Fellows’ Lounge for November 21

Though the Fellows’ Lounge took a break from its weekly prompt this past week, there was no shortage of activity. The fellows carried on with the usual routine of collaboration and discussion around a variety of topics. Read on for a glimpse of what we do on a weekly basis in the Fellows’ Lounge.

We share graphs and activities, ask for feedback, and collaborate around design and interaction.

We improve our graphing skills.

We plan, lead, and reflect on Desmos and non-Desmos professional learning experiences.

  • Adam Poetzel led a webinar for the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
  • Glenn Waddell and Allison Krasnow led PD for preservice teachers, and Suzanne von Oy got ready for her first presentation in a math methods class.
  • Some of us are getting ready to apply to speak at conferences, including the NCTM regional conferences for 2017.
  • Jenn Vadnais works as a math coach in her district, and regularly shares strategies she is using for helping students learn with Desmos. This week she worked with a teacher whose students were solving equations in pairs. One student solved the equation on a desk using a whiteboard marker and the other checked the partner’s work in Desmos. Students switched roles for each equation, fostering good discussions.
  • In addition to sharing several interesting graphs, Nolan Doyle delivered a workshop in his school district.

We are involved with and share ideas around our school math clubs.

  • This week Paul Jorgens shared a graph that one of his students made that had our entire office in awe.
  • Anna Scholl’s club spent time strategizing how to get the highest score in Point Collector.

We regularly obsess over Marbleslides and related stories from our classes.

  • This week one of Mark Alvaro’s students asked on day 2 of their conics unit whether or not they knew enough to do Marbleslides yet. Not quite, my friend!
  • Dave Sabol caught one of his students on screen 10 of an activity before trying screens 1-9. When asked why the student was on screen 10 the reply was “I just wanted to see if there were any Marbleslides at the end.”
  • Sean Sweeney and Suzanne von Oy set up a brainstorming/storyboarding chat online for anyone interested in discussing how to improve Marbleslides:Lines.

In addition to the Desmos related activities that we collaborate and reflect on, we continually support each other and push each other to grow as teachers so that we can help our students learn. Stay tuned for the next edition of the Fellows’ Lounge to hear reflections from the fellows on how the Desmos Fellows program is helping teachers improve their practice.