Conseil Scolaire Catholique Franco-Nord (CSCFN) Math Conference

Redefining Mathematics Pedagogy with Contextual Tasks & Technology

November 6th, 2017

Thank you for joining me for some math geekery at the Conseil Scolaire Catholique Franco-Nord (CSCFN) Math Conference! Please feel free to utilize the resources related to each day below for your future use. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out in the future!

Making Math Contextual, Visual and Concrete

Before jumping into the task, we discussed the two groups of students I (unintentionally) created in my class and the possible commonalities between students in both groups.

We also spent some time discussing the problem with rushing to the algorithm and used the Keurig Instant Coffee Maker commercial as a prime example of the rush to the algorithm.

The task explored during this session was the Stacking Paper 3 Act Math Task:

[threeactshortcode the_query=”post_type=realworldmath&p=13552″]

We also extended the previous task discussing how we can take context and use it to extend thinking in other areas. Here’s that task:

[threeactshortcode the_query=”post_type=realworldmath&p=13681″]

Although we didn’t get this far, there is a third extension that can be helpful for an inquiry that lands on the formula for slope of a linear relation:

[threeactshortcode the_query=”post_type=realworldmath&p=13730″]


During the session, we used Knowledgehook Gameshow to share out the thinking of the participants. Here’s a post explaining the tool, although they have added many more features since:

[postshortcode the_query=”p=16235″]

If you’re in a Chromebook school, you might consider using Google Sites as an option to deliver this task:

Access Google Site

You can also read a blog post about creating interactive tasks with Google Sites here:

[postshortcode the_query=”p=16394″]

I shared a Google Doc with a couple additional options as well such as Desmos Custom Activity Builder, Knowledgehook Gameshow, Recap! and GoFormative.


I hope you enjoyed the professional learning today at Conseil Scolaire Catholique Franco-Nord (CSCFN) Math Conference as much as I did! Looking forward to learning with you all again sometime in the future!