Becoming the Math

Teacher You Wish

You’d Had
By: Tracy Johnston Zager
Standards for
Mathematical Practice
As a result of reading this
book, I will...
Participant Reflection Journal
Shifts in Teaching Practice
Summer 2020
 Pacing Guide

Stay on Track!
 Who am I as a mathematician a

Distance Learning Toolkit

Table of Contents

nd a teacher of math?
Master Slides
Teacher Resources:
❖ Essential Questions
❖ Engagement Techniques
❖ Standards for Mathematical Practice
❖ 8 Effective Teaching Practices
❖ Shifts in Classroom Practice
❖ WCPS Instructional Shifts in Teaching Practice
❖ Google Classroom Notes
Weekly Assignments:
❖ Chapter 1: Breaking the Cycle TCoRD ED oITLSis: tT: hTishpresen
❖ Chapter 2: What do Mathematicians Do? things I wwas createdese artae titohne
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❖ Chapter 3: Mathematicians Take Risks including i ant to stabryt Slidesgo,
❖ Chapter 4: Mathematicians Make Mistakes
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❖ Chapter 5: Mathematicians Are Precise these note images boyrdFirengnd
s & e c
s will hel epik.
❖ Chapter 6: Mathematicians Rise to a Challenge
keep my f me t o p
❖ Chapter 7: Mathematicians Ask Questions ocus .
❖ Chapter 8: Mathematicians Connect Ideas
Kick Off
❖ Chapter 9: Mathematicians Use Intuition
❖ Chapter 10: Mathematicians Reason
❖ Chapter 11: Mathematicians Prove June 15th@
3:30 p.m.
❖ Chapter 12: Mathematicians Work Together & Alone
❖ Chapter 13: “Favorable Conditions” for All Math Students
 Essential
Questions Think Abouts:
❏ What Standard(s) for
Using the ideas, strategies and insights Mathematical Practices (Slide 3)
included within this portion of "Becoming does this content support?
the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had" ❏ What WCPS Instructional Shifts
by Tracy Zager, how will you provide ❏ in teaching practice (slide 6) will
OPTIMAL learning opportunities, support moving students towards
mathematical proficiency in this
(whether face-to-face or in the distance
area?
setting) for students to become
mathematically proficient?
Opportunities to Engage in the Distance Setting
❏ Pear Deck (Slide Show) Google Add-On (Kick-Off)
❏ Flip Grid Week #1
❏ Cross-Pollination: Listening to and Building on Other
People’s Ideas (Ch.12)
❏ Google Classroom Comment
❏ Comment to Job Alike
❏ Comment to School Team
❏ Thinking Partnerships: Form Thinking Partnerships
(This will not be mandatory but will increase return on
time invested in the book study.)
 Standards for
Mathematical
Practice

How do the things we are learning,

connect to the SMP’s?
Table of
Contents!
Overview Assignment
Describe here the topic of the Describe here the topic of the
section section

Topic Features About the Topic

Describe here the topic of the Describe here the topic of the
section section
Shifts in Cla
ssroom Prac Mercury
tice It’s the closest planet to
the Sun

Jupiter
It’s the biggest planet
These are th
e original s
created by hifts
Maggie B.
McGatha &
Jennifer Ba
Williams w y-
ith Beth Ko
and John W bett
ray
Mars
Mars is actually a cold
place
WCPS Instructional Shifts Mercury
It’s the closest planet to
the Sun

Jupiter
It’s the biggest planet

In addition
original shif
to the 8
ts, WCPS
Mars
added 2 add
shifts.
itional Mars is actually a cold
place
Google Classroom Notes ● I will be pushing out all GC Materials this
evening. You may want to silence your alerts.
● Each Chapter will have a comment stream
created by me. Please always start your
comment with: Job title/School (Ex. 1st
Grade/RAMPS) so that participants can connect
with others in similar groupings.
● I will assign this Google Slide show for each
week. You will complete that portion and “turn
it into me” by the deadline each week. More on
that to come.
Week #1

Engagement Focus:
Flipgrid
01
Breaking the Cycle
Week 1
Due: June 22nd before midnight
Chapter 1
RI
❏ Read and annotate chapter 1. FLIPG
❏ Return to the word clouds on page 5 of the D
book. Respond to the following prompt: Is
there a word from one of the word clouds that
speaks to you? Choose a word (or a few
words-from the clouds, or make up your own)
that represent your feelings about learning
and teaching math. At the conclusion of this
❏ To access this topic on Flipgrid, copy the
course, you will return to this same video and
add a feedback video to compare your URL (or simply click)
https://flipgrid.com/6a9f8624 and paste it
feelings about math at the beginning of the
course compared to at the end of the course. into your search bar. Log into Flipgrid with
These videos will only be accessible to you Google (wcps email and pw). Click on the
and your instructors. Large Green Plus sign to start recording.
Engagement Focus:
GC/Comment/Grade Level
Thinking Partner(s)
02
What do
Mathematicians do?
Week 1
Due: June 22nd before midnight
 After Reading:
Chapter 2 Being good at math means noticing and
wondering about math in the world
❏ Before reading the chapter, think about how around you...not just the math that you
you would answer the question, What does it
do on paper.
mean to be good at math? How might your
students anwer. Jot a few notes down in your
math journal (or below) Based on what you’ve just read, how will you use this
❏ After reading, return to your notes. Make information to provide OPTIMAL learning opportunities
adjustments, affirmations, or think abouts to (specifically face-to-face and/or in the distance setting)? Add
your original thoughts about What it means to at least 1 comment to another participant in the same grade
level or position as you and then the same school. Don’t
be good in math.
forget when recording a comment in GC, start your
comment with: your position/school/comment.

I love the idea of starting out with the engagement

Before Reading: mini unit to break the stigma that math is word
To be good at math you need to be: problems that are hard and you get them right or
● A problem solver wrong. I think starting off your lessons and
● Fluent with numbers launches with notice/wonders with everyday items
● Have a toolbox of strategies to try would be great face-to-face or in a distance
● Good at showing math models that learning setting.
others can understand Form your Thinking Partner Groups for Engagement in
Weeks 2-5.
Other Notes:

i s op tional.
This Only
Sample
Week #2

Engagement Focus: Thinking

Partner Groups
03
Mathematicians Take Risks
Week 2
Due: June 29th before midnight
Chapter 3
Using the ideas, strategies and insights included within the portion of
"Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had" by Tracy Zager, how
will you provide OPTIMAL learning opportunities, (whether face-to-face
❏ What Standard(s) for Mathematical Practices (Slide or in the distance setting) for students to become mathematically
proficient?
6) does this content support?

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. I really was inspired by reading the 2nd grade example of
This chapter supports this practice the MOST. Taking a risk is scary how to encourage risk taking and creating a culture in the
and students need to learn to grapple with problems (making sense of
them) and being able to try new strategies, even if they don’t end up classroom that inspires this while showing students that
working out how they thought. This is where I think risk and it’s a safe place to do so. I will definitely make the shift
perseverance collides. from “show and tell” student warm ups, exits and work
into share and compare. I love how the 2nd grade teacher
didn’t just tell her students to take a risk but she modeled
❏ What shift(s) in teaching practice (slide 11) will it and rewarded students that did so. I also LOVE the idea
support moving students towards mathematical of picking students worked based off who might be
proficiency in this area? struggling with feeling safe enough to take risks or
students that may not be as engaged in the math
● From learning made easy to learning takes time. classroom...instead of students that have completed the
● From teaching so that students confirm content math problem “correctly”.
toward teaching so that students uncover
content.
● From show and tell to share and compare (where
students risks can be showcased) Add at least 1 comment to another participant in the same
grade level or position as you and then the same school.
Engagement Focus: Thinking
Partner(s)
04
Mathematicians
Make Mistakes
Week 2
Due: June 29th before midnight
 Using the ideas, strategies and insights included within the portion
Chapter 4 of "Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had" by Tracy
Zager, how will you provide OPTIMAL learning opportunities,
❏ What Standard(s) for Mathematical Practices (Slide (whether face-to-face or in the distance setting) for students to
become mathematically proficient?
6) does this content support?

3. Construct viable arguments and critique I definitely want to begin the school year by modeling
how I work through mistakes and learn from of them and
the reasoning of others. that it is OKAY to make mistakes. I like how this text
7. Look for and make use of structure clarified that these mistakes we want students to grapple
over are conceptual misunderstandings and not really
small computational errors (because we still expect
students to be precise). I will be teaching students how to
❏ What shift(s) in teaching practice (slide 11) will react to mistakes through modeling and discussion:
support moving students towards mathematical 1. Take mistakes in stride
proficiency in this area? 2. Don’t stop, keep going when you realize you made a mistake.
We need to get to the bottom of the problem.
● From questions that seek expected answers 3. Let’s grow our knowledge and experiences by figuring out our
mistake!
towards questions that illuminate and deepen
I can see myself including this conversation and anchor chart
student understanding into the engagement unit about what a mathematician is from the
● From teaching so that students confirm content previous chapters.
toward teaching so that students uncover I also love how the second grade teacher in the text let her
content. student work through her problem, even when the rest of the
class moved on! That is real meaning making stuff right there :)
Engagement Focus: Thinking
Partner(s)
05
Mathematicians
Are Precise
Week 2
Due: June 29th before midnight
Chapter 5 Using the ideas, strategies and insights included within
the portion of "Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish
❏ What Standard(s) for Mathematical Practices (Slide You'd Had" by Tracy Zager, how will you provide
6) does this content support? OPTIMAL learning opportunities, (whether face-to-
face or in the distance setting) for students to become
Attend to precision mathematically proficient?

Attending to precision has always been a difficult practice

for me to successfully instill in primary students. This
chapter refreshed my thinking. I am LOVING the idea of
Buddy Checks. In my literacy block I have reading and
❏ What shift(s) in teaching practice (slide 11) will writing buddies. I don’t know why I never thought of
support moving students towards mathematical using the same strategy in math! I love that buddy checks
proficiency in this area? focuses on coaching rather than correcting. In turn, it
creates a stress free climate! I like that students have a
chance to check their peers work and have dialogue about
From looking at correct answers towards what they see, whether it be correct or incorrect. It gives
looking at students’ thinking students a chance at clarifying their work to a peer or
going back and editing something they did. While students
are still practicing this strategy on their peer’s work, I
believe it will be much easier for them to start to
internalize it and do the same on their own work!
Week #3

Engagement Focus:
GC/Grouping/Cross
Pollinate/School
06
Mathematicians
Rise to a Challenge
Week 3
Due: July 6th before midnight
Chapter 6 Using the ideas, strategies and insights included within
the portion of "Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish
❏ What Standard(s) for Mathematical Practices (Slide You'd Had" by Tracy Zager, how will you provide
6) does this content support? OPTIMAL learning opportunities, (whether face-to-
face or in the distance setting) for students to become
Look for and make use of structure mathematically proficient?

This chapter talked about how to give

students the opportunity to “own the
problem”. A teacher removed the heavy
❏ What shift(s) in teaching practice (slide 11) will wording of the problem and all the labels
support moving students towards mathematical
proficiency in this area?
and diagrams that made it way to easy for
her students to plug numbers in and be
From routine tasks toward reasoning done. There was no chance for productive
tasks. struggle. This got me thinking about
Teaching students to uncover content. numberless word problems and starting to
incorporate those into my math block more
often.
Add at least 1 comment to another participant in the same
grade level or position as you and then the same school.
Another part in the book that I wanted to
note was when the author said “ When
Engagement Focus: Thinking
Partner(s)
07
Mathematicians
Ask Questions
Week 3
Due: July 6th before midnight
Chapter 7 Using the ideas, strategies and insights included within
the portion of "Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish
❏ What Standard(s) for Mathematical Practices (Slide You'd Had" by Tracy Zager, how will you provide
6) does this content support? OPTIMAL learning opportunities, (whether face-to-
face or in the distance setting) for students to become
Reason abstractly and quantitatively mathematically proficient?

This chapter was all about putting the

curiosity back into our math block! We
want students to be the “question-askers”
❏ What shift(s) in teaching practice (slide 11) will and explorers, etc. This I feel like would
support moving students towards mathematical
proficiency in this area?
really help them take ownership of what
they are learning and be able to apply and
From learning-made-easy to learning- transfer that knowledge. I think this will
takes-time also really help with their math talk, peer-
to-peer.

I think WCPS has already been on trend

with the “Notice and Wonder” strategy! I
love the idea of presenting students with a
picture and asking them to jot down some
Engagement Focus: Thinking
Partner(s)
08
Mathematicians
Connect Ideas
Week 3
Due: July 6th before midnight
Chapter
❏ 8
What Standard(s) for Mathematical Practices (Slide
Using the ideas, strategies and insights included within
the portion of "Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish
6) does this content support? You'd Had" by Tracy Zager, how will you provide
OPTIMAL learning opportunities, (whether face-to-
face or in the distance setting) for students to become
Make sense of problems and persevere mathematically proficient?
when solving them.
Model with mathematics
In this chapter, I was struck by all the
examples visual representations. I think
that is such an important part of math,
❏ What shift(s) in teaching practice (slide 11) will especially for our primary kids. Not only
support moving students towards mathematical
proficiency in this area?
do these representations help students
uncover their math but they are also the
From teaching so that students replicate gateway into their thinking and what
procedures towards teaching so that solution path they took! I love how the
students select efficient strategies teacher in the text let students choose with
representation worked best for them and
then gave students time to share and
compare and have a math conversation
around those representations. This chapter
really got me thinking about the new
Week #4

Engagement Focus:
GC/Grouping/Cross
Pollinate/School
09
Mathematicians
Use Intuition
Week 4
Due: July 13th before midnight
Chapter 9 Using the ideas, strategies and insights included within
the portion of "Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish
❏ What Standard(s) for Mathematical Practices (Slide You'd Had" by Tracy Zager, how will you provide
6) does this content support? OPTIMAL learning opportunities, (whether face-to-
face or in the distance setting) for students to become
Make sense of problems and persevere in mathematically proficient?
solving them.
This chapter really got me thinking about
Reason abstractly and quantitatively
the questions I’m asking students as they
are uncovering a math problem, before,
❏ What shift(s) in teaching practice (slide 11) will during and after. I love the break down of
support moving students towards mathematical
proficiency in this area?
example questions that help build students’
mathematical intuition. I’ll be copying
From questions that seek expected those pages and using them until it
answers to questions that illuminate and becomes more natural for me. I also will be
deepen students understanding. including more estimation with my number
sense routines and launches. I learned
about the esti-mysteries during the STEM
summit and am so excited to implement
those next year! I think that will really
improve students mathematical intuition
Engagement Focus: Thinking
Partner(s)
10
Mathematicians
Reason
Week 4
Due: July 13th before midnight
Chapter 10 Using the ideas, strategies and insights included within
the portion of "Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish
❏ What Standard(s) for Mathematical Practices (Slide You'd Had" by Tracy Zager, how will you provide
3) does this content support? OPTIMAL learning opportunities, (whether face-to-
face or in the distance setting) for students to become
Reason abstractly and quantitatively mathematically proficient?
Look for and make use of structure
Look for and express regularity in
This quote embodies the goal I’m setting
repeated reasoning
for myself next school year. “As teachers,
our work is to create conditions in which
❏ What shift(s) in teaching practice (slide 6) will students are actively making sense of
support moving students towards mathematical
proficiency in this area?
mathematics and thereby noticing patterns.
We need to nurture safe learning
From routine tasks toward reasoning environments so students will share out
tasks and be heard with respect.” I’m going to
work on shifting my students from saying I
think/I don’t think to I know/It is/ It has to
be..because…
I will do this through number talks and
number sense opportunities. I also really
liked the example anchor charts about
Engagement Focus: Thinking
Partner(s)
11
Mathematicians
Prove
Week 4
Due: July 13th before midnight
Chapter 11 Using the ideas, strategies and insights included within
the portion of "Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish
❏ What Standard(s) for Mathematical Practices (Slide You'd Had" by Tracy Zager, how will you provide
6) does this content support? OPTIMAL learning opportunities, (whether face-to-
face or in the distance setting) for students to become
Construct viable arguments and critique mathematically proficient?
the reasoning of others
When planning for next year, I am going to keep
two things in mind relating to students proving
their claims. This chapter has extending my
❏ What shift(s) in teaching practice (slide 11) will thinking in that area! 1. To prove is to convince
support moving students towards mathematical colleagues that a claim is true. -this is a great
proficiency in this area? extension and will really push students thinking.
We don’t want them to explain why they think
From routine tasks toward reasoning they got the “right” answer but to convince
tasks others...WOW! 2. To prove is to explain why a
claim is true.
These two things will really deepen
understanding! I’m also thinking about creating
some lesson revolving around “convince yourself,
convince a friend, convince a skeptic. What a cool
concept and way to look at math.
Week #5

Engagement Focus:
Zoom/Physical Space/Thinking
Partners
12
Mathematicians
Work Together and Alone
Week 5
Due: July 19th before midnight
Chapter 12 Using the ideas, strategies and insights included within
the portion of "Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish
❏ What Standard(s) for Mathematical Practices (Slide You'd Had" by Tracy Zager, how will you provide
6) does this content support? OPTIMAL learning opportunities, (whether face-to-
face or in the distance setting) for students to become
Construct viable arguments and critique mathematically proficient?
the reasoning of others
This chapter made my heart happy to read
but also nervous about what this will look
like with the upcoming school year. I liked
❏ What shift(s) in teaching practice (slide 11) will how the author described why students
support moving students towards mathematical
proficiency in this area?
need to learn to collaborate during math.
She said “we need to teach students how to
From routine tasks towards reasoning be good colleagues, in math and life.” I also
tasks jotted down the different “Productive
Mathematical Interactions”. I think so
often teachers only think about
collaborative groups/pairs as working
together to solve a problem.
1. Thinking Partnerships: Make sense
together by talking through
 13
“Favorable Conditions” for
ALL Math Students
Week 5
Due: July 19th before midnight
Chapter 13
RI
❏ Read and annotate chapter 13. FLIPG
❏ Return to the word clouds on page 5 D
of the book. Find your original
flipgrid recording. Add a feedback
video explaining how you’ve grown
as a mathematician and as a
teacher of math. These videos will ❏ To access this topic on Flipgrid, copy the
only be accessible to you and your URL (or simply click)
https://flipgrid.com/6a9f8624 and paste it
instructors. into your search bar. Log into Flipgrid with
Google (wcps email and pw). Click on the
Large Green Plus sign to start recording.
 Digital Learning ToolKit
What approaches/strategies could you use to bolster teaching and learning
in the distant setting?

● More estimation practice (Esti-Mysteries)

● Using a VARIETY of math/number talks (Beth Brandenburgs
shared Google Drive)
● Working on math talk (making a bulletin board with sentence
seeds for kids)
● Creating a math environment that sparks curiosity where students
feel they are safe to share strategies...and it be ok if peers agree or
disagree
● Buddy checks for working on attending to precision!
● Instead of pulling students work for “show and tell” that
accurately completed their assignment...pulling work that is “right
or wrong” and showcasing different students strategies with
“share and compare” model.
● More notice and wonders throughout the math block
● More modeling of risk taking and it being OK to make a
mistake...and how to handle that. Making anchor chart to refer to
 Next Steps
You just finished reading Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You’d Had by Tracy
Johnston Zager. Based on the meaning you made,
● What are your next steps moving forward?
My next steps are creating bulletin boards/anchor charts/ opportunities
based off the notes I made from this book. I’m also going to explore more of
the websites I jotted down and the number routines and categorize them
into units with my teammate that also did this book study, so we can easily
access them though the school year and not forget about them!
● What actionable steps will you take? I will be working with a teammate to
start creating learning plans that shift away from student’s confirming
content we want them to know towards uncovering the content and being
more flexible to where that leads us.
● Include at least 2 of your highest priorities.
-Number Routines: being comfortable with a wide variety of them and plans
for implementing them.
-Creating a math environment: making a beginning of the year unit on “What
is a mathematician” that includes finding books on mathematicians or about
making mistakes and taking risks and creating anchor charts and bulletin
boards that will aid in this work.
Master Slides
Features of Mercury
the Topic It’s the closest planet to
the Sun

Jupiter
It’s the biggest planet
Venus is the
second plan
et
from the Su
n
Mars
Mars is actually a cold
place
“This is a quote. Words
full of wisdom that
someone important said
and can make the reader
get inspired.”

—Someone Famous
2
itle. P5
Book T
 Definition of
Exam
Concepts conten
t

Mercury Mars
Mercury is the smallest planet Despite being red, Mars is a
cold place

Saturn Venus
It’s composed of hydrogen and Venus is the second planet
helium from the Sun
31,500
Big numbers catch your
audience’s attention
 Problem Solution
Neptune is the fourth- Jupiter is a gas giant and
largest planet in the Solar the biggest planet in the
System Solar System
Assignment

l a n et has a
p
Which ame and is
ul n
beautif d one from
on
the sec Sun
the
Alternative
Resources
 Resources

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