Hello Common Core Enthusiasts! My name is Ellen Whitesides and I am working for Bill McCallum at the Institute for Mathematics and Education (IM&E) at University of Arizona on all of our projects related to the Common Core. You can check out our ongoing projects here:
http://ime.math.arizona.edu/commoncore/
IM&E is working as a part of a collaboration between NCTM, NCSM, ASSM, AMTE, CBMS, Achieve, AFT, IAS/PCMI, MfA, NAGB, and NEA to produce a day long professional development on the Common Core. The effort is authored by teachers across the country, will be field tested by teachers, and ultimately facilitated by teachers with teachers as the targeted audience. The toolkit will have activities hitting four main goals; to see structure in the standards, to understand the Standards of Mathematical Practice, to align tasks to the standards, and to understand the language used in the standards. Activities will be developed for Elementary, Middle School, and High School teachers. As we develop tools and activities for this project we will be posting them here in the Tools section of the blog so check back soon for PD tools to further explain the Common Core in Mathematics. The toolkit should be ready for initial pilot testing this summer so stay tuned if your school or district might be interested in participating as a beta testing site for activities designed for the Toolkit.
This is a great resource. I am wondering will there be scaffolding and accessibilty strategies for students with disabilities incorporated or identified in your resources? The CC is for all students and identifying strategies for all students would be very helpful in breaking down barriers and reinforcing the “all” in the common core.
This is a good point Janet. The first activities and tools we have been making are more related to the “what” of the Common Core. What is it, What does it say, and What does it mean. Materials that assist in the “how” of the Common Core will be the next step and there I agree with you, there is a need to address the “how” for all students.
I’m a frequent reader of the blog and a fan of the progressions documents, they’ve been a big help with the “how”. I am a presenter of the common core materials as well as Math Prof. Dev. for regional school districts. I look forward to seeing these tools and I’m interested in more information on your pilot testing.
Hi Ellen,
I am a former elementary math coach in Boston, and have returned to teaching kindergarten. I’m excited about the Common Core and am eager to hear more from you and your team about this Tool Kit. I also would like to hear more about what might be involved in being a beta site.