Make it Make Sense Report
Audience Feedback on Aug 6, 2024
Attendee Responses
298
100% found this session valuable
100% would hear this speaker again
Attendees found this session
Inspiring
100%
Engaging
97%
Relevant
97%
Memorable
97%
How attendees describe this talk
Mr O’Neal has a great amount of insight and realistic advice for giving math a background. He shows how to make sense of math while making sense of math, and doesnt makes you feel stupid for not immediately knowing.
This was a very engaging event. It was an affirmation to the work I do but a good teaching moment for teachers who don’t teach the why. I would have loved having him for a math teacher. He is very encouraging.
The session was super engaging from beginning to end. If you are looking for ways to help your students with critical thinking -make it make sense :) Then this is the best person to see.
What I most liked about this session is that I feel like I can leave and make a change immediately. I don’t have to buy anything or completely change my lesson plans. This session was a good reminder to have empathy for students and not expect them to just know it and just do it. When we do not provide them a way to make sense, they do not feel secure or safe or able. We always need to remember what this feels like so we are conscious of what our lessons are making kids feel, whether positive or negative.
When Math Makes Sense to you as a teacher and to your students’ through the EASI Framework Growth happens! A Shift Happens! Your Approach changes as you examine your instruction and beliefs! Nix the Tricks unless it is based on Mathematical Proof! I have always believed, and taught conceptual understanding, and today you just reinforced the processes and also tweaked some of my thinking for the betterment of my students! I look forward to learning, changing and growing to Make It Make Sense!!
Great, engaging talk on making math make sense for students. I am a high school math teacher who still found value in the slides on fraction sense-making because I teach operations with rational expressions (Math 3), where students perform the same operations but will now have a deeper understanding of why. This keynote will help drive me to find more “whys” of my content I teach. Thank you!
I've already texted my most inspiring colleague about Mr. O'Neal and let her know that he has inspired me in a way that only she has before. I appreciate that feedback to other teachers to let students use what they have. Fingers, pictures, manipulatives. I shout it from the rooftops but I get push back all the time
This session will make you really reflect on your own beliefs around learning math and your instructional practices. Most importantly, it will make you feel inspired to help students make sense of math concepts and convince you of the importance of building that conceptual foundation.
We often hear to "nix the tricks" and there's even an article that references such, but this presentation let us know that some of the "tricks" we learned or in some cases may have even taught have value if they are accompanied with sense-making activities. "Make it make sense."
Feedback for James and the event
Would be curious for a follow-up with how to implement within Math 1 pacing. For example, many students still struggle with fractions coming in and discovery/sense making would be valuable. Technically though it’s not on grade level and costs time. Same with other sense making. Do you have advice for implementing quickly? Thank you!
Everything you shared can be applied to science and STEM! So many teachers have this fear of teaching science, and you are right! If it made sense to them, they would be better prepared to teach science! Now I have a mission- I want to help teachers make sense of science like you do with math!!! Thank you!!!
Provide non-visual, verbal methods to make sense of the concepts. Not pneumonic devices like "keep-change-flip", but connecting vocabulary to problem solving ("divisor divide, so the result will be smaller", etc).
Maybe point out that instead of saying keep change flip point out the division is the same as multiplying by the reciprocal of course after they see the visuals and make sense of it and they can actually see it.
This is a priceless piece of important information and work we as educators need to make it make sense for our students to be build their understanding of Mathematics! Awesome!!
One slide about the Pythagorean Theorem had confusing info because it was using a+b=c when the Pythagorean Theorem is a^2 and so on. That will cause some confusion to students.
I thoroughly enjoyed the keynote. Mr. O'Neal helped me get excited about going back into the classroom to get students invigorated and engaged in my favorite subject!
I enjoyed his examples for 8th grade standards. Many times, math is geared toward elementary only and I learned a new strategy to help with my 8th grade classes!
How do you encourage them to get away from constantly drawing. By the time they are in high school they shouldn’t still be drawing out multiplication dots.