Why Big Ideas?

 Five Components of Equitable and Engaging Teaching for All Students

• planning around big ideas

• using open and engaging tasks

• teaching for social justice

• inviting student questions and conjectures

• prioritizing reasoning and justification

Bransford and Johnson 1972

If the balloons popped, the sound would not be able to carry since everything would be too far away from the correct floor. A closed window would also prevent the sound from carrying since most buildings tend to be well insulated. Since the whole operation depends on a steady flow of electricity, a break in the middle of the wire would also cause problems. Of course the fellow could shout, but the human voice is not loud enough to carry that far. An additional problem is that a string could break on the instrument. Then there could be no accompaniment to the message. It is clear that the best situation would involve less distance. Then there would be fewer potential problems. With face to face contact, the least number of things could go wrong.

Bransford and Johnson 1972

Bransford and Johnson 1972

If the balloons popped, the sound would not be able to carry since everything would be too far away from the correct floor. A closed window would also prevent the sound from carrying since most buildings tend to be well insulated. Since the whole operation depends on a steady flow of electricity, a break in the middle of the wire would also cause problems. Of course the fellow could shout, but the human voice is not loud enough to carry that far. An additional problem is that a string could break on the instrument. Then there could be no accompaniment to the message. It is clear that the best situation would involve less distance. Then there would be fewer potential problems. With face to face contact, the least number of things could go wrong.

Bransford and Johnson 1972

If the balloons popped, the sound would not be able to carry since everything would be too far away from the correct floor. A closed window would also prevent the sound from carrying since most buildings tend to be well insulated. Since the whole operation depends on a steady flow of electricity, a break in the middle of the wire would also cause problems. Of course the fellow could shout, but the human voice is not loud enough to carry that far. An additional problem is that a string could break on the instrument. Then there could be no accompaniment to the message. It is clear that the best situation would involve less distance. Then there would be fewer potential problems. With face to face contact, the least number of things could go wrong.

What are some key takeaways from this experiment?

Big Ideas

Schema

Big Ideas

What do Big Ideas

look like in the 

classroom?

Problems (tasks which students do not already have the tools to solve) precede teaching of the focal mathematics necessitated by the problem.

CA Mathematics Framework 2023

What are the big ideas in this task?

What are the challenges when implementing

Big Ideas?

What are the mindsets evident in this picture?

How do we teach?

Math should be 

experienced not explained

The old way of teaching math was to make you do it like a machine...

To ensure that all students are mathematically equipped to solve the world's most challenging problems.

OUR MISSION: