Two of my favorite math teachers let me video tape there early attempts at number talks live in their classrooms. I learned quite a bit as I watched live and even more as we watched the recorded version together. As I hope to have my entire HS staff doing number talks by the end of the year, I realized loud and clear that my PD leadership needs some revision or at this point supplementation. Fortunately for me, we have a department meeting this Friday where I get a chance to improve on my first shot at Number Talks roll out. I will get back to everyone on how that goes early next week, but I think I have a good plan.
In addition to the two gracious teachers who were video taped, a handful of others were willing to share stories of Number talk moments in there own classrooms. One consistent message from these is 'My students came up with ideas I never thought of'. What excites me the most at this point is students are talking not teachers, students are talking math, creating discussions and building on their own ideas rather than those of the teacher or the book. I am quite impressed by the teachers willingness to give it shot after a short introduction and a couple of demos. I look forward to the future of Number Talks at MV.
In addition to the two gracious teachers who were video taped, a handful of others were willing to share stories of Number talk moments in there own classrooms. One consistent message from these is 'My students came up with ideas I never thought of'. What excites me the most at this point is students are talking not teachers, students are talking math, creating discussions and building on their own ideas rather than those of the teacher or the book. I am quite impressed by the teachers willingness to give it shot after a short introduction and a couple of demos. I look forward to the future of Number Talks at MV.