Every time I think I feel confident about which curriculum I am going to use next year, I end up with more questions than answers. Ugh, it is very frustrating.
Today was day two of the CMP3 Institute and we did some more Investigations from the 6th grade unit, Prime Time, and I got some more good ideas about how to use CMP3 again in my classroom, and I left feeling pretty confident, that at least for 6th grade, CMP3 is the way to go. Then, of course, during lunch I go back to researching and comparing CMP3 vs Engage (aka Eureka) and I have major doubts about the alignment. All I know for sure is that I love the explorations in CMP3 (they fit my teaching style perfectly and teach mathematics deeply) but the focus & coherence of CMP3 is just not as good as Engage (see this post).
Not to add more pressure, but this little tidbit about my new school was also released yesterday, Astoria School Scores 100 Percent Passing Rate on State Math Exam: Data. 96% of my new seventh graders passed their 6th grade math exam. Teaching G&T is going to be a whole new world for me, and as excited as I am, I feel even more pressure not to mess up.
Ugh, so much to think about in the next three weeks. Double ugh, in exactly three weeks, tomorrow will be the first day of school. Super excited to meet my new kids, but definitely feeling the pressure of the new year.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Monday, August 17, 2015
CMP3 Institute, 30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 3, and Summer Reading
Today was the first day of a week-long Getting to Know CMP3 Institute for Grade 6. My new principal asked me a few weeks ago if I would be interested in attending, and although I have attended similar PDs before (and haven't always found them to be the most helpful), since 6th grade is new for me this year, I figured why not.
It was kind of slow-paced, but we went through the first four problems in Prime Time, and our presenters were actual current CMP3 teachers (not from NY, mind you, but I appreciate the fact that they are current teachers and not outsiders trying to sell me on Pearson).
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the freedom of summer vacation, but I did kind of, sort of get excited about the new school year. Not that I don't get excited every year, but its different this year, since I'll be in a new district and school. Lot's of good possibilities!
I also figured today was a good day for day 3 of the 30 day blogging challenge:
Day 3:
Discuss one *observation* area that you would like to improve on for your teacher evaluation.
Discuss one *observation* area that you would like to improve on for your teacher evaluation.
Especially after getting back into "work mode" today, the two Danielson areas that I most want to improve on this year are 1E: Designing Coherent Instruction and 3D: Using Assessment in Instruction. I still feel that there is a disconnect between how I want to teach my students and how I am assessing them. It's that balance between good mathematical teaching and mastering all of the material for the state test. I've already updated my test question bank with the released state test questions, but I still struggle with curriculum. I want to go back to using CMP3, but like I learned in last week's blog post from EdReports, there are better curriculums aligned to the Common Core, like EngageNY. I have lots to think about over the next three weeks.
On a side note, I also downloaded this book a few weeks ago, and I want to read it before the school year starts back up, but I am in the middle of one of my book club books that I am really enjoying (A Man Called Ove) and don't want to put down just yet. #summergoals
Monday, August 10, 2015
Curriculum, curriculum, curriculum
So, my original today was supposed to be about first day of school resources on Pinterest and Engage NY releasing the 2015 state test questions, but then I came across this article on TheDailyBeast, The Great Common Core Textbook Swindle. The article from last month is about the majority of math "Common Core aligned textbooks" that really aren't that well aligned - something I think all math teachers these past few years can relate to, including myself.
The article references the nonprofit, EdReports, that set about to review elementary and middle school math textbooks, and found that "of the more than 80 textbooks it reviewed, just 11 met expectations for alignment with the Common Core." Even more interesting, "nine of those books were from a single series, "Eureka Math" by publisher Great Minds, whose materials aligned with Common Core from kindergarten through eighth grade." My interest was definitely peeked.
After registering and doing some research of my own on the Eureka Math website, I learned that the curriculum materials Eureka Math were (mostly) the same as Engage NY, at least for the middle school. What made this a big deal for me is that in 2012-13, and 2013-14, I used Connected Math as my primary curriculum. I loved the investigations and the design of the lessons, but I felt is was still lacking in terms of Common Core (even though CMP3 was "Common Core aligned"), and this year decided to use Engage NY as my primary curriculum. I thought the flow of the units in Engage was much better, but the resources themselves were not easy to navigate. Ultimately, I wasn't 100% happy with either resource.
Why did finding this article and learning about Eureka Math make me so happy?
Well, as I begin to plan out this year, and am once again faced with decisions of what resources to use, I am happy to learn that there is something good about Engage NY's/Eureka Math's curriculum maps and unit plans (even though I learned this on my own last year, it's nice to have it backed up with research). I also know that the problems in Connected Math are engaging and are a sound basis for developing meaningful mathematical understanding. So moving forward, blending the two is going to be my goal. Now, this was my goal last year too, but Engage NY was new to me then, and I feel I have a much better idea (at least for the 7th grade) about how to navigate moving forward. I also feel better prepared knowing where Engage NY comes from.
Between signing up and exploring Eureka Math, and organizing the released 2015 state test questions, I'd say that today was a pretty productive summer "work" day, that is hopefully laying the foundation for a productive 2015-16 school year.
The article references the nonprofit, EdReports, that set about to review elementary and middle school math textbooks, and found that "of the more than 80 textbooks it reviewed, just 11 met expectations for alignment with the Common Core." Even more interesting, "nine of those books were from a single series, "Eureka Math" by publisher Great Minds, whose materials aligned with Common Core from kindergarten through eighth grade." My interest was definitely peeked.
After registering and doing some research of my own on the Eureka Math website, I learned that the curriculum materials Eureka Math were (mostly) the same as Engage NY, at least for the middle school. What made this a big deal for me is that in 2012-13, and 2013-14, I used Connected Math as my primary curriculum. I loved the investigations and the design of the lessons, but I felt is was still lacking in terms of Common Core (even though CMP3 was "Common Core aligned"), and this year decided to use Engage NY as my primary curriculum. I thought the flow of the units in Engage was much better, but the resources themselves were not easy to navigate. Ultimately, I wasn't 100% happy with either resource.
Why did finding this article and learning about Eureka Math make me so happy?
Well, as I begin to plan out this year, and am once again faced with decisions of what resources to use, I am happy to learn that there is something good about Engage NY's/Eureka Math's curriculum maps and unit plans (even though I learned this on my own last year, it's nice to have it backed up with research). I also know that the problems in Connected Math are engaging and are a sound basis for developing meaningful mathematical understanding. So moving forward, blending the two is going to be my goal. Now, this was my goal last year too, but Engage NY was new to me then, and I feel I have a much better idea (at least for the 7th grade) about how to navigate moving forward. I also feel better prepared knowing where Engage NY comes from.
Between signing up and exploring Eureka Math, and organizing the released 2015 state test questions, I'd say that today was a pretty productive summer "work" day, that is hopefully laying the foundation for a productive 2015-16 school year.
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