The Common Denominator

It takes a team to help a school and district function effectively, and all employees play an important role in the lives of children, families, and the community. Each month, we recognize math teachers who are making a positive impact in Tyler ISD.

FOR JANUARY, THE FOLLOWING EDUCATORS WERE SELECTED:

• Estefani Blancas, 1st Grade @ Clarkston
• Ebony Cormier, 5th Grade @ Ramey
• Shawn Beverly, Math 6/7 @ Hubbard
• Shane Prescott, Algebra 2/Statistics @ Legacy

We are utilizing the entire 2023 released STAAR tests for Spring Benchmarks. Due to the timing of the benchmark, there will be material that is present on the test that has yet to be presented in class. For all questions that come from material not yet covered, the weight and points will be scored zero (0) in Edugence. This allows the teacher to still collect data without punishing the students’ score.

• 3rd Grade: Unit 12 – 1 question about the capacity of a juice box

• 4th Grade: Unit 10 – 1 question on measuring angles

• 5th Grade: Unit 10 – 2 questions on data representations

• 6th Grade: OL Unit 10-11, Hon Unit 8-9, Acc Unit 8-9 - 6 questions over data analysis and personal financial literacy

• 7th Grade: OL Unit 10, Hon Unit 8 - 1 question over personal financial literacy

• 8th Grade: OL Unit 10, Hon Unit 7 - 3 questions over personal financial literacy

• Algebra 1: OL Unit 10 - 1 question over sequences

Additionally, some questions will be altered due to Edugence’s current inability to exactly match Cambium. For example, a released item in Cambium may require students to plot the point (-0.5, -2). Edugence only allows plotting whole numbers. There are a few instances of this nature. If you have questions please reach out to your Master Teacher or an Instructional Specialist.

A Problem String is a series of related problems purposefully sequenced to help students construct mathematical relationships so that powerful strategies become their natural instincts. This powerful teaching tool is designed to help students mentally construct mathematical relationships. In this mini-lesson structure, teachers and students interact to construct important mathematical strategies, models, and concepts. 3-5 Example. 9-12 Example.

Curtis Martine, Social Studies Coordinator, has assembled resources that can be utilized to help celebrate Black History Month.

• Google Slides highlighting the contributions of African Americans in the fields of math and science.
• Elementary Activities
• Secondary Activities

A well executed unit overview...

• provides teacher clarity and contributes to collective teacher efficacy, both having a high effect size according to John Hattie.
• supports teachers as they progress through the rigor trajectory of the waterfall document, specifically, developing effective lesson plans, internalizing lesson plans, and writing exemplars.
• engages teachers in all 5 pillars of the TRU framework.

This website provided by the Math Department houses resources designed to help you facilitate a successful unit overview.

In the video below, watch a lesson in which students represent fractions greater than zero and less than or equal to one in different ways, using concrete objects as part of a whole.

A small group of six soldiers came into a small town. They were very hungry, but none of the townspeople offered them food. One of the soldiers announced that they would make Stone Soup. “How do you make Stone Soup a towns’ person asked?” Well the soldier replied, “You need a big pot, water and a large stone.” The townspeople, very curious to see how Stone Soup was made, gathered together the materials. The soldiers started to cook the soup over a fire they made. Once the soup began to boil, a soldier said, “sure this will be a tasty stone soup, but a delicious stone soup would have additional ingredients.” The townspeople, now even more curious, asked what extra ingredients might be added. “Well for each person you would need 2 baby carrots, 3 green onions and five chunks of meat.”

Tasks and Extension:

1. What ingredients are needed to make a delicious stone soup for the six soldiers?
2. What ingredients are needed to make a delicious stone soup for ten people?
3. What ingredients are needed to make a delicious stone soup for 25 people?
4. Explain how you determined you answers.
   

Student Handout includes levels for multiple grade levels K-12.

Kaitlan Villanueva, 3rd grade teacher at Ramey, was the only individual to attend all 3 elementary lesson planning nights during the 1st semester. As a result, Ms. Villanueva has been offered the opportunity to attend CAMT this summer. CAMT is the largest conference for math teachers in the nation and will take place in Houston in July.

The following persons attended 2 of the 3 lesson planning sessions and will also receive a prize: K. Matthews, A. King, D. Guyton, D. Betancur, H. Lyon, J. King, J. Thomas

Click here for registration links.

K-5 Teachers, This Session is for You! Learn to Identify the Different Problem Types and How to Help Students Navigate Each One. Click here to register.

Learning Undefeated’s Texas Mobile STEM Lab team will be offering free virtual professional development opportunities for K–grade 8 teachers. During this session, the Learning Undefeated team will walk educators through hands-on engineering design challenges that can be modified to fit their classroom needs. Sessions will also include a guidance on how to develop and facilitate a TEKS-aligned engineering design challenge.

Session One: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 (Grades K–5) at 4:00 PM CST

Session Two: Wednesday, February 21, 2024 (Grades 6–8) at 5:00 PM CST

Participants can use this registration link to sign up for either session. Zoom links will be provided to registrants upon registration.

Podcasts about improving practices in education provide bite-sized enrichment that teachers can consume whenever they like. Podcasts are a one-stop shop for learning, as they are accessible and offer a variety of content that can be easily integrated into daily routines, making professional learning a personalized and interactive experience.

Click here to learn more.

Why join TCTM? Firstly, TCTM is the only Texas-based math organization with a focus on the classroom teacher. Additionally, members have access to the following:

✔️ Classroom Teacher Grants ($800)

✔️ Student Teacher Scholarships ($1,000)

✔️ Leadership Recognition

✔️ Texas Mathematics Teacher Journal

✔️ Monthly Newsletter

✔️ Annual Conference (CAMT)

✔️ State Advocacy

✔️ Online Resources

The best part? Membership is only $15 per year! To learn more or join, visit tctmonline.org.

Do you sometimes start to teach a mathematics concept and feel like you are staring at a sea of bewildered faces? What happens when you discover that students previously learned a calculation trick or a mnemonic that has muddied their long-term understanding? When "rules" seem to change from year to year, teacher to teacher, or school to school, mathematics can seem like a disconnected mystery for students. When teachers unite across grades, students hit the ground running every year.

“Daily STEM” is the goal of Chris Woods, a Teacher, Speaker, Author, & Host of the STEM Everyday Podcast. Woods publishes a FREE one page weekly "newspaper" to help inspire kids to engage with STEM in the real world. Each issue can be printed or shared digitally. Literacy and STEM...better together!