Coaching for Math GAINS
Peel Co-Teaching
Project
Anchor Session #1
October 5, 2010
1. Welcome, Introductions & Norms
2. Overview of Math GAINS
3. What’s a Co-teaching Cycle?
4. Reflecting on your practice
5. On a Carousel
6. Is your locker open?
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Start and end on time.
Contribute to a safe learning
environment that encourages risk taking;
be kind.
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Listen actively; speak fearlessly.
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Invest in your own learning and the
learning of others.
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All electronic communication devices
off except during lunch/break.
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Suffering is optional!
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
What do you Know?
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What do you Wonder?
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What have your Learned?
Please complete the first two columns
of the KWL chart individually first,
then discuss at your table.
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Research Says
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Providing sufficient time;
Enlisting external
expertise;
Engaging teachers in the
learning process;
Challenging discourses;
Providing opportunities to
interact in a community of
professionals.
Math GAINS Provides
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30 release days/school;
Math Coach;
Teachers working together
in school teams and
working cross-panel;
Rethinking our approach to
teaching math;
Co-planning days, anchor
sessions and debriefing
after demonstration
lessons.
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Research Says
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Different aspects of
content are integrated;
Clear links made between
teaching and learning
and student teacher
relationships;
Assessment is used as a
focus;
Sustainability of improved
student outcomes.
Math GAINS Provides
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Big ideas, questioning, group
work skills and problem
solving;
How we teach math impacts
on how well students learn
and we can connect through
more engaging tasks;
Formative assessment using
open and parallel tasks;
Students can continue to
improve.
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Research Says
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Professional instruction
sequenced;
Understandings discussed
and negotiated.
Math GAINS Provides
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Modelling, co-planning
then teaching
Active discussion with
colleagues of what works
for students.
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Areas of focus:
 Strong emphasis on co-planning and coteaching with a facilitator.
 Questioning, differentiated instruction,
problem solving, big ideas, lesson goals,
building discussion, manipulatives,
technology, assessment, applied programs
 Incorporating Transformational Practices
 Integrating the Math Gains process into the
PLC or TLCP
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Co -Planning
Lesson Observation
Teach or Co-Teach
Observe and Record
Debrief
Share Observations
Affirm What Went
Well
Discuss What Could
Be Improved
What Happens
Next?
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Teach or Co-Teach
Observe and Record
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Share Observations
Affirm What Went Well
What Happens
Next?
Discuss What Could Be
Improved
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As you watch this video, please consider the following questions:
1. How does the participating teacher describe her
usual classroom practice?
2. What is new/different for the teacher and her students
in this lesson?
3. How do the students respond to the lesson
approach?
4. What observations/reflections does the teacher share
in the lesson debriefing?
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A big idea of co-teaching is to reflect on your current
classroom practice, whatever that may be, and ask:
“What can I add to my practice to help
students understand the concepts I
am teaching more deeply?”
“How will I know if my changes are
having a positive impact on my students?”
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Sharing Your Experience
 Send at least 2 people from your
team to each location.
 With the other people at your
location, form an inside/outside
circle.
 Each "inside" person will start.
Share your answers to the self
reflection questions. Take turns.
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Use the carousel activities menu to divide
the members of your family group, evenly,
among the various stations.
There will be two rotations of 15 minutes
each, followed by 15 minutes of sharing
with your family group.
Use the carousel organizer to make notes
about the lessons you viewed, and
the interviewee’s experience of the
process.
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Carousel Activities Menu:
Fletcher’s Creek: Grade 7 Fractions
Fairwind: Grade 7 Rectangle Tangle
Bristol: Grade 8 Pythagorean Theorem
R. H. Lagerquist: Grade 8 Integers
Brampton Centennial: 10D Modeling Quadratics
Heartlake: 9P
Stephen Lewis: 10P Algebra Match
Turner Fenton: Grade 9
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What is the difference that made the
difference?
 Minds On?
 Student groupings?
 A neat activity?
 A different consolidation strategy?
What was the co-planning and co-teaching
experience like? What was your role in the
process?
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Return to your KWL chart:
What have you learned?
What are you still wondering about?
The Locker Problem
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In your family of schools team, identify
3 people who will act as observers.
The remaining team members will work
on the problem in "the fishbowl". They
may divide themselves up into smaller
groups if they wish to.
Send one of the observers to the
materials table to collect the forms they
will use to record their observations.
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Explore the problem in your groups.
Various manipulatives are available for
use from the materials table.
Record your findings on chart paper.
Be sure to explain the mathematics
that will justify why your answer is
correct.
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When the school's 1000 students return from
summer vacation, they decide to celebrate
the beginning of the school year by working
off some energy.
Student #1: opens every locker.
Student #2: starts at locker #2 and closes every 2nd
locker.
Student #3: starts at locker #3 and opens or closes
every 3rd locker.
This process continues ... until all 1000 students have
entered the school.
Which locker doors are open
once every student has arrived?
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Consolidation of the
Locker Problem
Life in the Fishbowl 
observers share their observations
with their team members

 Presentation of Solutions 
a math congress
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Effective teaching involves risk taking … by
both the teacher and the student.
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1. Differentiating Instruction through
the use of open questions.
2. Strategies for opening-up
questions?
3. A few words About logistics.
4. It’s your turn to plan.
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Using open questions for
assessment for learning
An open question, as a minds-on
activity, provides valuable information
about how to proceed with your lesson.
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Using open questions for
assessment for learning
It might tell you that your students
already know what you were planning
to teach.
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Using open questions for
assessment for learning
It might tell you some unanticipated
directions you will need to take with
some students.
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Minds On
A linear growing pattern starts at 10 and grows very slowly.
What might the pattern be?
Describe the linear growing
pattern -10, -9, -8, -7, … .
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What made the first
question open?
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Contrast
Open:
Write an equation and solve it.
Less Open:
Solve 3x-2 = 8. Describe your strategy.
What made the first question open?
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Contrast
Open:
A graph passes through the points (2,4)
and (3,8). Describe a relation the graph
could represent.
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Not open:
A line passes through the points (2,4) and
(3,8). Write the equation of the line.
What made the first question open?
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Creating Open Questions …
some fail-safe strategies
One strategy is to start with an
answer and create a question.
For example, a growing pattern has
20 as the 9th term. What could the
pattern be?
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Fail-safe strategies … continued
Another is to ask for similarities and
differences.
For example, how is factoring
x2 +5x+6 like and different from
factoring 3x2 - 2x – 8.
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Fail-safe strategies … continued
Another is to let the student choose values.
For example, ask students to choose values
for  and and graph x + y = 8.
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Sorting Open Questions
At each table, you will receive a set of
questions. Some questions are open,
others are not so open.
Sort the questions into two
groups: Open and Not Open
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Work with a partner to try to "open" up as
many of the questions in the "not so
open" pile as you can.
Use the Assessing My Questions
handout as a guide.
Share your work with others at your table.
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Today, you participated in discussions
similar to what happens during the coplanning process.
Except, when you co-plan you focus on
your course, your students, their learning
needs, as well as your own learning needs.
The Co-teaching and Debriefing are the
other parts to the cycle.
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Each school has 30 release days for co-planning
and co-teaching with a facilitator.
Share the fun across your school / dept.
Use PAM code 835 for your coverage.
Copy Wendy Telford on all meetings and
requests for coverage.
Keep your principal informed.
More details coming soon about possible
purchases.
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
Determine the ideal focus and structure of
your co-planning time.
 Who will meet? (by grade, cross-grade, cross-panel, crossfamily)
 Goals? What do you want to learn or try?
 Meeting rooms and resources to book?
 Ideal month to meet?
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Sign up on the Facilitator’s Calendar (this is
part of your exit ticket)
Aim to complete one co-teaching cycle
within your Family by the Winter Break
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Some things I would like to learn about or try … or
have my group try are:
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Teaching Through Problem Solving
Differentiating Instruction
Open Questions
Parallel Tasks
Technology
Manipulatives
On-line Resources
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Big Ideas
Lesson Goals
MATCH Template
Assessment for/of Learning
Building a MTLC
Other __________________
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