Course Overview
Course description:
During this course, participants will study Lavinia Group’s Math for Meaning™ Story Problems, a method that has helped our partner schools across the country rapidly increase student achievement and confidence in mathematics. Teachers and leaders will learn the importance of using context as an inroad for making meaning in mathematics and the powerful teaching moves that bring Story Problems to life in any classroom. Participants will also expand upon their understanding with a focus on using student work to drive effective coaching and discourse that result in concrete and transferable mathematical understanding for students. Teachers and leaders will learn key techniques for studying student work, transferable coaching that supports student independence, and facilitating discourse that culminates in clear and transferable learning goals. Participants will leave the course with a variety of tools and resources they can use in their classrooms right away.
Recommended for:
School leaders and teachers in Grades K-8 who are new to or currently use Story Problems instruction and would like to deepen their understanding of this proven method.
Topics include:
- Gaining an understanding of the purpose and structure of teaching mathematics using Story Problems
- Developing a framework for launching and discoursing Story Problems with students
- Learning efficient methods for anticipating student strategies to effectively drive instruction
- Preparing for how to facilitate student-driven discourses
- Learning how to use student work data to choose high-leverage transferable takeaways for your Story Problems discourse
- Developing a framework for providing targeted, transferable coaching to students
- Gaining an understanding of how to use your Math for Meaning™ foundation to set students up to approach end of year assessments with confidence and precision