NCTM Conference

Wow, what an experience. That's really a good description of the week.

I have truly been blessed by my school to have the opportunity to go to the NCTM National Conference in Washington DC. It was an amazing opportunity and I made the most of every single minute. Here are some highlights of the week:

Teacher bonding. I am so lucky to have a talented, fun, supportive math department. Our coach is phenomenal, and the teachers are young, excited and eager. All of us are self-proclaimed nerds who love what we do even on our worst days. We talked about math the whole week and how we can improve the department. We collaborated on what sessions we were going to attend, and how they would impact our classroom. We got extra handouts or freebies for each other, and discussed the days events at our dinners together. We already have new ideas for next year and can't wait to share them with the rest of the staff. We are already planning the PD we are going to put together for Brooklyn-Queens Day.

New Ideas. During the entire week, no matter where you turned, there was a new book, manipulative, foldable, worksheet on math. You couldn't help but be inspired. Here are some of my favorites:

• "Faceing Math." This activity was developed by a middle school math teacher who wanted to find a new way to motivate her students to practice math problems. For every question there are 2 possible answers given. Depending on your answer, you draw a feature on a blank face you are given. For example, a crooked nose or a straight nose. Curly hair or straight hair. Big eyes or small eyes. Then, the next set of problems tells you what colors to use for each feature. The end results will tell you if the student got the answers right, but they are given some artistic freedom, so though all pictures will be similar, they will not be exactly the same. Here is the web site for more info: http://web.mac.com/dewit2/FACEing_MATH/FACEing_MATH.html
• Singing your Math. This workshop was amazing. The presenter, a Washington, DC area middle school math teacher, uses songs in her room to reinforce critical skills such as decimals, fractions, solving equations, etc. Now, these are your run-of-the-mill songs to the tune of row, row, row your boat. No, these are made to the beat of Soulja Boy, Ciara and Fergie. "D to the I to the V I D E, Divide Fractions!" Here is the site for here school and samples of her songs: www.paulcharter.org

There is so much more but only so much space in this blog! Ask me in class I'll share some of my new knowledge.

Oh, and start begging your principals now for next year's conference. Not only will you learn a lot, but you will also be in San Diego!