Over the years, as I’ve refined my math instruction, I’ve tried to share as much as a can through blogging and videos. However it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to unpack everything through blogging and casual videos. This is the primary reason I developed Math Masterminds. I wanted to help teachers streamline their math professional development, so they didn’t have to sift through outdated and unnecessary content, and to prevent them from making the same mistakes I did.
As a student from elementary school through college, I was always considered a language arts person. I wasn’t bad at math, but I didn’t enjoy it. I thought it was boring and pointless. As a teacher, I greatly enjoyed teaching reading and writing, and math was a subject that I taught because I had to. Fast forward several years later, and math is now my absolute FAVORITE subject to teach!
This was not an overnight change. In fact, it took YEARS of work and research for me to finally feel confident as a math teacher. One thing that I now realize is that when I first started teaching, there was an abundance of language arts professional development. But, it wasn’t nearly as easy to find teacher friendly math professional development. Yes, I found things, but only parts and pieces of it was applicable for the upper elementary classroom. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon Teaching Student Centered Math that things finally began falling into place.
Math Masterminds is a series of professional development videos for upper elementary teachers. The online lessons help teachers learn about the best practices for teaching math and give teachers practical, real-world tips on management and organization. Teachers can view the lessons whenever and where ever they prefer, and they have lifetime access to the lessons. Math Masterminds isn’t just a one and done online course. There are multiple places to ask questions directly to me or other members in the community. All of the Math Masterminds courses are broken up into bite-sized lessons that allow teachers to allot a small (or large!) block of their time towards the lessons.
Since this is a relatively new style of professional development, I wanted to show you exactly what to expect after enrolling in the course. You’ll access a homepage with an introduction video and a link to the community Facebook group.
Underneath the welcome screen, you’ll see all of the modules and lessons available. The blue bar to the right shows your progress through each of the videos. Remember, you can watch them as quickly or as slowly as you like.
When you click on the lesson you want to view, you can press play to watch the video and the following lessons in that module will appear on the right. The length of the videos are usually no more than 10-15 minutes.
Underneath each lesson, you’ll see files you can download to compliment the lesson. Each lesson includes a workbook page, and many lessons include a free bonus file.
I’ve already started working on new videos for the course. Members will have access to the new content at no additional cost! Here’s an overview of what is already included in the course:
Module 1-Math Workshop
- What is Math Workshop?
- Components of Math Workshop
- High Quality Math Instruction
- Math Centers
Module 2-Number Sense
- Subitizing and Unitizing
- Counting and Cardinality
- Number Talks
- Implementation
Module 3-Math Facts
- Running Records
- Systematic Instruction
Module 4-Word Problems
- Types of Word Problems
- Numberless Word Problems
- 3 Act Tasks
Module 5-Assessments
- What to Grade & Types of Assessments
- Test Prep
Module 6-Getting Started
- The First Five Days
- The Second Five Days
- Getting Started With Math Centers
After completing the course, you’ll receive a professional development certificate. I know that each state and district has different policies, so you may want to double check on what they will accept.
This course required an incredible amount of work and sacrifice. In fact, I think I worked just as hard this summer as I do during the school year. But, when I receive feedback like this, it makes everything worth it.
My desire is to help you become a confident math teacher. If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to ask.
