FSD Staff Learning

Wednesday, 27 February 2019

The Journey Towards Resilience

by, Kate Henkel, Instructional Coach

Resilience is a word we hear more and more often in today’s society. Merriam-Webster’s
dictionary defines resilience as “tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or
change” (2019).

In an ever-changing and demanding 21st century, ensuring children have the capacity for
resilience is absolutely essential. I recently attended a Neufeld Institute Conference titled
Resilience, Relationship and Recovery - Towards Flourishing Children and Youth where
the concept of resilience was explored through the lens of Dr. Gordon Neufeld.

Neufeld is the founder of the Neufeld Institute, and is a leader in child developmental
psychology. He questions the societal trend which categorizes resilience as a
stress-based response based on performance rather than optimal functioning. In other
words, we commonly assess how resilient someone is based on whether they are able to
perform under stressful conditions. Neufeld asks us to consider a different construct of
resilience whereby an individual is able to reach his or her optimal potential as opposed
to simply performing or going through the motions of living.

Relationships Matter - Strong Alpha Adults are essential in the lives of youth and children.

The central component to Neufeld’s theory of resilience is the importance of a strong alpha
adult in every child’s life in order to serve as a compass point (Neufeld, 2018); providing
unconditional love, support and guidance at every step. One of Dr. Neufeld’s greatest fears
is that increasingly, children are taking their behavioural cues from interactions with peers,
rather than from adults who, by our very nature as humans, are meant to support, and
guide children as they progress through the developmental stages. Neufeld speaks to the
importance of children being able to work through their feelings in a supportive and safe
environment in order to develop to their full potential. For this to happen the following 3
basic conditions must be present in a child’s life:

playfulness - opportunities to escape and unwind such as music, art and games

restfulness - moments of peace and solitude in a quiet, safe place such as a natural area in
a playground or a quiet reading corner

feelingfulness (Neufeld, 2018) - opportunities which allow students to connect with their
feelings such as sharing circles, and other safe spaces with trusted adults for showing and
sharing feelings

So, what does all of this mean for educators and how can Neufeld’s theory inform our
practice?

It’s no secret that educators are on the front lines as we continue to lead our youth into the
21st century. There is an enormous responsibility to ensure that we prepare our students to
be lifelong learners, and contributing members of society. This sounds daunting, but as
educators, we are naturally caring individuals. We are well positioned to support students on
their journey towards resilience which will create a strong foundation for them to build future
success.

What we have to do is be mindful of the influence we have in shaping a child’s journey
towards resilience, and design learning environments which foster the development of
strong relationships with our students. Some simple strategies to consider include:

Greeting students at the door to your room prior to the beginning of every class
Taking the time to engage with all students about important events in their lives and following up from previous conversations. “How was your game/test/interview?”
Sharing/Talking Circles
Inviting parents and grandparents into the classroom
Maintaining ongoing communication with parents and guardians via phone calls and email
Leading and/or attending school-based extra-curricular activities

Remember that as trusted educators, we are in a position where the relationships we
build with students, and the opportunities we create for playfulness, restfulness and
feelingfulness will have a significant impact in a child’s ability to be resilient.

References

Neufeld, G. (2018).: Proceedings from A Neufeld Institute Conference: Resilience,

Recovery and Relationship: Towards Flourishing Children and Youth. MB,

Winnipeg.

Resilience. (2019). In Merriam-Webster Dictionary online. Retrieved from

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resilience

Tuesday, 12 February 2019

Visualization and Spatial Processing in Mathematics

~Geri Lorway, Thinking101

Written by Darla Milford

~Instructional Coach~

‘Do You See It?’

These were the first words asked of the Grade 3 students at Spitzee Elementary by Math Guru
Geri Lorway...and it was a phrase that was repeated intentionally over the next 2 days as we
watched Geri engage in spatial processing, vocabulary development, and rich mathematical
thinking with students.

Visual Spatial Processing is the ability to tell where things are in space and by ‘space’ I mean seeing
objects, whether it is puzzle pieces, dot configurations, or body parts, in relation to the world around
you. Ones’ early proficiency in visual spatial reasoning is an indicator of success in not only
numeracy but literacy.

We were introduced to the idea of a ‘Quick Draw,’ a dialogue-rich, visualization activity that was
created by Dr. Grayson H. Wheatley, a math researcher of nearly 40 years who has done research
on the development of spatial reasoning in children. The link to his website is below.

Quick Draw, Developing Spatial Sense in Mathematics

Using this activity, students visualized key geometric elements in the given shape by seeing it 3 times:

seeing the geometric image once and drawing what they had seen
seeing the image again and adding to or reorienting their thinking
finally being presented with the image to see how their own drawing compared to
the original image

This was the image used with the students.

Geri then moved on to creating a vocabulary list with the students that explained the image they
had just seen using mathematical language. Through rich discourse and open-ended questioning,
students were able to clarify and extend their thinking to make new meaning of the shape they had
seen.

In mathematics language is key to understanding and being intentional in using this math vocabulary
while speaking about math and listening to one another, will help develop our thinking.

This was just one of many activities used during our 2-day Math Professional Development with
Geri Lorway. If you visit her website Thinking 101 you will see that Geri believes in the power of
spatial reasoning.

According to Geri, ‘Spatial reasoning is the reasoning we use to learn, anything!’

If you’re interested in learning about other spatial reasoning activities like using area models in
multiplication or using dot arrangements to demonstrate subitizing and visualization,
visit Thinking 101 or talk to your Instructional Coach.

Wednesday, 5 December 2018

Warming up the Mind for Mathematical Thinking!

Written by Rebecca Forchuk, Principal

DMG Professional Learning Day, November 23, 2018

Students come to math class with different interests and understanding of concepts, but regardless of where they are on the continuum, students are adaptable. Teachers can enhance learning when we plan for this variability in math. Exploring instructional strategies that consider this variability was the focus of Dr. Morris Gibson’s staff learning day on November 23^rd. I had the opportunity to learn, alongside the staff, from their admin team and Wanda Dechant, Designer of Professional Learning, Calgary Regional Consortium.

Kevin, Principal of DMG, pointed out the importance of warm ups in math and made connections to other areas of life: athletes warm up, musicians warm up and so too should mathematicians. The benefits are:

Bridges transition time for students.

Allows students to shift to mathematical thinking.

Builds confidence through successful math opportunities that are at the right level.

Provides effective, yet easy, differentiation opportunities when using open ended or ‘low floor, high ceiling’ tasks.

Reviews prior learning and provides formative assessment to teachers.

Makes thinking visible; students hear/see the thinking of others

(Adapted from DMG PowerPoint slide 27, Nov 23^rd)

There are several warm ups that develop the 7 processes of math, which are foundational to mathematical understanding. This week we are going to explore one of those warm ups:

Warm Up #1: How Many Dots

Ask students:

“How many dots do you see?”

Flash the picture for three seconds on the Smartboard. Warn students it will be F-A-S-T! If you need to show it again, do so. But again, make it quick – three seconds or less. The purpose of this task is NOT a correct answer.

Ask students to share how many dots they saw. Try to get variability in students’ answers.

Here comes the mathematical thinking. Ask:

“How did you see the dots?”

While students share how they saw the dots, the teacher captures the student’s visual representation on chart paper or Smartboard by doing two things:

Draw lines from dot-to-dot to represent how they saw the dots.
Write down the equation that represents their visualization.

The picture below demonstrates what your chart paper might look like after students show their thinking:

(Taken from DMG PowerPoint Slide 33, Nov 23^rd)

Picture 1: How teacher "saw" the dot card

I participated in this warm up twice: once with Div 1 teachers and again with Div 2 teachers. Figure 1 shows the diverse ways in which everyone on staff saw the dots on this card. Each division of teachers came up with entirely different ways to visualize the same dot card! See Picture 1 for the various ways teachers saw the dot card.

Through our discussions after the task, we came to consensus such a warm up can develop the processes of visualization, reasoning, communication and estimation. This task also develops:

Spatial reasoning
Positive mathematical mindset
Understanding there is a variety of perspectives in math
Understanding there are multiple pathways to arrive at an answer.
Ability to subitize

At the end of the session, admin tasked teachers with homework: try one of the warm ups from the session before their next PLC meeting. It is clear that students as young as Grade 1 can benefit from “How Many Dots.” It really demonstrates variability when a student visualized the dots as a picture of a fish – what a unique way to see them!

This proves to be a great low floor, high ceiling task. Dot cards (just Google “dot cards math” to find an endless number of them) can be simple and range in complexity:

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

Watch the blog over the next few weeks when we explore more Math Warm Ups that develop number sense, processes of math, and growth mindset based on professional learning at DMG!

A big thank you to the admin and staff at DMG for inviting me to their session and sharing their learning journey!

Monday, 26 November 2018

Power of Mindsets In Math

Written by Marsi Quarin-Wright, Instructional Coach

Online Teacher Course by Jo Boaler: youcubed.com

I was recently introduced to the work of Jo Boaler and the website youcubed.org. What caught my interest is where she says math learning begins. Her starting point is fundamental to the vison of FSD and the role relationships play in learning. To me, this is not a typical starting point in understanding math. What furthered my curiosity was watching this approach to math instruction in a classroom. I listened to the teacher’s positive talk and how engaged students were in the lessons. The most impressive is listening to how students in her class love math, describe 3-D shapes with excitement and apply proper math vocabulary. I knew I had to investigate more. I went on to the website and found that there was an online course I could take. I signed up!

I was nervous and fearful; what was I doing taking a math course? What if I had to add or multiply something? To my surprise, as I logged in and found the first sections of the course were on Math Mindset, Mistakes and Persistence, and Teaching for a Growth Mindset. Dr. Boaler quickly dispelled the myths of math, such as:

· math is only for smart people

· you either get math or you don’t.

Taken from youcubed.com - Growth Mindset by Jo Boaler: retrieved from https://bhi61nm2cr3mkdgk1dtaov18-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/When-You-Believe-in-Your-Students-They-Do-Better.pdf

She uses brain research to show that everyone is capable of learning math to high levels. I quickly realized that math has a bad reputation and my own worries about taking this class fed into that bad reputation. I quickly understood and turned my worries into wonders and began to see math in a new light.

Over the years I have heard from friends, family, parents and students – “I hate math” or “I’m no good at math”. I think it is vitally important that we become more aware of how these passing comments can affect how students’ view and ultimately learn math. We need to focus on the positives and not create unnecessary anxiety in students by continuing to discuss math in a negative way. Using a growth mindset can offset many of these fears for our students. We need to use mistakes as a path to a deeper understanding of math. Having students see that persevering through difficult tasks is a way to make our math brain grow.

Where to start? I encourage everyone to take a look at youcubed.org.

In particular, look under Tasks and More à Week of Inspirational Math.

This starts that switch in mindset in math. You can check out the online student class on youcubed.org called, “How to Learn Math: For Students;” its free and another great place to start for everyone. The whole site is really amazing and provides practical, easy to use lessons for all teachers – even for those who think they “aren’t good at math”…

Tuesday, 13 November 2018

Math Tools

By Julie Julian, Instructional Coach
Guided Math & Running Record, CRC Session with Dr.Nicki Newton

Math tools help students scaffold their thinking. All learners should be able to access them at any given moment, regardless of grade level.

“Good problem solvers usually construct a representation of the problems to help them comprehend it “(van Gardener & Montague, 2003), but representing mathematical information visually does not come naturally to most students. Visual representation should be explicitly taught and then practiced using a variety of tools.

Both hands-on manipulatives and virtual tools:

· Help convey concepts

· Help visualize mathematical ideas

· Model number relationships

Classroom Manipulatives

Manipulatives Tip Sheets http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/math/manipulative_use.html
The tip sheets for each of the listed manipulatives include a description of what they are, how they can help students, how many are recommended and sample activities. Unfortunately, many of the weblinks at the bottom of these PDF files aren’t active, but the tip sheets themselves are very helpful.

Algebra Tiles (pdf)

Base 10 Blocks (pdf)

Coloured Tiles (pdf)

Connecting Cubes (pdf)

Five and Ten Frames (pdf)

Fraction Circles (pdf)

Fraction Strips and Towers (pdf)

Geoboards (pdf)

Pattern Blocks (pdf)

Rekenreks (pdf)

Relational Rods (pdf)

Tangrams (pdf)

Beaded Number Line

https://guidedmath.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/the-beaded-number-line/

Have each student created a 100-bead beaded number line alternating colours every 10 beads This can be used for counting, skip counting, place value, rounding, adding, subtracting, number patterns, multiplication, division, and decimals.