Secondary Mathematics

I hope you have a fabulous November and Thanksgiving week! love having an attitude of gratitude, and am thankful for all the work you do to help students grow each and every day.

New Clarity from TEA has been released for the Testing Calculator Policy, these functions must be disabled:

• geometry functions;
• graphing implicit equations and inequalities;
• graphing inequalities (calculator or application automatically interprets the inequality symbol);
• polynomial root finders; Ti- Quadratic Root Info
• simultaneous equation solvers; Ti-System Graphing Info
• functions that automatically calculate mean absolute deviation.

This must be utilized on the December 2023 Algebra 1 EOC test and May 2024 tests.

**Students CAN utilize BOTH the online calculator and a handheld calculator.**

TEA Calculator Policy

Texas Instruments Resources for STAAR

Other TEA Assessment Guidance was discussed at TASM in October, this includes what was scored as correct/incorrect in the equation editor on Math STAAR/EOC tests last school year.

TEKS Resource Math Update: Instructional Consideration to Activate Purposeful Planning (ICAPP) document has been added to the Unit Overview & Resource section of the Instructional Focus Document. This document has pacing, TEKS specificity, Prior Building Blocks, Pre-Assessment suggestions and TEKS RS Considerations. If you are modifying your curriculum to match TEKS RS, this tool is very handy!

*6th/7th advanced course material should be available soon, possibly before December!

November is National Gratitude Month!

• Nov 8 - STEM/STEAM Day
• Nov 15 Education Support Professionals Day
• Nov 17 International Students Day
• Nov 15-17 National Education Week
• Nov 23 Fibonacci Day

• geometry functions;
• graphing implicit equations and inequalities;
• graphing inequalities (calculator or application automatically interprets the inequality symbol);
  
• polynomial root finders; Ti- Quadratic Root Info
  
• simultaneous equation solvers; Ti-System Graphing Info
  
• functions that automatically calculate mean absolute deviation.

**Students CAN utilize BOTH the online calculator and a handheld calculator.**

TEA Calculator Policy

Texas Instruments Resources for STAAR

Sign up today to attend a focus group for the Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA) rubrics.

House Bill 1605 (88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2023) requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to develop rubrics in consultation with and approved by the State Board of Education that will be used to evaluate the quality of instructional materials.

TEA was directed by the SBOE to develop rubrics for K–8 English language arts and reading, K–6 Spanish language arts and reading, and K–12 mathematics. TEA is seeking your feedback on the draft IMRA rubrics and is hosting focus groups for educators, education service centers, and publishers. If you would like to attend, please register for one of the sessions below.

Educator Focus Groups

• Mathematics
  • Tuesday, 11/21/2023, 9:00–11:00 a.m.
  • Monday, 11/27/2023, 3:00–5:00 p.m.

Texas Senate Bill 175 passed by the 81st Texas Legislature allows the University of Texas at Austin to limit automatic admission to 75 percent of the University's enrollment capacity designated for first-time resident undergraduate students. The will automatically admit all eligible summer/fall 2025 and spring 2026 freshman applicants who rank within the top 6% of their high school graduating classes.

Interested in learning more?

• CCMR Outcomes Bonus (OB) Report
• CCMR Outcomes Bonus Data Sources
• CCMR in Academic Accountability vs. Outcomes Bonuses
• TEA Popular Resources and Updates in Accountability

Try out the new Desmos 3d (Beta) Graph

Want students to show their work in a variety of ways and/or collaborate with their peers in the process? FigJam is a collaborate whiteboard for students with loads of creative options! This article from TCEA highlights some of the features.

Come join me to learn about the Desmos Standard & Testing Graphing Calculator. We will learn about the differences between the two and how to effectively prepare students throughout the year for STAAR testing. We will also practice activities in the Desmos student/teacher lessons to discover more about the interactive technology and how it engages students.

Register Here

In this session we will use evidence-based instructional strategies that can be implemented immediately. We will discuss how to use and create pre-assessments that give teachers real-time data to inform instruction and learn how to use formative checks for understanding to increase student achievement.

Register Here

This session will focus implementation and expectations in a secondary small-group classroom. We will explore the Productive Math Struggle book to promote teaching for learning and how to build lessons that encourage students to develop their own sense of mathematics concepts.

Register Here

• Hosted by Texas A&M Computer Science and Engineering Department
• Attendance is Free
• Lunch is Provided
• You are invited to attend with your students! Each student group will need a parent or school chaperone.
• 9am - 5pm
• Contact: csday@cse.tamu.edu

• Registration Link - may not be available until Spring 2024.
• $199 if registered by May 1, 2024 ($299 after May 1st)
• George R. Brown Convention Center
• Over 500 Sessions for teachers to choose from with nationally recognized speakers
• Preservice Teacher Registration - Preservice teachers attending Texas universities may register to attend for a discounted rate of $99. To receive this rate, a university professor of record my email: office@camtonline.og with the names and emails of preservice educators that wish to register.