2023 Fall Learning Community

Rich Mathematical Tasks in Math Courses for Future Elementary/Middle School Teachers

An MAA OPEN Math Learning Community

In this learning community, we will support one another in the development and implementation of rich mathematical tasks in content classes for future elementary/middle school teachers. Teaching is one of the most collaborative activities, so as a community, we will build resources and serve as sounding boards for one another, as we foster collaboration among faculty members who will either be teaching a math content course for elementary/middle teachers during the fall semester or those preparing to teach such a course in the coming year. In preparatory Zoom meetings on July 28 and August 11, community members will engage in activities to facilitate the task design process, toward creating and adapting rich tasks for specific learning objectives and set goals for their classes or preparation. During the fall semester, members will meet once monthly to discuss their task preparation or implementation. Task creation will be set in the context of current professional literature and task implementation will be framed by the Five Practices for Mathematical Discourse (Smith & Stein, 2011). The learning community will also focus on intentional and meaningful formative assessment, as this is a critical aspect of implementing rich mathematical tasks.  By starting in late summer and continuing into the fall academic term, our learning community conversations will be enriched by data and experiences from our fall teaching work and future planning. 

Facilitators

Dr. Todd Grundmeier and Dr. Danielle Champney
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

How To Apply

In order to determine if we have a critical mass for this learning community, we ask all interested instructors to complete the application form. This form provides an opportunity to advise us about the timing/schedule of future learning communities, so if you are interested, please complete the form even if we don’t fit your needs this time. The deadline for application is June 30 and notification of acceptance will be made by July 5. If accepted, you will have until Tuesday, July 11 to pay the $50 registration fee to complete the registration process.

What's Included in the Community

Meeting Schedule (all on Zoom)

Participant Roles

(Applicants should specify a preference at registration)

• Teacher: A participant who will be teaching a content course for future elementary teachers in Fall 2023.
• Planner: A participant who is planning a content class for future elementary teachers to be taught in the near future (preferably Spring 2024).

Note: We realize someone could be both a teacher and planner if they’re teaching “Course 1” in a sequence and simultaneously planning for “Course 2”, but we ask them to choose the role they will take on during the workshop.

Participant Commitment

Both roles: 

• An ongoing presence in Zoom meetings and discussions to help provide support and ideas for both Teachers and Planners.  
• Initiating and responding to posts in a group discussion board throughout the learning community.
• Active (online) participation in a small group, during the course of the learning community 

Teacher: 

• The implementation of a rich mathematical task, including collecting data, to be discussed during a learning community meeting. 
• An online poster presentation that details the task implementation and data collection.

Planner: 

• A detailed plan to implement at least one rich mathematical task and collect data related to the implementation.  
• An online poster presentation that highlights the planned task and data collection.

Support for this Program