Propose your idea for a session at TMCNYC 2018

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The session proposal form for TMCNYC is here!

As you think about proposing a session for our August meeting, it could be helpful to keep in mind the ways TMCNYC is different from other professional meetings you might have experienced:

  1. It’s smaller, by design.
  2. It’s local, by design.

These factors don’t limit what you can propose — rather, they can open up new possibilities.

So, for example, if you have something that you’d very much like to learn about, but you don’t want to lead the session, we can try to find someone to lead that session.

Another example: if you want to try something that wouldn’t be possible at a larger conference in a large room, you can do that too. Last year’s sessions included a facilitated discussion about race in the classroom, and a math fair with interactive stations.

We’re local, by design: feel free to host a session that focuses on things happening in NY.

But these are just ideas to spark your imagination. We’re eager to hear your ideas, so please be in touch if you have any idea for a session, but aren’t sure if it would make sense for our meeting in August. We’d love to chat about it with you!

All the best,

TMCNYC Planning Team

Dan Anderson is bringing math art to TMCNYC

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Dan Anderson (@dandersod) is a high school math teacher and a mathematical artist. And he’s coming to TMCNYC to share mathematical art with us! Register now (click here to register) and make sure to come on Thursday August 23 to learn more about math art from Dan.

Here is a sample of some of Dan’s work. You can find more of his art here.

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Geometry Routines for Elementary Students – This Year at TMCNYC

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What we’re doing, in short.

We’re trying to develop an instructional routine that is custom-designed for exposing elementary-age kids to the ideas of geometry (especially angle measurement).

The goal of our group is to have something ready for testing and sharing at TMCNYC in August. Then, we’ll improve the routine further and have it ready to use in the coming school year.

(Register now to participate in August!)

The longer version.

Our group came together around a shared desire to help students better understand geometric ideas in the elementary grades, when geometry often is neglected by teachers. In addition, while we’ve had a lot of positive experiences surrounding instructional routines involving arithmetic, we’ve found that there are far fewer routines and resources for teaching geometry to younger children.

After sharing our favorite topics (and those whose teaching was most in need of improvement) we decided to give a special focus to angle measurement. As we prototype routines and develop materials to share in August, here are just some of the questions we’re asking ourselves:

  • for young students, what is an angle?
  • how do we help students understand that “size” doesn’t matter for angles?
  • how can students learn to use a protractor effectively?
  • can physical movement help students understand important angle concepts?

We’ll share much more at the conference in August, and hopefully have something we can share much more widely during the following school year.

Who we are!

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Charlotte Sharpe (@getting_sharper) is an assistant professor of mathematics education at Syracuse University, where she works with pre-service and in-service elementary teachers to plan and enact discourse-focused math instructional routines into daily instruction. Charlotte used to teach high school math (including geometry) in Texas, and is still buzzing from a week working with 4th graders around angle measurement, construction, and classification at an urban school in Syracuse.

 

 

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Tina Cardone (@crstn85) is currently writing high school geometry curriculum with Illustrative Mathematics. She spent over ten years as a high school teacher of courses from pre-algebra to AP calculus. She worked with diverse populations and specialized in classes for students with disabilities.

 

 

 

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Deidra Baker (@dbmpmath , @dlfbaker) is currently teaching geometry, algebra, and practical math at Mid-Prairie High School in Wellman, Iowa. This is her 25th year teaching in Iowa. She has also taught at Iowa City High School in Iowa City and was the high school math Teacher at Keota High School. She enjoys learning and working on extra projects. She has presented at a National Council of Teachers of English annual conference, as well as presenting at a National Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual meeting. She is the current Iowa Council of Teachers of Mathematics president.

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Marta Kobiela is an assistant professor of mathematics education at McGill University in Montreal, Canada where she teaches mathematics teaching methods courses to elementary pre-service teachers. She has taught math in different contexts (both in and out of school) and is especially passionate about learning how to support geometric thinking and reasoning.

 

image5Lynn Selking (@LynnSelking) is a math consultant serving K-12 schools in southeast Iowa for Great Prairie Area Education Agency.  Lynn has previously taught secondary math in Missouri, Michigan and Iowa. She is a life-long learner and her passion is for every student to be able to meet his or her full potential in life.

 

 

 

Also featuring…

  • Jenna Laib (@jennalaib)
  • Max Ray-Riek (@maxrayriek)
  • Michael Pershan (@mpershan)
  • Scosha Merovitz

One Week Away!

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On Tuesday, August 16 we are going to start the journey that will be NYC mini-TMC. The conference specifics are becoming clearer as anticipation builds. Let me take a second and try to wrap up all of the information so you can know a little about the schedule on behalf of the planing team: David Wees, Michael Pershan, Leah Segal, and myself (Carl Oliver).

First off the conference is packed with registrants. Our registration form has been shut down for a few weeks now, and are accepting new people on a waitlist status. Those people who cannot come to the conference have let Leah know, and as vacancies arise, we will work to make sure spots are filled.

The schedule for the conference has been posted, but before I get in to the details, you should know a little about what we were trying to do. Some conferences and PDs approach these kinds of events with a package of ideas that participants are supposed to passive receive. We hoped this event would would put the ideas of educators at the forefront instead of those of the planners. While the event will focus on instructional activities, each presenter is developing their own unique view about the topic. Many sessions break the focus and address ideas from across the education gamut.

The current schedule is available in draft form here: TMCNYC16 Schedule DRAFT

Reading through the schedule you’ll probably notice a lot of amazing sessions! If you notice any mistakes in your description let me (Carl) know and I’ll make the changes.

Another thing you might notice about the schedule is that there are some blank spots. These are spaces where what’s discussed will be determined during the conference. We will built in some “flex sessions”, and these should add moments of genuine exchange and cooperation among participants about the most pressing issues. The primary content of these sessions should come from questions developed by the participants as they go through the conference.

We also plan to have some social events. These aren’t on the schedule because we don’t know what they are yet (send your ideas to Carl!), but what we do know is that they will be open to the larger outside world.

Lastly, we have a hashtag!  Please follow #tmcnyc16 as more updates come over the next few weeks.

First blog post

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So sometime this spring the idea started floating around about having a smaller local event that teachers could connect and share knowledge. This event could share the spirit and ethos of Twitter Math Camp (TMC).

The ideas resonated with many teachers around twitter, and soon plans began to form.

Word began to spread.

Now we are close enough that we have to set up a conference website!

If you are still interested in attending, you should follow this link to sign up while there is still space!

Link To Official Registration Form