What is #ILMathCom?

Upcoming Events:
High School Statistics: Thursday, April 25, from 3:30-4:30 PM CST Julia Brenson, retired teacher from Lyons Township, will be addressing your concerns and frustrations with the high school statistics standards by showcasing the work shared on https://ilstats.weebly.com/.
Registered here: ​http://bit.ly/April25ILMathCom

All worskshops are completely virtual and free!

#ILMathCom

Archives:

Middle School Statistics: Julia Brenson, retired teacher from Lyons Township, led us through activities that deepened our understanding of the statistics content included in the middle school standards and pedagogy that facilitates discourse and productive struggle. Ms. Brenson also shared several resources to support statistics instruction in middle school including Illinois created https://ilstats.weebly.com/. Take this post survey to help us measure our impact.

Math Talks: The math content specialists discussed math talks--a strategy to support conceptual understanding, fluency, and differentiation. Math Talks are 5-10 minute activities that are simple to prepare but yield fantastic results. We explored the Illinois educator created resource, ILTeachandTalk.org, experienced a few math talks together, and discussed the steps to plan and implement this strategy. Please take this post survey to help us measure our impact.

Student Choice: Cheryl Beasley, a math consultant in northern Illinois, shared some strategies that allow for choice in mathematics. Cheryl and the ISBE Math Content Specialists shared Choice Boards samples during this call. Participants explored new resources, shared their experiences, and asked questions to better understand how student choice can strengthen math instruction while supporting access, agency, and identity. Access the shared materials here. Please take this post survey to help us measure our impact.

Formative Assessment Part 2: During Part 2 of our series, we discussed how to use results of formative assessments. Participants from Part 1 shared some student work samples which we analyzed and determined as a group what the samples told us about student understanding. Then we looked at how to inform our instruction based on the student work on the formative assessment probes. Access the shared materials here. Please take this post survey to help us measure our impact.

Formative Assessment Part 1: A popular request from #ILMathCom participants has been formative assessment. In response, we invited Cheryl Tobey, a Maine Math Content Specialist to share with us regarding the work she has been doing with Formative Assessment Probes derived from PARCC and SAT  released items. This meeting discussed the creation of these items, how to use them, and anticipating student responses to the prompts. Access the google folder of shared materials here. Please take this post survey to help us measure our impact.

Fluency Without Fear: Past participants expressed an interest in a discussion about fluency, so this discussion explored what works and what doesn't as we all work towards helping our students achieve fluency in mathematics. Access the slide deck here. Please take this post survey to help us measure our impact.

Equity and Access: Eli Luberoff, CEO of Desmos, and Kevin McClure, ISBE Learning Supports Specialist, shared about their role in equitable mathematics education and provided resources to support equity and access. We also shared our new Resource Guide for Framing Inclusive Conversations for all subject areas.

Problem Based Learning: ​Lisa Matthews, an Illustrative Mathematics Certified Professional Learning Facilitator, and Rae Hughart, a 6th-grade math teacher at Evans Junior High, Unit 5 School District and Director of Training and Development for the Teach Better Team, shared resources and talked about their experiences with Problem Based Learning in the math classroom.

​Differentiation: Thursday, October 4 we discussed effective differentiation strategies. Glennah McMahon, from Hawthorn Middle School North, and Dana Cartier, independent consultant and former high school math teacher, shared some of their favorite differentiation strategies alongside other amazing Illinois educators.

CTE: Geometry in Construction: Tuesday, September 18 we discussed the the hands-on course “Geometry in Construction.” Dr. Brad Christiansen, Illinois State University STEM Instructional Designer, and Neal Kaufman, Project Coordinator at Three Rivers Education for Employment System, set the stage for us by sharing out some great resources and supports available for teachers and districts as well as describing the need for rich, contextualized math instruction. Our Feature Teachers,  Luke Sikora and Meghan Carlson, from CHSD 218, and Brian Collier, from Ridgewood High School Dist. 234, did an exemplary job of sharing out their experiences facilitating this program in their schools. We concluded with an engaging discussion between our participants and featured guests.

Transitional Math: Thursday, September 6 we discussed the Transitional Math Courses. Kathleen Almy, the Illinois Director for Transitional Math from Northern Illinois University, shared a little background information about the PWR Act and Transitional Math Courses and Anji Garza, Director of Professional Learning at ROE #47, shared information about the work that has been done so far and why these programs are so important for our high school students. We also discussed opportunities for Illinois Educators to be involved in the development and piloting of materials to support these courses. We concluded the meeting with time for some Q and A. Access the slides from Kathy Almy's presentation here.