Math Newsletter - February 2024

Cube Conversations is a set of 80 (eighty!) animated lessons designed to promote visually rich math discourse. Much like Splat!, you control the animation with a few simple clicks – and each click presents an opportunity for students to see and discuss an image in new ways.

Of course, there is also a sense of mystery, much like what your students felt in Splat! The end of each slide includes The Reveal, when the answer is shown. I hope your classroom will be filled with rich math talk, inspiring insights from your students, and moments of celebration as you guide your class through Cube Conversations!

Click Here to watch the intro video, download the lessons, and allow your students to amaze your with their visual math thinking. This resource applies to K-12 math students!

📙 New BTC Book Coming Out in May 2024 📙

Peter Liljedahl is coming out with a follow-up to BTC titled "Mathematics Tasks for the Thinking Classroom, Grades K-5"! Click here to read more about it.

Free Webinar with Peter Liljedahl on February 12 at 6:30 PM

In this session, Peter Liljedahl will look at the micro-moves—the little things we do—that make big differences in how students experiences a thinking classroom. Each micro-move will be linked to a specific Building Thinking Classrooms macro-move. If you're not able to make it, just register and you will receive the recording afterwards! Click here to register.

Do you know an outstanding math educator or math education supporter? Do you know a student who plans to pursue further work in mathematics or a mathematics-related field? Do you know an excellent high school senior who plans to go into a math-related field?

Nominate them for the annual PCTM awards! Nominations will close on March 30th. Information about each of the awards and a link to a nomination form can be found at pctm.org/awards. Nominations will require a link (or upload) of a letter of recommendation describing the candidate’s qualifications for the award. All nominators will be contacted about the status of the award on or around April 30th. Educator awards will be presented at the PCTM Annual conference and educator award winners receive a free conference registration

Combined Test/Answer Booklets Coming This Spring

Starting in the Spring of 2024, the Math PSSA Grades 3-8 and the Algebra Keystone will have combined test and answer booklets!

No More Red Stickers!

The transition to combined test/answer booklets for PSSA Mathematics presented an opportunity to reformat the non-calculator section that was previously in the test booklets. The non-calculator section in the new booklets will not need to be sealed with a red sticker upon student compleƟon. Instead, the section will include a colored border that will be highly visible to both students and test administrators and will alert both to any intentional or unintentional access of the completed section. ⭐Click Here to Read More About These Changes⭐

Changes Made to PSSA Math Reference / Formula Sheets

The Reference Sheets for PSSA Mathematics Grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 have been updated (especially in grades 7 and 8)! The updates on the Reference Sheets all match existing content – there has been no change in the Assessment Anchors or Eligible Content. The goal of the changes is to provide additional information to students so they can demonstrate what they know on the PSSA. ⭐Click Here to read more about the specific changes and for links to the updated documents⭐

🌟There is still time to register!🌟 Riverview Intermediate Unit #6 is offering two free professional learning sessions for math educators. Click on the links in the titles to learn more and register. Reach out to Ben Brobst (bbrobst@riu6.org) with any questions.

• During this training, participants will review the PSSA Math Grades 3-8 and Algebra Keystone Test Blueprints and experience the new training sets of open-ended questions released by PDE. Participants will leave this training with a deeper understanding of how to prepare students for open-ended math problems on the PSSA and Keystone exams.
• February 28, 2024
• Audience: Grades 3-8 + Algebra Teachers

Enhancing Math Instruction with Desmos

• Desmos is an incredibly powerful tool for helping students make sense of the math they are learning by making math visual. This training will give participants experience on the platform with both the graphing calculator and the activity builder.
• April 10, 2024
• Audience: Grades 6-12 Math Teachers

Date: Monday, March 11, 2024

Time: 3:30 - 4:30 PM EDT

Virtual Workshop | Zoom

All Learners Network (ALN) is "program agnostic.” We know that it is not the math program that leads to math progress for students. We focus on supporting teacher pedagogy because there are high-performing and low-performing school districts using the same math programs. It is not which math program you use that makes the difference. It is the day-to-day instructional decisions that educators make to challenge and support their students that matter most. When teachers are expected to use a program with fidelity, we diminish the decision-making power of those teachers to be responsive to their students. In this workshop, we will share some concrete examples of what it can look like to support educators to use a program with integrity instead of fidelity.

Click Here to Register!

Enjoy 28 dynamic speakers presenting sessions covering a variety of elementary math topics. It's professional development specifically for elementary teachers, that you can attend from anywhere! Sessions released February 24 & 25 with replays available until March 4.

Register now for free: https://virtualmathsummit.com/

Mathematics is not about following rules, it's about playing—and exploring, fighting, looking for clues, and sometimes even breaking things, according to Dan Finkel. In this playful, inspiring talk, the founder of Math for Love offers teachers and parents alike a five-step guide to sharing the beauty and playfulness of mathematical thinking with children.

Check out the 15 min video below or click here to watch on YouTube!