We created sets of PowerPoint slides that can be used to guide professional development for secondary school math teachers on 4 important themes in mathematics teaching (as identified below). Each PowerPoint presentation includes information on the targeted theme and is illustrated with several Project MathTalk videos of students engaged in mathematical reasoning. Each PowerPoint also includes discussion questions and activities for teachers. Each PowerPoint presentation is intended to guide 1-2 sessions of professional development (depending on the length of the sessions). The PowerPoint slides can be adapted for use with pre-service teachers.
Making Mathematics Meaningful
Teachers explore an approach to helping students develop meaning for mathematics, namely a quantitative-reasoning approach. Three different teacher actions are explored, which share the goal of helping students conceive of objects in context as measurable and forming sensible relationships between quantities. Each teacher action is discussed through the use of videos, in which Grade 9 students make sense of binomial multiplication and related topics.
Making Mathematics Meaningful PowerPoint – Click on the link. Download as a PowerPoint presentation. Don’t open/download in Google Slides, or formatting and some content may be lost.
Analyzing Student Thinking
Teachers investigate and discuss three different ways in which analyzing student thinking can be beneficial for informing teaching practice, including the role of formative assessment. They also gain experience analyzing the thinking of Grade 9 students who are engaged in reasoning about algebraic expressions.
Analyzing Student Thinking PowerPoint – Click on the link. Download as a PowerPoint presentation. Don’t open/download in Google Slides, or formatting and some content may be lost.
Supporting Dialogue
Teachers learn about four different reasons why mathematical dialogue is important for learning. Then they consider three ways to support productive mathematical dialogue in their classrooms. Each way is illustrated through the use of videos in which Grade 9 students make sense of binomial multiplication and related topics.
Supporting Dialogue PowerPoint – Click on the link. Download as a PowerPoint presentation. Don’t open/download in Google Slides, or formatting and some content may be lost.
Role of Technology
Teachers examine four different roles that technology (specifically the use of applets) can play in learning mathematics. Each role is illustrated with a different applet created for Project MathTalk. Teachers view videos of different pairs of students (in Grades 8, 9, and 11) using the applets to explore a variety of mathematical topics (the use of negative numbers in algebraic expressions, the meaning of angles as rotations in trigonometry, and exponential functions). The professional development session concludes with resources for teachers that contain repositories of math applets.
Role of Technology PowerPoint – Click on the link. Download as a PowerPoint presentation. Don’t open/download in Google Slides, or formatting and some content may be lost.