Our first CML meeting of 2023-2024 was a great success, with almost 30 attendees! It was wonderful seeing so many people from so many places.
Attendees: Katie J. (MIND), John F. (Greeley), Lisa R. (Fountain-Ft. Carson), Tabitha N. (CDE), Raymond J. (CDE), Joe B. (CDE), Jason C. (CDE), Patsy B. (Johnstown-Milliken), Mary Ann D. (Family Learning Center), Amanda F. (Adams 12), Stephanie T. (Adams 12), David W. (Forefront), Kim S. (Mesa County), Felicia C. (Mesa County), Carol S. (Aurora), Denise L. (SC BOCES), Courtney G. (27J), Susan H. (27J), Jennifer K. (27J), Christina T. (D49), April G-S. (GOAL), Marty R. (Delta), Mendi W. (Widefield), Monica G. (Boulder Valley), Paige W. (Boulder Valley), Amber G. (Cherry Creek), Rachel S. (Comm. College of Denver), Darcy H. (Salida), and Brian T. (Academy 20).
Following introductions, we talked about expectations for the coming year. As a group, we will continue the pathways and interventions work from the previous year, but not both every month. Instead, our regular Tuesday meetings will be shortened to two hours and we'll alternate our focus each month. We may choose to schedule additional meeting times so we can accomplish more in these areas and accommodate the participation of more people. Similarly, there's interest in a book study and we're looking to hold book study sessions on one Thursday afternoon each month. If you're interested in participating in the book study, please complete the interest form.
Next, we took time to share about each of our districts, including who our math specialists were, what materials we were using, and what big initiatives we have going. We'll continue to update this information throughout the year. Lisa R. then led us through a "slow reveal graphs" math task, which engaged the group in making predictions and explanations about what we were understanding about a graph as axes, labels, and other information about the data was revealed step-by-step.
We finished up the meeting with reports. Kim told the group about CCTM's September newsletter and the Teaching for Thinking book study that begins in October, as well as an upcoming webinar from Zearn and an in-person session being held by Texas Instruments. Tablitha reminded us of the NCSM Annual Conference in Washington D.C. and it appears Colorado will have at least 5 or 6 CML members in attendance. Raymond then gave the CDE report, which consisted mostly of an explanation of the newly passed legislation HB23-1231, the "Improving Math Outcomes in K-12" bill. It has implications for professional development, materials selection, unified improvement planning, out-of-school program grants, and more, so there will be more to keep learning about the new legislation as CDE (and its new math specialists, Joe, Jason, and Tabitha) make progress with their work.
