Pam Harris joins Math Knights for a high energy interview. She speaks to us about her math mission to inspire students and teachers to think beyond traditional algorithms and make math “Figureoutable.” After listening to this episode, take a look at Pam’s website and check out all the great resources and opportunities for educators. https://www.mathisfigureoutable.com

Recently, states announced that state assessments will be administered in the spring of 2021 as we continue to meet the challenges of a global pandemic. However, “Don’t give up the ship!” In this episode, I share 3 tips to help you remain true to your commitment to students and the culture that has inspired them all year.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!

Welcome to this week's episode, where we learn about solving math problems from The Greatest! Muhammad Ali taught us to "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" and rumble with problems. Ali's approach to boxing fits our Math Knights approach to Rigor as it pertains to Conceptual Understanding, Procedural Skills and Real World Problem-Solving. 

Let's get ready to RUMBLLLLLLE!!!!! Ding! Ding!

In this episode, I am joined by Kate Small, Learning Coach specializing in Inclusive Practices. Kate and I interview Ali Chapman and Laurie Corredetti. Ali and Laurie are a co-teaching pair from Oak Park Elementary School in North Penn School District in PA. The team dives into their strengths as a co-teaching pair. They discuss how their roles work and have evolved since the pandemic. They also share current challenges, ideas in "Beta", and total victories so far in the 2020-2021 school year. Kate asks questions of the team and provides her valuable insights into their work.

If you need to lift your spirit, just give these awesome educators a listen. Their energy is inspiring.

Do you wish to make your students better problem-solvers by making sense of problems and persevering through them? Then, this is your episode. Join us as we take a deep dive into Standard Math Practice #1 to find the big ideas from this very importance practice. Be ready to write down your take aways and share them with us on #MathKnights on Twitter. Below, you will find some other helpful resources from our discussion.  I look forward to connecting with you and discussing how we can empower our Math Knights to conquer problems.  

Standards Math Practice # 1: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/MP1/ 

Situation Types: https://achievethecore.org/page/932/situation-types-for-operations-in-word-problems

Mathknights, This week's segment we look to answer the question of how to plan for Rigor. We explore what rigor is and what it ins't. I share 3 suggestions on how teachers can plan for rigorous math instruction and learning. I would love to hear what other Math Knights have to say about how they incoprorate rigor into their teaching practices.  Ron 

Math Knights Michele Falco and Ainsley Fay-Merkl join the podcast for a round-table discussion. They share their current challenges, ideas still in “beta”, and total victories so far this school year. Feel free to continue the conversation with us on Twitter at #MathKnights.

Alex Milione is a 4th Grade teacher in the North Penn School District. Alex shares her ideas on student competency and building relationships with her students. Alex's students have grown in their confidence and competence while learning online. I hope you enjoy this conversation during our new segement...Classroom Spotlight.

Author, Instructional Coach and Math Advocate John Stevens joins us to talk about how to engage and assess students in different learning environments. John also gives us some insight on “Would You Rather Math” and how to create opportunities for discourse in your class. We are always honored to have John work with us. Find out more about “Would You Rather Math” at https://www.wouldyourathermath.com . Check out some of these other resources authored and co-authored by John: “Table Talk Math”: https://www.tabletalkmath.com “The Classroom Chef”: https://www.classroomchef.com

In his Ted Talk about The Golden Circle, Simon Sinek makes an argument for organizations to lead with their "Why." In this Math Knights episode, we will explore our "Why". As we weigh the needs of preparing our students for post-secondary life beside the impact of the pandemic on our current learners, our "Why" will serve as both our anchor and our compass. 

Join us as we secure ourselves against the uncertanties that lie ahead, while plotting our course to navigate theses waters successfully with our WHY.

References:

“A Significant Number of U.S. Adults Lack Basic Math Skills.” American Institutes for Research, 12 Nov. 2015, www.air.org/resource/significant-number-u-s-adults-lack-basic-math-skills.

Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action | TED Talk.” Ted Talks, uploaded by TEDxPuget Sound, 1 Sept. 2009, www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en.

Kerns, Gene, et al. “The Making of How Kids Are Performing.” Vidyard, uploaded by Renaissance, 1 Nov. 2020, videos.renaissance.com/watch/hQ4fqzAkwZ92Ch1UnAvQwt?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWXpFeU1HUTROREF5TUdZeCIsInQiOiJlQmpSSUVmTWNhMDE0UmpcL3BkVE15bTUweCtDblNVRWhhRWdjXC81Q1VndGNzQURuRHhOQU05MVQybFYrNUFpS09BVUdyTTJPaTJ0YkZtejlIVkk0bVwvcVdqU0dCV1E5alZjS2E2QVhOMlRXOG1zSFNQZlY4VFBRcXVOUnFrbVwvS2UifQ%3D%3D.

Welcome to Season 3 of Math Knights. We are excited to be back to action. In this episode, we discuss 3 ways to create some foundational practices so you can still remain agile to meet your needs and your students’ needs in any teaching environment. Establishing your LMS, conducting breakout sessions, and strategically using your digital math resources can help you to get a foothold on teaching and learning, while trying to adapt to virtual, hybrid, and face to face environments.