During the coronavirus pandemic, teachers have had to adapt their typical teaching techniques for classes that now sometimes take place online. Teachers are culling learning standards, ditching answer-getting tests, and turning to math games and apps to supplement instruction. They’re also reaching out to parents for support and finding ways to engage students over screens, including with lessons about how math and social justice intersect. In this online summit, readers will get to ask their questions about how COVID-19 has affected achievement, instruction, assessment, and engagement in math.
Agenda
What the Research Says About Math Learning Loss and the Pandemic
The so-called "COVID slide" has so far hit students' learning harder in math than in reading. We'll look at what the research says about why this subject can be particularly vulnerable to both missed and remote classes, and what teachers and school leaders can do to help students regain ground this spring.
Stephen Sawchuk is an assistant managing editor for Education Week, leading coverage of teaching, learning, and curriculum.
Sarah D. Sparks covers the teaching profession and pedagogy for Education Week.
Jon Star
Professor & Educational Psychologist,
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Jon Star is an educational psychologist who studies children’s learning of mathematics in middle and high school, particularly algebra. He is currently studying the development of flexibility in mathematical problem-solving, with flexibility defined as knowledge of multiple strategies for solving mathematics problems and the ability to choose among them. Star also investigates instructional and curricular interventions that may promote the development of mathematical understanding. His most recent work is supported by the National Science Foundation. A former middle and high school math teacher, he is also interested in the preservice preparation of middle and secondary mathematics teachers.
Making Remote Math Tests and Quizzes Meaningful
Teachers say remote instruction has made answer-getting tests pointless; it’s too easy for students to cheat. Instead, they’ve focused on assessing students’ conceptual understanding by asking them to explain, evaluate, and synthetize. Some teachers say they hope this shift in assessment practices will continue even after all students are back in the classroom full time. In this discussion booth, educators will share how they have revamped their assessments to better fit into the new reality of remote instruction and what they have learned from doing so.
Madeline Will is an assistant managing editor for Education Week, leading coverage of school leadership and general education trends.
Matt Rector
High School Math Teacher,
Twin Rivers Unified School District
Matt Rector is the math department chairperson at Grant Union High School in Sacramento, Calif. He spent 17 years teaching math and chemistry on the island of Guam before leaving the classroom to run the Guam Federation of Teachers, serve on multiple school boards, and eventually become a senator in Guam, where he chaired the labor committee and served on the education committee. Upon moving back to California, Matt re-entered the classroom about five years ago and has focused on becoming the modern, progressive math teacher his students need him to be.
Bobson Wong
Bobson Wong teaches math at a public high school in New York City. He is the co-author of The Math Teacher’s Toolbox: Hundreds of Practical Ideas to Support Your Students (Jossey-Bass, 2020). He is a three-time recipient of the Math for America Master Teacher Fellowship.
Teaching Math Through a Social Justice Lens
As racial inequity soars on the nation’s radar, math teachers are increasingly bringing social justice questions into their classrooms to help students see its relevance and recognize that they can use it to become change agents in the world.
Catherine Gewertz was a writer for Education Week who covered national news and features.
Robert Q. Berry III
Samuel Braley Gray Professor of Mathematics Education, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, and Past President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Apps, Games, and Digital Tools: What's Their Role in Elementary Math?
Math for the youngest learners is especially challenging in a remote environment: Early instruction typically includes a lot of work with manipulatives and practice physically representing foundational concepts. In this conversation, we’ll discuss how apps, online activities, and other digital tools can support K-5 math instruction. We’ll look at how teachers can evaluate tools and make informed decisions about how best to use them.
Sarah Schwartz is a reporter for Education Week who covers curriculum and instruction.
Alison Clark-Wilson
Principal Research Fellow ,
UCL Knowledge Lab, University College London
Clark-Wilson began as a UK school mathematics teacher in the early 1990s and “grew up” with educational technologies. Her curiosity and creativity led her to work on a number of national and international curriculum development projects that aim to make mathematics accessible to all learners – through engaging and context-based maths activities that bring the concepts to life – especially algebra. She is allergic to apps that “skill and drill” students on concepts that they have not yet encountered! Clark-Wilson has authored/edited five books, numerous journal articles and materials for teachers.
Content provided by Amplify Math
Problem-Based Learning Ideas and Strategies to Celebrate Student Thinking
Problem-based learning when taught in person is energetic, engaging, and social. However, teaching problem-based learning in the pandemic requires new approaches whether one is teaching synchronously, asynchronously, or maybe even a blend of both. Join us to learn and discuss how problem-based math instruction can still be energetic, engaging, and social regardless of your class set-up this school year.
Content Provided By Mind Research Institute
Math vs Memes: ST Math Takes on Internet Math Memes
"Old Math vs. New Math," "PEMDAS vs. the Common Core" -- math memes have stormed the internet. With limitless iterations shared a million times over, are they just meaningless click-bait? Or do memes reveal interesting truths about the way we perceive mathematics?
Join Nigel Nisbet, ST Math’s vice president of content creation, as we dive into the history and neuroscience of learning mathematics, as well as the implications of math memes for the generation of students learning at home or in the classroom.
Join Nigel Nisbet, ST Math’s vice president of content creation, as we dive into the history and neuroscience of learning mathematics, as well as the implications of math memes for the generation of students learning at home or in the classroom.
Nigel Nisbet
Vice President of Content Creation,
Vice President-Content Creation, MIND Education
Brian Coffey
Senior Academic Director,
MIND Research Institute
Lynn Nordstrom
Manager of Online Experience,
MIND Research Institute
Content Provided By Texthelp
Ways to Provide Feedback and Collaboration When Teaching Math Remotely
Join Texthelp’s Louis Shanafelt, EquatIO product manager and former math teacher, and a panel of math educators as they discuss strategies to provide feedback and collaboration for the math instruction for digital learning environments. In this discussion, they will uncover best practices for engaging with math students remotely, as well as how they are facilitating and assessing math outside of the classroom environment. The panel will share their own personal experiences and expertise as well as exploring technologies and strategies that have been helpful at all grade levels.
Louis Shanafelt
EquatIO Product Manager & Evangelist,
Texthelp
Tina Franzen
Technology Services Consultant,
Trillium Lakelands District School Board
Mark Kaercher
Math Teacher,
North Colonie Central Schools
