As we experience our first snowfa- well, ‘Nor’easters - of the impending winter, VCTM wants you to know about all the great math happenings in and around our beautiful green (white) state for the next several months. Contained within this edition of our eNewsletter are some great opportunities in professional learning for mathematics educators of any grade level, a short recap of our October conference, some announcements from VSMC, ATMNE and other local organizations, as well as a shameless plug or two for each of our two homegrown VCTM events coming up soon this fall and later in the spring.
In this edition of the VCTM eNewsletter, you will find:
- Important Upcoming Dates for Math Educators and Students
- Sights and Sounds from the 2018 VCTM Conference
- #JustifyMath with us on Twitter, Nov. 29!
- What do you notice? What do you wonder? That would make a Great Math Fair Project
- A Final, Grand Invitation to ATMNE 2018
- An Opportunity for FREE(!) PD in NH
- Initial Announcements about the Third New-Cubed in Summer 2019
- Some Continued Reasons to Try the Expanding Horizons Program
- The Second Talent Search of the Year for VT Students
Important Upcoming Dates for Math Educators & Students
Local state events denoted with *
November 28, 2018 (FREE!) PD Workshop from the NH Impact Center (Plymouth, NH)
November 29, 2018 VCTM Twitter Chat (Join us on the twittersphere @VermontMath!)
December 6-7, 2018 ATMNE Fall Conference (Warwick, RI)
March 30, 2019 Vermont STEM Fair (Northfield, VT)*
April 6, 2019 VCTM Statewide Math Fair (Burlington, VT)*
June 30 - July 3, 2019 New-Cubed Mathematics Conference (Albany, NY)
Sights and Sounds from the 2018 VCTM Conference
Northfield, VT - October 19
On a brisk fall day in late October, K-12 educators from all over Vermont and the New England region assembled on the beautiful and hilly campus of Norwich University for a thoughtful day of collaboration in mathematics education. Participants reported many great things about the interactive, informative, and transformative sessions they attended and raved about our keynote speaker John Tapper. John spoke candidly about equity and access to mathematics education with a wealth of data to support trends of the past 30 years. We were fortunate to learn about the “high leverage concepts” of the All Learners Network and their utility especially in the realm of special education. We want to thank John again for his keynote and active role in our learning that day.
If you were able to join us, we’re hopeful that you walked away with new practices for your classroom, a fresh perspective about the state of mathematics education in our state, or a renewed inspiration to engage the next generation of problem-solvers - the impetus to move mountains with mathematics! At the very least we hope you enjoy and wear proudly your new long-sleeve VCTM t-shirt! And a big congratulations again to our VCTM and PAEMST award winners this year. If you couldn’t make it this year, be sure not to miss out on this annual event in the fall of 2019! Our plan is to have event details and conference programming ready earlier than usual so that anyone and everyone can make this marquee event in our state for collaborative learning among mathematics educators.
#JustifyMath with us on Twitter, Nov. 29!
@VermontMath - November 29
For the first time, VCTM is pleased to announce and invite mathematics educators (of any grade level) on the twittersphere to join us on November 29 at 7:30pm for a rich virtual discussion about engaging our students to not just solve problems and relevant tasks in a mathematical context but to #JustifyMath.
Not on twitter? Afraid of twitter? Not to worry! It isn’t that scary and this is all you’ve gotta do: 1) create a Twitter Handle (account), 2) follow @VermontMath and on November 29 3) stick to the instructions of this handy dandy event flyer. Even if you can only pop in for a question or two, we hope to “see” you there under the hashtag #JustifyMath. We anticipate lots of great ideas to be had and best practices to be shared by the end of the night. If you can’t make it that night, be sure to jump on twitter after-the-fact for a digital transcript of our exciting discourse (all you have to do is search #JustifyMath on Twitter).
What do you notice? What do you wonder? That would make a great math fair project!
Burlington, VT - April 6, 2019
While some of this information made its way into some late september announcements and/or you may have been able to get the short-n-sweet during the burst at the fall conference (presentation slides here if you missed it), VCTM would nonetheless like to make sure you and your students have exactly what you need to know to get involved in a highly accessible and authentic opportunity to learn and explore mathematics, namely VCTM’s Third Annual Statewide Math Fair on Saturday April 6, 2019. We’re pleased to return to the University of Vermont campus with the same strong support from the UVM Dept of Mathematics and Statistics as well as renewed corporate sponsorships, giving us belief that this event is here to stay and - in many ways - grow bigger in our small state! To that end, we’re expecting an even higher number of participants from all grade bands this year so be sure not to miss out and register before it’s too late (Registration deadline: February 15, 2019). Our online registration form is already up and running and can be accessed here on the event webpage.
The 2019 Math Fair Event Flyer contains all the need-to-knows on how to register, project criteria, eligibility and categories but you can find even more on the VCTM website, including a plethora of resources totally free and easily accessible to you! These include:
- Project requirements and specifications
- An extensive list of project topics
- 2018 Judges Scoring Sheet
- Day-of Event Logistics
- Proficiency Rubric Template for Students & Teachers*
*At this point, a proficiency-style rubric template is in development by the VCTM Math Fair Committee and should be released very soon - we hope by the end of November if not mid-December, 2018!
A Final, Grand Invitation to ATMNE 2018
Warwick, RI - December 6-7
It’s only a few weeks away and is shaping up to be a terrific regional event for educators that teach mathematics at any level. You’ve heard it before in earlier editions of the newsletter but for one, final, grand time the Rhode Island Mathematics Teachers Association (RIMTA) would like to invite YOU to the ATMNE Fall Conference. If you’re on the fence about attending or worry it’s too late to register (it’s not!), take a look at this short-n-sweet flyer that includes the essential details and a bit.ly link to direct you to those non-essential details on the ATMNE 2018 webpage.
An Opportunity for FREE PD in New Hampshire
Plymouth, NH - December 6-7
A wonderful opportunity from our NH counterparts!
From Natalya Vinogradova, Director of the NH Impact Center at PSU:
“Are you looking for math activities to engage all your students?
Consider the NH Impact Center workshop for grade 3 – 9 teachers: "Increase Percent of Students Proficient with Percents" on November 28, 4:30-6:30 in Plymouth, NH. Participation is free! Please see details at https://campus.plymouth.edu/impact-center/upcoming-events/”
Initial Announcements about the Third New-Cubed Conference in Summer 2019
Albany, NY - June 30 to July 3, 2019
VCTM would like to pass along the event flyer for the next New-Cubed Conference this coming summer in Albany, NY. This joint event between the professional organizations of New York (AMTNYS), New Jersey (AMTNJ) and New England (ATMNE), which includes us! The sample comments on the flyer speak for themselves and the many reasons why this event has stood strong and remained a popular and robust event for collaboration among mathematics educators in the broader northeastern portion of the United States. New-Cubed 2019 was just recently scheduled but hang tight for more information coming your way as this event gets closer.
Some Continued Reasons to Try the Expanding Horizons Program
A repeat, but a worthwhile repeat from the last edition of our eNewletter:
NOW is the time to consider bringing college and university level mathematics into your classroom this school year through the Expanding Horizons program produced by the Vermont State Math Coalition. It’s simple and costs nothing!
“But wait - I teach middle level students!”
The multitude of highly qualified presenters of the Expanding Horizons program cater to many different grade levels. Some presentations can even be adapted for elementary levels. Take a look yourself on the Expanding Horizons webpage. Simply choose a topic/presenter of interest and contact the presenter directly to set it up.
“This doesn’t fit perfectly in my curriculum this year.”
Open up the world to your students and allow them to wonder quantitatively and observe mathematics in its most classic, applied and even paradoxical forms! This project by VSMC is a wonderful intellectual opportunity for students to learn and access mathematics in a different way.
The Second Talent Search of the Year for VT Students
VSMC has also recently released its second Talent Search of the 2018-19 school year for Vermont students. Whether or not your student(s) submitted, solved, or even attempted the first problem set, they are still welcome to join in on this rich, low-risk, high-reward problem-solving program. Hop on VSMC’s Talent Search webpage to find this new problem set (released November 9th) as well as the first problem set, including solutions and top scorers! Solutions for the second problem set must be submitted by December 10, 2018.
