Make Math your students' favorite class!

(and yours too)

Do you envision a classroom where students are excited about mathematics and actively engaged in solving problems with a high level of cognitive demand?

Let us help you to make this a reality in your classroom.

• Gain a deep understanding of the mathematics you teach
• Build a flexible knowledge of mathematics
• Appreciate the rich connections in mathematics
• Collaborate with your peers to study the curriculum.
• Become more confident in your ability to think mathematically
• Learn how to press your students for conceptual understanding
• Learn how to listen, evaluate and respond to student reasoning and multiple ways of thinking.

Making Mathematical Connections is a program developed by the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in partnership with seven school districts in Northeast Wisconsin. The goal of this project is to provide teachers in grades 4-8 the opportunity to deepen their mathematics knowledge for teaching, focusing on mathematical thinking, conceptual understanding of fundamental concepts in the curricula and the relationships between these concepts, and multiple representations and strategies for solving problems.

Participants will attend a two-week summer workshop on the UW Oshkosh campus led by mathematics faculty. In summer of 2010, the content focus will be Number and Algebra. In 2011 the content focus will be Geometry and Measurement. Subject to funding, there will be a third year in 2012 with a Probability and Statistics focus. Participants are asked to make at least a two-year commitment to the program. During the workshops, each mathematics content topic will be addressed through active engagement in mathematics problem solving, followed by a focus on children’s thinking on the topic, and its connections to the curriculum.

There will be two days of preliminary activities June 9-10, 2010. The summer workshop will be August 9-13 and August 16-20, 2010.

After the two-week summer workshop, we will have four full-day sessions during the 2010-11 academic year (roughly one each quarter), where you will collaborate in teams to study the concepts underlying curriculum units, and develop strategies and lessons that will be implemented in the classroom. Each participant will be visited at least once in the classroom by program’s mathematics faculty for mathematics content-focused coaching.

You will receive 4 graduate credits each year for your participation in the program. Substitutes, parking, mileage, breakfast and lunch during the workshops, and lots of manipulatives and resources for use in your classroom will all be provided for you.

Application deadline is February 5, 2010. The application form is available by following the link on the menu to the left.

For more information, contact program director Eric Kuennen at (920) 424-1059 or kuennene@uwosh.edu.