"You are what you seek," the wise one said.

Once upon a time, some time late in 2011, there were some lonely, kooky, determined math teachers trying to get better.

They searched blogs and joined Twitter in their quests, and eventually they found some like-minded spirits on the internets who were also questing.

In 2012, forty of us decided to meet in person in St. Louis and hold our own conference. Nobody outside that first group (besides Fawn, who hosted #TwitterJealousyCamp) knew or much cared about what we were doing. We were doing it because we wanted to do it. Period.

FUN FACT: Out of forty attendees at the first TMC, I was the one and only attendee from California. In fact, we had more attendees from Mississippi than from California.

It wasn't perfect, but it was real — and that kindled a spark. What made it magical was the fact that people showed up and brought their A game. I learned something amazing from every single person at that conference.

So if you attending TMC for the first time this year, please temper your freaking out with the knowledge that we started this thing because we were looking for YOU. We are STILL looking for you.

Before TMC, I always think of one of my favorite quotes from the great Jungian psychoanalyst and storyteller Clarissa Pinkola Estes:

  Even though there are negative aspects to it, the wild psyche can endure exile. It makes us yearn that much more to free our own true nature and causes us to long for a culture that goes with it. Even this yearning, this longing makes a person go on. It makes a [person] go on looking, and if she cannot find the culture that encourages her, then she usually decides to construct it herself. And that is good, for if she builds it, others who have been looking for a long time will mysteriously arrive one day enthusiastically proclaiming that they have been looking for this all along.

#TMC17 MORNING SESSION OVERVIEW: Differentiating CCSS Algebra 1 — from drab to fab using Exeter Math 1 & Exploratory Talk

How can we use a problem-based throughline such as Exeter to transform a lifeless but mandated Algebra 1 course into a rich, differentiated experience of mathematical sense-making for a wide range of students?

This morning session will be a master class in differentiating a generic Algebra 1 course using problem-based learning, exploratory talk, PCMI-style differentiation, and deliberate practice in its appropriate place together with metacognitive self-monitoring.

Over the course of our time together, we will move back and forth between the perspective of learners and the perspective of teachers. During reflective "master class" segments, we will explore the theories, techniques, and practical aspects of rearchitecting Algebra 1. During immersive “math-doing” segments, we will do selected sequences of problem-based mathematics together in groups so we can experience different approaches to concept development, cultivating habits of mind, building norms through math content, and engaging the whole student through experiential problems. Immersive segments will be interwoven with reflective, “master class” segments in which we will analyze the theories, techniques, and ideas we're exploring.

Here is the 30,000-foot overview of the topics we'll be digging into over our three days.

DAY 1 TOPICS

I. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:

Brief review of the How People Learn (HPL) learning cycle so that we will have a shared vocabulary for our work together. EQ: What research research informs these ideas about teaching and learning with understanding?

II. TIPS ON PRACTICAL PREPARATION FOR TEACHING EXETER:

Practical strategies and tips for organizing and managing your own teaching and learning of Exeter sequences to support your work with students.  EQ: This feels overwhelming— how can I set myself up for success?

III. REIMAGINING ALGEBRA 1 AS A COURSE IN ADVANCED PROPORTIONAL REASONING:

Why and how Algebra 1 must be reimagined as a course in advanced proportional reasoning. 

IV. EXETER'S BEST-KEPT SECRET—EXPERIENTIAL, NOT EXPERIMENTAL:

Through experiential "doing" segments and reflective discussions, we'll explore some of the ways in which the anchor problems and supporting problems within the Exeter sequences encourage students to get inside the problems in a state of flow rather than killing time filling in charts with mindless data-gathering.  EQ: How do the Exeter problems cultivate a stance of shareable curiosity?

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DAY 2 TOPICS

V.  EXPLORATORY TALK AS THE GROUND:

Strategies for integrating Talking Points as a focused technique for developing collaborative speaking and listening skills.

 VI.  RADICAL DIFFERENTIATION—THE BOWEN & DARRYL METHOD:

Structuring your room and tasks to support the needs of both katamari and speed demons. EQ: How can I create an environment that consistently values all student ideas and thinking?

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DAY 3 TOPICS

VII.   ANCHORING MATHEMATICS IN THE PRESENT MOMENT:

Anchoring students' mathematical thinking in the body, in the present moment, and in the value of their own existing knowledge and understanding.

VIII. A PLACE FOR PRACTICE ACTIVITIES:

How and where to integrate practice activities in ways that support student agency, dignity, and understanding.

Things That Work #1: Regular Vocab Quizzes in Geometry

One of the things that worked incredibly well last year—and which I want to extend this year—is regular vocab quizzes in Geometry.

Vocabulary is the gating factor for success in a problem-based, student-centered Geometry class. If you can't talk about geometry, you can't collaborate about geometry.

I learned the value of extremely routine-looking vocabulary quizzes when I taught 8th grade English with Alec MacKenzie, Linda Grady, and Kelly Starnes. At the beginning of the school year, the copy room delivered us each a giant stack of very basic matching quizzes: numbered terms in the left-hand column, lettered definitions on the right. Each student got a vocabulary workbook at the beginning of the school year. Every week we assigned a new chapter/list. Every week we gave a matching quiz. And then we would trade and grade them.

At some level, I recognize that this sounds stultifying. But at another level, it was incredibly empowering for the students. Everybody understood exactly what was being asked and expected. And everybody saw it as an opportunity to earn free points. Students gave each other encouraging written comments and cheered each other on. They saw their scores as information—not as judgment. They used what they knew to make flash cards or Quizlet stacks. They quizzed each other. They helped each other.

And nobody ever complained about the regularly scheduled vocab quiz. It was a ritual of our course.

Vocab quiz for initial unit on circles

In my first few years of teaching Geometry, I have noticed that the kids who make the effort to integrate and use the vocabulary and specialized terms tend to succeed. And the kids who don't use the language of geometry suffer. So I decided to use what I know to raise the number of kids who know and use the vocabulary by instituting regular vocabulary quizzes for the relevant lessons or chapters as we go.

Many of my discouraged math learners sprang to life when I assigned this task. They pulled out flash cards, folded sheets of binder paper in half lengthwise, and started organizing the information they wanted to integrate. In most of my classes, I noticed that the highest-status math students often seemed to get stuck while the weaker students knew EXACTLY where to start and what to do.

It was a revelation.

It also ensured that everybody spent a little quality time on the focus task of preparing for the vocab quiz on Thursday or Friday. And this, in turn, meant that everybody was a little more ready to use the correct and appropriate mathematical vocabulary in our work. They noticed more because the owned more.

Because these were "for a grade," kids put their shoulder into it. My colleagues in other departments commented about my students taking two or three available minutes during passing period to quiz each other.  It gave them hope.

Now I want to create a full set of vocab quizzes for my whole year. 

A few implementation notes:

• I collect and shred/recycle all of the quizzes after I enter their scores so I can reuse the same quizzes from year to year. If I don't have your quiz, you can't get a score. I am strict about this.
• Every new vocabulary term does not have to get quizzed, but lessons or units where there is a huge vocabulary burden that gets front-loaded deserves its own vocab quiz. I have been surprised to discover how many lessons are more vocabulary-intensive/language-intensive than I had realized.
• Correct use of technical language is self-reinforcing. Once I introduce a new term, I mercilessly ask kids to remind each other of the definitions for 15 seconds in their table groups. Getting one kid to call out the correct definition to the whole class is not the point here. Getting 36 kids to all speak the definitions or the terms in their table groups is.

UPDATE: D'OH! I can't believe I forgot the most important implementation note I wanted to remind myself about!!!

• There should be many more definitions in your right-hand list than there are terms in your left-hand list. Also definitions can be re-used. This way there isn't a zero-sum outcome if someone misses an answer.