We asked administrators in Alberta what skills, understandings & knowledge they would like to add to their toolkit as they observe, supervise and support math teachers in their schools. From their feedback we designed this professional growth series.
TQS 3 states: A teacher applies a current and comprehensive repertoire of effective planning, instruction and assessment practices to meet the learning needs of every student, including, 'ensure that all students continuously develop skills in literacy and numeracy' .
Therefore the number one concern for administrators responding to this statement were: What do I need to know to recognize planning, instruction and assessment practices that reflect current and comprehensive knowledge of effective practices in the math classroom?
A key but the sole focus in this series will be developing your knowledge and understanding of the role number sense & number concepts plays in student’s ability to recall and apply “basic facts. The basic fact that all math teachers must come to master is that number properties and relationships are the missing link that bridges the numeracy gap.
During the sessions we will consider how topics connect across the grades:
Number Concepts: including whole number, place value, fractions, decimals, percent, integers, ratios, square root, exponents
Building Number Sense to be successful with Multiplication and Division
Building Number Sense to be successful with Addition and Subtraction
Equations, Inequalities and Expressions: including Equality and inequality, One-step and two-step linear equations, difference between expression and equation, Polynomials