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Flipgrid with students and with staff. It's easy and the students really like it.

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How do I (teacher) communicate that a little math productive struggle is okay to families? I’m not looking for correct answers but student thinking.

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Set up a virtual happy hour or morning coffee break and have some getting to know each other questions prepared.

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These questions only take about 45 minutes to discuss-and they almost always make two people feel better about each other and want to see each other again, according to social psychology researcher Arthur Aron of the Interpersonal Relationships Lab at Stony Brook University in New York, who published his results in "The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness" in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (1997).

You can try these questions with a date, but they're not necessarily only applicable to fostering romance. You can also try them with people you already know well-friends, family members, even long-term partners-to deepen your ties.

Each of you should take a turn answering each question. Here they are, in order:

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, who would you want as a dinner guest?

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?

3. Before making a phone call, do you ever rehearse what you're going to say? Why?

4. What would constitute a perfect day for you?

5. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

6. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you choose?

7. Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

8. Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.

9. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

10. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

11. Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible.

12. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained one quality or ability, what would it be?

13. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?

14. Is there something that you've dreamt of doing for a long time? Why haven't you done it?

15. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

16. What do you value most in a friendship?

17. What is your most treasured memory?

18. What is your most terrible memory?

19. If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?

20. What does friendship mean to you?

21. What roles do love and affection play in your life?

22. Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of five items.

23. How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people's?

24. How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?

25. Make three true "we" statements each. For instance, "we are both in this room feeling..."

26. Complete this sentence "I wish I had someone with whom I could share..."

27. If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for him or her to know.

28. Tell your partner what you like about them. Be honest this time, saying things that you might not say to someone you've just met.

29. Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.

30. When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?

31. Tell your partner something that you like about them already.

32. What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

33. If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven't you told them yet?

34. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?

35. Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?

36. Share a personal problem and ask your partner's advice on how he or she might handle it. Also, ask your partner to reflect back to you how you seem to be feeling about the problem you have chosen.

Here are a few variations:

If you could choose the sex and physical appearance of your soon-to-be-born child, would you do it?

Would you be willing to have horrible nightmares for a year if you would be rewarded with extraordinary wealth?

While on a trip to another city, your spouse/lover meets and spends a night with an exciting stranger. Given that they will never meet again, and could never otherwise learn of the incident, would you want your partner to tell you about it?

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36 Questions to Bring You Closer Together

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These questions only take about 45 minutes to discuss-and they almost always make two people feel better about each other and want to see each other again, according to social psychology researcher Arthur Aron of the Interpersonal Relationships Lab at Stony Brook University in New York, who published his results in "The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness" in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (1997).

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Numberless story problems on zoom sparked discussions

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Numberless story problems on zoom sparked discussions

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I have been in the school as a teacher. My role has moved to coach. How can I support teachers in upper grades in which they are the experts in their content? 

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I have been in the school as a teacher. My role has moved to coach. How can I support teachers in upper grades in which they are the experts in their content? 

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Have students screencast themselves as they solve math problems via Seesaw and post.  

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Have students screencast themselves as they solve math problems via Seesaw and post.  

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Hosting weekly optional open "Let's Chat" check-ins/coffee hour, as well as quick bites on different topics (i.e. "Check out this cool new digital tool")

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In our own coaching...model digital tools

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In our own coaching...model digital tools

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Still doing the work of coaching but getting to try out digital platforms.

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I know that some curricula are working to support teachers with their remote teaching: new activities that are tech enhanced, online games...something to look out for because this will alleviate some of the pressure on teachers.

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In June I held small groups (3-5) of interested teachers to preview a Renewal (not Recovery) Learning resource I put together. (If this link doesn't work let me know - Denise)

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Great platform for sharing virtual lessons, includes interactivity such as Padlet boards, collaborative boards, etc.

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Nearpod: Foster a love of learning in every student

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Create active learning experiences students can’t wait to be a part of.

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Thinking through ways to promote mathematical discourse online, particularly with our youngest students

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Thinking through ways to promote mathematical discourse online, particularly with our youngest students

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With many of the resistance cards, I kept coming back to the question of, "Why is the purpose of education?" Many times it seems like the focus is on the delivery of instruction, and not the reception. Wonder if that has a direct correlation with purpose of coaching.

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Seesaw | Elementary Learning Experience Platform

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Seesaw | Elementary Learning Experience Platform

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Elementary Learning Experience Platform | Seesaw

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Seesaw is a Learning Experience Platform with 25M+ users, enhancing elementary education, engagement, and school culture while improving academic success.

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Posing story problems for students on zoom and have them solve them right there.  Then having them share their strategies for solving them. (Need to work on the 5 strategies to have the discussion be more productive mathematically!)

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Posing story problems for students on zoom and have them solve them right there.  Then having them share their strategies for solving them. (Need to work on the 5 strategies to have the discussion be more productive mathematically!)

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How to best facilitate virtual number talks

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How can we model self-care for teachers, while also supporting them with the heavy coaching approach?

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Teachers were so overwhelmed with learning new technology pedagogy was lost. How do we get back to pedagogy discussions?

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I have heard that this is a way to have kids share their thinking and hear others' has anyone used it? How does it work?

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I have done work with routines such as quick images with teachers and tried out just a couple of virtual tools. That felt accessible and the teachers saw the tools applied to a routine!

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I have done work with routines such as quick images with teachers and tried out just a couple of virtual tools. That felt accessible and the teachers saw the tools applied to a routine!

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Great platform for exploring math together with students AND teachers. =) Easy to implement virtually if needed. teacher.desmos.com

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With students. They worked during class time and on their own time. Teachers could look at student work "live" which they loved.

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Thinking through the 5 Practices virtually?

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Thinking through the 5 Practices virtually?

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I've used jamboard successfully with teachers - similar to what we did with Polly yesterday.

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Teachers have so much on their mind and plate during remote learning. How do I support and then coach heavily?

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I loved Desmos activities! I also heard CueThink is great but not free. www.teacher.desmos.com

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VIrtual Number Talks... synchronous with asynchronous components

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VIrtual Number Talks... synchronous with asynchronous components

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I'm not sure how to best partner with teachers to juggle the in-person classes and virtual classes because students could potentially move back and forth between the types of instruction pending outbreaks/exposure.

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I haven't tried this yet but I want to spend some time  with teachers in each grade level the way that we have done math together before investigating cases. This can happen remotely or in person.

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Teachers are asking lots of questions about learning in virtual spaces. What are the most important first steps in easing their concerns through my coaching?

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Teachers are asking lots of questions about learning in virtual spaces. What are the most important first steps in easing their concerns through my coaching?

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Whether math class is happening online or in person, when kids are encouraged to talk about their math thinking, it can help teachers assess progress, improve students' math proficiency, and be a "powerful equity strategy" that allows kids to see themselves as "valued math thinkers," writes Catherine Gewertz for Education Week.

"A well-designed math conversation can make it easier for all students-even those who rarely talk in class-to participate," writes Gewertz. There are also academic benefits. At Robbins Elementary School in Robbins, California, for example, district superintendent Dawn Carl says that when teachers began focusing on math conversations, the proficiency rates of the school's English language learners improved by 5 percentage points and proficiency rates for native English speakers grew by 7 points.

The benefits of math talks are well-known-Gewertz points to research and publications from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics dating back 40 years-but the new Common Core State Standards brought the practice back into focus. "Mastery of the common core's standards for mathematical practice means students must know how to do things like construct viable arguments and critique others' reasoning."

Math talk also translates well to online learning. The author highlights four ways teachers can help students improve their math-talk skills.

Encourage rough-draft math thinking

When students share their initial efforts at solving a math problem with their peers, it helps "deepen students' understanding of math ideas and practices," says Amanda Jansen, a mathematics education professor at the University of Delaware.

In the classroom, have your students share and comment on each other's rough-draft solutions to a problem, revise their work based on peer feedback, and then explain how and why their thinking evolved.

Highlight the value of each student's work

When students have the opportunity to think about how and why their thinking changed, it allows teachers "to call attention to the value each student's draft brought to the progression of the class' thinking. ... This can really elevate the thinking of their peers. They realize their ideas can help their classmates grow their thinking," Jansen explains.

Ask your students to examine a math problem together, work on solutions, then agree upon one solution to share with the entire class. Then have a collective discussion about "what's powerful and what could be improved" about each draft, says Jansen.

It's a technique that also functions as an equalizer for students-especially those who might not feel comfortable sharing their thinking-once they realize how their individual math thinking contributes to the whole group's problem-solving abilities.

Set up small-group conversations

Especially for English language learners who might shy away from speaking in front of the entire class, small-group settings can be helpful for tackling word problems. Teachers at Robbins Elementary first model problem-solving to the class, says Carl, the superintendent, then break kids up to work in pairs or small groups.

Teachers observe and ask open-ended questions like "tell me why you believe that, or, let's think about this," says Carl. When teachers gently guide the discussion like this without supplying correct answers, kids can start deepening their math thinking.

Model math talk

Kids need help learning how to engage in productive math conversations so teachers at Robbins Elementary use sentence starters-for example, writes Gewertz: "When Robert uses this strategy, it makes me think of..." or, "This makes sense to me because..."-to help get math talks started.

Teachers can also use cartoon-inspired thought bubbles, says Robert Q. Berry, past president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, to help spur math conversations-he suggests modeling a solution, then circling a specific section of it and drawing in a thought bubble. "What do you think I'm thinking here?" a teacher might ask students, indicating the thought bubble. On paper, students can fill in the thought bubble; online this can be done using a text box.

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Whether math class is happening online or in person, when kids are encouraged to talk about their math thinking, it can help teachers assess progress, improve students' math proficiency, and be a "powerful equity strategy" that allows kids to see themselves as "valued math thinkers," writes Catherine Gewertz for Education Week.

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10 Strategies for Leading Online When School is Closed

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Dr. Reshan Richards and Stephen Valentine offer tangible leadership strategies for leading online when schools are closed in light of the COVID-19 situation.

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I've just begun my job as a coach and I don't know the teachers. What is the best way to reach out and begin to work with people?