7 - Best Math Practices

Would you mark a student wrong for their spelling on a test?

Clearly that is an open-ended question and in an English/L.A. class, probably. Well - what if this was a math test and student was asked to explain how to add fractions? Would you still deduct marks for spelling denominator incorrectly? (if the outcome is to add fractions)

What if a student uses a clock analogy to explain how to add fractions that their tutor showed them (1/4 plus 1/4 is one-half of an hour) and the next day, was told that it was not the prescribed way that they learned in class, and so it was marked incorrect?

I am told that both of the above scenarios happened. Part of me is not surprised. 

Math. Just using the "m"-word in certain circles could start a fight. Whether it is PISA (international assessment) results, comments from post-secondary professors, parent-initiated petitions, etc., the newer style of learning math is very controversial right now. People either love or hate it - it seems polarizing and there is a growing hatred, even in the media (David Staples). 

I'm going to make a bold statement: In my opinion, I think math should make sense. (clearly that sentence should be safe in any room) The entire goal of the new philosophy was to ensure students don't only know a prescribed formula for math processes - they should understand why things work and have a deeper understanding. If that makes sense....then maybe the issue is with implementation. If a teacher interprets new math as a need to learn by many methods instead of one that makes sense, could misinterpreting a philosophy be the biggest danger to our students? 

If I explain to students WHY the method below works, instead of just learning the process, shouldn't that be sufficient?  Again, math is supposed to make sense.

If I forced a student to learn three different ways and grade them on all of them, I don't think that is making things any more clear. The intent of the new philosophy is for students to find a way that works for them. If the approach above works, use it. If a number of students struggle THEN let's move on and try something else.

NEW VS OLD : The battle

My wife is an elementary teacher, and it is almost a faux-pas to do "mad minutes" (timed drills to encourage memorization of multiplication tables). WHAT?! Why?! Why is being able to recall numbers so terrible that we needed to abolish that practice?

I WANT  NEED my students in grade eleven to answer "8 times 6" by heart. Not all of them can. Because of this, scaffolding concepts like factoring becomes a struggle.

Why don't we simply incorporate understanding with recall? I want my students to know 8 times 6 by heart AND know what it means. Instead, it has become new math vs old math. One or the other. Let's add "inquiry" and "discovery" into the system that created us. Don't let anyone say it is one or the other. It should not be a battle.

I'm not against any philosophy of trying to make math make sense. I'm not 100% happy with how it math is going either. My student's lack of confidence as they type 7 x 1 into their calculator at 16-years of age is evident of that. 

Maybe we need to stop thinking that everything needs to be polarized. New vs. Old.  Good vs. Bad. Maybe all that matters is how well we implement and execute. 

6 - Competencies for the 21st Century Learner

Competencies for the 21st Century Learner is what drives Inspiring Education. I first saw the following imagine on twitter and people seemed pretty excited to re-"tweet" it.

It feels like a lot of the AISI themes that have been a priority in recent years are at the core of competencies. Even the navigation (on the right side) of Alberta Education's website for this topic of competencies has these themes:

Okay, so what are these competencies? The following graphic is what you are guaranteed to see again and again and again in the next few years. The "three-Es" are the guiding traits students are expected to graduate with. How students achieve these is through all center items (creativity, communication, collaboration, etc.)

In my opinion, I very much understand the focus on competencies. I would love to focus on my student's character traits and build our next generation. My biggest question is in regards to assessment. Will our assessments still be measuring outcomes like we do now? Or will "gradebook" primarily assess things like communication and collaboration? How do I make a math test using factoring as a vehicle to grade communication? 

I look forward to seeing what the curriculum prototyping creates and how people are assessing competencies. I certainly don't know how an outcome-based course like math or science will do it, so I hope someone out there is thinking outside the box.

5 - Remember the Bubble?

At the time of contract negotiations, there were feelings of fear and an overwhelming pressure that we needed to sign the "deal" or else...

The four-year contract that was offered included a three-year wage freeze, followed by a two per cent increase in 2015 and a one per cent cash bonus in the final year (that we never received because we were legislated back)

CBC article

For taking the wage freeze, we mainly got a C2 work study out of it. This is the current workload study being done which examines what the job of a teacher entails. What I find a bit entertaining, is that by the time C2 is complete and a proposal is made, the entire study will be outdated. Remember that whole "Inspiring Education" thing where "everything is changing". Maybe we will get another study in 2016?

(update - The Task Force for Teaching Excellence will issue its report by mid-March of 2014. )
Regardless, we understood on the government side that oil was 'tanking' and that the the province had no money to offer. So we "accepted" a FOUR-year deal legislation. 


ALL ABOUT OIL

The Alberta government came up with the term "bitumen bubble" to explain how it was likely to lose almost $6 billion in royalty revenues. Later news articles would eventually talk about a "burst" as prices started to rise.


What was this bubble that changed everyone's lives? I am glad you asked!

First Energy posts a number of oil prices. Specifically:

- Western Canada Select (WCS)       <--local "lower-grade" oil
- West Texas Intermediate (WTI) <--American "higher-grade" oil

"Canadian producers (WCS) have been suffering through a prolonged period of discounted domestic prices because of oil export bottlenecks that often cause an oversupply."

This differential between WTI and WCS, as it is called, is bad.

How bad, you might ask? From Baytex, I grabbed some historical values and did some fancy excel work. Click on it to enlarge:

At the time of writing this, the WTI price is $102.59 and the differential is 26.68.

Essentially, a large grey "differential" value is not good. The higher the grey line, the more our oil is discounted. The bitumen bubble alarms peaked at the red vertical line, around December 2012. What stands out is how much it has ALWAYS fluctuated. Just after the red line, look at how our WCS price rebounded (and then fell again).

Many people questioned the forecasting because Alberta's 2012 budget was based on the forecasted WTI price at $99.25/barrel. This is the green line. Around the time of the bubble, we were selling a devalued product (represented by the differential) like has happened repeatedly in the past. I'm not sure how much I agree, but the entire variability of our government revenues seems strange.


IN RECENT NEWS

Alberta Budget Moves Towards Surplus
This article is from February 26th, 2014 . 

"Higher oil prices, strong tax revenues and the weakening Canadian dollar have helped the Alberta government move its current operating budget toward a year-end surplus."

I know many teachers paychecks have actually decreased because of a new gov't pension reform policy and increased union fees when combined with the James Bond-like 0002. It stings a bit seeing how variable that chart above is. Within half-a-year of the "bubble", oil prices rose up to above-forecasted levels, even if they have dipped back down since.

Four years is a long time.

4 - Dual Credit Strategy

If you are still new to teaching an haven't yet realized - schools are businesses and our finances govern our decisions. Boundary exemptions, credit recovery, student release forms - even the competition for students itself adds pressure on a system that I still hope has student's best interests at its core. Some days the politics get taxing.

I've already come to understand that credits are not as simple as "x" number of dollars for each credit a student earns. I understand that CTS and special education may receive a different dollar value that an academic course - understandable. In elementary, it is day 1 that starts the funding model.

As a reminder about High School Redesign....It's funding model, I have been told, has also changed from the current system. I will have the opportunity to explore this further, but it also intends to offer students the chance at "recovering credits" in courses that they may have barely failed (instead of redoing an entire semester). BUT, the Dual Credit Strategy is different.

The Dual Credit Strategy is partnering with many facets to given students credit or hours towards post-secondary (not just college/univ.) . I currently hold the title of Advanced Placement Coordinator, which at its core, is doing university in high school. It is quite a process to build the program, but students at my school can get credit in university Calculus/Biology/Physics/Comp Sci/English/Stats/History/Chemistry. Imagine the cost-savings and lessened-workload.

The idea the Alberta Education seems to be working on is bigger than just some specific university courses. It sounds like we are talking about the trades/industry/business AS WELL AS post-secondary.

It is supposed to:

- engage students in their learning through pathways that open their possible futures;- motivate students to finish high school;- inspire students to learn, work and live in the local community; and- give students the confidence to transition from high school to post-secondary and/or the workplace

I could imagine this is a large undertaking because the opportunities after high school are not a concise list. BUT (as of February 26):

"The first application intake for the Strategy is now complete. To date, nine applications have been approved for funding. These successful applications are allowing for dual credit opportunities across the province in the areas of agriculture, business and entrepreneurship, computing science, esthetics, tourism and hospitality, natural resources and environmental science, oil and gas, and tourism and hospitality. Another 18 applications have been conditionally approved. "

It sounds like industry and business are starting to sign up. There's a VERY specific and lengthy document for these partners to look at, but for the most part, I think I have explained the core idea behind the Dual Credit Strategy.

If nothing else, it is patting my school on the back for its continued work in Advanced Placement since 1991.

3 - Curriculum Redesign

"The vision of Inspiring Education is transformation. All students are inspired to achieve success and fulfillment as the “Three Es”: engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit."

Other than Competencies for the 21st Century Learner, Curriculum Redesign was one of the first aspects of Inspiring Education that I heard about. At the time, I thought it would be a philosophy that would be implemented into each "timeline-staggered" course when each new curriculum came about -a "wading" into the shallow end, of sorts. I was mistaken. We are looking at 2016 as a potential entrance into the deep end of the pool.

[UPDATE: 2016 is not a fixed  date of implementation. 2020 was mentioned as even possible, depending upon how "learning" goes.]

The key wording that I find explains the breadth of impacts of curriculum redesign is:

"Alberta Education is revising provincial curriculum, which includes programs of study, assessments, and learning and teaching resources, as well as the processes for developing these components of curriculum."

Alberta Education's tagline "everything is changing" appears to be present, once again. The following graphic below shows up on many of the websites, and is fairly clear on the overall shifts that they are looking for:

I see things like a shift to digitally based resources, which makes sense considering the LRC's recent "shift". For a lengthy time, we have always had a single authorized resource - does this parallel encyclopedias in the classroom? I understand the logic in moving away from that, though it is very comforting having and "all-knowing" textbook.

The other idea that stands out above, is "more student focused". In a previous post, I even eluded to references of "student-lead" parent-teacher interviews. It's putting more responsibility on the student.  (It's hard right now to not see it all as putting more responsibility on the teacher, but I'll ty to be open-minded in my quest.) I get a very STRONG impression that education should be tailored to each individual student. How that will be feasible, will be interesting. I know that Outreach programs have been doing that for years.

The key theme, though, that stares back at me is the continued idea of a decentralized education (as I have eluded to before) - more local decision-making in regards to curriculum and structure. It feels like teachers won't be expected to come up with their own curricula - more likely, school boards (in partnership with the province). More information to come later on this topic under the "prototyping" heading.

The last comment in the chart above will become another post later....and it's big one. A Focus on Competencies. Our outcomes will be the vehicles to students becoming the "three-Es" (outside edge of graphic below). Specifically, the competencies that a 21st Century Learner should have:

I have lots that I could talk about in terms of competencies and assessment and how this vehicle may operate, but I will save that for another time. Curriculum Redesign is a more broad concept to look at before I get too carried away with this one facet.

As a math teacher, I see difficulty in assessing things like creativity and communication and entrepreneurial spirit when I have been grading students on specific outcomes for so long. I understand that our curriculum is going to shift in many ways, so I anticipate the results of anyone willing to "test" curriculum redesign. 

What I was surprised to find, was this is "testing" is underway and is called Curriculum Development Prototyping.



CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROTOTYPING

In August 2013, Alberta Education invited publicly funded school authorities to collaborate with the ministry in developing aspects of new Kindergarten to grade 12 provincial curriculum through a Request for Proposals (RFP).

This prototyping (field testing and curriculum creation) begins early in 2014 and is slated for completion in December 2014. After that, the curriculum development work will continue in the ministry with a target of having competency-focused and digitally based curriculum developed by March 2016.

[update: again, 2020 has been a date also mentioned. There is no fixed timeline for implementation.]

Take a moment and reread that last paragraph. It implies many things and begs many more questions from me. What things stand out for you?

CURRICULUM REDESIGN TIMELINE

(update Feb 28/14: The Department of Education has now announced the results of its ­curriculum prototyping project and is contracting out the development of most of Alberta’s program of studies to the Calgary Board of Education, in conjunction with about 22 other partners, including business and industry. )

In curriculum redesign, Alberta Education sees six subject/discipline areas (Arts Education, Language Arts [English, French Language Arts, Français], Mathematics, Social Studies, Sciences, Wellness) that will are differentiated. Prototyping (partners), for each discipline area, will:

− Develop draft K–12 Scope and Sequences;
− Identify classroom-based assessments and/or develop draft classroom-based assessments; 

− Identify learning and teaching resources and/or develop draft learning and teaching resources; and

− Develop a draft graphic organizer to illustrate the relationship among literacy, numeracy, the cross-curricular competencies and the subject/discipline areas

The Alberta Education has released is their Prototyping guide which is intending to explain how their current prototyping works.  (Q and A about protyping - not a bad document)


IN SUMMARY

It appears that there will a K-12 shift in curriculum. David Staples is a writer for the Edmonton Journal and has been very opinionated on the Math "issues" as of late and has a story in regards to the curriculum redesign. He's not impressed.

It will be very interesting to see how things go this year for schools prototyping because it's not JUST curriculum testing - it sounds like curriculum creation. Everything from assessments to outcomes to competencies is examines. Even after researching as much as I could, I still have many questions. 

• Why isn't curriculum redesign more clear?
• Is curriculum still in the hand of gov't ? (just getting input from local stakeholders?) [update: yes]
• How will curriculum/assessments look if it is competency-based? 
• Will diplomas be affected if we are testing outcomes as a "means to an end"? [update: it is very possible they will be affected.]
• (many more)

I encourage you to talk to leaders, colleagues, stakeholders, etc. to find out more. Answer my questions below or on twitter @MrLemko. The more we understand inspiring education, the more prepared we will be (and hopefully less afraid).

2 - High School Redesign

High School Redesign was first discussed at a coordinators meeting with my current principal as "it is coming - we need to decide what we want it to be". I decided to start my research with High School Redesign as it is nearest in my timeline.

(update: I have learned that the credit-model in many of these redesigned schools is different)

THE HSFEPP

The High School Flexibility Enhancement Pilot Project (HSFEPP) sounds like a fancy acronym. I personally don't think it is as catchy as SOH CAH TOA, but it's still better than ROFL, so I'll give it a 6/10.

In short form, High School Redesign is/was explored in the HSEPP.

It speaks of approximately 16 schools across the province already piloting an initiative at fundamentally shifting the way a high school looks/operates and 11 schools that were granted an exemption of the 25-hour credit requirement. (results REPORT from 02/21/2013)

"Beginning September 2013, 96 schools will embark on a journey to bring to life the vision and policy shifts articulated in Inspiring Education and build on the learnings of the High School Flexibility Enhancement Pilot Project and other High School Completion projects."

How do I Redesign my High School?

Whoa whoa...Let's back things up here and simplify things. It looks like the question we are trying answer is: What is High School Redesign? It seems like to best interpret this, maybe I'll approach it with perhaps a better question: "What should a High School look when it is most effective?" Alberta Education approaches things very much from a "student-centered" perspective.  Students lead their learning, but will be accountable with choice and flexibility.

Regardless, we are not told what exactly what all High Schools need to look like - only that there are some "key areas of focus that have been guiding the work of many of the participating schools." Among these areas of focus are:

Flex block - a block of time in the school day or school week when students have the opportunity to make decisions to guide their learning in areas of need or interest.

Credit recovery - an opportunity for students to continue their progress in a particular course beyond the scheduled semester, rather than awarding them a failing grade and having them retake the course.

Teacher advisory - each teacher in the school takes on a role outside any subject content responsibility. The teacher-advisor role is one of guide, counselor and facilitator to a small group of students' entire school program.

Interdisciplinary and project-based coursework - many participating schools are redesigning curricula to enhance student engagement by combining outcomes from several programs and assessing progress through project-based activities.

Many pilot schools are implementing changes in practice brought about by a re-thinking of their work including:

- the establishment of student-led conferences with parents, teacher advisors and students.

- a school-wide focus on assessment practices that align with student-centered and learning-centered approaches to grading and reporting.

- the development of team-teaching approaches within and across subject areas.

- the use of focus groups and student advisory councils to ensure student voice is heard and valued.

One school already worked with Alberta Education to create a couple videos on Inspiring Education's youtube channel to create a couple videos (as seen above).


OPINIONS PEOPLE HAVE DISCUSSED

Inspiring Education appears to be looking to decentralizing many of its operations; because of this, the options should be vast. At times, it's hard not to think negatively that Alberta Education isn't just passing the workload on teachers, saying "we couldn't get it right - now you try". I'll try my best to be positive and think from the perspective that if I am proactive and involved, I can help form our student's education in a way I think is best (whatever that is).

One idea I heard (from my principal) was to strip an 85-minute block into 65 minutes. Collect a few of those blocks and create an hour-long flex block where students could prioritize their time to specific areas of need.  

Another second idea was in regards to "credit recovery" and using flex time to catch students up on courses that they were unsuccessful in, but were close. An extension of this is to approach math units as modules and properly sort students based on modules instead of a final grade. Flex time might also allow students to "catch-up" on units that they did not pass. 

While I've only had a few discussions with other teachers, so far there are some things to think about: team teaching, better sorting of students into math streams, flex blocks, etc. In March, I will have the opportunity to visit a school in Edmonton Public (McNally) already beta-testing the idea and to ask some questions. I have many questions. 

This AB Education site has some VIDEOS to check out. Keep in mind they are all from the voice of Alberta Education.

1 - How Inspiring

First posts tend to be introductory. As I would explain on the first day of class, my name is Mr. Lemko, and I teach high school....specifically math. While I have only been teaching since 2006, I have been very fortunate in my career. I have had the opportunity to: work as a substitute, teach in an outreach school in rural Alberta and at a large high school, complete a year-long leadership course, create a CTS media broadcasting course that streamed a live news broadcast each morning, and serve as my school's Math dept. head, AP Coordinator, AISI lead., all while sitting on various committees. 

As I said prior to my mini-resume, I have been very fortunate in my 8 years of teaching. I feel as though I have grown considerably since being told (by my first principal) that I am a "terrible interview". I am humbled at the opportunities my current school and district has provided me. Though I feel as like I am finally understanding the subtleties of the profession, in recent years, the footing upon which that confidence stands, has begun to waver. I guess my reason for finally putting some mind onto matter (writing a blog) is because of growing questions, concern, and confusion. "Inspiring Education" is the growing tagline for Alberta Education. On their website, they say "Everything Is Changing".

"The world around us is evolving at an unprecedented rate—and this speed of change is increasing every day. We don’t know what new problems and opportunities we’ll encounter tomorrow, let alone in ten or twenty years. We need to prepare Alberta’s students for this unknown and unknowable future. The way we've delivered education in the past is no longer sufficient. So we’re changing our way of thinking."

Part of me is excited to not use curriculum as a crutch for "why we have to do this". Part of me understands that the ability to memorize, does not make one intelligent in our society anymore. The age of "information deprivation" and encyclopedias-as-the-all-powerful is over. The age of "information surplus" has shattered our notion of what it means to be intelligent and thus, inspiring education is the byproduct - perhaps the solution?

I end my last statement with a slight inflection as I have reservations in my excitement. We are but a handful of semesters from implementation; yet, almost no one speaks of the catch-phrases that loom on webpages yet to be explored by most teachers.

Whether the changes involve: curriculum redesign (report) and its belief in competencies for the 21st century learner OR high school redesign OR the dual-credit strategy OR PAT modifications OR the 25-hour credit flexibility OR diplomas, etc.,  inspiring education means change. 

("By the fall of 2017, all diploma exam sessions will be offered electronically. Piloting of electronic diploma exams, including the use of an online system and digital marking, is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2014.")

Depending how far down the rabbit hole I peer, the more nervous I get. Understandably, the phrase "everything is changing" should instill emotion into anyone involved in education. It will affect students, parents, teachers, post-secondary, government, and any educational body looking to Alberta for direction. The implications are vast.

With such great potential for change, one would expect everyone involved to be actively engaged in discussion about what is possible, what are some concerns, and what inspiring education SHOULD look like. Teacher's Convention this February (2014) was, for the most part, absent of any tangible content related to what the vision will become. #disappointed 

This has become the point of "More than Math". Over the coming weeks/months/years, I aim to discover what Inspiring Education means. I hope to learn what Alberta Education's leaders will do to retrain an entire profession who is growing fearful in a time of cuts and large class-sizes. Will we be expected to change the profession in a handful of PD days and on weekends? How much input will an individual teacher actually have in a decentralized curriculum? How will post-secondary react to these implications? How can a first-year teacher walk into all these changes? Too many questions to even articulate!

Anyway, I'm teaching the ambiguous case in 20-1 tomorrow - I can research and investigate another day. Until then...feel free to start talking. Ask questions. Start Committees. Request PD. Start some dialogue on twitter. Comment below.

And if you don't believe me, try to buy something from the LRC.

http://www.lrc.education.gov.ab.ca/pro/default.html