Shared Strategies for Quality Instruction
Oxnard School District is making significant strides in enhancing math instruction through its participation in On Track. As part of this initiative, educators recently took part in a Math Lesson Lab focused on the use of high-quality math tasks and the analysis of student work. This professional learning experience provided teachers with an opportunity to collaborate, reflect, and refine their instructional practices to better support student learning. Educators benefited from the opportunity to collaborate with their colleagues and enjoyed the robust conversations by the students.
During the lesson lab, teachers explored the impact of well-designed math tasks in promoting conceptual understanding. They worked together to try and predict the student work they might uncover and the different strategies students used to approach problems, gaining valuable insights into their thought processes. This process allowed the teachers to recognize common misconceptions, identify areas for growth, and adjust their instruction to meet students’ needs more effectively. By focusing on student thinking rather than simply correct answers, teachers were able to emphasize reasoning, justification, and mathematical discourse in their classrooms.
The lessons learned from this experience highlighted the productive struggle of students trying to make sense of tasks and apply their thinking to their written responses. Teachers learned that students can produce great results when given guided feedback to help them get unstuck and persevere through tasks and they discussed how they could implement the new strategies in upcoming lessons.
By centering professional learning around student work, Oxnard School District is creating a culture of continuous improvement in which teachers refine their practice based on real student responses. Their participation in On Track highlights the district’s dedication to high-quality math instruction and its ongoing efforts to ensure all students have access to engaging and effective learning experiences.
