NCTM Conference in Nashville

From Nov. 18-20, I went to Nashville for the NCTM regional conference with Krista, Brynn, and Val. Not only did we have a great time together, I learned a lot about teaching mathematics from the sessions and vendors!

The opening session talked about mathematics and music. The speaker integrated the two in order to teach students about mathematical terms, as well as using music theory and instruments for concept instruction. He wrote songs about concepts to help his students remember, as well as used guitars and sound waves to show students about sine and cosine functions and other mathematical terms. I had so much fun at this presentation and fully intend to use music and songs in my classroom!

I also learned so much about the SMART Board and TI-Nspire calculator. One teacher from Ohio records his lessons and posts them online. That way, students that are absent will get to experience the lesson as well. Also, he posted tutorials in order to avoid re-teaching certain topics. I thought it was so cool that the SMART Board records lessons and voice, and I think this is a great way to include struggling students. Also, the Nspire can do some great things, but I need to learn more about it before I use it in the class.

Another session I went to talked about math and art. The teacher used paintings to help students learn about different math concepts. She also had students recreate the paintings in their exploration the topics, and she posted them in the classroom. What was really cool about this was she used free paint color strips and recycled papers for her students to make the artwork. This just goes to show that teachers can use really creative ways to teach without spending much (if any) money at all. So neat!

I got some really great books and games, too, to use in my classroom. I'm pretty excited about everything I got out of this conference. I really hope that I can continue going to conferences like this. Even if my school won't pay for me to go, I would like to go and pay for it myself! Professional development is so important, and I really wish that teachers would use the opportunities and take them seriously! So many teachers there weren't open to the ideas they were hearing about, and I think that is such a shame. I think that just goes to show how different generations of teachers are. A quick, funny story to illustrate this: We were about to get dinner before the first session of the conference and we had to cross a street. The red hand came up saying for pedestrians to stop, but Brynn and Krista kept walking. Val and I stopped, and a group of teachers were in front of us. They yelled "That's why we are teachers, we follow the rules!" Valerie and I laughed, and when we told Krista and Brynn about it, Krista yelled, "REFORM!" Just a great example of our generation of teachers vs. the older generation of teachers.

High School, Cool Activities, and More!

Well, it's been quite a while since I last posted! Since then, I have moved on to observing Algebra I and Algebra I Part I at Eastern Montgomery High School. There are very different issues to deal with in high school, but I really do love it so far! There is only one week left, but I'll be there for student teaching. So, I'm excited for more!

Students

The students at EMHS are very different from the students at the high school I went to. From what I can tell, most of the students are lower SES. They talk a lot about partying, and one of the couples at the school even live together! I am definitely not used to the social environment at EMHS, but I've been learning a lot about how to deal with it.

One of the girls in the class is pregnant, and my CT told me that the student didn't know she was pregnant until she was 20 weeks pregnant! And, the other students in the school are so excited for her baby. This is another huge difference from where I grew up, as being pregnant in high school was not seen as an exciting thing.

Classes

My CT grades most (if not all) of their classwork for correctness. This seems to be necessary, as certain students will just sit there and not do anything (though I'm not sure how much of a motivator a grade is for them).

There is a SMART board in the room, and my CT has this tablet that goes along with it. She can walk around the room, write on the tablet, and the markings appear on the SMART board. It's really cool! She says she needs to do this because she feels like her classes behave better when she is walking around throughout the time she gives notes.

Cool Activities

In my Elementary and Middle Mathematics class, we did this really cool activity with Fraction Circles. Basically, we took a red plate and a white plate (Hefty brand) that had 36 indentions on the sides, found the center of the two plates, cut a slit, and put the plates together. These Fraction Circles are SO USEFUL! They can be used for probability, fractions, angles, and even trig! You can put the unit circle on them, use them for adding angles, display all sorts of fractions (any denominator that's a factor of 36), etc. I think this is an EXCELLENT manipulative for many, many grades. I plan to use it in the future!

Teaching Techniques

All my classes in undergrad and grad programs stress the use of reform mathematics to teach students. While I agree that many of the activities are beneficial for students, I think a teaching style that incorporates traditional and reform activities will truly benefit students. I think reform activities are good to use as introductions, and then teachers can use a lecture or provide a formula once students investigate and develop these methods for themselves. This stye of teaching helps to meet needs of all students, and I plan on using it in my student teaching and beyond!

Also, during my field experience, I've been thinking of activities to do based on the lesson my CT is teaching. This is really good practice for me for lesson planning in trying to incorporate reform and traditional mathematics. I hope to use these activities I come up with next semester during student teaching!