Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP)
Mathematics Leadership Academy
for Middle School and High School Teachers
a partnership with
Ansonia and Hamden Public Schools
Southern Connecticut State University
Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science (PIMMS-Wesleyan University)
Connecticut School Districts: ACES, Amity, Bolton, CT Technical High Schools, Cromwell,
East Haven, Manchester, Newington, Seymour, Shelton, Stratford, Waterbury

KNOWLEDGE   SKILLS   LEADERSHIP

Information for TLCs

Information for Leadership Instructors

The Coaching Unit

Summer 2007 Mathematics Courses

Differentiated Instruction
Mj Terry's PowerPoint Presentation

NOTICE for TLCs: Dell Warranties expire end of March! If any of you are having problems that require service -- be sure to contact Dell before that time!

-Tip provided by Angie!

INFORMATION  FOR  TLCs

GLSP-Wesleyan University Graduate Credit for Coaching (2006-07): 

A Checksheet is available for TLCs as a reminder of the final requirements for completing the course including assessment of TCTs and students, and reports about the coaching experience.

In October 2006, all TLCs received the "Requirements for Spring Graduate Credit" sheet which included the forms that must be submitted to the Leadership Instructor for Spring 2007 credit. If you need to review a copy of these requirements, you can download a copy (see side bar). All materials must be turned in to the LI by the last Learning Community meeting following the conclusion of the fourth Coaching Unit (May 19).

NOTE: TLCs who did NOT submit transcripts and Immunizations for the FAll 2006 credits and who wish to receive credit for the Coaching Unit, must submit these documents before March 31, 2007.
    PIMMS-Wesleyan University
     Attn: Patti Miller
     178 Cross St.
     Middletown, CT  06459
(Please remember that transcripts must be originals sent directly from the Institution to PIMMS. Opened transcripts can not be accepted.)

TLCs who received credit in Fall 2006 do not need to resubmit transcripts or immunization forms for the Spring 2007 credits. However, they must submit the Spring 2007 Registration Form that was distributed at the March 30-31 workshop.
 

Requirements for Spring Graduate Credit

Spring 07 Registration Form
 

REQUIRED FORMS
(must be submitted after each Coaching Unit to your Leadership Instructor)
Coaching Unit Summary (Word)
Outcomes Checklist (Word)

COACHING UNITS

INFORMATION FOR LEADERSHIP INSTRUCTORS

REMINDER:
Please submit the following by the end of the meeting, May 19:
  LI Checksheet
  LI Mentor Log
  TLC Summaries and Checklists
     -Coaching Unit Summaries
     -Outcomes Checklists
     -Presentation summaries  

COACHING UNITS

SUMMER 2007 MATHEMATICS COURSES

Dr. Bob Rosenbaum will be offering two mathematics courses to MLA teachers, culminating in the awarding of a PIMMS Fellows Designation... 

June 27, 28, 29, July 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11

Wesleyan University

Daily Schedule:                      

    8:30 – 11:45  Math 501: Structure of Number Systems  

   12:15 – 3:30  Math 502: Shapes and Space

Faculty: 
Bob Rosenbaum and Sandie Coelho will be the principal instructors, leading all sessions.  There will also be some guest faculty, mainly for discussion of instructional technology.

Purposes and Spirit of the Program

Constructed for middle- and high-school mathematics teachers, the program is intended

• to increase your appreciation of mathematics—literally, your understanding, enjoyment, and usage of the subject.  Mathematics will be approached as both a tool for problem-solving and as a system of thought.  See E.T. Bell, “Mathematics, the Queen and the Handmaiden of the Sciences.”

• to develop instructional leaders; and

• to help you differentiate instruction in your heterogeneous classrooms.

These courses are designed in the spirit of the great 19^th century German mathematician, Felix Klein, who, concerned for the improvement of mathematics education, wrote a two-volume monograph whose English translation is entitled Elementary Mathematics from an Advanced Standpoint.

Mathematics 501 addresses conceptual frameworks for the arithmetic of the Natural Numbers, the Rational Numbers, and the Real Algebraic Irrationals, with some mention of the Transcendentals and the Complex Numbers. 

Mathematics 502 deals with the geometry of two and three dimensional Euclidean space, and with a solid introduction to the concepts and significance of non-Euclidean geometries.

The two courses are closely linked through many problems and puzzles, as well as in the sense of Descartes’ Analytic Geometry.  Therefore, it is strongly recommended that participants enroll for both Math 501 and Math 502 together.

To ensure the accessibility of the subject matter of the courses to a diverse audience, all topics will be initiated in a concrete setting, with patterns and generalizations, and conjectures and proofs, developed jointly by the participants in class.

To illustrate the concepts discussed in class there will be a constant flow of examples, problems, and puzzles suitable for students in grades 5-14.  These illustrations will be of varied difficulty, helping the participants offer appropriate and engaging materials to heterogeneous classes.

Topics from the history of mathematics will be introduced where they illuminate the development of mathematics and of human culture and increase students’ interest and engagement.

The instructors will lead the classes in a collegial, engaging fashion, providing each participant with the contents of two large notebooks that may be considered the texts for the courses:  exposition of subject matter, historical notes and anecdotes, alternate solutions of problems, discussion of philosophical and sociological aspects of mathematical topics, and references to the foregoing matters.

Reciprocally, participants in the courses will be expected to attend all sessions faithfully, in a diligent and committed manner.  Intellectually illuminating and pedagogically useful contributions of participants will be reproduced for the benefit of all.

The Coaching Phase of the MLA Project is comprised of four Coaching Units, each of which is a series of activities involving a Leadership Instructor (the LI or coaching "mentor"), a group of Teacher-Leader-Coaches (TLCs) from different schools within a Learning Community (LC), and the teachers being coached (the "coachee") during the project.  Each of the four Coaching Units have four components, although some are combined into one meeting to limit the time and travel required for the Learning Communities to meet together.

The four components of each Coaching Unit are:

1. LC Planning Meeting: LIs and TLCs discuss plans and strategies for the upcoming coaching sessions (see 2 and 3 below). These discussions take place within a Learning Community which brings together one LI and the TLCs from different schools or districts within that Learning Community. Note: the first LC Planning Meeting for this project took place during the Fall 2006 workshop and Planning Meeting #4 will take place during the March 2007 workshop. For Coaching Units 2 and 3, the LC Planning Meeting is combined with a Reflection Meeting to economize on travel and meeting time.
2. Coaching session 1: These sessions involve the TLC and his/her coachee. Each session is intended to include a "pre" meeting to discuss plans, an actual coaching session -- which could be model-teaching, co-teaching, or observing -- and a "post" meeting to reflect on the experience discuss what each learned from the experience. Note: during Coaching Unit #1, this first meeting will also include the TLCs mentor (Leadership Instructor) who will demonstrate modeling a lesson or co-teaching, and will model how to conduct a pre- and post meeting for a coaching experience.
3. Coaching session 2: A continuation of the first coaching session.
4. LC Reflection Meeting: LIs and TLCs meet again to reflect on the coaching experiences from the Unit and share ideas and offer solutions to solve problems. Note: LC Reflection Meeting for Coaching Unit 3 will take place during the March 2007 workshop.