Mark Coté, Issaquah, WA, MarkCote@cpm.org
CPM’s Teacher Research Corps is starting strong with seven new investigations this fall. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the TRC 8.0 Institute was conducted virtually during the summer. Thanks to the efforts of 23 Teacher Researchers, 5 members of the TRC Leadership Team, and the CPM Professional Learning Team, the virtual Institute resulted in the successful completion of the following key goals:
- Possible problems of practice brainstormed/reviewed/refined and temporary investigative cohorts formed.
- Temporary cohorts discussed/decided on a specific goal(s)/question(s) to investigate and wrote a first draft (not detailed) of a research proposal.
- Initial proposals were briefly shared with the entire cohort.
- TRs made a final choice about a problem of practice.
- Final cohorts wrote a second, more detailed draft of the initial proposal.
- Teams developed brief presentations and shared them with the entire TRC team.
- Completed proposals were presented with feedback.
- Research investigations began in August.
We are excited that CPM has yet another opportunity to tap into the “wisdom of teachers” and offer new investigative findings that will influence pedagogy as well as contribute to the ongoing development of our curriculum materials. The TRC 8.0 Teacher Researchers and investigations are as follows:
Cathy Sinnen, Michelle Lo
How can we distribute the authority to the students so that they expect (are encouraged, empowered, invited) to critique, question, and validate each others’ mathematical thinking during the whole group and/or small group discussions?
Amanda Ethridge, Jennifer Moriarty
How can we shift student mindsets around content understanding and grades through asset-based reflection, instruction, and assessment?
Adam Blomberg, Jen McCalla, Sarah Shon
How can success criteria help students
- self-assess and peer-assess,
- be strategic in choosing a mathematical tool to solve a problem and justifying why the tool worked to help solve the problem, and
- “track” their learning and celebrate the understanding of a concept?
Alexis Reid, Jamie Kaper, Karen Kurcz, Penny Smits
How can teachers make learning targets more visible and manageable so that students have increased awareness and invested ownership in their learning and progress?
Amy Bowden, Brooke Raven, Carrie Velasco, Laura Bell, Simon Terrell
How can we encourage students to redefine who they are as a mathematician in order to increase their enjoyment while doing mathematics? How can we create a culture of collaborative learning so that students find the value of engaging in the challenges of mathematics, leading to a feeling of empowerment and ownership over the learning process?
Angie Kraft, Mollie Seigel, Pamela Propst
How do we rejuvenate our lessons by offering more student choice so that students can better relate to the mathematics content, feel a more desired sense of ownership in what and how they learn and increase enjoyment, wonderment, and engagement in the classroom?
Janine Scott, Matt Rector
How do we create instructional systems that reframe a student’s place in mathematics and highlight the MATH AWESOMENESS that is already contained within them? How do we undo the mathematical mindset/status damage?
In parallel with past practice, all research teams launched their projects as school began. Data collection, participant reflections, and team meetings are underway. Teacher Researchers will soon be reporting updates on their investigations using the TRC blogspot www.imath.us, and several teams are looking forward to presenting at CPM’s Teacher Conference in February. The TRC Leadership Team is delighted to announce that applications for TRC 9.0, which is scheduled for the summer of 2022, will be available in early spring. Read Teacher Research Corps for more information.
Huge congratulations to Teacher Researchers Cathy Sinnen, Mollie Siegel, and Penny Smits on the forthcoming publication of the manuscript entitled “Who’s Doing The Talking In Your Classroom Discussions?” in the NCTM journal Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching Pre-K–12. This is a wonderful achievement highlighting several years of research into promoting more equitable whole-class discussions and a first for TRC! Thanks to Dr. Lisa Amick and Dr. Lara Jasien for all the assistance in this effort.