Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning in Mathematics: Five Teaching Turnarounds for Grades K-6 / Edition 1

by Beth McCord Kobett, Karen S. Karp

Overview

NEW COVID RESOURCES ADDED: A Parent’s Toolkit to Strengths-Based Learning in Math is now available on the book’s companion website to support families engaged in math learning at home. This toolkit provides a variety of home-based activities and games for families to engage in together.

Your game plan for unlocking mathematics by focusing on students’ strengths.

What if instead of focusing on what students haven’t mastered, we identify their mathematical strengths and build on students’ points of power? Beth Mc Cord Kobett and Karen S. Karp highlight five key teaching turnarounds are presented: identify teaching strengths, leverage students’ strengths, design instruction from a strengths-based perspective, help students identify their points of power, and promote strengths in the school community. Each chapter provides opportunities to reflect and transfer practice while also sharing

· Downloadable resources, activities, and tools

· Examples of student work within Grades K–6

· Real teachers’ notes and reflections for discussion

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781544374932
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	03/24/2020
Series:	Corwin Mathematics Series
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	1,086,757
Product dimensions:	9.70(w) x 6.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Beth Mc Cord Kobett, Ed D, is Professor of Education and Associate Dean at Stevenson University, where she leads, teaches and supports early childhood, elementary, and middle preservice teachers in mathematics education. She is a former classroom teacher, elementary mathematics specialist, adjunct professor, and university supervisor. Beth also served as the Director of the First Year Seminar program at Stevenson University. She recently completed a three-year term as an elected Board Member for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and was the former president of the Association of Maryland Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMMTE). Beth leads professional learning efforts in mathematics education both regionally and nationally. Beth is a recipient of the Mathematics Educator of the Year Award from the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM) and the Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni Award. Beth also received Stevenson University’s Rose Dawson Award for Excellence in Teaching as both an adjunct and full-time faculty member. Beth believes in fostering a strengths-based community with her students and strives to make her learning space inviting, facilitate lessons that spark curiosity and innovation, and cultivate positive productive struggle.

Karen S. Karp is a professor in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University. Previously, she was a professor of mathematics education in the Department of Early and Elementary Childhood Education at the University of Louisville, where she received the President’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the Distinguished Service Award for a Career of Service. She is a former member of the board of directors of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and a former president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE). She is a member of the author panel for the What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide on assisting elementary school students who have difficulty learning mathematics for the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Educational Sciences. She is the author or coauthor of approximately 20 book chapters, 50 articles, and 30 books, including Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally, Developing Essential Understanding of Addition and Subtraction for Teaching Mathematics, and Inspiring Girls to Think Mathematically. She holds teaching certifications in elementary education, secondary mathematics, and K–12 special education.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction – An Invitation to Turnaround
Why Strengths-Based Instruction?
Who is Strengths-Based Mathematics Teaching For?
What are Mathematics Strengths we See in Students?
Exploring Your Own Math Identity
Moving to a Strengths-Based Perspective
Practices that Build a Strengths Cycle
The Five Teaching Turnarounds
Chapter 1 - Identify Your Teaching Strengths
What Do You Believe About Your Students' Learning?
What Do Students Think You Believe?
Summary
Chapter 2 - Turnaround Mathematical Proficiencies, Processes, and Practices
Building Mathematical Proficiency Through a Strengths-Based Lens
Building Mathematical Practices and Dispositions Through a Strengths-Based Lens
Building Strengths in Problem Solving
Building Strengths in Communication
Building Strengths in Reasoning and Proof
Building Strengths in Connections
Building Strengths in Representations
Summary
Chapter 3 - Your Students’ Mathematics Content Strengths
Building Mathematical Content Knowledge Through a Strengths-Based Lens
Building and Recognizing Strengths in the Meaning of Number and Operations and Algebraic Thinking
Count to show how numbers represent quantity
Count to show how numbers represent quantity
Develop Strategies to Add, Subtract, Multiply, and Divide
Building and Recognizing Strengths in Understanding Number and Operations - Fractions
Building and Recognizing Strengths in Geometry
van Heile’s Geometric Conceptual Understanding Level 0: Visualization
van Heile’s Geometric Conceptual Understanding Level 1: Analysis
Summary
Chapter 4 – Turnaround Grouping Practices
Planning Effective Strength-Based Instruction
Fixed versus Flexible Grouping Practices
Long-Term Whole-Class Ability Grouping
Small-Group In-Class Ability Grouping
Flexible Grouping Strategies
Strength’s Based Flexible Grouping Practices
Mixed-Strength Whole-Group Instruction
Homogeneous-Strength Small Groups
Targeted Small Group Instruction Through a Strengths-Based Lens
Summary
Chapter 5 – Turnaround Tasks
High Cognitive Tasks
Turnaround a Task: Designing a Personalized, Strengths-Based Instructional Task
Individualized Personalization
Funds of Knowledge
Three Perspectives for Adapting a Task to Support Student's Strengths
Access and Equity
Mathematical Goals
Formative Assessment
Promoting Strengths Through Parallel Tasks
Exploratory Discourse About Tasks
Math Amendments: Revising the Task Solution
Summary
Chapter 6 - Turnaround Feedback
The Importance of Feedback in a Strengths-Based Classroom
Teacher-to-Student Feedback From a Strengths Perspective
Teacher to Student Feedback Loop
Elements of Teacher to Student Feedback
Student-to-Teacher Feedback from a Strengths Perspective
Prior to the Lesson
During the Lesson
Closing the Lesson
Student-to-Student Feedback from a Strengths Perspective
Classroom-Based Formative Assessment and Feedback
Observation
Interview
Show Me
Hinge Question
Exit Task
Summary
Chapter 7 - Turnaround Students’ Identities
Windows and Mirrors
Our Teacher Mirror
Translation Task
Don't Miss an Opportunity to Recognize a Student's Points of Power
Students' Productive Dispositions
Students Self Analyze their Strong Points
Summary
Chapter 8 - Turnaround Professional Learning Communities
Supporting Teachers' Strengths
The Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Framework
Whole School Agreement
Summary
Chapter 9 - Turnaround Family Communication
Engaging Families in Strengths-Based Talk
Incorporating Family and Community Strengths
Working Together to Share Mathematical Ideas
Family Math Resources
Conferences with Family Members from a Strengths-Based Perspective
Summary
Epilogue - Turnaround Reflection
References

Editorial Reviews

"Finally the book that good teachers have been waiting for: a book that focuses not on what students cannot do, but on what they can. This needed book offers teachers a positive, productive way to rethink teaching and learning in mathematics and would be ideal for a school- or districtwide book study. "

Jeff Shih

"Anytime you purchase a resource book in mathematics, you hope that it does an inspirational delivery of its title. In Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning in Mathematics: Five Teaching Turnarounds for Grades K–6, the authors have gone above and beyond the book’s high expectations.
Kobett and Karp have masterfully tapped into the zeitgeist of contemporary math education and written a book that oozes with not just empathy, reflection, and candor but with clear and motivating practicality that will transform any math classroom into a place of community, hope, and unbridled strength. "

Sunil Singh

"I love this book! More and more people are talking about the need to build on student strengths instead of focusing on their deficits, but doing this can seem unrealistic to a teacher. The authors not only elaborate what it means to build on student strengths, they offer concrete strategies for how to do it. Starting with the necessary step of looking at one’s own teaching strengths, they offer practical guidelines and examples that lay out a path teachers can use to turn around their teaching and their students’ learning. "

Cathy Seeley

"This well-written book is a game changer! Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning in Mathematics: Five Teaching Turnarounds for Grades K–6 goes beyond simply providing information by sharing a pathway for changing practice. The authors start with reflective activities allowing teachers to examine their beliefs and explore their teaching strengths. Using the Teaching Turnarounds will transform classrooms. Focusing on our students’ strengths should be routine and can be lost in the day-to-day teaching demands. A teacher using these approaches can change the trajectory of students’ lives forever. All teachers need this resource! "

Connie S. Schrock

"This book provides teachers with a wealth of resources for uncovering and nurturing students mathematical strengths. By focusing on recognizing and building on students’ strengths rather than identifying their deficiencies, the authors have mapped out a pathway for creating instructional experiences that support the learning and identity development of each and every student. This is a must-have for all elementary teachers! "

Margaret (Peg) Smith

"Where do beliefs and pedagogy meet? In a world in which we are often asked to find flaws and weaknesses, this book is a breath of fresh air and reminds us that the best way to teach is to build from our strengths. Filled with research-based ideas, practical strategies, and tools, this book provides a comprehensive approach to creating asset-based learning environments by identifying and leveraging the strengths of students, teachers, schools, and caretakers. "

Cathery Yeh

"Drs. Kobett and Karp offer teachers a positive and practical way of using Appreciative Inquiry to put spotlight on teachers’ instructional practices to celebrate their strength and support teachers to dream, design and deliver innovative ways to bring more equitable teaching practices to the forefront. By reimagining instruction focused on strengths-based teaching that leverage and put spotlight on students’ abilities to use representations and reasoning, the authors unpack rich tasks by delving into the development of learning progressions in important mathematics as well as situate mathematics within contexts that students can relate to while bridging mathematics closer to students’ lived experiences. "

Jennifer Suh

"This book provides a clear, rich, strong rebuttal to “my kids can’t.” Kobett and Karp help us focus on our students’ unique perspectives, talents, and strengths as well as our students’ capabilities with mathematics practices and content. More important, they help us take stock of who we are. They help us identify aspects of our practice that are strong and those that are ready for a turnaround. They teach us about these turnarounds and describe how we can realize them effectively. This is a must-have for transforming “they can’t” into “they can.” "

John San Giovanni

"This book is a must-read for every stakeholder in the education system! The authors challenge us to acknowledge the damaging impact of deficit-based beliefs and provide concrete ways to leverage strengths in ourselves and in our students to create mathematics classrooms where students flourish. "

Delise Andrews

"Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning in Mathematics: Five Teaching Turnarounds for Grades K–6 forces the reader to become extremely reflective about their own individual identity in mathematics and implementation of effective teaching practices/strategies. How many students have we lost or have allowed to feel defeated in learning mathematics because we didn’t teach by harnessing the power of their strengths? This book intersperses time for this type of reflection as one identifies your own strengths, your individual math identity, as well as the inclusion of the numerous “spotlights on practices” to support successful implementation in the classroom. As one considers how to help students develop a growth mindset in mathematics, this book must become an essential resource. There are concrete examples to illustrate how this becomes visible in the classroom—all with the goal of helping students develop their identity, authority, and agency in mathematics. We lose too many students in mathematics; too many students hear that they have gaps, are deficit, or are stigmatized by having to endure endless intervention programs in mathematics. Instead this book uses subtleties, helps you focus on yourself as a teacher of mathematics, and provides explicit examples to harnesses the strengths of all students in mathematics. This will do a lot to change negative student self-images. I love this book! "

Denise Walston

"Rarely does one find a text that provides both the aspirational vision and inspirational mission to transform both the striving mathematics educator and the student mathematician. Educators will be moved to embrace, then promote change through their work with Drs. Kobett and Karp’s innovative strengths-based approach to teaching and learning mathematics. Kobett and Karp invite all math stakeholders to discover their own strengths from which to build a stronger foundation in the teaching and learning of mathematics. "

Richard Cox

"Too many of us perseverate on “fixing” our students and ourselves. Focusing instead on the strengths students bring to the classroom and redirecting the effective practices we already employ, Kobett and Karp turn this thinking on its head. By leveraging their tools and protocols we can confront and unpack our beliefs, transform our instruction, and create the positive and supportive learning environments our students deserve. This is an indispensable resource for educators committed to ensuring that each and every student experiences joy, wonder, and success in mathematics! "

Matt Larson