on what I am doing and why I am doing it). That is NOT Common Core! I will be honest - in my personal opinion, a student will get a better education from doing only the math practices (and not worrying about the content standards) than they will from hitting all of the standards without the math practices. Now, this doesn't mean you should set out to "teach MP1" today (by the way, it's annoying when people refer to the Math Practices by number - use the text so we all know what you mean! Just for reference, "MP1" is Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them). The math practices should be embedded throughout our instructional practices. A lot of times, it is as simple as questioning more deeply, focusing on representation and process rather than answers, or highlighting multiple solution paths. 
3. What are some reliable resources?
1. http://www.corestandards.org/math - The Common Core website itself. 
2. http://www.illustrativemathematics.org/ - This site is designed and managed by Bill McCallum, one of the authors of the common core. Search by standard, then click "illustrations" - a pop up window with examples of problems that hit that standard are listed, with connecting standards shown. This is a great way to answer "What am I supposed to teach to reach this standard?"
3. http://commoncoretools.me/author/wgmccallum/ - This is Bill McCallum's blog and it offers a lot of updates, tools, resources, news, and other cool stuff about common core math.
4. http://commoncore.tcoe.org/Math/Home - This is my County's website of ALL common core materials/tasks/lessons that they have vetted as truly being "Common Core". You may not get the quantity of google, but you will find much better quality, and you will know you are hitting the standards. Also, the left hand side of the page lists all of the county consultants, and they are all willing to answer questions and help guide understanding of common core math, even if you are not in our area. 
5. http://map.mathshell.org/materials/index.php - If you have heard of MARS tasks, this is the new home (and expanded version) for that. There are lessons, assessments, and tasks that are searchable by level, standard, math practice, etc. It takes a little while to figure out where everything is, but this is a really fantastic resource. 
6. http://www.insidemathematics.org/ - Resource for math educators. Some good videos of lesson exemplars, etc. Good stuff, just not as much of it as you would probably wish. 
7. http://illuminations.nctm.org/ - This website existed before, so many of you probably know about it. It offers lessons and web tools to help students learn math. Many of the lessons are great if you edit them to fit your needs (I find they are difficult to do completely as is and still hit everything I need them to in the day, but still a good foundation so you don't start from scratch!)
8. http://blog.mrmeyer.com/ - Dan Meyer is becoming a big name in this movement. You can find TED talks about him, and definitely check out "Dan Meyer 3-acts" for some great inquiry-based activities that teach math content. This is his blog, and most other stuff can link from here, but you could also google him and find plenty. 
9. http://www.nctm.org/ - Again, probably something you already know about, but they are still good :)
10. http://www.cmc-math.org/ - Check out the "for families" stuff. Lots of people were asking about how to help get parents bought in, and there are some good ideas here. 
4. How can I find other reliable resources on my own?
1. Search by standard, rather than just "common core." Unfortunately, a lot of people and organizations are just reworking old materials, and slapping a pretty "Common Core" sticker on the front. Be discerning and don't get fooled! 
2. Ask yourself if the lesson/activity/task/assessment will actually hit multiple math practices
3. Use materials vetted by your state (or another state) or some other official agency that really understands what the common core standards are about for your area. 
5. What do I tell parents when they say...
1. "My child is advanced and he/she should be able to take algebra and geometry for HS credit at the junior high - I don't want them with all the remedial kids in Common Core" - Common Core courses are actually more difficult in terms of the levels of thinking and learning that must go on for students than any of the "advanced" classes (like the California algebra for 8th grade class from the past). Those classes taught a LOT of surface level knowledge (students would memorize and regurgitate), but they often didn't understand what was really going on with the math, so they could not generalize foundational mathematical properties to future problems. Also, the most important and usable math a student will use in their future adult lives comes from middle school content. If we accelerate a student through this material without proper depth, we are creating more problems than we are solving for students. Also, the opportunity for depth actually creates much more complex problems for students, so even high-achieving students will be challenged. Besides, even if we put a student in a traditional California 8th grade algebra class, they don't actually meet all of the standards required for common core algebra in high school, so they would have to take the class anyway. Why waste the time?
2. "How am I supposed to help my kid with math homework if I don't even understand what the heck you are doing?" http://www.scoe.org/files/math-at-home-english.pdf - This is a document for parents starting in Kindegarten for how they can be involved in the math learning of their children. They also have a translated spanish version (how cool!) http://www.scoe.org/files/math-at-home-spanish.pdf
3. "Common Core is just an excuse for the government to mess up my life. I don't want my child to be a part of this conspiracy" http://www.scoe.org/files/parent-survey-misic.pdf - If they answer yes, then they actually DO want Common Core! :) It's not about politics or government. In most cases, the Common Core standards are a HUGE improvement over how math has been taught in the "high stakes" environment of standardized testing. Good math learning is good math learning no matter who it comes from. It just so happens that the government actually put a foot in the right direction this time. 

WHOO! That was way longer than I intended. Sorry for the marathon, but if you made it to the end, I hope you found at least SOMEthing useful and useable in your common core journey. Also, if you have found other resources, tools, strategies or just good information that has been of use, please post to the comments!

A Blog is Born

I finally did it - I joined the millions of other people who toil away typing their musings onto visually appealing digital diaries with hopes of reaching the world in some way. Why?

Well, what I hope to offer is a resource for teachers as they transition to the Common Core Standards in Mathematics. I have attended many trainings, developed aligned curriculum, and taught utilizing both the Common Core strategies and standards. It has been an interesting path - there are more than a few things I wish I would have known from the onset, and others I've figured out along the way. The idea here is to offer up all those wonderful little tidbits so you don't have to make quite as many mistakes as my colleagues and I did as we transitioned to Common Core.

My goal is to offer an assortment of posts and videos which demonstrate how to utilize Common Core strategies to reach the goals of the Standards. I have found that there are many lessons and activities available all over the web - we have plenty of resources that meet the standards. Our problem is that we don't know how to present them in a way that pushes students towards an enduring understanding of the foundations of mathematics. For example, many teachers have come to me saying things like, "I have lessons and activities where students divide fractions, but how do I actually TEACH division of fractions so it makes sense to students and they can see the pattern for the algorithm?"- THAT's the kind of question I'm hoping to address here.

BUT, before we get ahead of ourselves, let's go back to the beginning - the literal beginning of new blog.

In the beginning... I had to create a name. I feel very strongly that naming something is important. A name should embody the thing it represents - it is how we determine identity after all! So, now that we're all clear about my intent with "For Better Problems," I feel it is important that I offer my reasoning behind the name.

Why I am "For Better Problems:"

Last year (2012-2013), my middle school math department implemented the Common Core Mathematics Standards (rather than continuing to teach the California standards as they were being phased out).

Throughout this process I have found myself facing a myriad of problems. Anyone who has ever attempted anything new - or dealt with over a hundred seventh graders on a daily basis - will understand that problems are to be expected. The difference is that I would argue the problems presented by the transition to Common Core are "better" problems than those of the past, and in more ways than one.

First, the shift to Common Core has presented a host of new challenges and obstacles, but the good news is that they are finally the types of challenges and obstacles that are worth overcoming! We have moved from, "How do I cram all this information (that doesn't even relate to my students lives) into the short amount of time I have to teach it so they can pass a test and make my administrators happy?" to "How do I create lessons that actually get students to think critically and solve problems?" I don't know about you, but I would MUCH RATHER spend my time and energy answering the latter of these two questions, even though, at times, it has proven to be the more difficult question to tackle.

The second reason my attention has focused on "better problems" is the simple fact that Common Core requires it of us. If we expect students to explore, learn, and perform at the depth of the Standards, then we really have to give them "better problems" that present them with the challenge and opportunity to think, and we have to present them in a way that progresses their thinking towards deriving mathematical patterns, skills, and properties. We cannot just give the problem "2 + 3", have a student pick the answer "5" from a list of four answers, and determine that this student has "mastered" addition. By focusing on progressions of better problems, we can encourage students' growth and understanding of mathematics, foster foundations of number sense and mathematical reasoning, and maybe encourage a few more people in the world to love (or at least tolerate and understand) math.

So, the point is this: I am for tackling the more difficult yet more important problems that arise from teaching math in a way that is meaningful; I am for finding better problems for my students so that they can apply the properties of mathematics to solve the unique problems of life; I am for the switch from information-regurgitation to a focus on college and career readiness; I am "For Better Problems."