#CUErockstar Math Edition

Last weekend I had the privilege of joining a group of truly innovative thinkers in mathematics at the first ever #CUErockstar Math Edition.

In my first year as a math/tech coach, it was a surreal experience to take the stage and shred alongside some of the most prominent figures in the movement to transform math instruction. John Stevens, Ed Campos, Fawn Nguyen, Michael Fenton, and Matt Vaudrey all spread a message that math can be highly engaging (even intriguing and exciting) and that all students can develop a positive identity as a learner of mathematics. This is a message that drives me in my daily work, and it was a true privilege to get to share the vision with innovative teachers from all over California.

At the event, several teachers approached me feeling torn on which sessions to attend since they were intrigued by my content, but also that of the other presenters. Since I would never steer anyone from the opportunity to see my math gurus in action, I made a promise to do some screencasting and share my resources after the event, so here you go!

Session 1: Google Classroom in Math

In this session, we addressed the reasons that many teachers are hesitant to use Google Classroom in math, and then looked at math specific lessons within Google Classroom.

Here is a screencast overview of the ideas shared in the session. Participants were able to experience Google Classroom as students and then brainstorm how this might look in their own classrooms. The slides for this session can be found at bit.ly/rockstarclassroom. These slides contain links to the lessons/resources that we accessed while taking our journey through Google Classroom.

Session 2: Blended Learning in Math
My session on the second day focused on how to incorporate tools that support different types of blended learning into mathematics instruction in a way that supports choice and individualized instruction. Here are the slides with a few ideas for blending it up! During the session, we experienced several different tools that support blended learning together, then participants visited choice stations where they could go deeper with the tools they wanted to learn more about. These slides can also be found at bit.ly/rockstarblended .

Highlight of the Blended Learning session: Seeing my participants so actively engaged in applying the tools in ways that were meaningful to them that at one point they pretty much forgot I was in the room. So naturally, I walked around taking selfies.




Some other highlights:
1. Having 7 teachers from my district in attendance and ready to rock the new tools strategies!

2. Seeing the tools I shared at my sessions be put into action in the classroom immediately!

3. Getting to present alongside "#MTBOS royalty".