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Dana Goshorn is an educator in her 15th year. She has a Bachelors degree in Middle Grades Education from Berry College, a Masters degree in Teacher Leadership from Columbus State University, and this Capstone project completes her Education Specialist in Middle Grades Mathematics from Kennesaw State University. Dana currently teaches 5th grade math in central Georgia.

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For my capstone project, I created a professional development presentation to share with the math faculty at my school about how number talks can support student communication in math, meeting state and national standards.

While our staff has general familiarity with number talks as an instructional strategy, and our department instructional norms document includes incorporating number talks three or more times per week, administration reports that number talks are not being used with fidelity.

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Dialogue is social constructivist, so I will use that framework when teaching others about communication through number talks.

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Elementary school, grades three through five.

Teachers are departmentalized, and we have three math teachers per grade level.

Additionally we have five teachers in specialized classes who also teach math.

Altogether, the professional learning would apply to 26 teachers in my school.

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This professional development presentation is designed to help teachers with number talks familiarity move to number talks implementation. The presentation highlights my literature review and outlines rationale for number talks as a method for improving student communication in the math classroom. The presentation also clarifies the role of a teacher in number talks, and allows the participants to consider how number talks promote student Standards for Mathematical Practice and teacher best practices as described in TKES.

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1. Review the basic procedures of number talks.

2. Present a few highlights from my literature review.

3. Draw a connection between mathematical communication and number talks.

4. Engage the math faculty with group discussions throughout the presentation.

5. Guide participants in examining materials aligning the SMP to TKES standards.

6. View exemplar video of a number talk.

7. Review the importance of the role of the teacher.

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At the conclusion of the professional development session, I will ask teachers to complete a short survey about additional professional learning needs concerning number talks.

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Communication is an important facet of math learning. The purpose of my literature review is to look for a connection between practicing number talks and improving student communication.

I propose a professional development session for teachers at my school about how number talks can increase students communication in math.

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Meaningful avenue for mathematical sense making, computation, discourse, and reasoning (Parrish, 2014).

Engage students and teach students flexibility with numbers and properties, setting them up for more complex math learning (Parker and Humphreys, 2015).

Increase number sense (Bernandar et al., 2020).

Number talks require students to explain their thinking (Mevarech & Kramarski, 2003).

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Introduction: Number Talks and Student Communication

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Introduction: Number Talks and Student Communication

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Learning mathematics is more than solving numeric problems. Students must communicate mathematical thinking with their peers and to their teacher.
Number talks, ten to fifteen minute mental math problem solving discussions, are a classroom strategy to enhance student communication in math.

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What happens to communication when students practice number talks?

Additionally, what is the role of teachers implementing number talks in their classrooms?

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Choose appropriate problems, set norms, and facilitate discussions (McCarthy et al., 2016).

Teachers release control of learning to students during a number talk (Bennett, 2014).

Using wrong answers and mistakes as teachable moments, using wait time for mathematical sense-making, asking questions to provoke thinking and multiple solutions, and creating a safe classroom environment (Parker & Humphreys, 2018).

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Benefits of Communication in Math Classrooms

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Benefits of Communication in Math Classrooms

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Elements to student communication in mathematics (NCTM, 2000).

Students make connections.

Students communicate clearly to their friends, teachers, and others.

Students critique the mathematical ideas of others.

Students use language to communicate their own ideas precisely and concisely.

Students clarify their own understanding, considering the strategies of others and determine if they are logical. Students investigate relationships, building a toolbox of math strategies, and decision making about problem solving. (Parrish & Dominick, 2016).

Mathematical discourse can lead to increased learning outcomes for students with disabilities (Xin et al., 2020).

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A likely positive outcome of this presentation is more consistent use of number talks in math classrooms at my school. A possible negative outcome of this research might be confusion about number talks if participating teachers implement this strategy differently.

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Number talk: A number talk is a planned, ten to fifteen minute classroom conversation focused on mental math strategies and student communication.

Communication: For the purpose of this report, communication includes teachers talking to students, students talking to teachers, and students talking to each other. Synonymous to discourse and dialogue.