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NCCTM Recap of “We All Speak Math”

At the North Carolina Council for Teachers of Mathematics annual conference Nov. 10-12, NC2ML co-design team shared their We All Speak Math campaign with math teachers and leaders from around the state! We All Speak Math is a yearlong, statewide campaign to support high school teachers, instructional leaders, and administrators in creating and sustaining classrooms rich in productive, powerful math discourse. Through this discourse, students will gain a better understanding of math content as they experience an engaging, flourishing, equitable math classroom centered around student voice.

Each month, the high school team is sharing collaboratively designed resources for teachers and students, professional development resources for instructional leads, and high-level overviews for administrators aligned to a research-based “Discourse Move of the Month.” In addition, DPI’s Monthly High School Content and Pedagogy webinar is aligned with the campaign as well. At the conference, several teachers and leaders shared stories of how they are engaging with the campaign. Brittney shared how she has been adapting and using the resources in her local context. Wendy described how significant and useful the webinars have been for her teaching this year.

Toolkits from September, October, and November are available on the high school resources page. Be on the lookout on the first of each month for a new discourse move and accompanying resources, and spread the word that We All Speak Math!

NC2ML and NCCAT Announce Retreat

 

A shared vision of high-quality mathematics instruction among administrators, teachers, and other stakeholders is essential for large-scale instructional improvement in mathematics.  NC2ML is partnering with NCCAT to send teams to a leadership retreat that will take place in Cullowhee, NC on March 4-7, 2024.  Teams will work collaboratively to learn more about high-quality equitable mathematics instruction at the elementary level, to develop and align a district-wide vision of mathematics instruction, and to plan for implementation. 

Contact Ana Floyd at [email protected] to learn more about the retreat and reserve your spot now.

NC2ML Announces a Statewide Empathy Book Club

Book cover of What Happened to You? by Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey

All mathematics students deserve to feel a sense of belonging in school and math class. Join us for an NC2ML Statewide Book Club where we will read and discuss the neuroscience behind trauma and how to develop empathy for all students in our mathematics classrooms so that each and every student is supported to flourish mathematically!

When: 

We will hold four Tuesday sessions offered both during the day and night to accommodate schedules. In order to best host these discussions, we need you to commit to either the Day or the Night Sessions. The same discussion questions will be posed in the Day and Night sessions, so if you signed up for the Day sessions and must miss one of them, email the Night Discussion Leader (TBD) to see if there is room in that night’s Zoom room.

Session 1: Oct 10 Tuesday 

10:30-11:45 am 

5:30-6:45 pm

Session 2: Oct 24 Tuesday

10:30-11:45 am

5:30-6:45 pm 

Session 3: Nov 14 Tuesday

10:30-11:45 am

5:30-6:45 pm 

Session 4: Dec 12 Tuesday

10:30-11:45 am

5:30-6:45 pm

Where: All sessions will be held via Zoom; space is limited so register as soon as possible.

Upon registration, you will be sent a Zoom link the week of each session. REGISTER HERE. We expect rich discussions that may generate change in your local context, so we highly recommend that you join with a PLC and an administrator from your school and/or district. If attending the book club with a group, you only need to fill out one registration form.

How to get the book

There are two ways to purchase the book (audio or paperback, each around $15). The audio version (at least, the audible.com one) is read by Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce Perry, with audio excerpts from some of her talk show guests. You can also download key figures from the book from the audio service. On the other hand, you may want a print version of the book to take notes. 

If you have questions, email Michelle Stephan, [email protected]

NC Personalized Assessment Tool – Survey Announcement

You may already have the information about surveys from NCDPI to get feedback that will be used to create grades 3-8 test specifications for the new NC interim testing, a part of the North Carolina Personalized Assessment Tool. Since these interim assessments will replace the NC Check-ins and may one day be required of districts, we wanted to make sure that your district’s voice is heard. The content specifications for each interim assessment will essentially become a default state-wide pacing guide because districts expect teachers to teach the standards assessed on each interim. It is therefore important that the collective expertise of our mathematics education community weigh in to ensure that the clustering and sequencing of instruction is connected and makes sense for student learning of mathematics.

The survey links should have been sent to your district/PSU testing coordinator. If you haven’t already received this information, we hope you will take the time to check with that person and make sure the surveys are completed by the person/people in your district most involved in decisions about mathematics instruction.  Only one survey can be submitted per grade level per district. If no one in your district has received the survey, please contact Beth Nash ([email protected]). Also, if there are others that you think might need this information, please forward it to them.

Much good work has been done in the last few years with new standards implementation, including the development of the NC2ML Instructional Frameworks for Elementary, Middle Grades, and High School and aligned Tools4NCTeachers and NC2ML Resources. We look forward to future work together to support our students in the learning of mathematics.

Call for Nominations

The North Carolina Collaborative of Mathematics Learning (NC2ML) is soliciting nominations for a K-12 mathematics Co-design Team. Team members will participate in a research study to understand the role of instructional vision when implementing STEM innovations at scale and how one’s instructional vision mediates their uses of implementation resources. Members will work within grade bands (i.e., K-5, 6-8, 9-12) to collaboratively design resources to support the development of a state-wide coherent vision of high-quality and equitable mathematics instruction. Those selected for the Co-design Team will commit to a three-year term and will be compensated for their time. All NC K-12 mathematics teachers and teacher leaders (e.g., administrators, district or state leaders, coaches, university-based mathematics teacher educators) are eligible. Self-nominations are welcome.

Why are we building the Co-design Team? Simply put, we are building this team to support all students in NC. We have seen the power of NC math teachers collaborating for change. For example, our collaborative efforts resulted in an infrastructure and collection of resources to support teachers in the implementation of the newly revised state math standards in ways that value all students as doers of mathematics. This continued work has been difficult in the last 5 years due to a lack of time and space and the diminished role of DPI in guiding our collective work. Through the support of the National Science Foundation, we have been given the time and space to collaborate and effect change in NC. Whether you have been a part of the work in the past or not, we need you. The students of NC need you.

Who are we looking for? Ideally the Co-design Team will be made up of K-12 mathematics teachers, mathematics coaches, district mathematics leaders, school administrators, and university-based mathematics teacher educators from all parts of the state. We are looking for people who have skills in building relationships and facilitating groups, positive views of students as learners and teachers as professionals, and an understanding of mathematics teaching as helping students to make sense of mathematics. We are particularly interested in team members who represent voices that are often marginalized in educational decisions.

What will the Co-design Team be working on? The Co-design Team will engage in three year-long design cycles that will include 1) discussing and identifying of a shared problem of practice within the overarching project goal of promoting a shared statewide vision of high quality and equitable mathematics instruction; 2) collaboratively designing resources based on the needs identified; 3) eliciting feedback from the wider state mathematics education community; and 4) refining the resources based on feedback. In addition, Co-design team members will be an important part of the research related to these efforts and as such they will be expected to participate in periodic interviews. This work will be done in monthly hour long zoom meetings, one full day meeting each semester, and a 3 day retreat each summer during the third week in June. Team members will be compensated $1500/year for this work.

If you, or someone you know would be a great fit for the NC2ML Co-designTeam, please complete this brief form by November 12th, 2021.

Announcing Instructional Frameworks for NC Math 4, Precalculus, and Discrete Math for Computer Science

The North Carolina Collaborative for Mathematics Learning (NC2ML) is pleased to announce the release of the Instructional Frameworks for NC Math 4, Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science, and PreCalculus. The Frameworks were created to ensure all mathematics teachers and leaders in North Carolina have access to resources and support for implementation. Developed by members of the NC Math Standards Writing and Review teams with feedback from mathematics educators from across the state, the Frameworks provide guidance on organizing the curriculum and offer a common organizational structure for NC mathematics educators working together to create, share, and improve instructional resources and professional development materials. 

Design-Based Implementation Research Workshop

This workshop, sponsored by the UNCG School of Education, is for individuals and teams interested in learning about how to develop proposals for, organize, and write about Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR) projects.  (more…)