Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Math Instruction topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
San Jose Middle students demonstrate 'building thinking' math in classroom visit to board
Summary
San Jose Middle School teachers and students demonstrated "building thinking math classrooms," showing student-authored composition notebooks, proficiency scales and an In-N-Out decimal challenge to illustrate real‑world math instruction and student collaboration.
San Jose Middle School staff and a group of sixth- and eighth-grade students demonstrated the district's "building thinking math classrooms" approach to the Novato Unified board, showing how composition notebooks, proficiency scales and student trackers support independent learning and collaboration. Teacher Mrs. Ergugian described students as "the author of their own math book throughout the entire year," and students explained how they use a table of contents and notes to study before tests.
The presentation included an interactive exercise in which students were asked to plan orders under a $24 limit to practice decimal operations and sales tax. Presenter Ms. Cutting said the task links decimal skills to "real life" contexts and emphasized that the initiative is part of the math task force's work to define classroom expectations and increase student discourse. Board members asked clarifying questions about assessments and scheduling for the state tests; staff said the district uses local assessments and will continue refining the math task force's vision to improve access to higher-level coursework.
