Best Practices in Teaching Mathematics

A service offered by the VI Math Initiative

Best Practices in Teaching Mathematics participants experience, discuss and reflect upon teaching practices that comprise high quality mathematics instruction - instruction that engages all students in the development of conceptual understanding and mathematical fluency. In this context, participants experience a range of NCTM Standards-based mathematics activities that emphasize/illustrate the across-the-grades development of mathematical understanding.

During the class sessions, participants will work in small and large groups, sharing ideas as they investigate hands-on mathematics activities that are centered on students' mathematical thinking and that emphasize use of discourse, inquiry, conceptual models, manipulatives, reasoning, and problem solving. Each day of class is approximately 7.5 hours long. Participants may also have opportunity to interact with the course instructor via a follow-on course implementation in their school.

Class discussions will regularly center on participants' learning and thinking about mathematics and pedagogy, issues and instructional practices relevant to student attainment of conceptual understanding and fluency with mathematical procedures, as well as issues and needs relevant to the participants' particular curricula and student populations. Daily homework readings will be used to deepen and extend participants' thinking about pedagogy and provide context for examining the pedagogical issues and implications of course mathematics activities. Daily homework will also provide opportunity for the participants to determine the extent to which specific best practices are supported or hindered in a representative unit from their existing curriculum. Journal reflections will play a major role both during class and homework.

The culminating in-class activity will engage small groups of participants in synthesizing their learning to identify the critical components of effective mathematics instruction and to draft their Action Plans for reforming and/or refining their instructional practices. Ideally the instructor, as part of a contract for this course, should facilitate implementation of Action Plans in schools. This will require participants to schedule time during the day for the instructor to observe student learning in the classroom, debrief about the observation and/or arrange times for groups of teachers with similar Action Plans to meet with the instructor to help facilitate and document the implementation of Action Plans. Usually this requires substitutes to be hired to free up teachers during the day.

This five-day course can be scheduled creatively to accommodate a school calendar. It is recommended that the first three days be held consecutively. The last two days can be broken up into short sessions to fit in-service times that are not full days.

Click here to view (and register for) scheduled Best Practices events or here to view or download a PDF brochure about Best Practices.

Comments From Participants

"This was the most practical workshop I ever attended. It took the best of content and pedagogy - giving participants tools they could immediately use in the classroom." - David Baker, Superintendent, St. Johnsbury, VT.

"In this course, you will get a good idea of what a standards-based classroom would look like. While you will experience frustration and disequilibrium, you will identify some of the "big ideas" which are critical to improve classroom practice for the intent of improving student understanding of subject matter in greater depth, and how to "be" a learner." - Brenda Johnson, adjunct faculty, Antioch Graduate School, and sixth grade teacher, Plainfield Elementary, Plainfield, N.H.

"The institute provided an impetus for me to question and evaluate my own practices in mathematics teaching. I came to appreciate the power of genuine questions and in getting students to understand math concepts." - Lorrie Richland, Grade 4, Founders Memorial School, Essex, VT.

"This workshop was totally invigorating. It's structure allowed for the participants to develop, refine and cultivate for themselves what best practices are and how to implement that, explicitly, into the classroom. I can't wait to see the results with my students." - Teresa Giffin, multiage 1-2, Union School, Montpelier, VT.

"Attending this course as a faculty will help you redefine your school's thinking about math practices, expectations, student learning and thinking." - Gail Johnson, Molly Stark School, Bennington, VT.

"This is an excellent course which models great standards-based instruction and enables you to create and refine, at your own pace, your mathematics instruction. It is tremendously valuable to attend this institute as a faculty so you are all on 'the same page'. You can help to support and enhance each other with a common language. It would be wonderful to have your administrator there as well." - Mary Tierney Grade 6, A. D. Lawton School, Essex Junction, VT.