NCTM 2010 Regional Conf. Day1

WOW, the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) 2010 Regional Conf. was awesome! I’m coming home with new ideas, resources, and inspiration. The first day included integrating math with engineering, something I think will work well with my Electrical Engineering background. Look around at all the engineered creations around you. Ask questions, make connections, do the math. Great resource: engineering lesson plans from an engineering perspective.
My next class was Algebra: connections with multiple representations. It is just like my MA513 class so I only stayed for 30 minutes. I’ve seen how building understanding through progressive problem solving is powerful in teaching.
I spent another half-hour in Meeting Learners’ needs in mathematics with differentiated instructional strategies. In this seminar we were presented with strategies in formative assessment, teaching, and summative assessment. Nothing new in formative assessment, but I saw how the teaching can tiered for three levels of mastery. The group with a basic level of mastery requires the teacher’s guidance and a review sheet. The instructor will spend more time with this group than any other. The group with an average level of mastery will get minimum direction and no review sheet. The instructor will spend time with this group as she sees necessary. The group with advanced mastery will be given the no review sheet and instructed to create their own learning, even creating teaching materials for the other groups. All the groups will be given the same materials with the same teaching objective, but each group will investigate it at their level. If the project is measurements, for example, all the groups will be given measuring cups, measuring spoons, pictures and water. The first group will be given instructions to investigate how many cups are in a quart, how many tablespoons are in a cup, etc. and a chart to fill out with the information. The second group will be given similar directions, but no review sheet. The third group will be told to find out the relationships and present it in an organized manner. Forms of summative assessment include KWL, journaling, Think-pair-share, mapping and Quick write. As I write lesson plans and have to accommodate ESL and IEP students this approach will be invaluable. The students will all be doing the same content, but at their particular level. I was worried about how I was going to actually make teaching at different levels work in a classroom.
I spent an hour in a Reflection session where attendees discussed the things they’re learning at the conference with respect to geometry. “Hands on” was the general consensus with noting that as little direction from the teacher actually helped with student learning.
Enough of the first day’s epiphanies, I’ll post about day 2 tomorrow.