Teaching

 Mathema-cs  in  the  21st  

Century:    Harnessing  the  Power  of  
Technology  
Cindy  Bryant,  Director  of  Learning    
cindy@learnbop.com  
@learnbop  
 hEps://www.facebook.com/LearnBop  
417-­‐720-­‐1748  (office)  
573-­‐247-­‐2462  (cell)  
 Agenda  
•  Mathema-cal  Literacy  for  the  21st  Century  
•  Meaningful  Problem  Solving  
•  Powerful  Prac-ces  for  Suppor-ng  Produc-ve  
Struggle  
• Mindset  Ma,ers    
• Tasks  and  Tools  
• Effec5ve  Ques5oning  
• Produc5ve  Struggle  One  Step  at  a  Time  
 M  
A  
T  
H  
Mathema-cal  Literacy  
•  Mathema-cal  literacy  is…  

 
 
•  Mathema-cally  literate  students  are  
able  to…  
 
 M  
A  
T  
H  
Mathema-cal  Literacy  
•  Mathema-cal  literacy  is…being  able  
to  do,  understand,  and  apply  mathema5cs,  not  
only  in  the  classroom,  but  in  everyday  lives.  
 
•  Mathema-cally  literate  students  
are  able  to…analyze,  reason,  and  communicate  
ideas  effec-vely  as  they  pose,  formulate,  solve  
and  interpret  mathema5cal  problems  in  a  
variety  of  situa5ons.  

h,p://www.oecd.org/about/membersandpartners/list-­‐oecd-­‐member-­‐countries.htm    
 Developing  Mathema-cal  
M  
A  
T  
H  
Literacy  
Shellard  and  Moyer  (2002)  iden5fy  three  cri5cal  
components:    
•  teaching  for  conceptual  understanding  
•  developing  children’s  procedural  literacy  
•  promo5ng  strategic  competence  through  
meaningful  problem-­‐solving  inves5ga5ons    
 Produc-ve  Struggle  
Hiebert  and  Grouws  (2007),  use  the  term  
produc5ve  struggle  to  refer  to  the  “effort  
to  make  sense  of  or  to  figure  something  
out  that  is  not  immediately  apparent.”  
Adapted  from  Jackson  and  Lambert,  2007.  
 Produc-ve  Struggle  
For  deeper   What  
learning  to  take   behaviors/
place,  struggle  is   skills/abili-es  
not  op5onal  –  it’s   do  “produc-ve  
neurologically   strugglers”  
required.  (Coyle,   exhibit?  
2009).  
 Mathema-cal  Habits  of  Mind  
Modes  of  thought,  that  enable  us  to  
reason  about  the  world  from  a  
quan5ta5ve  and  spa5al  perspec5ve,  
and  to  reason  about  math  content  
(Levasseur  &  Cuoco,  2009).    
 Standards  for    
Mathema5cal  Prac5ce  
Reasoning
and
Explaining

Modeling
and
Using Tools

Seeing Structure
and
Generalizing
Two  Types  of  Problem  Solvers  

•  Inexperienced  problem  solvers  

don’t  know  what  to  do  when  they  
don’t  know  what  to  do.  
 

•  Experienced  problem  solvers  do  

know  what  to  do  when  they  don’t  
know  what  to  do.  
 4
Determines  
viability  of  
solu5on  

3 1
Applies  
strategy  and   EXPERIENCED   A,empts  to  
uses  tools  to   Problem   understand  the  
solve  the   Solvers   problem  
problem  

2
Makes  sense  of  
the  situa5on  -­‐  
chooses  
strategy  and  
tools  
Problem  Solving  Strategies…  
 4
Determines  
viability  of  
solu5on  

3 1
Applies  
strategy  and   EXPERIENCED   A,empts  to  
uses  tools  to   Problem   understand  the  
solve  the   Solvers   problem  
problem  

2
Makes  sense  of  
the  situa5on  -­‐  
chooses  
strategy  and  
tools  
 Suppor5ng  Produc5ve  Struggle  
•  Do  you  simply  provide  students  informa5on  
and/or  steps  they  must  follow?  
•  Do  you  give  direct  guidance?  
•  Do  you  offer  probing  guidance?  
•  Do  you  provide  clues  that  will  assist  them  in  
their  work?  
 
 Powerful  Prac-ces  

Mindset  

Content   Pedagogical  
Knowledge     Knowledge  
 Powerful  Prac-ces:      
Mindset  MaEers  
•  FIXED  mindset  teachers  perceive  students  as  
having  a  fixed  amount  of  intelligence  that  
cannot  be  altered    

GROWTH
•     mindset  teachers  believe  
that  students  can  alter  their  intelligence  by  
exercising  their  brain  and  being  given  the  
appropriate  feedback  and  guidance  when  they  
make  a  mistake  
 Powerful  Prac-ces:  
Fostering  Produc-ve  Struggle  
The  teacher:    
•  creates  a  climate  that  supports  
mathema5cal  thinking  and  
communica5on  
•  responds  in  a  way  that  keeps  the  focus  
on  thinking  and  reasoning  rather  than  
only  ge_ng  the  right  answer  

 
 Powerful  Prac-ces:  
Fostering  Produc-ve  Struggle  
Process  vs  Person  Praise:    Instead  of  
praising  students  for  their  talent  or  
smarts,  teachers  should  praise  students  
for:  
•  The  strategies  they  use  
•  The  specific  work  they  do  
•  Their  persistence  or  effort  
 Powerful  Prac-ces:  
Embracing  Produc-ve  Struggle  
The  students  are:  
•  accustomed  to  explaining  their  ideas  and  
ques5oning  solu5ons  that  don’t  make  sense  to  
them  
•  not  afraid  to  take  risks  and  know  that  it  is  
acceptable  to  struggle  with  some  ideas  and  to  
make  mistakes    
•  recognize  that  mistakes  are  a  means  to  learning  
and  not  an  end  
 
 Mathema-cal  Tasks  
There  is  no  decision  a  teacher  makes  that  has  a  
greater  impact  on  students’  opportuni5es  to  
learn  and  on  their  percep5ons  about  what  
mathema5cs  is  than  the  selec5on  or  crea5on  of  
the  tasks  with  which  they  engage  students  in  
studying  mathema5cs  (Lappan  and  Briars,  
1995).  
Cogni-ve  Demand  
 The  Problem  
What  frac5on  of  the  rectangle  below  is  shaded?  

Rectangle  1   Rectangle  2  

Source:    h,p://www.teachingworks.org/    
 Powerful  Problem  Solving  Strategies  
Allowing  students  to  approach  solving  problems  in  
different  ways  using  different  strategies  helps  them  to  
be,er  understand  mathema5cs,  develop  mathema5cal  
fluency,  and  see  mathema5cs  as  worthwhile  and  
doable.    Doing  so  sets  the  stage  for  transferring  
conceptual  knowledge  to  new  situa5ons  (Many,  Fyfe,  
Lewis,  &  Mitchell,  1996).    
 Mathema-cal  Tools    
Effec5ve  teachers  know  that  using  a  
variety  of  mathema5cal  tools  shapes  the  
way  that  students  think  and  helps  build  
conceptual  understanding  of  the  hows  and  
whys  of  mathema5cs  (Fuson  et.  Al.  1992)  
Valuable  
Visuals  
The  Value  in  Representa-ons  –  
Visuals  &  Manipula-ves  

•  A  viable  problem  solving  strategy  

 
•  Communicates  mathema5cal  ideas  and  aids  in  
the  conceptual  understanding  of  mathema5cs  

•  Can  clarify  the  condi5ons  of  the  problem  with  

li,le  or  not  text  

•  Helpful  for  language  deficit  students  

Valuable  
Picture  This:  
Visuals  
Using  Concrete  Bar  Model(s)  

Candy  Bar  1   Candy  Bar  2   Candy  Bar  3   Candy  Bar  4   Candy  Bar  5  

Lawrence   Lawrence   Lawrence   Lawrence   Lawrence  

Friend  1   Friend  1   Friend  1   Friend  1   Friend  1  
Friend  2   Friend  2   Friend  2   Friend  2   Friend  2  
Friend  3   Friend  3   Friend  3   Friend  3   Friend  3  

Name   C.  Bar  1   C.  Bar  2   C.  Bar  3   C.  Bar  4   C.  Bar  5   Total  

Lawrence   ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟓/𝟒   
Friend  1   ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟓/𝟒   
Friend    2   ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟓/𝟒   
Friend  3   ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟏/𝟒    ​𝟓/𝟒   
Valuable  
Picture  This:      
Visuals  
Using  a  Number  Line  Model  

Candy  Bar  1   Candy  Bar  2  

Candy  Bar  3   Candy  Bar  4  

Candy  Bar  5  
 Effec-ve  Ques-oning  
To foster independent creative thinking and
curiosity…
 K  –  12+  POWERFUL  
Generic  Response  Ques-ons  

How did you work that out?

Could you solve that another

way?

Could you generalize your

result?
Closed  Ques5ons…  

What  is  the  mean  of  5,  

11,  7,  and  1?  
 Open  Ques5ons…  
I  have  four  different  
numbers  with  an  
average  of  6.    What  
are  the  four  
numbers?  
 Ques-on  and  Prompt  Examples  for  Mathema-cal  
Thinking  (Watson  and  Mason  1998)  

• Show me or give me an example of….

• What other information is needed in order to answer
the question…?
• What is the same and what is different about?
• Is it always true, sometimes true, or never true
that…?

• Sort or organize these according to…?

• Why do…, …, and ...all give the same answer?

Produc5ve  Struggle:    One  step  at  a  
5me…  

www.learnbop.com    
Pump  Up  Your  Brain  Power  to  
Boost  Your  Math  Power!!!  
The  more  you  engage  your  
students  in  learning  and  
doing  mathema5cs,  the  
greater  the  chances  of  them  
developing  the  mathema5cal  
habits  of  mind  of  a  
PRODUCTIVE  
MATHEMATICAL  THINKER–  
an  experienced  problem  
solver  who  does  know  what  
to  do  when  they  don’t  know  
what  to  do!      
 Resources  
•  Crea%ve  Problem  Solving  in  School  Mathema%cs    
       ISBN:    0-­‐395-­‐34546-­‐4  
•  Na5onal  Assessment  of  Educa5onal  Progress  
h,p://nces.ed.gov/na5onsreportcard/  
•   PISA    
h,p://www.oecd.org/about/
membersandpartners/list-­‐oecd-­‐member-­‐
countries.htm    
•  Professional  Development  Guidebook  for  
Prospec%ve  on  Teaching  Mathema%cs  
h,p://www.amazon.com/Perspec5ves-­‐Teaching-­‐
Mathema5cs-­‐Sixty-­‐Sixth-­‐Yearbook/dp/0873535588/
ref=sr_1_1?
ie=UTF8&qid=1385993337&sr=8-­‐1&keywords=professional+  
 
 Resources  
•  Growth  Mindset  
h,p://www.edutopia.org/blog/growth-­‐mindset-­‐
common-­‐core-­‐math-­‐cindy-­‐bryant    
h,p://web.learnbop.net/blog/5-­‐factors-­‐in-­‐conveying-­‐
and-­‐fostering-­‐a-­‐growth-­‐mindset-­‐    
•  Produc5ve  Struggle  
h,p://web.learnbop.net/blog/two-­‐types-­‐of-­‐struggle-­‐
in-­‐problem-­‐solving-­‐    
•  Mathema5cal  Habits  of  Mind  
•  h,p://web.learnbop.net/blog/developing-­‐
mathema5cal-­‐habits-­‐of-­‐mind    
 
 QUESTIONS???  
cindy@learnbop.com  
417-­‐720-­‐1748  (office)  
573-­‐247-­‐2462  (cell)  
 
   
@learnbop  
   
h,ps://www.facebook.com/LearnBop    
 
www.learnbop.com