Helping administrators recognize and support standards-based mathematics instruction is the goal of Lenses on Learning. Through participation in one, two, or three learning modules, administrators read and discuss articles focused on aspects of mathematics, learning, and teaching; engage in mathematical tasks; view and discuss classroom video; examine samples of children's mathematical work and excerpts from teachers' professional journals; and discuss the challenges of their own administrative practice.

By examining examples from the Common Core State Standards, administrators will deepen their understanding of the standards and develop strategies to support effective implementation in their schools.

Customizable

This service can be customized to best match the needs of the school and district administrators and instructional leaders in a particular school and/or district. Participation by school and district teams is encouraged.

What Participants Will Learn

• Module 1: Instructional Leadership in Mathematics
  What exactly are the new understandings about the nature of mathematics learning and teaching that underlie standards-based instruction? Participants explore fundamental issues and consider the implications for school leadership.
• Module 2: Teacher Learning for Mathematics Instruction
  What do teachers need to learn, and how can they get there? Participants focus on the issues teachers grapple with in learning to teach according to the new standards, and they develop a sense of the criteria for effective professional development across the school community.
• Module 3: Observing Today's Mathematics Classroom
  How can we tell what is going on in standards-based mathematics classrooms, and how can we tell when instruction is working? Participants consider what to look for when conducting classroom observations and what to discuss when meeting with the teacher about those observations.

Format

Each module is delivered in four or five sessions of three hours each for a total of 12 or 15 hours. The three-hour sessions can be facilitated during consecutive days or scheduled over the course of the school year.

Contact

Melinda Leong
800.547.6339, ext 172
Contact

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Module 1: Instructional Leadership in Mathematics
This four-session module provides a broad overview of the fundamental ideas about mathematics, learning, and teaching on which standards-based mathematics education is based. It gives administrators the opportunity to sort out their initial thoughts and reactions to these ideas and to begin to consider their implications for their own work. Participants have the opportunity to: do mathematics together; explore how children's mathematical thinking develops by examining student written work and by viewing a clinical interview with a student; think about the nature of standards-based instruction and how it differs from a procedural approach to mathematics education. They also consider some of the norms and values that are embedded in standards-based mathematics education and how these connect to school and district culture, and to their own leadership roles.

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Module 2: Teacher Learning for Mathematics Instruction
This five-session module provides administrators with the opportunity to explore the topic of professional development in their schools. They consider what teachers need to learn—about mathematics, making sense of children's understandings, and facilitating discourse to further mathematical thinking—in order to facilitate substantive mathematical learning for children in the classroom. Administrators discuss what makes for meaningful professional development for teachers, and are introduced to a variety of ways in which teachers might best be supported to reconceptualize their mathematics teaching. Administrators explore what kinds of support, beyond extending opportunities to take part in professional development offerings, are necessary for teachers who are deepening their practice of teaching mathematics. They consider how a culture of critical colleagueship, in which teachers engage with each other in substantive and intellectually critical examinations of learning and teaching, might support learning in schools. And they discuss some of the tensions that are inherent in attempting both to respond to individual needs, and in trying to reach all teachers within a school or district community.

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Module 3: Observing Today's Mathematics Classroom
This four-session module provides administrators with the opportunity to develop an "eye" for standards-based elementary mathematics classrooms through watching and discussing videotapes of classrooms in transition. Participants' own mathematical investigations inform their thinking about the mathematics classes in which they observe. Special attention is given to how teachers interact with children to facilitate the development of their mathematical thinking. Participants are also asked to consider what approaches to post-observation conferences with teachers might be most constructive, given that teachers are active constructors of their own knowledge about mathematics, learning, and teaching.

Contact

Melinda Leong at 800.547.6339, ext 172, or use the contact link below to submit a request electronically.