Spring 2009 Professional Development Workshop Series

 

 

Transforming How We See Classroom Learning:  Thinking about Thinking

 

Click on workshop titles to register

 

Enhancing Student Achievement Through the Use of Non-Linguistic Representations

For: Grades 2-5 Educators
Instructor:  Rebecca Chairs, Elementary Literacy Teacher Collaborator
Date:  January 21, 2009 (REGISTRATION CLOSED)
Time:  4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Location:  Innovation Room, I-Hotel and Conference Center, 1900 S. First Street, Champaign
Maximum enrollment:  25
Cost:  Free to local educators

In literacy research and teaching, one instructional strategy shown to have a high probability of enhancing achievement for all students in all subject areas at all grade levels is nonlinguistic representation.  Graphic organizers are perhaps the most common way to help students generate nonlinguistic representations.  Have you ever wondered if we are confusing struggling readers by using dozens of different graphic organizers?  This workshop will introduce four of eight "Thinking Maps" developed
by Dr. David Hyerle.  Teachers, students, and administrators have reported that learning about and using Thinking Maps over time has led to increased memory of content knowledge when reading, deepened conceptual understanding, heightened metacognition, and transfer of thinking processes across disciplines and settings.  These outcomes are supported by test results in reading, writing, and mathematics.  The Thinking Maps introduced will assist students with representing and brainstorming ideas, comparing and contrasting characters, identifying main idea and details, and organizing their thoughts during writing instruction.  Come out and learn how creating nonlinguistic representations can help students understand content in a whole new way!

Using Function Investigations to Engage Students in High School Algebra

For:  Grades 8-12 Educators
Instructor:  Susan Gregson, Secondary Mathematics Teacher Collaborator
Date:   Thursday, February 26, 2009 (REGISTRATION CLOSED)
Time:  4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Location: Champaign Public Library, Robeson Pavilion Room B, 200 West Green Street, Champaign, IL
Maximum enrollment:  25
Cost:  Free to local educators

While more students enter high school having been exposed to reform-oriented curricula designed to help them develop the capacity to think algebraically, engaging every student in algebra continues to be a challenge for high school math teachers. One obstacle may be that the vision of function-based algebra experiences put forward for grades 9-12 in Principles and Standards for School Mathematics  (NCTM, 2000) has yet to be meaningfully integrated into the most commonly used Algebra I textbooks. Given this reality, how should the thoughtful teacher proceed? Is there evidence that function-based approaches benefit students and if there is, how might teachers bring such experiences to students in tandem with the curricula available to them?

This session will focus on the use of function investigations as one approach to engaging students in high school algebra. We will discuss the characteristics of effective function-based activities and their potential to engage students in light of the most current research on teaching and learning. Participants will gain hands-on experience with function-based activities and have an opportunity to share successes or challenges they may have had with similar activities in their own practice. Links to additional resources will be provided.

Empowering Math through Literature:  Using Children's Books as Frame for Meaningful Mathematics Instruction

For:  Grades K-5 Educators
Instructor:  Bradley Thompson, Elementary Mathematics Teacher Collaborator
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 (REGISTRATION CLOSED)

Time:  4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Location:  Champaign Public Library, Robeson Pavilion Room C, 200 West Green Street, Champaign, IL
Maximum enrollment:  25
Cost:  Free to local educators

Have you ever asked yourself: “What is math really?” To students, and even some adults, mathematical knowledge can appear to be a laundry list of disconnected skills that teachers are asked to pack into students’ brains. Unfortunately, this view sells the potential power of math short. What is a more powerful conception of math? A clear answer is to view mathematics as a sense-making tool. How we can impart this conception to our students? Specifically, placing mathematical concepts and skills in context where children engage with them as means for purposefully making sense of and negotiating real and potential situations. A powerful tool for helping children re-conceptualize mathematics is children’s literature. Children’s books provide engaging, personally relevant lesson frames that invite children into the instruction and clearly provide a purpose for making sense of and applying their math skills (e.g., by helping the books characters negotiate the issue(s) they confront). In our workshop we will (1) discuss how to select a children’s book as a meaningful frame for mathematics instruction; 2) experience a demo lesson of math instruction framed with children’s literature; 3) share and brainstorm useful literature resources for this purpose; and 4) begin the planning process for teaching a lesson, series of lesions, or a unit that is contextually framed with a children’s book.