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Workshops/Presentations that Michelle Facilitates
Cognitively Guided Instruction (K-3)
Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) is a problem-solving mathematics program designed to improve number sense and computation for students in Kindergarten through third grades. It has been proven effective for boys and girls of diverse social class, racial and ethnic, and language proficiency backgrounds.
This K-3 instructional strategy focuses on student knowledge and encourages teachers to pose story problems that can be solved by any means chosen by the child. Problem-posing and problem-solving become the focus of the mathematics class, rather than the traditional emphasis on memorization of facts and algorithms. The research-based approach was developed by faculty at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin- Madison.
Each participant will be required to purchase Thinking Mathematically . This workshop consists of three professional days, followed by two advanced days later in the year.
Developing and Assessing Number Sense (Pre K-2)
In this workshop PreK- 2 teachers will be exposed to the necessary building blocks necessary for a child to develop true number sense. Many times in education we attempt to solve a symptom when we need to be addressing the core of the problem. The focus of this workshop is to provide teachers with the understanding necessary to identify the building blocks in developing number sense and to provide teachers with appropriate lessons and a diagnostic tool in which to measure students number sense.
Math For Little Folks - 2 part (K-2)
This two-day workshop will be fun, fun, fun and emphasize hands-on experience where participants learn by doing and explores the best ways to teach conceptual understanding of mathematics. The purpose of this two-day workshop is to immerse teachers in best practices as they explore how mathematic concepts can be taught in the primary classroom.
During the workshop we will investigate how to support students as they:
•construct strategies and big ideas related to addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division
•develop efficient computation
You’ll leave the workshop with a better understanding of students’ mathematical thinking and how to support their learning as they successfully develop an understanding of numbers and operations, algebraic thinking, geometric concepts, and data analysis.
Participants will receive an extensive, ready to use resource full of ideas to motivate all students in the classroom.
Unlocking the Number Sense Door (K-6)
This workshop will emphasize hands-on experiences where participants will learn by doing and explore the best ways to unlock the number sense door for students.
During the workshop we will investigate how to support students as they:
• construct strategies and 
big ideas related to addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division
• develop efficient computation methods
You’ll leave the workshop with a better understanding of students’ mathematical thinking and games to support their learning as they successfully develop an understanding of numbers.
This workshop addresses what the Number standard looks like when working with students. Best practices in mathematics will be modeled and shared throughout the workshop.
Participants will receive an extensive ready-to-use resource full of ideas to motivate all learners.
The Bridge to Algebra (K-6)
Can elementary school children really do algebra? Absolutely! While the term “algebra” might be daunting, even the youngest students can readily understand this kind of math. The development o
f algebraic concepts has become a central focus of the NCTM math standards. Classroom teachers in elementary school must engage students in developmentally appropriate tasks that build the necessary foundation for understanding algebra. This workshop emphasizes hands-on experience and includes ideas of patterns and relationships, equalities and inequalities, functions, and models. Leave with ideas you can use in your classroom to address the Algebra standard tomorrow.
This workshop addresses what the Algebra standard looks like when working with students.
Participants will receive an extensive ready-to-use resource full of ideas to motivate all learners.
Hands on Geometry (K-6)
Did you know ... "Children who develop a strong sense of spatial relationships and master concepts of geometry are better prepared to learn number and measurement ideas ...." from Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for Mathematics.
Participants will have the opportunity to explore, to model and solve problems, search for
patterns, and raise questions. Participants will become a community of learners engaged in activity, discourse, and reflection.
This workshop addresses what the Geometry standard looks like when working with students. Best practices in mathematics will be modeled and shared throughout the workshop.
Participants will receive an extensive ready-to-use resource full of ideas to motivate all learners.
Shake, Rattle and Roll (K-6)
Find out how to nurture mathematical wonder, creativity, and understanding in your math classroom. Did you know ... A recent study of NAEP data suggests that in mathematics, "students whom teachers emphasize higher-order thinking skills outperform their peers by about 40% of a grade level... students whose teachers conduct hands-on learning activities out perform their peers by more than 70% of a grade level?" (Wenglinsky, 2000).
This workshop emphasizes hands-on experience where participants learn by doing and explores the best ways to teach conceptual understanding of probability and data .
The main purpose of collecting data is to answer questions when the answers are not immediately obvious. Through data investigation students will also wrestle with counting issues. Whom do I count? How can I be certain I have counted each piece of data once and only once? Students representations should be discussed, shared with classmates, and valued because they reflect the students understanding. Probability will be addressed through informal activities.
Participants will receive an extensive ready-to-use resource full of ideas to motivate all learners.
Math Write-on Models (2-6)
“Mathematical models such as concrete objects, pictures, diagrams, number lines, unifix cubes, hundred charts, or base ten blocks are necessary for conceptual understanding and should be used to explain computational procedures.” -- Principles and Standards NCTM
Math manipulatives and models, used regularly in the classroom, can be used on the Kansas Mathematics Assessments. So how do I go about knowing which manipulatives to use with which standards? This workshop will provide participants with an opportunity to explore and connect the following models to the state standards:
- Process models
- Place value models
- Fraction models
- Money models
- Function tables
- Geometric models
- Graphs and tables
- Venn diagrams
The ways in which mathematical ideas are represented is fundamental to how students understand and use those ideas. As students work with different representations of the same situation, they begin to develop an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of various representations/models.
This workshop will provide learners the opportunity to become active participants in the process of knowing, to construct their own models, ideas, and strategies.
Each participant will receive an Activity book focusing on
modeling/manipulative activities aligned to the assessed indicators at various grade levels and one set of “Write On” models placemats.
Teachers should bring:
Glue, scissors, tape, markers, crayons, colored pencils, dry erase marker and construction paper.
Please indicate the grade level of “Write On” models placemats you prefer:
__ K-2
__ 3-5
Developing Mathematical Ideas: Numbers and Operations(K-8)
Developing Mathematical Ideas - a case study, takes us to a whole new cognitive level for mathematics professional development.
Developing Mathematical Ideas (DMI) is a professional development curriculum designed to help teachers think through the major ideas of K-7 mathematics and examine how children develop those ideas. At the heart of the materials are sets of classroom episodes (cases) illustrating student thinking as described by their teachers. The curriculum also offers teachers opportunities: to explore mathematics in lessons led by a facilitator; to share and discuss the work of their own students; to view and discuss the videotapes of mathematics classrooms; to write their own classroom episodes; to analyze lessons taken from innovative elementary mathematics curricula; and to read overviews of related research.
In order to develop the depth and breadth of knowledge required for teaching, teachers need to learn in and from practice. They need to learn to elicit students’ thinking and to make sense of it in the context of classroom work. Teachers need to adopt a stance of inquiry in which they would “frame, guide, and revise tasks and pose questions, so as to learn more about students’ ideas and understanding.” And teachers need to learn how to use this knowledge to make shifts in lessons based on what students do and do not understand.
Each participant will be provided with a Casebook.
Thinking Mathematically - Integrating Arithmetic and Algebra in Elementary Schools (K-8)
This two day study group is designed for elementary math teachers who wants to examine how children learn mathematics. It is the bases of this study group that as educators we need to reconsider how arithmetic is taught and learned. We will examine children's conceptions and misconceptions that students bring to learning mathematics in the elementary grades.
Learning mathematics involves learning ways of thinking. It involves learning powerful mathematical ideas rather than a collection of disconnected procedures. But it also entails learning how to generate those ideas, how to express them using words and symbols, and how to justify to oneself and to others that those ideas are true.
We will use the book Thinking Mathematically - written by Thomas Carpenter. Author of Children's Mathematics - Cognitively Guided Instruction. This book provides a rich portrait of arithmetic set in a broader perspective on mathematics. The book is loaded with ideas to support the mathematical work of the teacher in pressing students, provoking, and supporting.
Math with Pizzazz (K-4)
This workshop will use games, stories, and chants to teach mathematics in a fun, engaging manner. The day will be activity-packed with ideas you can use in your elementary classroom tomorrow. The KidzMath programs will be one resource we utilize along with others. The read-alouds often inspire the children to read the books themselves. the follow-up activities help them learn math and develop socially as they work together and have fun. Through the stories, games, and chants, the kids learn that math can be found everywhere in everyday life.
Developing Mathematical Ideas: Focus on Geometry (K-8)
This 4-week class is classified as Results-Oriented Staff Development
Developing Mathematical Ideas (DMI) helps teachers improve the way they teach the big ideas of K-6 mathematics and examines how children approach and understand mathematics. DMI is a program of seminars to help teachers learn more mathematics and improve their mathematics instruction. Seminar participants focus on classroom episodes, or cases, that illustrate students’ mathematical thinking.
During this study group participants will examine aspects of two- and three-dimensional shapes, develop geometric vocabulary, and explore both definitions and properties of geometric objects. The study group includes a study of angle, similarity, congruence, and the relationships between 3-D objects and their 2-D representations.
Using Children’s Literature to Teach Math (K-5)
I believe strongly that motivation in students is a necessary component in creating a love for learning, especially in the area of mathematics. I have found that children’s books are wonderful for sparking students imaginations in ways that textbooks and worksheets often don’t. Students who find their strengths in reading, find the mathematics less intimidating through literature books.
This day will be packed with several literature books and mathematics activities. Some may be short, one-day activities, others will be full week integrated mathematics lessons.
Number Sense +(K-6)
What makes mathematics so confusing to students? To be successful in arithmetic, algebra, geometry, or data, students must be able to decode mathematics including terms, symbols, and concepts. This workshop will target literacy strategies to improve mathematics instruction. We will discuss mathematics as a “second” language, reading and comprehending math text, using writing to focus thinking, and implementing graphic representations and effective classroom discourse to construct meaning.
