Tuesday, January 24, 2017

January 2017



January 2017
  • Presidents' Message
  • Equity in Math Education in Vermont
  • Statewide Math Fair Comes to UVM in March
  • Nominate a Vermont Rookie of the Year Math Teacher
  • Expanding Horizons
  • Moody's Mega Math Challenge
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Editor's Note:  Congratulations to VCTM Co-president Kate McCann on being named the 2017 Vermont Teacher of the Year!

Presidents' Message
Happy New Year Math Educators!

Thank you to all who participated in the VCTM fall conference at VTC in October.  It was another successful gathering with excited registrants, enthusiastic presenters, gracious volunteers, and enough profit to sponsor another event next fall.  We really appreciate all of you who completed the conference survey.  Your feedback is valuable in shaping our future conferences.  Congratulations to Kendra Christiana, Nicole Plimpton, and Amelia Burns for being named Rookie of the Year 2015-16!  Please consider nominating someone in their first 3 years of teaching mathematics for Rookie of the Year 2016-17.
We are pleased to welcome Laura Botte (2014 Presidential Award Winner), and Kendra Christiana (2015-16 Rookie of the Year) to the VCTM Board.  They join us as much needed Zone 3 representatives.  We are very lucky to have these women join the team and are very proud of the work we are doing to increase the capacity of the Board to better serve our membership. We currently have a vacancy for the VCTM Secretary position, and are always looking for additional help!
In other news, VCTM has voted in agreement to subsume the Vermont Math Leadership Council.  Former paid VMLC members have been welcomed into the VCTM fold and are encouraged to take an active role in the organization. We are hopeful this will provide an opportunity to focus all energies in VT dedicated to math education in one place-- please let us know how VCTM can support math leaders!

At our annual membership meeting in October 2016, VCTM members voted for two important changes to how we do business. First, we approved amendments to our VCTM bylaws, which can be found at: https://vctm.wildapricot.org/page-18052. Second, we agreed to raise our VCTM annual membership dues from $15 to $25. Both changes attempt to keep our policies current and reflective of the work we are doing today, and make an effort to bring VCTM in better alignment with other New England NCTM Affiliates.


As always, we look forward to your input. Let us know how VCTM can support you and your students.
Best wishes for 2017,
Christine Latulippe and Kate McCann
vctmpresident@gmail.com

Important Upcoming Dates
January 23, 2017 Release of the final talent search problem set of the school year
February 17, 2017 Registration Deadline for Statewide Math Fair
March 15, 2017 VCTM Board Meeting by phone (if you’d like to join us, let us know
March 25, 2017 Statewide Math Fair, UVM
April 5-8, 2017 NCTM Annual Meeting and Exposition, San Antonio
July 9-12, 2017 New Cubed Summer Conference, Siena College Loudonville NY
November 2-3 2017 ATMNE Fall Conference, Marlborough MA

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Vermont Math Fair

Don’t miss out!  Encourage your students to participate in the first Vermont Math Fair to take place at UVM on March 25, 2017.  The registration deadline is February 17.  Goals for this event include:
  • stimulating excitement around math
  • providing low stakes competition
  • reaching a wide audience
  • creating a public outlet for math while building community involvement
  • and presenting an opportunity for High School students to attain evidence to demonstrate proficiency in transferable skills and math proficiency through a flexible pathway
For more information and an extensive list of project ideas, visit the VCTM website

Would you like to be involved but don't have students to bring?  How about volunteering!  We need people to help out from being judges to helping make the day more smoothly.  The time of the event is 8 AM to noon.  Take a moment and fill out the form!
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VCTM  Rookie of the Year Nominations are OPEN!

Do you have a new colleague in your school who is doing an amazing job with their students and think they should be recognized?  Here's your chance to give them their due for their hard work and enthusiasm!  There will be three recipients; one in each of the following categories- Elementary (K-5), Middle (6-8) and High School (9-12).  Awardees will be given a cash prize and plaque, a year's membership to VCTM, and be expected to share their experiences with the VT math community in its eNewsletter and be invited to present the following year at the VCTM fall conference.  To qualify, the nominees must be in the first three calendar years of their teaching (either part or full-time), and be nominated by a VCTM member.  The nomination form has room for your nomination letter to be cut/pasted, or if you prefer, it can be emailed in as well (details are in the nomination form).  Nominations are open until June 1, 2017.  The recipients will be announced at our Fall 2017 Conference.  

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Expanding Horizons

It’s not too late to bring a guest speaker from a Vermont college or university to address your students through the FREE Expanding Horizons program offered by the Vermont State Math Coalition.  Simply visit the website, choose a topic of interest from the list, and contact the presenter directly to set it up.  
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Equity in Math Education in Vermont Meeting

Interested in equity in mathematics education in Vermont? There will be a meeting to discuss this from the perspective of identifying action steps to increase equity in the teaching and learning of mathematics in Vermont. We will discuss a working definition of equity to frame our discussions, and then discuss data (quantitative and qualitative) as well as effects of teacher bias on mathematics teaching and learning. 

We will meet online on Monday January 30 at 6 pm here is the meeting information:


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Moody's Mega Math Challenge

The Moody's Mega Math Challenge is a great way to provide your juniors and seniors with an opportunity to participate in an authentic, real-world modeling experience. Teams usually meet indpendently outside of school for 14 hours to solve a modeling problem. This takes place at the team's convenience over the February 24th weekend, and there are cash prizes for winners. For details on how to register, deadlines, etc., check out their website 



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