It's another fine episode of the More Math for More People podcast.
So many good things this week!
First, Joel and Misty talk honor School Librarians for National School Librarian Day.
Then they conclude their series on the features and aspects of the new Inspiring Connections curriculum with a discussion of some of the delivery features of the program. See links below to get more information.
Then they have a wonderful conversation with two teachers that worked with CPM coaches this school year. Any site can request a quote for CPM coaching! Links for more information and to request a quote below.
You can learn more about Inspiring Connections here:
Contact your Regional Professional Learning Coordinator
CPM's new Digital Platform video
Register for the Residential Institute (Foundations for Coaching and other courses)
Request for Coaching Quote
Coaching Informational Webinar - April 19, 2023 at 9 am PT
Send Joel and Misty a message!
The More Math for More People Podcast is produced by CPM Educational Program.
Learn more at CPM.org
X: @cpmmath
Facebook: CPMEducationalProgram
Email: cpmpodcast@cpm.org
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Misty (00:00):
Here we are on April 4th, 2023.
This is episode 24 of Season twoof the More Math for More
People.
Podcast.
Cheers.
(00:27):
Hello everyone.
I'm Misty.
And I'm Joel.
And this is the more.
For more People.
Podcast brought to you by CPMEducational Program.
On this podcast, we discuss theCPM curriculum, trends in math
education, and share strategiesto shift instructional practices
to create a more inclusive andstudent-centered classroom.
We also highlight upcoming CPMprofessional learning
(00:48):
opportunities and haveconversations with math
educators about how they do whatthey do, and we always try to
have a little bit of fun andlaughter as well.
Indeed we do.
So come and find out whatshenanigans were up to on this
episode.
Boom.
I think by now the people know what time it is.
(01:10):
It is National Day of Time, soyes.
And what National Day is ittoday,
Joel (01:18):
It's National School Librarian Day.
Misty (01:22):
Wow.
Joel (01:23):
Yeah,
Misty (01:24):
Okay.
School Librarian Day.
Joel (01:27):
that's right.
Misty (01:28):
I used to love to go to the library when I was a kid.
Joel (01:31):
Me too.
Misty (01:32):
I would ride my bike.
This is when kids could dothings like this.
I would take my bike and I wouldride it.
It was like in eighth grade,probably ride it like a couple
miles over to my grandma's housebecause my grandma lived on the
bus.
Line.
then I would take the bus fromacross the street from my
grandma's house all the way todowntown Olympia.
(01:52):
And then I'd walk like six oreight blocks up cuz the bus
didn't go right by the library.
Walk all the way up to thelibrary.
And then I would Return a bunchof books, check out a bunch of
books, my backpack or whatever Ihad, I probably didn't have, I
dunno if it was, had a backpackor whatever.
I had to carry books and thenI'd walk all the way back down
and catch the bus back to mygrandma's house and then ride my
bike back home.
I did it like multiple times,probably every couple weeks in
(02:14):
the summertime
Joel (02:15):
that's.
Misty (02:16):
Yeah, I used to read a lot of books when I was a kid, I
appreciate librarians andthey're keeping things organized
and so on.
People who wanna find books.
Joel (02:27):
Me too.
One funny story is when I was inhigh school, and I almost
hesitate to say this in a publicforum just because there are
some implications that happenedhere, but.
Misty (02:38):
Okay.
Joel (02:39):
So
Misty (02:39):
I'm even
Joel (02:40):
yeah, I'm kind of telling the story, but without admitting
guilt, but yet I did it, if thatmakes sense In high school we
loved our school librarian somuch that we wanted to honor
her.
And our way of honoring her wasthere was this beautiful picture
of Obiwan Kenobi in the librarythat a student had made, like a
painting.
(03:01):
And so we had a friend.
In our group do the same muralof OB one Kenobi with the
librarian in the mural and sothis was very difficult.
We had to have somebody hide outunder the stairs in the library.
We had to have we were talkingto each other, but I wanna say
walkie-talkies, but we probablyhad cell phones then.
(03:22):
I'm not even sure, but we weregiving each other information
somehow Stayed after school, gotinto the library, scaled the
wall, replaced the pictures.
Misty (03:33):
Oh my goodness.
Joel (03:34):
the librarian actually loved it, but we were whoever
was guilty said that they werenot gonna be able to graduate
that year until they replacedthe actual picture.
But in the end, we replaced itin the, I graduated and
librarian loved And so I have agreat affinity to school
librarians because not only didshe help us, get our materials,
(03:56):
do all the things, read thebooks, but there's a good love
there for.
Misty (04:00):
Well, and I think that being a librarian and doing that
kind of thing, and it's likealmost, I don't wanna say it's a
lost art, but it's it's a thingthat is because there's so much
more information and thingsavailable just online and so on,
I think that the, whatlibrarians do has really shifted
and changed since certainly.
(04:22):
you and I were in school andeverything was just books, so we
had to go to the referencesection where you couldn't check
out any of those books,
Joel (04:29):
Decimal system, all that
Misty (04:30):
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
All right, so it's Nationalschool librarian day, today, and
Joel (04:37):
we honor you.
You, we love you.
Thank
Misty (04:39):
Great job librarians.
Thank you for all your
Joel (04:41):
Yeah.
So today we're back with KarenWooten and Krista Holstein.
And we're gonna be talking aboutthis is our final episode here
(05:05):
about our new curriculumInspiring Connections.
And today we're going to focuson the delivery platform because
as I understand, it's verydifferent than what we've seen
before.
So we're gonna find out aboutthat.
So welcome back to the podcast.
Krista (05:19):
Thanks so
Karen (05:19):
you.
Misty (05:20):
Yeah, welcome.
Karen (05:21):
Thank you.
Joel (05:22):
What is this thing that we're calling the digital
platform?
Krista (05:27):
What is this thing we're calling the digital platform?
So this is our, the way that thecurriculum is being delivered.
And it's more than just anebook.
It's an interactive experiencefor both the teachers and the
students.
it's really, it's a BIM mediaprogram for inspiring
connections.
It's not just a textbook.
(05:47):
We're not just an ebook, butstudents will have a, a
mathematician's notebook, andthen they'll also have their
devices where the rest of thecurriculum will be housed in
this digital platform.
So there's a lot to unpackthere.
Where do you wanna start?
Misty (06:03):
Yeah.
Joel (06:03):
sounds like there's a lot of pieces to this puzzle here,
Krista (06:06):
Yeah,
Misty (06:07):
Well, there's simultaneously a lot of pieces,
and then only two pieces,
Joel (06:11):
right?
Krista (06:11):
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Karen (06:14):
both those pieces are needed.
You can't just use one or theother.
Both of them are needed.
Misty (06:20):
Okay.
Okay.
Why don't we start with the, doyou wanna start with the
mathematician's notebook andexplain that first, or explain
the digital platform.
Krista (06:27):
yeah.
We can talk about themathematician notebook first.
So we say that the mathematiciannotebook.
is where the students record themessy work of learning.
So it's, there's a lot of spaceavailable for the students.
There's blank space, there'sgrid space, there's also blank
graphs and blank tables andillustrations and things to
ground the students into whatthe problem is, but also provide
(06:51):
the space for them to work.
It makes sense for them.
We want them to be taking notesfor themselves or as, like Al
says, they're taking notes fortheir future, for forgetful
self.
So it should be personalized tothe students.
It makes sense to them.
So we provide the opportunityfor that.
They can write where, how, andwhat they.
Misty (07:12):
Mm-hmm.
Karen (07:13):
and it is a consumable, which, so that's a big
difference from our CoreConnection series is that this
is a consumable book for thestudents.
Joel (07:22):
So it's not just a composition book to record this
messy
Krista (07:25):
It is not so in terms of what's actually in there, like
the launch, the text for thelaunch and the closure for every
single lesson is in there so thestudents can engage with that.
and the reflection and practice,which is the independent work
that's done typically outside ofclass, all of that is in the
mathematician's notebook, sothey can use that.
(07:45):
They don't need to have internetat home if they want to do their
reflection and practice.
They can do that in theirmathematician's notebook, so
it's not just blank space andgrid space.
there's definitely a lot ofcontent in there.
Misty (07:57):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It feels like an enhanced stepup structured form of a
composition notebook, right?
Where they've got that space andthings, but then they also have
these anchor points and the, insome cases the full problem.
But it sounds like a lot ofcases, the classwork stuff isn't
necessarily all there would haveselected pieces that were there.
(08:17):
Is that accurate?
Krista (08:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, and it really goes hand inhand with the content that's on
the digital platform, which isthe rest of it, which is
basically everything is in thedigital platform.
There's some things that areonly in the mathematicians
notebook, like journal prompts.
Are in the mathematiciannotebook, but for the most part,
everything is accessible in thedigital platform.
(08:40):
And so the students can engagewith the problems in the digital
platform and then do their workin the mathematician's notebook
because we know brain researchtells us writing by hand is a
lot more powerful than typing.
So we try to encourage thatinstead.
Misty (08:56):
Mm-hmm.
Okay so I'm trying to picturewhat this might look like in the
classroom, right?
So the kids have theirmathematician's notebook.
We've talked a little bit abouthow they might sometimes be
working in vertical,non-permanent surfaces or with
their device.
So how might it look in theclassroom, right?
I've got my littlemathematician's notebook.
What am I doing as a student?
How am I interacting with thecurriculum in these various
(09:16):
ways?
Karen (09:18):
Well, a lot of it will be, it'll still look like the
CPM classrooms.
We all.
kids are in teams.
We are recommending notone-to-one, two to one, three to
one, even four to one might workfor how they're gonna access the
content that's on the digitalplatform, but they are.
Each of them have their ownmathematicians notebook where
(09:39):
they're doing their work andrecording their work.
So when they're up at thevertical, non-permanent
surfaces, we imagine that theyhave those notebooks right there
with them, that they're jottingdown notes or making sketches or
whatever it is that they need toremember that they're putting on
those whiteboards.
And it's, it can go back andforth between the two, or there
could be times where the teacherwill provide in the directions
(10:02):
or the instructions verbally.
Expect the kids to be going backevery few seconds to look at the
device, but moving'em along justthrough verbal instruction.
Krista (10:13):
Yeah, so students might be, teams might be working at
the vertical, non-permittedsurface.
They might be working.
at their tabletops with algebratiles or maybe there's an
interactive activity on thedigital platform where they're
working on their devices.
So we're incorporating all ofthese different, sometimes we
call'em venues into the lessonsvery intentionally.
(10:36):
So whatever the students,however the students are
experiencing the lesson waschosen intentionally to maximize
their learning.
Karen (10:45):
Correct.
We don't do technology just fortechnology's sake.
It has to bring value.
If we're gonna take the time touse a technology or some
component of it, it has to addvalue to the student's learning
or their experience whilelearning.
Misty (10:59):
So I've heard that there are some pretty cool features in
the digital platform to helpteachers with structuring and
carrying out the lesson.
Can you tell us about some ofthose?
Karen (11:11):
Well, the whole, the entire teacher edition is on the
digital platform, so that'swhere the teacher's gonna go to
access all of their informationthat they need to teach the
class.
And there's space there and it'sset up so that teachers could do
their planning right in there.
So they could type their ownnotes right into the digital
platform at their lessons, justlike you used to stick your
(11:32):
post-it notes.
Joel (11:34):
Mm-hmm.
Karen (11:35):
in the binder, it's the same sort of thing.
But they have quick access thento the author's vision is what
we now call the teacher notes.
They're right with the problem.
So it isn't like turning to aseparate click in a separate tab
in the CCE book, or going to adifferent page in your binder,
but it's connected with the partof the lesson that they're
working on.
Misty (11:56):
Mm-hmm.
Joel (11:57):
That's awesome.
Krista (11:58):
And the digital platform also gives teachers the
opportunities to randomizeteams, the student.
roster will be, their classroster was included in the
digital platform, and theteacher can use visibly random
teams every day as recommendedin building thinking classrooms.
And the thing that I think ismost powerful, if I can go ahead
(12:19):
and say that is pacing.
So the teacher has theopportunity to pace the lesson
and make only certain problemsvisible for the students what
the students are seeing on theirscreens.
And this allows for some deeperlearning to happen because
students won't be worried about,I need to make sure that I
complete all five problems inthis lesson.
(12:39):
If they see only one problem,they can focus on that one
problem.
Joel (12:43):
Are there suggestions for the pacing or is that left up to
the teacher discretion?
Krista (12:49):
Yeah.
In the author's vision thatKaren was just mentioning, which
is right next to the problem,it'll say PACE two problem.
one dash 21 or paste to thelaunch or whatever is
recommended to help the studentsto focus their learning.
It also helps if there'ssomething that might give
something away
Misty (13:07):
Mm mm-hmm.
Krista (13:09):
This lesson is about histograms, but we don't want
you to think about histogramsyet, so we're not gonna show you
that histograms are coming uplater in this lesson.
Misty (13:17):
That all sounds really cool.
I'm really excited to really seeit in classrooms in the next
years and see how teachers arepulling this all together.
It's a really, very intentionalpiece of curriculum, so I'm
pretty excited about that
Joel (13:30):
Yeah.
Krista (13:31):
you.
So are
Karen (13:31):
It is it's cutting edge.
It really is.
There isn't anything else like
Joel (13:35):
no.
Karen (13:36):
because there will also be interactive activities built
into the digital platform thatthe students will be engaging
with the activity there, notgoing to some other site but
right there with their lesson.
Misty (13:49):
Awesome.
Joel (13:50):
If teachers wanted to see an example of this, cuz I know
we're, this is audio, we're justtalking about it.
If they wanted to see somethingabout it, where would they go to
get some visual?
Karen (14:02):
if they go, if they contact their R P L C,
Misty (14:05):
Mm-hmm.
Karen (14:06):
the R P C could arrange for them to, have a preview of
it.
or can do a demonstration forthem, which is actually better
because when you have a preview,you don't have a class set up,
so you can't see all of thepacing and other features of it.
But the R PLC can walk youthrough it and demo the pieces
(14:28):
cuz they have some fake classesset up that they can manipulate.
That's probably the best way.
Misty (14:35):
yeah, and I think we have a a quick little demonstration
video that kind of shows thefeatures that one of our PLT
members put together.
And we can, I think we can linkthat in our description so that,
if that's okay with you, Karenso that people could see that
also.
It's just a little two minuteshow how some of the features so
that people can see it as,
Karen (14:54):
Yeah, that'd be.
Misty (14:55):
yeah.
Awesome.
Well, anything else
Krista (14:58):
I would say just that the digital platform, it, like
Karen said, it's cutting edge.
Like it's so exciting what hasalready been developed and the
development team continues toget feedback and improve it and.
It's just really exciting to seethis all happen and just expect
that even more features aregonna be coming out in the
future.
Misty (15:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It must be really exciting to beat this point of launching.
I mean, we've done so, you'vedone so much work.
I don't wanna say we, I haven'tdone it.
You've done so much work overthe last several years in
developing it and writing it andfield testing it and to be at
this point of putting it outthere to the general public and
(15:38):
classrooms must be veryexciting.
Indeed.
Joel (15:41):
Yeah.
Karen (15:41):
is and a and a big shout out to our field test teachers
and our beta teachers, cuz theyare really working hard and
giving us all kinds of feedback.
That's been so helpful.
And they're really shaping notjust the curriculum, but this
digital platform to make surethat it's run smoothly and it
does.
We want it to do, which issupport students and teachers.
Misty (16:01):
Yeah.
Joel (16:02):
shout out cuz at the teacher conference we did get to
hear from some of those people,so it was really positive and
you could tell that they wereenjoying being part of the
project too.
Karen (16:12):
Yeah.
Misty (16:13):
thank you so much for coming on and telling us these
last little bits about our bigInspiring Connections launch.
And again, if people wanna findout more information, they can
contact their regionalprofessional learning
coordinator and I'll put a linkfor that in the description as
well.
And we're gonna see some greatthings next year as people start
using this in their classrooms.
So thank you very much.
Karen (16:34):
Well, thank you.
Krista (16:35):
So much.
Misty (16:50):
Okay, so in a minute you're going to hear a
conversation that Joel and I aregonna have with two teachers
who've worked with CPM coachesthis year.
And before we launch into thatconversation, we just want to do
a little bit of talking aboutwhat CPM coaching is, right?
Joel (17:09):
Yeah,
Misty (17:10):
what is the CPM coaching thing right?
So, Joel,
Joel (17:14):
Well, what is it?
Misty (17:14):
you know, or are you gonna ask me questions?
Yeah, exactly.
Joel (17:17):
yeah.
I'm gonna ask you somequestions.
In a nutshell, what is CPMcoaching?
Misty (17:22):
Well, in a nutshell, CPM coaching it's an embedded
coaching process.
So teachers work with a CPMcoach over the course of several
months to focus in on oneinstructional practice area, and
the teacher works with a coachto pick a goal.
That is based on one of theeffective math teaching
(17:43):
practices from NCT M'Sprinciples to action.
So you pick one of thosepractices, boom, you create a
goal and then we, using thatgoal, you work with a coach to
do several rounds of coachingand each.
round of coaching is aco-planning session where you
look at a lesson you're gonna doand how you're gonna implement
that goal in that particularlesson.
(18:05):
And then an observation wherethe coach comes in, collects
some data, some evidence whileyou're doing that lesson and
then a reflection conversationafterwards.
So you might do that three tofive times or more around that
particular goal.
And that's, that's the wholething.
Joel (18:22):
Okay.
And it sounds different thansay, an ISV or our support
visits that we do duringimplementation.
So can you be in implementationwhen you get coaching, or is
this for veteran teachers
Misty (18:35):
Kind of, yes.
So we try to, we try to work oncoaching with teachers who have
completed their first year ofCPM implementation primarily
because one, you have access toimplementation support visits
during that first year.
And because so much of the firstyear is.
Figuring out what you'reteaching every day and the
(18:58):
storyline of the course and whatthe lessons look like, and all
of those pieces.
Trying to also put on top ofthat, this more intense work
with a CPM coach.
We just feel like that's a lot,right?
And so we, we would recommendthat you take advantage of the
complimentary pieces and thencome back to CPM coaching in
that second or third year orbeyond.
Joel (19:21):
Okay.
And then once teachers haveworked on a goal can teachers
continue to do coaching?
Can they continue to work on thesame goal, work on different
goals?
Misty (19:31):
Yeah.
I mean we have had coaches workwith teachers for several years
in a row.
If the school continues tocontract with CPM to do that,
and so they can work on the samegoal, they can work on a
different goal.
I've worked with some teacherswho, I've worked with'em over
several years and they'vechanged the practice.
They've gone back to a practice,cuz every time you address any
of those effective math teachingpractices, You're gonna work on
(19:54):
good teaching, right?
You're gonna work on somethings.
I know when I was teaching everyyear I'd pick a goal and it
would be oh, I've haven't beendoing this for a while, so I'm
gonna really focus in on thisyear.
And then I would get good at itand I'd be like, oh, darn, I
forgot to do this work on thisother thing anymore.
So it's the same kind of thing.
You can continue to work onsomething.
there's always more work to do,right?
There's always, you're, even ifyou worked on a goal the next
(20:17):
year your students might bedifferent, right?
Your classes are different, soyou could work on the same goal,
but just because it's with adifferent group of students, you
have to kinda step back and comeat it a different way or, work
on it again.
So, yeah,
Joel (20:29):
I never received CPM coaching, and I wish I had I
think it would've been a reallygreat experience
Misty (20:34):
It probably would've.
Hey, we're here today with,Holly Postal Wait, and Renee
(20:55):
Joden.
They are teachers who workedwith some of our CPM coaches
this year.
Holly lives in Ohio, and Reneelives in Wisconsin.
And we are here to have aconversation with them today
about how their coachingexperience went, what they got
from it, how they felt about it.
So welcome to the podcast Reneeand Holly.
Joel (21:17):
for being here.
Holly (21:18):
thank you.
Renae (21:18):
Thank you.
Misty (21:19):
So first of all, just tell us a little bit Holly, why
don't you start and just tell usa little bit about, you're in
Ohio, but where do you teach?
What level do you teach?
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself.
Holly (21:28):
So I teach high school at Fairless in Ohio.
teaching geometry for 10th gradeand then I also have,, an honors
algebra two for 10th grade.
So I've all 10th grade.
Misty (21:41):
Nice.
And how long have you beenteaching?
Holly (21:43):
This is actually my 10th year this year,.
and it is my sixth year withcpm.
Misty (21:49):
Nice, nice And Renee.
Renae (21:53):
I am teaching at Little Chute High School and I have
been here for 23 years.
I've been teaching for 25 yearsoverall.
I taught CPM I think for abouteight years, and primarily I've
been teaching Algebra one.
To freshmen and I have hadopportunities to teach Algebra
two and pre-calc as well.
And I taught the calculus classone year using cpm.
(22:16):
So it's been a great experienceand I just love it.
Misty (22:20):
And is this your first year that you've been working
with a CPM coach?
Renae (22:25):
Well, we had a coach when we originally implemented cpm.
I would say early on, pre 2020.
But now we are being coachedagain because we've had some
turnover in staff, so we thoughtwe might as well try to get
everyone on the same page again.
And yeah, we're seeing a lot ofbenefits from it.
Misty (22:40):
And Holly, is this the first time you've worked with a
CPM coach?
Holly (22:43):
Yeah, this is my first time.
Misty (22:45):
Awesome.
This is an open-ended question,How did it feel?
What was it like having a CPMcoach come and work with you
this year?
Renee, why don't you start forus if you're willing,
Renae (22:58):
so I was part of the original group that was coached
a long time ago, and we justthought maybe it would be good
idea to have, everyone else inour staff be coached as well so,
I wasn't necessarily supposed tobe coached this year, but I had
requested it and I said, I wannabe coached because to me I think
(23:19):
it gives you an opportunity togrow and learn some more.
So I love being coached, whetherit's, through CPM or a district
or whatever it is.
Obviously CPM I think is morefocused on math and so I think
it's just a great opportunity.
I don't even know how to explainall the benefits that I think
can come from it.
Is it challenging?
Yes.
But I think that if you're opento, having people reflect with
(23:42):
you and plan with you, then Ithink it's a great opportunity
for you to grow as an educator.
Misty (23:46):
So Holly, how was it having a coach this year for you
in general?
How did that go?
Holly (23:51):
So for me, a lot of things that I don't have at a
small school is collaborationbecause we all of teach, there's
one Algebra one teacher, there'sone geometry teacher, there's
one algebra two, there's onepre-Calc, so there's not overlap
two plan together.
So that was my biggest benefitis I got to experience, working
(24:14):
on lessons with someone and.
someone giving me ideas and notme just having to come up with
everything on my own.
So that was super coolexperience for me because I
don't really get to do that.
I really feel my coach did agood job at letting me say, this
is what I want to work on.
(24:37):
I really wanted to work onstrategies because I feel like
we have this huge arsenal ofstrategies in cpm, but I feel
like I always stuck with thesame three So I'm like, I really
want you to push me to try theseother strategies that maybe I
just haven't had the courage totry by myself.
(24:58):
So having my coach in the roomand really supporting that or
giving me.
ideas on what it's gonna looklike or even, I think my coach
kept saying, even if you don'tknow what's gonna happen, just
do it.
And if it works, it works.
And so some of those things Idid when she wasn't there, I
would just say, okay Holly, justtry this.
(25:19):
If it works, it works.
If it's a disaster, at least,you know.
And now I think I have, I'veadded like six new strategies
that I actually like better thanthe three I was using.
So tho those are the two bigthings that I got.
Joel (25:32):
Renee was talking about some experience before with
coaching and then tryingcoaching again.
This was your first experience,Holly and how did you hear about
it, or how did you get investedin it?
Holly (25:44):
My, so we're switching over superintendent.
So the new superintendent is oflike in an assisting role, but
he was our curriculum directorand he basically was Hey, you're
getting CPM coaching Okay.
Misty (25:57):
How did that feel for you?
Holly (25:58):
He knows me well enough.
I am game for whatever.
I love learning.
I mean, I'm in education.
I feel like I'm a lifelonglearner.
I don't feel like coaching.
I know some teachers get oh mygosh, they're sending someone
into my room.
I must be doing all these thingsbad.
But there's nothing bad gonnacome from someone helping you
ever.
So I think that's one thingteachers need to remember if
(26:20):
someone's gonna come in and makethings better for you, there's
never a negative to that.
Even if they're like, Hey, youcould be stronger here.
Why don't you try this?
I think it's always gonna be apositive for you in the
Misty (26:31):
end Yeah.
I think that is one of thethings that's, that is really
nice when working with teachers,right?
The willingness to examine yourown practice and to think about
where you could, get betterwherever we are in our teaching
career.
I imagine after 20 plus years,Renee, you have done a lot of
things over time and to be in aplace where you're still looking
at how can I improve?
(26:52):
That's, that's pretty amazing.
Renae (26:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I wanna mention.
and I guess echo what Holly'ssaying about when a coach is in
there, it's so non-evaluativeand non-judgmental.
They're just there to help youbecome a better teacher and it's
what you wanna get out of it.
And what I've noticed with Johnis he wants me to reach my goal,
but he is never gonna tell mewhat to do.
Just like in cpm, we don't wannatell the student.
(27:15):
how to do things.
He's making me figure it out,through his questioning, through
his observations.
So I echo what Holly is saying?
A hundred percent.
Misty (27:26):
what were some of the challenging things about having
a coach?
Renae (27:30):
I would say sometimes for me, the biggest challenge,
challenges the scheduling partso that the coach can get to
everyone's room based.
When they have their classes,when they have their preps,
when, different activities aretaking place in the school.
That was the biggest challenge.
But aside from that, which Ican't control, I would say you
have to be someone who wants tochange and who wants to learn
(27:52):
and continue to get better.
So the challenge for a lot ofteachers is to be open to that
kind of communication andexperience.
They're never gonna tell youwhat to do.
You have to kinda, use what theycoach you to do and hopefully it
makes you a better teacher.
Misty (28:07):
Right,
Joel (28:08):
And did you come up with your goals or did John or Ashley
and Holly's case, did they comein with a goal in mind for you?
Renae (28:16):
Well, John, this time, okay, so first of all, I feel
like CPM coaching is alwaysevolving.
As different practices,different things come out in the
education world.
I feel like this time John camewith his iPad that had, okay,
which of these things do youwanna work on out of these three
(28:37):
things?
And what, what strategies orwhat teacher actions, what
student actions.
It was just a whole different.
A whole different experiencethan it was the first time.
I thought this was a little bitmore direct and focused with
choices.
And I thought that was helpful.
He didn't tell us what to do,but we had, he kind of broke it
down and told us differentoptions or different things that
(28:58):
he thought might fit, and thenwe got to make that choice based
on what we thought.
Misty (29:03):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Holly what felt challenging foryou with CPM coaching?
Holly (29:08):
scheduling, with
Misty (29:09):
Mm-hmm.
Holly (29:09):
schedule and my schedule and the other teacher's
schedules like, I know Ashleywould have something and have to
switch, and then I'm like, okay,well when she comes, let me make
sure there's not a c t testingor this or that.
You know?
So just trying to coordinate,people's schedules is always
tricky to coordinate together.
So I, I think I can't sayanything else negative besides
(29:32):
just trying to schedule thetimes that they were gonna be.
Misty (29:36):
So I'm gonna ask each of you to tell us then, what do you
think is the thing that would bemost beneficial?
Not the thing that maybe you gotthe most out of have working
with a CPM coach, but also whatdo you think others who are
thinking about working with aCPM coach?
What would they need to know orwhat would you want them to know
in light of those benefits
Holly (29:57):
For me, If I were gonna give someone like, oh, should
you do the coaching or not?
I would always say yes.
The one thing that I feelAshley, when she came in, she
observed and gave me feedback,and that's kind of how we made
my goals.
And I just chose to use that forthings that I knew I wasn't
gonna push myself to.
So that's what I would tellsomeone.
(30:18):
If you're nervous about havingsomeone in your room, Just think
about something that you don'twanna do by yourself.
I don't wanna do the chickenproblem by myself, So when
Ashley was there, I was like,I've never done this lesson.
I'm too scared to do it bymyself.
Do it with me.
And like now I'm like reallyexcited about it to do it next
year by myself.
And, and I just kept pullinglessons like that.
(30:40):
So I, that was one of theplanning things cuz I always
wanted her to be around forsomething that I wanted to come
out of my shell and really try,but with the support of someone
else.
So I would, I would givesomebody that advice, like if
you're thinking about doingcoaching use it to push yourself
into some of those lessons thatmaybe you don't wanna do cuz
(31:01):
you're afraid.
Have your coach help you throughit, and it will turn out so much
better than you think.
Misty (31:09):
Mm-hmm.
That's great.
Renee, what would you offer
Renae (31:13):
I would probably go back to the same thing I said before,
that it's not for to, forsomeone who's gonna be coaching,
it's, they're not judging you.
They are just there to help.
To make you think, to make youreflect.
I think that was the part that Iliked the most was the
reflective conversations that wehad.
After the observations or afterwe planned and then did a
(31:36):
lesson, just having someone totalk to who is, who I consider,
almost an expert or pretty muchan expert at, in the CPM
curriculum and.
All of the nuances, then all ofthe strategies and all of the
the, everything related toroles.
Like there's just so much in CPMthat you can, you forget like
(31:57):
some months I'll be focused onteam roles and I'm like, man, I
really should be looking atdifferent study team strategies.
There's just so much that yousometimes forget.
So it's nice to have that coachto reflect with you on, just
things that either you're afraidto do by yourself or maybe you
just forgot about, or maybe youcome up with something better.
So that coaching isn't just whenthey're there.
(32:20):
There's a number of times we'veemailed John and we've had ideas
of our own and said, Hey, whatdo you think of this?
And he's like, Hey, go with it.
Let's try it.
Let me know how it goes.
And, they don't have to be thereto coach you.
It's just a ongoing process.
Misty (32:33):
Oh, that's awesome.
Well, thank you so much forcoming on the show today and
sharing with us about yourcoaching experience and helping
other people hopefully getexcited about working with a CPM
coach.
It sounds like it's a reallygreat growth opportunity,
Joel (32:46):
Mm-hmm.
Misty (32:47):
thank you so much.
Renae (32:48):
Thank you.
Holly (32:49):
problem.
Misty (33:05):
So in addition to working with a CPM coach, We also offer
a foundations for coachingcourse.
Which is a course to help.
Admin and instructional coaches,other people who are working
with teachers to build theirskills.
Using some of the CPM coachingmodel.
(33:26):
And that course takes place atthe residential Institute.
It's three days, you get tolearn a bunch of new skills and
tools and come away with somereally great support to help you
become a better coach for yourteachers and people at your
school.
Last year, we had a few of thepeople record a testimonial to
(33:49):
tell us what they thought aboutfoundations for coaching.
So here you go.
Here's their thoughts on that?
The best part was connectingwith a community of like-minded
professionals who were reallythere to grow and learn, and
figure out ways to empower newteachers and intern impact
(34:13):
students.
Another noteworthy aspect of thefoundations for coaching is that
any coach or teacher from anysubject.
Can benefit from this training.
Personally, I am an Englishteacher and get anxiety about
math and found myself reallyenjoying learning about teaching
(34:35):
math and lesson planning formath, and so I recommend this
for any teacher of any subjectmatter.
Why would you recommend someoneto come to the Residential
Institute?
The Residential Institute,specifically the foundations for
coaching.
Was so methodically planned outand beneficial.
(34:57):
My time was not wasted.
I can't believe how fast thesethree days flew by.
Like every second I was engaged.
It was just such purposefulplanning, and I left with so
many resources and tools thatwill help me as a coach.
Not just the coaches, but Ithink administrators, and I also
think math teachers, becausethey work with each other and
(35:19):
coach each other.
Many different roles wouldbenefit from the foundations for
coaching.
I wanna mention that John andAshley were masterful at
facilitating the foundations forcoaching.
Master Outro Season 2 (35:51):
So that's a wrap for this episode of The
More Math For More Peoplepodcast, for more information
and to stay connected.
You can find CPM on both Twitterand Facebook.
The music for the podcast wascreated by Julius h and can be
found on pxa bay.com.
Join us for the next episode ofMore Math for More People.
(36:11):
What day will that be, Joel?
Joel (36:12):
It'll be April 18th pinata day, and I'm so looking forward
to telling some stories andhearing some stories about
pinatas.
I remember going to somebirthday parties in particular
where there were pinatas, and Iremember feeling really nervous
about one being blindfolded,spun around, hit them, and then
two, maybe getting hit bysomebody who's trying to hit.
(36:33):
The pinata.
And then three, like what'sgonna be inside that pinata?
I remember feeling kind ofexcited, I guess, not nervous
about that.
And so it'll be fun to reminisceabout those stories.
I can't wait to hear whatMisty's experience with pinatas
have been, but it'll be fun tocelebrate Pinata day and take a
closer look at the celebrationaround that day.
So we'll see you on April 18thfor Pinata Day.
Here we are on April 4th, 2023.
This is episode 24 of Season twoof the More Math for More
People.
Podcast.
Cheers.
(00:27):
Hello everyone.
I'm Misty.
And I'm Joel.
And this is the more.
For more People.
Podcast brought to you by CPMEducational Program.
On this podcast, we discuss theCPM curriculum, trends in math
education, and share strategiesto shift instructional practices
to create a more inclusive andstudent-centered classroom.
We also highlight upcoming CPMprofessional learning
(00:48):
opportunities and haveconversations with math
educators about how they do whatthey do, and we always try to
have a little bit of fun andlaughter as well.
Indeed we do.
So come and find out whatshenanigans were up to on this
episode.
Boom.
I think by now the people know what time it is.
(01:10):
It is National Day of Time, soyes.
And what National Day is ittoday,
Joel (01:18):
It's National School Librarian Day.
Misty (01:22):
Wow.
Joel (01:23):
Yeah,
Misty (01:24):
Okay.
School Librarian Day.
Joel (01:27):
that's right.
Misty (01:28):
I used to love to go to the library when I was a kid.
Joel (01:31):
Me too.
Misty (01:32):
I would ride my bike.
This is when kids could dothings like this.
I would take my bike and I wouldride it.
It was like in eighth grade,probably ride it like a couple
miles over to my grandma's housebecause my grandma lived on the
bus.
Line.
then I would take the bus fromacross the street from my
grandma's house all the way todowntown Olympia.
(01:52):
And then I'd walk like six oreight blocks up cuz the bus
didn't go right by the library.
Walk all the way up to thelibrary.
And then I would Return a bunchof books, check out a bunch of
books, my backpack or whatever Ihad, I probably didn't have, I
dunno if it was, had a backpackor whatever.
I had to carry books and thenI'd walk all the way back down
and catch the bus back to mygrandma's house and then ride my
bike back home.
I did it like multiple times,probably every couple weeks in
(02:14):
the summertime
Joel (02:15):
that's.
Misty (02:16):
Yeah, I used to read a lot of books when I was a kid, I
appreciate librarians andthey're keeping things organized
and so on.
People who wanna find books.
Joel (02:27):
Me too.
One funny story is when I was inhigh school, and I almost
hesitate to say this in a publicforum just because there are
some implications that happenedhere, but.
Misty (02:38):
Okay.
Joel (02:39):
So
Misty (02:39):
I'm even
Joel (02:40):
yeah, I'm kind of telling the story, but without admitting
guilt, but yet I did it, if thatmakes sense In high school we
loved our school librarian somuch that we wanted to honor
her.
And our way of honoring her wasthere was this beautiful picture
of Obiwan Kenobi in the librarythat a student had made, like a
painting.
(03:01):
And so we had a friend.
In our group do the same muralof OB one Kenobi with the
librarian in the mural and sothis was very difficult.
We had to have somebody hide outunder the stairs in the library.
We had to have we were talkingto each other, but I wanna say
walkie-talkies, but we probablyhad cell phones then.
(03:22):
I'm not even sure, but we weregiving each other information
somehow Stayed after school, gotinto the library, scaled the
wall, replaced the pictures.
Misty (03:33):
Oh my goodness.
Joel (03:34):
the librarian actually loved it, but we were whoever
was guilty said that they werenot gonna be able to graduate
that year until they replacedthe actual picture.
But in the end, we replaced itin the, I graduated and
librarian loved And so I have agreat affinity to school
librarians because not only didshe help us, get our materials,
(03:56):
do all the things, read thebooks, but there's a good love
there for.
Misty (04:00):
Well, and I think that being a librarian and doing that
kind of thing, and it's likealmost, I don't wanna say it's a
lost art, but it's it's a thingthat is because there's so much
more information and thingsavailable just online and so on,
I think that the, whatlibrarians do has really shifted
and changed since certainly.
(04:22):
you and I were in school andeverything was just books, so we
had to go to the referencesection where you couldn't check
out any of those books,
Joel (04:29):
Decimal system, all that
Misty (04:30):
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
All right, so it's Nationalschool librarian day, today, and
Joel (04:37):
we honor you.
You, we love you.
Thank
Misty (04:39):
Great job librarians.
Thank you for all your
Joel (04:41):
Yeah.
So today we're back with KarenWooten and Krista Holstein.
And we're gonna be talking aboutthis is our final episode here
(05:05):
about our new curriculumInspiring Connections.
And today we're going to focuson the delivery platform because
as I understand, it's verydifferent than what we've seen
before.
So we're gonna find out aboutthat.
So welcome back to the podcast.
Krista (05:19):
Thanks so
Karen (05:19):
you.
Misty (05:20):
Yeah, welcome.
Karen (05:21):
Thank you.
Joel (05:22):
What is this thing that we're calling the digital
platform?
Krista (05:27):
What is this thing we're calling the digital platform?
So this is our, the way that thecurriculum is being delivered.
And it's more than just anebook.
It's an interactive experiencefor both the teachers and the
students.
it's really, it's a BIM mediaprogram for inspiring
connections.
It's not just a textbook.
(05:47):
We're not just an ebook, butstudents will have a, a
mathematician's notebook, andthen they'll also have their
devices where the rest of thecurriculum will be housed in
this digital platform.
So there's a lot to unpackthere.
Where do you wanna start?
Misty (06:03):
Yeah.
Joel (06:03):
sounds like there's a lot of pieces to this puzzle here,
Krista (06:06):
Yeah,
Misty (06:07):
Well, there's simultaneously a lot of pieces,
and then only two pieces,
Joel (06:11):
right?
Krista (06:11):
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Karen (06:14):
both those pieces are needed.
You can't just use one or theother.
Both of them are needed.
Misty (06:20):
Okay.
Okay.
Why don't we start with the, doyou wanna start with the
mathematician's notebook andexplain that first, or explain
the digital platform.
Krista (06:27):
yeah.
We can talk about themathematician notebook first.
So we say that the mathematiciannotebook.
is where the students record themessy work of learning.
So it's, there's a lot of spaceavailable for the students.
There's blank space, there'sgrid space, there's also blank
graphs and blank tables andillustrations and things to
ground the students into whatthe problem is, but also provide
(06:51):
the space for them to work.
It makes sense for them.
We want them to be taking notesfor themselves or as, like Al
says, they're taking notes fortheir future, for forgetful
self.
So it should be personalized tothe students.
It makes sense to them.
So we provide the opportunityfor that.
They can write where, how, andwhat they.
Misty (07:12):
Mm-hmm.
Karen (07:13):
and it is a consumable, which, so that's a big
difference from our CoreConnection series is that this
is a consumable book for thestudents.
Joel (07:22):
So it's not just a composition book to record this
messy
Krista (07:25):
It is not so in terms of what's actually in there, like
the launch, the text for thelaunch and the closure for every
single lesson is in there so thestudents can engage with that.
and the reflection and practice,which is the independent work
that's done typically outside ofclass, all of that is in the
mathematician's notebook, sothey can use that.
(07:45):
They don't need to have internetat home if they want to do their
reflection and practice.
They can do that in theirmathematician's notebook, so
it's not just blank space andgrid space.
there's definitely a lot ofcontent in there.
Misty (07:57):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It feels like an enhanced stepup structured form of a
composition notebook, right?
Where they've got that space andthings, but then they also have
these anchor points and the, insome cases the full problem.
But it sounds like a lot ofcases, the classwork stuff isn't
necessarily all there would haveselected pieces that were there.
(08:17):
Is that accurate?
Krista (08:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, and it really goes hand inhand with the content that's on
the digital platform, which isthe rest of it, which is
basically everything is in thedigital platform.
There's some things that areonly in the mathematicians
notebook, like journal prompts.
Are in the mathematiciannotebook, but for the most part,
everything is accessible in thedigital platform.
(08:40):
And so the students can engagewith the problems in the digital
platform and then do their workin the mathematician's notebook
because we know brain researchtells us writing by hand is a
lot more powerful than typing.
So we try to encourage thatinstead.
Misty (08:56):
Mm-hmm.
Okay so I'm trying to picturewhat this might look like in the
classroom, right?
So the kids have theirmathematician's notebook.
We've talked a little bit abouthow they might sometimes be
working in vertical,non-permanent surfaces or with
their device.
So how might it look in theclassroom, right?
I've got my littlemathematician's notebook.
What am I doing as a student?
How am I interacting with thecurriculum in these various
(09:16):
ways?
Karen (09:18):
Well, a lot of it will be, it'll still look like the
CPM classrooms.
We all.
kids are in teams.
We are recommending notone-to-one, two to one, three to
one, even four to one might workfor how they're gonna access the
content that's on the digitalplatform, but they are.
Each of them have their ownmathematicians notebook where
(09:39):
they're doing their work andrecording their work.
So when they're up at thevertical, non-permanent
surfaces, we imagine that theyhave those notebooks right there
with them, that they're jottingdown notes or making sketches or
whatever it is that they need toremember that they're putting on
those whiteboards.
And it's, it can go back andforth between the two, or there
could be times where the teacherwill provide in the directions
(10:02):
or the instructions verbally.
Expect the kids to be going backevery few seconds to look at the
device, but moving'em along justthrough verbal instruction.
Krista (10:13):
Yeah, so students might be, teams might be working at
the vertical, non-permittedsurface.
They might be working.
at their tabletops with algebratiles or maybe there's an
interactive activity on thedigital platform where they're
working on their devices.
So we're incorporating all ofthese different, sometimes we
call'em venues into the lessonsvery intentionally.
(10:36):
So whatever the students,however the students are
experiencing the lesson waschosen intentionally to maximize
their learning.
Karen (10:45):
Correct.
We don't do technology just fortechnology's sake.
It has to bring value.
If we're gonna take the time touse a technology or some
component of it, it has to addvalue to the student's learning
or their experience whilelearning.
Misty (10:59):
So I've heard that there are some pretty cool features in
the digital platform to helpteachers with structuring and
carrying out the lesson.
Can you tell us about some ofthose?
Karen (11:11):
Well, the whole, the entire teacher edition is on the
digital platform, so that'swhere the teacher's gonna go to
access all of their informationthat they need to teach the
class.
And there's space there and it'sset up so that teachers could do
their planning right in there.
So they could type their ownnotes right into the digital
platform at their lessons, justlike you used to stick your
(11:32):
post-it notes.
Joel (11:34):
Mm-hmm.
Karen (11:35):
in the binder, it's the same sort of thing.
But they have quick access thento the author's vision is what
we now call the teacher notes.
They're right with the problem.
So it isn't like turning to aseparate click in a separate tab
in the CCE book, or going to adifferent page in your binder,
but it's connected with the partof the lesson that they're
working on.
Misty (11:56):
Mm-hmm.
Joel (11:57):
That's awesome.
Krista (11:58):
And the digital platform also gives teachers the
opportunities to randomizeteams, the student.
roster will be, their classroster was included in the
digital platform, and theteacher can use visibly random
teams every day as recommendedin building thinking classrooms.
And the thing that I think ismost powerful, if I can go ahead
(12:19):
and say that is pacing.
So the teacher has theopportunity to pace the lesson
and make only certain problemsvisible for the students what
the students are seeing on theirscreens.
And this allows for some deeperlearning to happen because
students won't be worried about,I need to make sure that I
complete all five problems inthis lesson.
(12:39):
If they see only one problem,they can focus on that one
problem.
Joel (12:43):
Are there suggestions for the pacing or is that left up to
the teacher discretion?
Krista (12:49):
Yeah.
In the author's vision thatKaren was just mentioning, which
is right next to the problem,it'll say PACE two problem.
one dash 21 or paste to thelaunch or whatever is
recommended to help the studentsto focus their learning.
It also helps if there'ssomething that might give
something away
Misty (13:07):
Mm mm-hmm.
Krista (13:09):
This lesson is about histograms, but we don't want
you to think about histogramsyet, so we're not gonna show you
that histograms are coming uplater in this lesson.
Misty (13:17):
That all sounds really cool.
I'm really excited to really seeit in classrooms in the next
years and see how teachers arepulling this all together.
It's a really, very intentionalpiece of curriculum, so I'm
pretty excited about that
Joel (13:30):
Yeah.
Krista (13:31):
you.
So are
Karen (13:31):
It is it's cutting edge.
It really is.
There isn't anything else like
Joel (13:35):
no.
Karen (13:36):
because there will also be interactive activities built
into the digital platform thatthe students will be engaging
with the activity there, notgoing to some other site but
right there with their lesson.
Misty (13:49):
Awesome.
Joel (13:50):
If teachers wanted to see an example of this, cuz I know
we're, this is audio, we're justtalking about it.
If they wanted to see somethingabout it, where would they go to
get some visual?
Karen (14:02):
if they go, if they contact their R P L C,
Misty (14:05):
Mm-hmm.
Karen (14:06):
the R P C could arrange for them to, have a preview of
it.
or can do a demonstration forthem, which is actually better
because when you have a preview,you don't have a class set up,
so you can't see all of thepacing and other features of it.
But the R PLC can walk youthrough it and demo the pieces
(14:28):
cuz they have some fake classesset up that they can manipulate.
That's probably the best way.
Misty (14:35):
yeah, and I think we have a a quick little demonstration
video that kind of shows thefeatures that one of our PLT
members put together.
And we can, I think we can linkthat in our description so that,
if that's okay with you, Karenso that people could see that
also.
It's just a little two minuteshow how some of the features so
that people can see it as,
Karen (14:54):
Yeah, that'd be.
Misty (14:55):
yeah.
Awesome.
Well, anything else
Krista (14:58):
I would say just that the digital platform, it, like
Karen said, it's cutting edge.
Like it's so exciting what hasalready been developed and the
development team continues toget feedback and improve it and.
It's just really exciting to seethis all happen and just expect
that even more features aregonna be coming out in the
future.
Misty (15:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It must be really exciting to beat this point of launching.
I mean, we've done so, you'vedone so much work.
I don't wanna say we, I haven'tdone it.
You've done so much work overthe last several years in
developing it and writing it andfield testing it and to be at
this point of putting it outthere to the general public and
(15:38):
classrooms must be veryexciting.
Indeed.
Joel (15:41):
Yeah.
Karen (15:41):
is and a and a big shout out to our field test teachers
and our beta teachers, cuz theyare really working hard and
giving us all kinds of feedback.
That's been so helpful.
And they're really shaping notjust the curriculum, but this
digital platform to make surethat it's run smoothly and it
does.
We want it to do, which issupport students and teachers.
Misty (16:01):
Yeah.
Joel (16:02):
shout out cuz at the teacher conference we did get to
hear from some of those people,so it was really positive and
you could tell that they wereenjoying being part of the
project too.
Karen (16:12):
Yeah.
Misty (16:13):
thank you so much for coming on and telling us these
last little bits about our bigInspiring Connections launch.
And again, if people wanna findout more information, they can
contact their regionalprofessional learning
coordinator and I'll put a linkfor that in the description as
well.
And we're gonna see some greatthings next year as people start
using this in their classrooms.
So thank you very much.
Karen (16:34):
Well, thank you.
Krista (16:35):
So much.
Misty (16:50):
Okay, so in a minute you're going to hear a
conversation that Joel and I aregonna have with two teachers
who've worked with CPM coachesthis year.
And before we launch into thatconversation, we just want to do
a little bit of talking aboutwhat CPM coaching is, right?
Joel (17:09):
Yeah,
Misty (17:10):
what is the CPM coaching thing right?
So, Joel,
Joel (17:14):
Well, what is it?
Misty (17:14):
you know, or are you gonna ask me questions?
Yeah, exactly.
Joel (17:17):
yeah.
I'm gonna ask you somequestions.
In a nutshell, what is CPMcoaching?
Misty (17:22):
Well, in a nutshell, CPM coaching it's an embedded
coaching process.
So teachers work with a CPMcoach over the course of several
months to focus in on oneinstructional practice area, and
the teacher works with a coachto pick a goal.
That is based on one of theeffective math teaching
(17:43):
practices from NCT M'Sprinciples to action.
So you pick one of thosepractices, boom, you create a
goal and then we, using thatgoal, you work with a coach to
do several rounds of coachingand each.
round of coaching is aco-planning session where you
look at a lesson you're gonna doand how you're gonna implement
that goal in that particularlesson.
(18:05):
And then an observation wherethe coach comes in, collects
some data, some evidence whileyou're doing that lesson and
then a reflection conversationafterwards.
So you might do that three tofive times or more around that
particular goal.
And that's, that's the wholething.
Joel (18:22):
Okay.
And it sounds different thansay, an ISV or our support
visits that we do duringimplementation.
So can you be in implementationwhen you get coaching, or is
this for veteran teachers
Misty (18:35):
Kind of, yes.
So we try to, we try to work oncoaching with teachers who have
completed their first year ofCPM implementation primarily
because one, you have access toimplementation support visits
during that first year.
And because so much of the firstyear is.
Figuring out what you'reteaching every day and the
(18:58):
storyline of the course and whatthe lessons look like, and all
of those pieces.
Trying to also put on top ofthat, this more intense work
with a CPM coach.
We just feel like that's a lot,right?
And so we, we would recommendthat you take advantage of the
complimentary pieces and thencome back to CPM coaching in
that second or third year orbeyond.
Joel (19:21):
Okay.
And then once teachers haveworked on a goal can teachers
continue to do coaching?
Can they continue to work on thesame goal, work on different
goals?
Misty (19:31):
Yeah.
I mean we have had coaches workwith teachers for several years
in a row.
If the school continues tocontract with CPM to do that,
and so they can work on the samegoal, they can work on a
different goal.
I've worked with some teacherswho, I've worked with'em over
several years and they'vechanged the practice.
They've gone back to a practice,cuz every time you address any
of those effective math teachingpractices, You're gonna work on
(19:54):
good teaching, right?
You're gonna work on somethings.
I know when I was teaching everyyear I'd pick a goal and it
would be oh, I've haven't beendoing this for a while, so I'm
gonna really focus in on thisyear.
And then I would get good at itand I'd be like, oh, darn, I
forgot to do this work on thisother thing anymore.
So it's the same kind of thing.
You can continue to work onsomething.
there's always more work to do,right?
There's always, you're, even ifyou worked on a goal the next
(20:17):
year your students might bedifferent, right?
Your classes are different, soyou could work on the same goal,
but just because it's with adifferent group of students, you
have to kinda step back and comeat it a different way or, work
on it again.
So, yeah,
Joel (20:29):
I never received CPM coaching, and I wish I had I
think it would've been a reallygreat experience
Misty (20:34):
It probably would've.
Hey, we're here today with,Holly Postal Wait, and Renee
(20:55):
Joden.
They are teachers who workedwith some of our CPM coaches
this year.
Holly lives in Ohio, and Reneelives in Wisconsin.
And we are here to have aconversation with them today
about how their coachingexperience went, what they got
from it, how they felt about it.
So welcome to the podcast Reneeand Holly.
Joel (21:17):
for being here.
Holly (21:18):
thank you.
Renae (21:18):
Thank you.
Misty (21:19):
So first of all, just tell us a little bit Holly, why
don't you start and just tell usa little bit about, you're in
Ohio, but where do you teach?
What level do you teach?
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself.
Holly (21:28):
So I teach high school at Fairless in Ohio.
teaching geometry for 10th gradeand then I also have,, an honors
algebra two for 10th grade.
So I've all 10th grade.
Misty (21:41):
Nice.
And how long have you beenteaching?
Holly (21:43):
This is actually my 10th year this year,.
and it is my sixth year withcpm.
Misty (21:49):
Nice, nice And Renee.
Renae (21:53):
I am teaching at Little Chute High School and I have
been here for 23 years.
I've been teaching for 25 yearsoverall.
I taught CPM I think for abouteight years, and primarily I've
been teaching Algebra one.
To freshmen and I have hadopportunities to teach Algebra
two and pre-calc as well.
And I taught the calculus classone year using cpm.
(22:16):
So it's been a great experienceand I just love it.
Misty (22:20):
And is this your first year that you've been working
with a CPM coach?
Renae (22:25):
Well, we had a coach when we originally implemented cpm.
I would say early on, pre 2020.
But now we are being coachedagain because we've had some
turnover in staff, so we thoughtwe might as well try to get
everyone on the same page again.
And yeah, we're seeing a lot ofbenefits from it.
Misty (22:40):
And Holly, is this the first time you've worked with a
CPM coach?
Holly (22:43):
Yeah, this is my first time.
Misty (22:45):
Awesome.
This is an open-ended question,How did it feel?
What was it like having a CPMcoach come and work with you
this year?
Renee, why don't you start forus if you're willing,
Renae (22:58):
so I was part of the original group that was coached
a long time ago, and we justthought maybe it would be good
idea to have, everyone else inour staff be coached as well so,
I wasn't necessarily supposed tobe coached this year, but I had
requested it and I said, I wannabe coached because to me I think
(23:19):
it gives you an opportunity togrow and learn some more.
So I love being coached, whetherit's, through CPM or a district
or whatever it is.
Obviously CPM I think is morefocused on math and so I think
it's just a great opportunity.
I don't even know how to explainall the benefits that I think
can come from it.
Is it challenging?
Yes.
But I think that if you're opento, having people reflect with
(23:42):
you and plan with you, then Ithink it's a great opportunity
for you to grow as an educator.
Misty (23:46):
So Holly, how was it having a coach this year for you
in general?
How did that go?
Holly (23:51):
So for me, a lot of things that I don't have at a
small school is collaborationbecause we all of teach, there's
one Algebra one teacher, there'sone geometry teacher, there's
one algebra two, there's onepre-Calc, so there's not overlap
two plan together.
So that was my biggest benefitis I got to experience, working
(24:14):
on lessons with someone and.
someone giving me ideas and notme just having to come up with
everything on my own.
So that was super coolexperience for me because I
don't really get to do that.
I really feel my coach did agood job at letting me say, this
is what I want to work on.
(24:37):
I really wanted to work onstrategies because I feel like
we have this huge arsenal ofstrategies in cpm, but I feel
like I always stuck with thesame three So I'm like, I really
want you to push me to try theseother strategies that maybe I
just haven't had the courage totry by myself.
(24:58):
So having my coach in the roomand really supporting that or
giving me.
ideas on what it's gonna looklike or even, I think my coach
kept saying, even if you don'tknow what's gonna happen, just
do it.
And if it works, it works.
And so some of those things Idid when she wasn't there, I
would just say, okay Holly, justtry this.
(25:19):
If it works, it works.
If it's a disaster, at least,you know.
And now I think I have, I'veadded like six new strategies
that I actually like better thanthe three I was using.
So tho those are the two bigthings that I got.
Joel (25:32):
Renee was talking about some experience before with
coaching and then tryingcoaching again.
This was your first experience,Holly and how did you hear about
it, or how did you get investedin it?
Holly (25:44):
My, so we're switching over superintendent.
So the new superintendent is oflike in an assisting role, but
he was our curriculum directorand he basically was Hey, you're
getting CPM coaching Okay.
Misty (25:57):
How did that feel for you?
Holly (25:58):
He knows me well enough.
I am game for whatever.
I love learning.
I mean, I'm in education.
I feel like I'm a lifelonglearner.
I don't feel like coaching.
I know some teachers get oh mygosh, they're sending someone
into my room.
I must be doing all these thingsbad.
But there's nothing bad gonnacome from someone helping you
ever.
So I think that's one thingteachers need to remember if
(26:20):
someone's gonna come in and makethings better for you, there's
never a negative to that.
Even if they're like, Hey, youcould be stronger here.
Why don't you try this?
I think it's always gonna be apositive for you in the
Misty (26:31):
end Yeah.
I think that is one of thethings that's, that is really
nice when working with teachers,right?
The willingness to examine yourown practice and to think about
where you could, get betterwherever we are in our teaching
career.
I imagine after 20 plus years,Renee, you have done a lot of
things over time and to be in aplace where you're still looking
at how can I improve?
(26:52):
That's, that's pretty amazing.
Renae (26:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I wanna mention.
and I guess echo what Holly'ssaying about when a coach is in
there, it's so non-evaluativeand non-judgmental.
They're just there to help youbecome a better teacher and it's
what you wanna get out of it.
And what I've noticed with Johnis he wants me to reach my goal,
but he is never gonna tell mewhat to do.
Just like in cpm, we don't wannatell the student.
(27:15):
how to do things.
He's making me figure it out,through his questioning, through
his observations.
So I echo what Holly is saying?
A hundred percent.
Misty (27:26):
what were some of the challenging things about having
a coach?
Renae (27:30):
I would say sometimes for me, the biggest challenge,
challenges the scheduling partso that the coach can get to
everyone's room based.
When they have their classes,when they have their preps,
when, different activities aretaking place in the school.
That was the biggest challenge.
But aside from that, which Ican't control, I would say you
have to be someone who wants tochange and who wants to learn
(27:52):
and continue to get better.
So the challenge for a lot ofteachers is to be open to that
kind of communication andexperience.
They're never gonna tell youwhat to do.
You have to kinda, use what theycoach you to do and hopefully it
makes you a better teacher.
Misty (28:07):
Right,
Joel (28:08):
And did you come up with your goals or did John or Ashley
and Holly's case, did they comein with a goal in mind for you?
Renae (28:16):
Well, John, this time, okay, so first of all, I feel
like CPM coaching is alwaysevolving.
As different practices,different things come out in the
education world.
I feel like this time John camewith his iPad that had, okay,
which of these things do youwanna work on out of these three
(28:37):
things?
And what, what strategies orwhat teacher actions, what
student actions.
It was just a whole different.
A whole different experiencethan it was the first time.
I thought this was a little bitmore direct and focused with
choices.
And I thought that was helpful.
He didn't tell us what to do,but we had, he kind of broke it
down and told us differentoptions or different things that
(28:58):
he thought might fit, and thenwe got to make that choice based
on what we thought.
Misty (29:03):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Holly what felt challenging foryou with CPM coaching?
Holly (29:08):
scheduling, with
Misty (29:09):
Mm-hmm.
Holly (29:09):
schedule and my schedule and the other teacher's
schedules like, I know Ashleywould have something and have to
switch, and then I'm like, okay,well when she comes, let me make
sure there's not a c t testingor this or that.
You know?
So just trying to coordinate,people's schedules is always
tricky to coordinate together.
So I, I think I can't sayanything else negative besides
(29:32):
just trying to schedule thetimes that they were gonna be.
Misty (29:36):
So I'm gonna ask each of you to tell us then, what do you
think is the thing that would bemost beneficial?
Not the thing that maybe you gotthe most out of have working
with a CPM coach, but also whatdo you think others who are
thinking about working with aCPM coach?
What would they need to know orwhat would you want them to know
in light of those benefits
Holly (29:57):
For me, If I were gonna give someone like, oh, should
you do the coaching or not?
I would always say yes.
The one thing that I feelAshley, when she came in, she
observed and gave me feedback,and that's kind of how we made
my goals.
And I just chose to use that forthings that I knew I wasn't
gonna push myself to.
So that's what I would tellsomeone.
(30:18):
If you're nervous about havingsomeone in your room, Just think
about something that you don'twanna do by yourself.
I don't wanna do the chickenproblem by myself, So when
Ashley was there, I was like,I've never done this lesson.
I'm too scared to do it bymyself.
Do it with me.
And like now I'm like reallyexcited about it to do it next
year by myself.
And, and I just kept pullinglessons like that.
(30:40):
So I, that was one of theplanning things cuz I always
wanted her to be around forsomething that I wanted to come
out of my shell and really try,but with the support of someone
else.
So I would, I would givesomebody that advice, like if
you're thinking about doingcoaching use it to push yourself
into some of those lessons thatmaybe you don't wanna do cuz
(31:01):
you're afraid.
Have your coach help you throughit, and it will turn out so much
better than you think.
Misty (31:09):
Mm-hmm.
That's great.
Renee, what would you offer
Renae (31:13):
I would probably go back to the same thing I said before,
that it's not for to, forsomeone who's gonna be coaching,
it's, they're not judging you.
They are just there to help.
To make you think, to make youreflect.
I think that was the part that Iliked the most was the
reflective conversations that wehad.
After the observations or afterwe planned and then did a
(31:36):
lesson, just having someone totalk to who is, who I consider,
almost an expert or pretty muchan expert at, in the CPM
curriculum and.
All of the nuances, then all ofthe strategies and all of the
the, everything related toroles.
Like there's just so much in CPMthat you can, you forget like
(31:57):
some months I'll be focused onteam roles and I'm like, man, I
really should be looking atdifferent study team strategies.
There's just so much that yousometimes forget.
So it's nice to have that coachto reflect with you on, just
things that either you're afraidto do by yourself or maybe you
just forgot about, or maybe youcome up with something better.
So that coaching isn't just whenthey're there.
(32:20):
There's a number of times we'veemailed John and we've had ideas
of our own and said, Hey, whatdo you think of this?
And he's like, Hey, go with it.
Let's try it.
Let me know how it goes.
And, they don't have to be thereto coach you.
It's just a ongoing process.
Misty (32:33):
Oh, that's awesome.
Well, thank you so much forcoming on the show today and
sharing with us about yourcoaching experience and helping
other people hopefully getexcited about working with a CPM
coach.
It sounds like it's a reallygreat growth opportunity,
Joel (32:46):
Mm-hmm.
Misty (32:47):
thank you so much.
Renae (32:48):
Thank you.
Holly (32:49):
problem.
Misty (33:05):
So in addition to working with a CPM coach, We also offer
a foundations for coachingcourse.
Which is a course to help.
Admin and instructional coaches,other people who are working
with teachers to build theirskills.
Using some of the CPM coachingmodel.
(33:26):
And that course takes place atthe residential Institute.
It's three days, you get tolearn a bunch of new skills and
tools and come away with somereally great support to help you
become a better coach for yourteachers and people at your
school.
Last year, we had a few of thepeople record a testimonial to
(33:49):
tell us what they thought aboutfoundations for coaching.
So here you go.
Here's their thoughts on that?
The best part was connectingwith a community of like-minded
professionals who were reallythere to grow and learn, and
figure out ways to empower newteachers and intern impact
(34:13):
students.
Another noteworthy aspect of thefoundations for coaching is that
any coach or teacher from anysubject.
Can benefit from this training.
Personally, I am an Englishteacher and get anxiety about
math and found myself reallyenjoying learning about teaching
(34:35):
math and lesson planning formath, and so I recommend this
for any teacher of any subjectmatter.
Why would you recommend someoneto come to the Residential
Institute?
The Residential Institute,specifically the foundations for
coaching.
Was so methodically planned outand beneficial.
(34:57):
My time was not wasted.
I can't believe how fast thesethree days flew by.
Like every second I was engaged.
It was just such purposefulplanning, and I left with so
many resources and tools thatwill help me as a coach.
Not just the coaches, but Ithink administrators, and I also
think math teachers, becausethey work with each other and
(35:19):
coach each other.
Many different roles wouldbenefit from the foundations for
coaching.
I wanna mention that John andAshley were masterful at
facilitating the foundations forcoaching.
Master Outro Season 2 (35:51):
So that's a wrap for this episode of The
More Math For More Peoplepodcast, for more information
and to stay connected.
You can find CPM on both Twitterand Facebook.
The music for the podcast wascreated by Julius h and can be
found on pxa bay.com.
Join us for the next episode ofMore Math for More People.
(36:11):
What day will that be, Joel?
Joel (36:12):
It'll be April 18th pinata day, and I'm so looking forward
to telling some stories andhearing some stories about
pinatas.
I remember going to somebirthday parties in particular
where there were pinatas, and Iremember feeling really nervous
about one being blindfolded,spun around, hit them, and then
two, maybe getting hit bysomebody who's trying to hit.
(36:33):
The pinata.
And then three, like what'sgonna be inside that pinata?
I remember feeling kind ofexcited, I guess, not nervous
about that.
And so it'll be fun to reminisceabout those stories.
I can't wait to hear whatMisty's experience with pinatas
have been, but it'll be fun tocelebrate Pinata day and take a
closer look at the celebrationaround that day.
So we'll see you on April 18thfor Pinata Day.
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