CSUSMP Saturday Seminars Fall 2007-Spring 2008

Saturday Seminars at CSUS Math Project are a chance for participants from the summer, their colleagues, and those wishing to check out the Math Project to come together for a day to refresh what they've learned, or to experience new methods of teaching and understanding.

All are invited to any of our Saturday meetings. If you have a colleague at your school with whom you would like to start a peer coaching relationship, or someone you are recommending to one of our institutes, please invite her/him.

Download 2007-2008 CSUSMP Saturday Seminars Flyer

Saturday Seminar Dates

What happens at a Saturday Seminar?

We begin each Saturday with a problem usually given to us by Rick West, Scott Farrand or Deb Stetson. Problems are chosen so that they are accessible to all no matter when they last had a math class. For example the problems for the September meeting were 1) if you are to make the brackets for a single elimination tournament, what is the total number of contests necessary to determine a winner given some number of contestants, and 2) if you are to break apart a chocolate bar (without stacking), how many breaks are necessary to separate it into individual pieces? Participants are challenged to be sure of what they know and to attain a solid line of reasoning. The three instructors model teaching by asking questions to engage, to spread understanding, to check understanding, and to deepen reasoning.

During the morning problem solving session, some members of our staff will observe the lesson, looking for what is working. After the lesson, the observers will have a debriefing discussion with the instructors while the learners of the lesson (you participating teaches) are listening. In this way, participating teachers, after having just been learners, can retrace the lesson from a teacher’s perspective, considering ways in which learners were involved, methods of questioning, and methods of pushing the understanding of learners to a deeper level.

After the morning problem solving, we will offer break-out sessions particular to different grade levels of the teachers in attendance. These break out sessions also correspond to the separate institutes offered over the previous summer, and are taught by the instructors from those various institutes. At the September meeting for example, there were breakout sessions about the underlying reasoning for comparing ratios, mathematics behind decimal and fraction equivalents, video analysis, geometric series connecting to decimals, and the algebra of batting averages.

Although we recognize Saturday time is precious, we know that you will find the time spent with us valuable, and hope that you can join us.