Overview

Session Summary

Welcome! We are excited to spend the next 7 weeks thinking deeply about supporting math learning with you. All teachers are faced with the challenge of meeting the needs of the range of learners in their classrooms. This range of learners can include students who need support or excel in certain areas of mathematics (but perhaps not in others), students who are learning English, and students who have particular learning needs. Central to supporting all students is not only the importance of knowing the student, but also identifying the central math ideas that students are working on.

Regardless of a student’s learning profile, we believe that every student has mathematical ideas and every student requires support to develop and expand those ideas.

With these beliefs in mind, we begin with an example that illustrates what meaningful mathematics teaching and learning can look like when students’ ideas are the focus of instruction.

Watch the following 4th grade video clip. As you watch, consider these questions:

• What do you notice about the learning community?
• What do you notice about the students?
• How does the teacher support all students in engaging deeply with the mathematics?

Throughout this course, you will have an opportunity to explore a variety of instructional strategies and reflect on your practice with colleagues as you consider ways to support and engage all students in meaningful math learning. This orientation session is designed to help you get started. You will explore the course website, review tips for successful online learning, and complete an orientation survey. You will also have an opportunity to reflect on your experience as a math learner and introduce yourself to your fellow course participants.

Explore the Course Environment

In this activity, you will have an opportunity to get to know the layout of this course. You will be guided to set up your user profile, and learn about how to access and post on the course discussion forums.

Take some time to get familiar with the layout of the course. Like this session, each session includes tabs at the top of the page: Overview, Activity 1, etc. Click on each tab above to become more familiar with the structure of a session.

Go to the course homepage (pictured below) and become familiar with the structure of the page. Each week, a new session - with a description and links to the discussion forums - will appear below where you now see the Orientation Session.

Watch the video tutorial below to learn how to modify your course profile.

Update your profile and add a profile picture.

Watch the video tutorial about using the course discussion forums.

Post a message introducing yourself in the Orientation Forum. Include:

Your name and the grade level you teach (or your role in your school/district).

Explain what motivated you to enroll in this course, what you hope to learn, and how you hope to apply what you learn to your professional life.

Attach a photo of yourself or of something that represents your interests. Directions for adding photos to forum posts can be found here.

Make sure to take time to read and respond to some of your colleagues' introductions! To access the forum, click here, or return to the homepage.

Technology Preparation

Web Browsers

On occasion, you may find that certain applications or websites in this course may work differently in different browsers. We recommend that you become familiar with how to use an alternate web browser in addition to the one that is included on the computer you primarily use.

PDF Format

PDF (which stands for "Portable Document Format") is a popular format for distributing documents on the Internet. A number of readings in this course are posted in PDF format. To view and print PDF documents, you need Acrobat Reader software, available free from Adobe's web site. If you do not have Acrobat Reader installed on your device or computer, download it from the Adobe site and follow the directions for installation.

Course Expectations

This is going to be a busy course with a variety of learning opportunites – some aspects of the course may feel familiar while others may feel new and challenging.

Guidelines for Participation

In each weekly session of this course you will:

1. Complete 3 substantive activities. These activities often include elementary mathematics problems, looking at student work, analyzing classroom video, and reading articles and blog posts.
2. Participate in the course Forums by posting a response and responding to at least two posts of interest in each forum. These discussion forums are designed to facilitate meaningful conversation between you and other course participants about the content of each session and to support you in reflecting on your experience as a mathematics educator.

Please note: To receive a certificate of completion for this course, each of the sessions and associated forum postings must be completed during the week they are assigned.

Agreements for Our Learning Community

Being part of a professional learning community can present both exciting and challenging opportunities for learning. Read about math coach Heidi Fessenden’s experience as a participant in a math team meeting. As you read her story, consider what she needed in order to engage fully in the task she was working on with her colleagues, and what her experience taught her about working with students.

Reflect on yourself as a learner.

What do you feel you need in order to engage fully in this learning community? What are some agreements for our work together that feel important in order to create a learning environment that is productive and safe for you and for others in this course? You may wish to consider the following in your response:

• Risk taking
• Sharing ideas in progress
• Building on the ideas of others
• Sharing disagreement
• Handling mistakes and revising thinking
• How students are described and discussed

Share your ideas on the Agreements for Our Work Together Forum.

Establishing Agreements About the Language We Use to Describe Students

This course promotes the idea that all students can learn mathematics and that students learn differently. With this in mind, when composing forum posts, please use specific language to describe what students are doing, what they understand and what they are struggling with, rather than using labels such as “low”, “high”, “bright lights”, “high-fliers”, “my struggling students” etc. 

Labeling students can unintentionally shape teachers’ decision making, and over time, determine children’s access to mathematics that is deep and rigorous. This in turn impacts how children see themselves as doers of mathematics. For these reasons, we ask that labels such as “low” and “high” not be used to refer to students during this course.

Below are some resources for those interested in learning more about this topic:

Forrest, Annie. (May 3, 2018). The Low Kids & The High Kids [blog post]. Retrieved from: http://showyourthinkingmath.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-low-kids-and-high-kids.html

Lambert, Rachel (2019). The Low Kids and the High Kids: Inaccurate, Unscientific, Unhelpful, Unethical and Counterproductive [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nQHDin3pmQ

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2023). Ability Labels: Disrupting “High,” “Medium,” and “Low” in Mathematics Education (Position statement). https://www.nctm.org/Standards-and-Positions/Position-Statements/Ability-Labels_-Disrupting-“High,”-“Medium,”-and-“Low”-in-Mathematics-Education/

Wees, David. (April 29, 2016). Expectations [blog post]. Retrieved from: https://davidwees.com/content/expectations/

Graduate Credit Information

Participants in this course are eligible to receive 3 graduate credits from Framingham State University. This option involves an additional cost, as well as additional weekly readings and writing assignments, and a final paper. Graduate Credit assignments are accessed via our Google Classroom. Please let your facilitator(s) know if you plan to take this course for graduate credit, or if you have questions about the graduate credit option.

Additional resources for each session, including articles and blog posts assigned for graduate credit, are available to everyone taking the course. These can be found in the “Additional Resources/Graduate Credit” folders located under each session on the course homepage.

Orientation Survey

Please take a few minutes to complete this survey which collects some background information about your job role, teaching experience, and familiarity with online learning. In addition, it invites you to comment on your expectations and ask any questions you may have about participating in this course.

Consent Form

Please take a few minutes to read the consent form and respond.

Sharing Your Math Story

In this activity, you will reflect on your experiences as a math learner and consider how these experiences have impacted your work as an educator. You will have an opportunity to write about your math story and share and discuss your story with a small group of colleagues.

Watch: Kaneka Turner’s Shadow Con presentation at the 2016 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics entitled, “Extending the Invitation to be ‘Good’ At Math”.

Reflect: When, if ever, were you invited to the math party? How did that feel? When, if ever, were you not invited or even uninvited? How did that feel?

Write about your experiences as a math learner. Be sure to include:

• Some of your early experiences with mathematics.
• Any experiences with math teachers that stand out in your memory (at any grade).
• How your attitude towards math has changed over the years (if it has).
• How your experiences as a math learner have influenced your math teaching.

Share your story on the Math Story Forum.

Forums

• Introduce yourself on the Orientation Forum. Read and respond to some of your colleague's introductions.
• Share your experiences as a math learner on your Math Story Forum. Take time to read and respond to the stories posted by the other members of your forum group.
• Return to the Agreements for Our Work Together Forum. Take time to read the responses of others and add any new ideas for agreements that you may have after writing your math story.