We would like to take note of the teachers who attended or presented at the NCTM conference in New Orleans in April.
LPS mathematics curriculum supervisor Matt Larson gave one of the featured talks, "Principles to Action: What It Takes." The description of the talk is as follows: The Common Core doesn't outline the necessary structures to ensure higher levels of mathematics student achievement. What it takes to implement highly effective mathematics programs is the focus of NCTM's signature publication Principles to Action. Larson, one of its authors, will outline the wide range of recommendations in the document for making mathematics work for all.
Larson's district colleague Susie Katt of Primarily Math Cohort 1 was on the Organizing/Program Committee that planned this NCTM meeting.
For five LPS Primarily Math teachers, this was the first NCTM meeting they had attended. Thanks to a grant, Teresa Calafiore, Theresa Conradt, Jennifer Jenkins, Beth Topp, and Ashley Wergin had their travel funded. Attached are pictures featuring Calafiore, Jenkins, Topp and Wergin with Karen Fuson (author of Math Expressions - the book used by LPS in grades K-2) and also with Sybilla Beckmann (author of Elementary Mathematics – the book used in Primarily Math) and Jim Lewis.
Lewis, NebraskaMATH PI and CSMCE director, gave the talk, "Fractions Are Numbers" in the grades 3-5 session. His abstract was as follows: Both the Common Core State Standards and the IES practice guide Developing Effective Fractions Instruction for Kindergarten through 8th Grade stress understanding fractions as numbers and the importance of using number lines as a central representational tool in teaching fraction concepts. We will discuss these ideas and how they can support developing computational fluency with fractions.
Omaha Public Schools teachers (from either Math in the Middle or Primarily Math) Tanya Archie, Kathy Bilek, Jonelle Dickmeyer, Marni Driessen, Lisa Holland, Paula Jakopovic, Kerri Kratina, Suzanne Pike, Matthew Timm and Lynn West also attended and were accompanied by district administrators Jim Harrington, Cyndi Baumann, and Val Schovanec.
UNL's Chuck Friesen gave the talk "Using Dynamic Software for All the Right Reasons" to grades 6-12 teachers and UNO's Angie Hodge presented "Hands-On, Minds-On Calculus Activities" for grades 9–12, both pre-service and in-service teachers.
To see the program book, visit:
http://www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Conferences/2014_Annual_Program_Book.pdf