MidSchoolMath National Conference 2015

By shifting our focus on teaching students what to learn, we need to look deeper into how they learn. Technology such as computers, phones, and video games are everywhere! Students love to draw, doodle, and sketch on their notes, assignments, and even on tests. Mathematics and art have an amazing connection and teaching mathematics with art can be an excellent teaching strategy. Why not implement these resources into the curriculum and allow time and space for them to interact with technology and express themselves using individual art pieces in our mathematics classrooms?

Educators need to explore questions related to how tests, feedback and problem solving help our students learn. I have found that connecting mathematical concepts with technology and individual art pieces to be an extremely successful teaching method! The discovery of this strategy has helped me diversify instruction, give frequent and immediate feedback, administer frequent low-stakes testing, provide ultra-rich, complex narrative tasks with grapple time, incorporate distributed practice, and focus on far fewer concepts. This teaching style addresses diverse learning styles, allows the artistically gifted students to shine, provides opportunity for students to move about the classroom, permits students to express their individuality, encourages creativity by engaging the right side of the brain, and accepts peer collaboration and teamwork leading to more meaningful conversations and interactions.

I am currently using Ko’s Journey as the nucleus to drive instruction. This session will demonstrate how to incorporate technology and student generated art work to display individual understanding of mathematical concepts/problems and their connections to real-word applications. While playing Ko’s Journey, students grapple with solutions and create strategies for solving problems, engage in meaningful discussions with their peers, relate each lesson to real world applications, and create individual pieces of art to display what they learned based on a teacher generated rubric.

Note: This session will also be offered on Saturday at 1:30 pm.
BYOD: Please bring a laptop with you to this session, if you can

The session starts now!  Prior to the conference, you will complete an online survey (links below), and have your students do the same, exploring and examining math culture and teaching environments.

Then, once at the conference, you and your colleagues will have the opportunity to take the confidential, collective data and apply mathmatical standards for collaborative analysis. We'll also explore how you can bring this technique back to share with your administrators and your students.

If you are attending this session, please complete surveys by Wednesday morning (2/25)! We need your participation to make this session a success!

The teacher survey takes approximatly 20 minutes to complete; the student survey can typically be completed in less then 10 minutes. Surveys can be accessed via the links below on any web browser (but your school must allow you to access and send information through Google forms.)

BYOD: Please bring a laptop with you to this session!

• Access link for Teacher Survey: http://bit.ly/MSMNC_MathCultureTEACHER
• Access link for Student Survey: http://bit.ly/MSMNC_MathCultureSTUDENT

Sorry, but this session is FULL and we are unable to increase capacity further. Please select another session to attend during this period, rather then joining the wait list. 
Space is still available in Mathematical Icebreakers, another session featuring classroom games, on Saturday at 11:15 am.

Looking for ways to exercise students' minds, stretch their imaginations and help them grasp goals? Join us as we revisit some classics and also introduce you to new ideas worth exploring. You'll leave with exciting activities, challenging problems and fabulous games for immediate classroom use to help your students become mathematically fit for the future.

All of the material presented encourages numerical fluency, problem solving skills, and emphasizes the connections between mathematics and students' lives. We'll also explore ways to modify material for the varying needs of the students in their particular classroom.

A special session specifically for Principals, Heads of School, School Directors and Assistant Principals; Math Coaches and Department Heads are also welcome!

Math achievement at a school starts with one person. You know the effect size of a teacher...consider the impact of a principal.  Often our ideals for building school culture and attaining true math proficiency become secondary to arduous testing requirements and program implementations.  How do we effectively change the mindsets and structures of our schools while faced with these never ending day-to-day challenges?  This session is devoted to you, the principal.  The one who is truly in the position to make the biggest difference, to offer leading strategies for organizational alignment and developing your school’s “inside voice” to effectively respond to external influences while achieving internal results.

By shifting our focus on teaching students what to learn, we need to look deeper into how they learn. Technology such as computers, phones, and video games are everywhere! Students love to draw, doodle, and sketch on their notes, assignments, and even on tests. Mathematics and art have an amazing connection and teaching mathematics with art can be an excellent teaching strategy. Why not implement these resources into the curriculum and allow time and space for them to interact with technology and express themselves using individual art pieces in our mathematics classrooms?

Educators need to explore questions related to how tests, feedback and problem solving help our students learn. I have found that connecting mathematical concepts with technology and individual art pieces to be an extremely successful teaching method! The discovery of this strategy has helped me diversify instruction, give frequent and immediate feedback, administer frequent low-stakes testing, provide ultra-rich, complex narrative tasks with grapple time, incorporate distributed practice, and focus on far fewer concepts. This teaching style addresses diverse learning styles, allows the artistically gifted students to shine, provides opportunity for students to move about the classroom, permits students to express their individuality, encourages creativity by engaging the right side of the brain, and accepts peer collaboration and teamwork leading to more meaningful conversations and interactions.

This session will demonstrate how to incorporate technology and student generated art work to display individual understanding of mathematical concepts/problems and their connections to real-word applications. I am currently using Ko’s Journey as the nucleus to drive instruction; while playing Ko’s Journey, students grapple with solutions and create strategies for solving problems, engage in meaningful discussions with their peers, relate each lesson to real world applications, and create individual pieces of art to display what they learned based on a teacher generated rubric.

Note: This session will also be offered on Friday Morning at 11:15 am
BYOD: Please bring a laptop, if you have access to one, with you to this session.