INCREASING ENGAGEMENT IN

YOUR MATHEMATICS CLASSROOM

1) PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO SOMEONE AND
SIT IN PAIRS - CLOSE TO THE FRONT OF THE ROOM
2) FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE HANDOUT
REGARDING THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE
STRUCTURES AND TALK ABOUT WHAT THEY LOOK
LIKE IN A LESSON
THANK YOU FOR SPENDING YOUR SATURDAY MORNING WITH US!

Lindsey Robertson & Rosanna Woldridge

Introduction
THE NEED
Trends in mathematics classrooms
Evaluation myths/misconceptions
Brainstorming (next steps)
THE GOAL
Higher student achievement
Increasing our teaching effectiveness
HOW?
Through engagement and its relation to a high
culture for learning and planning to support it

Culture Shift

Focus on student learning vs. teacher behaviors

Planning stage and when executing lessons
New evaluation system vs. old evaluation
system

When we make ourselves into

better teachers, students learn
better, and higher ratings
naturally follow

Remember
Its about working smarter, not
harder
Not reinventing the wheel
Collaborating

No one strategy is a magic fix

It depends on how it is
planned within the overall
structure of the lesson, the
classroom environment and
how it is executed

What is intellectual engagement?

Student engagement is the centerpiece of the
framework for teaching. When students are
engaged in learning, they are not merely busy,
nor are they only on task. Rather, they are
intellectually active in learning important and
challenging content. The critical distinction
between a classroom in which students are
compliant and busy, and one in which they are
engaged, is that in the latter students are
developing their understanding through what
they do. That is, they are engaged in discussion,
debate, answering what if? questions,

PREFACE
Underlying Supports to Ensure Higher Intellectual
Engagement

Culture for Learning (cont.)

How do effective teachers set the tone for
their classroom at the beginning of the year?
How do effective teachers CONTINUE to set
the tone THROUGHOUT the Rally
year?Robin
1) Teacher poses a
Lets brainstorm
problem to which
there are multiple
what do you do?
possible responses.
what do teachers you admire do?
2) Teacher gives
what shouldnt teachers do?think time.
3) Then, in pairs,
do non-verbal attributes help
4) Decide on the top 2 students takes turns
stating and writing
or hurt? to share from your

team

a list of responses or

Culture for Learning (cont.)

Pair Stand-n-Share
1) All pairs of students stand as a team.
2) The teacher calls on a standing student from the team.
3) Selected student states one item from the teams top 2 list.
4) The other students in teams, either adds the item to the list, or if
it is already listed, checks it off.
5) In that same team, the next student says the next item from the
top2.
6) Repeat steps 2-5.
7) Teams sit when all their items are shared. While seated, they add
each new item using step #4.

When all teams are seated, all items have been shared and the list
is complete.

Culture for Learning (cont.)

HIGH structure is needed
while the teacher is working on building the culture
for learning.
at-risk student populations
Classrooms with a very high culture for learning
can get by on less structure
But, if students see a way to opt out they
will try

Why fight that battle?

Just build it into the lesson plan.

Culture for Learning (cont.)

Honolulu Community College at
the University of Hawaii website
http://www2.honolulu.hawaii.edu/f
acdev/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.h
tm
Link

THE FOREWORD

Planning to Ensure Engagement with More Supports

Planning with Engagement in Mind

Effective teaching doesnt happen on the fly

Effective teachers dont set out to just wing it

They will have already developed ahead of

time an established bag of tricks and
several back-up scenarios to draw upon.

Thus, they are never really

winging it.

Planning with Engagement in Mind

Purpose and relevancy of the lesson
Use Essential Questions
(see handout for examples)

More information can be found in this article:

http://www.authenticeducation.org/ae_bigide
as/article.lasso?artid=53
Link

Plan for the STUDENT PRODUCT FIRST

No downtime, keep the wheels

turning
Double Plan from Teach Like A Champion, by
Doug Lemov
Use a T-chart
One column for what the teacher will be doing and
one column for what the student will be doing.
There needs to be a corresponding entry in the
student column for every entry in the teacher
column.
Planning this way will soon become an established
way of thinking

Planning with Engagement in Mind

Planning with Engagement in Mind

Plan what formative assessment you will use and what you
are specifically looking for
Effective teachers know that everything needs to be
monitored
Monitoring creates opportunities to give students feedback
Feedback is a motivator and creates a feeling of
investment in the activity.
Invested students are engaged students.

You cant give feedback unless you are

monitoring
(also known as in-class formative assessment)

Planning with Engagement in Mind

Above all, effective teachers know
that engagement will not happen
unless there is already an
established high culture for learning
-Intrinsic motivation
-Extrinsic motivation (ADHD students need this)
-High expectations
-Follow-through

Planning with Engagement in Mind

Work smarter not

harder
Put your energy where it will result in
a big payoff
Work more the beginning of the year
so you can just put the finishing
touches on things throughout the year

Tips

Keep a lesson plan binder to go with your

calendar (sheet protectors, PPT printouts, etc.)
Keep notes to self for using it next year
Look at the big picture of the curriculum guide:
Look at the depth of the standards and make
notes on the curriculum guide (state tests are based
on Florida and national standards/benchmarks not the
Hillsborough County curriculum guides be informed)
Use assessment criteria that is easy for your
teaching style
Ask department head or principal for $$
Investigate your math departments inventory

THE FOCUS

What does engagement look like?

Experience it for yourself

We will analyze three different
approaches to a math worksheet

Lets work with a traditional resource that is available

to everyone the worksheet.
The trainer will model the teacher
You will be the students

(While you are the student, out of the corner of your eye,
watch they dynamic of the other students and the room in
general)

We will de-brief afterwards from the perspective of

the fly on the wall

Whole Class Q&A

**Assume the students are already

familiar with the concept (this is not an
introduction)

Whole Class Q&A (De-Brief)

What did you see?
Who was doing most of the work?
Who was not?
Was there formative assessment?
What kind of information did the teacher
get from the formative assessment?
What kind of feedback did students
receive? How many students?

Work with your group

Work with your group (De-Brief)

What did you see?
Who was doing most of the work?
Who was not?
Was there formative assessment?
What kind of information did the teacher
get from the formative assessment?
What kind of feedback did students
receive? How many students?

Compare & Repair

Compare & Repair

1) Each student individually writes the
solution to the first problem and stops.
2) Pairs will share, compare, and
repair answers.
3) Repeat for each question,
alternating who speaks first.
4) Each student turns in own
completed copy

Compare & Repair (De-Brief)

What did you see?
Who was doing most of the work?
Who was not?
Was there formative assessment?
What kind of information did the teacher
get from the formative assessment?
What kind of feedback did students
receive? How many students?

Lets Compare the 3 Approaches

Whole Class
Q&A

Unstructured
Group
Discussion

Compare &
Repair
Structure

Positive
Interdependenc
e (do they need
each other?)

Positive but
only one
student
independent of
everyone else

Positive but
unstructured

Positive and
cant do the
activity by
yourself (need
partner for next
step/check)

Individual
Accountability

No

No

Yes

Equal
Participation

No

No (can have
freeloaders)

Yes

Simultaneous
Interaction

No
1/30 = 3.3%

At least 1 out of At least in a

4 in a group =
pair = 50%
25%

Interactive Lecture/Think-Pair-Share

Where instances of timed-think-pair-share

are inserted into teacher-directed
instruction at strategic moments

(i.e. pose a question or scenario to the class, give think time

to the whole class, then give directions for person A to
answer for 30 seconds, person B to answer for 30 seconds,
and then the teacher selects a couple of students to share
what their partner said (maintains listening
accountability)).
Some websites are www.ce.umn.edu/~smith/docs/SmithPedagogies_of_Engagement.pdf or
http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/interactive/index.html
(additional information in links on left side under header).

Back to: Planning with Engagement in

Mind
How to successfully use structures
1) Look at content FIRST, then select the structure or activity to fit
2) Now back up plan to introduce the structure with something short and
easy (as part of beginning of the year, a review of background knowledge,
a team or class building activity) so students gain familiarity with the
procedure
3) In the current lesson, include a visual of the procedural steps for students
to reference throughout the activity. Include sentence starters if
needed.
4) When verbalizing to students, have the visual projected and use it
interactively (i.e. point to it, etc.). Then model it with student volunteers.
Include counterexamples and how to deal with them.
5) Plan how the teacher will monitor and formatively assess the activity

Effective teachers never let things run by

themselves
they have carefully crafted it to only look that way.

Determining which structure to use

Compare and contrast solving/graphing

inequalities and solving/graphing equations.
(RallyRobin, Timed-Pair-Share)
Calculate the mean, median, and mode of the
data.
(RallyCoach, RallyTable, QQT?, Compare-Repair)
Explain the steps for factoring polynomials.
(Timed-Pair-Share, or RallyTable for a>1)
Put the steps of the problem in the correct
order.
(RallyTable, Compare-Repair)

Planning for Bell to Bell

Instruction
Dr. Thomas mental math
strings
Timed challenges

(see handout)

Non-worksheet approaches/ Rigor

Deconstructing a cylinder as an introductory
lesson
Deriving the formula (and/or other variations)

For example,
-Give students a paper cylinder taped together from a net.
-Have them measure it and cut it apart to make a net (write
the measurements on the pieces).
-Have them come up with their way of finding surface area
(give them the definition first). Have another group check their arithmetic for correctness.
Then, verify with an answer key.
-Discuss why their method worked or didnt work.
(Variation: instead of or after measurements, use variables for the sides)

Other Ideas:

Take a piece of paper and make a cylinder longwise,

then make a cylinder with the paper sideways.
Predict which has the bigger surface area. Measure
each and calculate.
Measure various cylinders and verify answer
calculation with a predetermined answer key
(textbook, teacher made, etc.).
Carousel activity with rotating stations. Measure and
calculate surface area for various cylinders.
Compare against answers of other groups for the
same object.
Create your own formula and test on another
cylinder to see if it works.

More ideas, lessons (complete with

teacher planning and coaching guides),
videos of classrooms, etc. can be found at:

http://insidemathematics.org
(An initiative that grew out of the Noyce
Foundations Silicone Valley Mathematics
Initiative)

Other Resources
Books:
Teach Like A Champion by Doug Lemov
Implementing the Framework by Charlotte
Danielson (the thick book probably already at your
school sites for reference)
Styles and Strategies for Teaching High School
Mathematics: 21 Techniques for Differentiating
Instruction and Assessment by Thomas, Brunsting
and Warrick.
Through Ebony Eyes by Gail Thompson
Driven by Data: A Practical Guide to Improving
Instruction by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo

Training Ideas in Hillsborough County

Microsoft trainings
EET rubric overlay training
Cooperative Learning Workshops
(Kagan, etc.)
Differentiated Instruction Training
Backwards Design Training
CHAMPs/Achieve, Discipline in the
Secondary Classroom
Tough Kid Toolbox

Contact Information
Lindsey Robertson
Email: lindsey.robertson@sdhc.k12.fl.us
Rosanna Woldridge
Email: rosanna.woldridge@sdhc.k12.fl.us
(We will email website links to
participants)

Rate us on the Danielson

rubric:
1) Check the appropriate box under each
component for your ratings (can write
comments if you would like)
2) At the end, write a brief summary (i.e.
Strengths, Areas of Focus and Next Steps
to correspond with each Area of Focus).
3) We will email you an anonymous
breakdown of what participants ranked as
well as our self-ranking and reflection so
you can see another reflection besides
your own