GCTM was busy this summer – working with the Georgia Department of Education to host eight summer academies throughout Georgia. 

These 3-day workshops started by examining the Standards for Mathematical Practice, and this link

http://www.insidemathematics.org/index.php/commmon-core-math-intro has a nice graphic of these 8 SMPs.

The second day, we looked at changes in the mathematical content of the new CCGPS courses.  Each grade level K – 10 and Statistics worked tasks in order to better understand the new curriculum which can be found here: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Common-Core/Pages/Math.aspx

The third day was devoted to assessment.  Phil Daro makes excellent statements about “answer-getting”  as well as other Common Core comments on this link: http://www.serpmedia.org/daro-talks/index.html

The Georgia Department of Education has set up 3 wiki pages for classroom teachers to access.  They can be found here:

http://ccgpsmathematicsk-5.wikispaces.com/ for grades k – 5

http://ccgpsmathematics6-8.wikispaces.com/ for grades 6-8

http://ccgpsmathematics9-10.wikispaces.com/ for grades 9-10

All the work for these academies, from the writers to the facilitators, was done by volunteers.  And I can’t thank these volunteers enough for their dedication to mathematics education and for their hard work to make these academies happen.  We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people as part of our learning community!

When I was a first year teacher, the best advice I got was, “After 5 years of teaching, you should have 5 years of teaching experience – not 1 year repeated 5 times.” So this year, reflect about each activity you use and make whatever changes you need in order to help facilitate student’s “enduring understanding” of the topic. Reach out to the teachers who have taught these students before to find out what extra scaffolding students might need. And reach out to teachers who teach your students later to find out what your students don’t remember so you can try another approach this year on those topics. Be willing to share your good ideas with other teachers and be willing to ask other teachers for their great ideas. We can all be lifelong learners.

And as you look for new and interesting ways to motivate your students, don’t forget that wonderful opportunities for networking, camaraderie, and collaboration abound at the Georgia Mathematics Conference October 17 - 19.