September 2023 Message from the Board

 

Written by Sonya Mendoza-Weiss, Region 4 Representative

Our Teaching for Thinking, a CCTM Learning Institute in June was a success! The Summer Learning Institute kicked off with an evening social at the View House. Thanks so much to Imagine Learning for sponsoring! CCTM members enjoyed delicious appetizers and great conversations with each other, our presenters, and vendors.

 

 

The Institute was a unique experience. Rather than doing a regular choose-your-session conference, Grace Kelemanik and Amy Lucenta, authors of Teaching for Thinking, engaged us in an all-day learning experience on fostering mathematical teaching practices through reasoning routines. They did a fabulous job in co-teaching and modeling their five essential strategies: 1) Annotation 2) Ask Yourself Questions 3) The Four Rs 4) Sentence Starters and Frames 5) Turn-n-Talks. Our members actively engaged as the students for the day-long session broken into three parts. We received lots of feedback from members and Board Members that the material felt accessible and able to be implemented without overhauling their curriculums. 

After lunch, Grace and Amy did a book signing. Unfortunately, we are still working with the publisher in getting books that didn’t arrive on time for our institute. (We didn’t get our books either.)

Our wonderful vendors offered break-out sessions. Every room was well-attended. Here’s a quick rundown of the sessions:

  • Session 1 

    • How to Cultivate Mathematical Joy 

    • Student Thinking With Big Ideas 

    • Imagine Learning: Imagine Learning Illustrative Mathematics (Room A)

  • Session 2 

    • Bring out the "M" in STEM: Ensuring Learning and Fun Collide 

    • Counting and Reasoning Through a Pandemic 

    • Re-Imagine the Way Forward 

  • Session 3 

    • Accelerate Math Learning for Colorado Students 

    • Instructional Routines in an Active Learning Classroom 

    • Let Them Struggle: Fostering a Classroom Rich in Discourse 

In addition to great break-out sessions, the vendors provided math resources and prizes for our bingo. A huge thank-you for their generosity, time, and math resources!

The institute closed with our Board of Directors recognizing Beth Sassee and Dr. Joe Bolz for their classroom instruction and practices. A special thanks to each of our Board of Directors and vendors for making this possible. I look forward to bringing more for our members and keeping a commitment to make the math experience a positive one for our students and providing you with continued support as members of CCTM. 

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