Aurora teachers learn mathematics lessons at summer workshops
This summer, administrators and teacher from the Aurora staff, in accompaniment with other educators from around the Bay Area, spent two days at an intensive mathematics workshop with Cathy Fosnot. Cathy Fosnot is a leading mathematics educator and innovator recognized worldwide. It was an invigorating way to begin the new school year.
Cathy took participants to the world of "X-mania" where they experienced the disequilibrium children often feel when learning our number system. The participants all wore two hats for these two days, one that of the learner and two that of the teacher. After several hours of living in the land of "X-mania" they spent hours dissecting footage of children at work in New York City's classrooms. Together, they examined the "Landscape of Learning" which encompasses all the big ideas children can use when constructing mathematical understanding.
The Aurora staff was challenged mathematically and returned to the new school year committed to incorporating what they learned into their classrooms. One particular aspect of the workshop that resonated with the Aurora staff was the idea of a Math Congress. This year the Aurora teachers will focus deeply on strengthening their classroom Math Congress. This is the time at the end of a lesson or the beginning of a lesson when children share their work. The difference between a "Congress" and a share is that the Congress has a defined learning purpose that pushes children further along in the Landscape of Learning. In the past, a share has been a time when kids have the opportunity to share but there is not particular learning focus or structure to the share. Teachers shape the congress to highlight specific mathematical ideas that invite all students into higher levels of mathematical thinking. The idea of a congress lends itself to all classroom subjects.
At the end of these two content-rich days, teachers returned to Aurora excited to bring all they learned back to their students in their classrooms. Much of what they learned will help them to strengthen the work they do with their BRIDGES math curriculum.
Aurora's staff development in the area of mathematics continues throughout the year. Abbie Koss, Aurora's Curriculum Coordinator begins her weekly classroom visits the week of September 15th. She will be in every classroom once a week during math, meet with individual teachers on a weekly basis and facilitate grade level meetings bi-weekly. While in classrooms, Abbie will support teachers in a variety of ways, whether it be to observe, co-teach a lesson or work with small groups of children.