My European Trip's Math Highlight

Benetton Store, Milan, Italy

I just got back from vacationing in Italy and Austria. While in a clothing store in Milan, I noticed the designation for what is on their three store levels. Maybe this is why some European countries do better in math than we do.

Speak at NCSM in April, 2012 in Philadelphia

Terri Belcher, Executive director of NCSM, reminded me that people sometimes confuse the two conferences (NCTM and NCSM) so to help clarify the distinction:

The National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM) is a mathematics leadership organization for educational leaders that provides professional learning opportunities necessary to support and sustain improved student achievement. It is also an affiliate group of NCTM.

Their conference is held every year at the same location and during the same week as the annual NCTM Conference. Next year it is in Phildelphia April 23-25, 2012. The NCTM meeting is from April 25-28, 2012. The speaker proposals for NCTM were closed as of May 1st, but it's not too late to apply to speak at the NCSM Conference. The call for 2012 Philly speakers closes June 3, so there is plenty of time to submit a proposal to speak and to encourage others to do the same. Link to proposal form.

Resources for NCSM
• NCSM - Link

• PRIME Leadership Framework - Link

• NCSM Newsletter - Link

• NCSM Journal - Link

Looking Forward to the NCTM Conference in 2012 (or Maybe Not)

Enlargement of circled area

I was excited to learn that the next annual NCTM Meeting in Philadelphia would have a technology theme. Then I saw an advertisement for the 2012 conference. Technology theme? You have to look past NCTM's other priorities to see something referring to technology. Major disappointment. Though I am not surprised. The lack of response (so far) to my email to the program chair Gladis Kersaint (see below) doesn't surprise me either. Now I'm looking towards Denver 2013 for some technology breakthroughs. I heard Jeff Shih (the conference chair) might want to do something with technology that will make people take notice. I will find out.

(Links not clickable in the letter.)

The Showdown: Geogebra vs. Sketchpad

Ihor & Scott debriefing
a session at NCTM 09

This is a comment I posted on the NCTM Conference Blog in response to a request that Scott Steketee from Key Curriculum posted there. It just cleared review and is now available. Here is an updated copy (without the typos) of what I wrote there:

Scott writes: "How can we best encourage reluctant teachers to use such tools and to use them most effectively in developing students’ reasoning and sense making? Any takers?"

I'll take a stab at it. Your question is is right on target. It's exactly the one that I have been thinking about during my many years of doing professional development with math teachers trying to help them use their technology in the best way they can to get after the vision you imply in your question. Sometimes the software tools the teachers are given and required to use are not always the ones I would recommend, but I do the best I can with them. Though at times it does feel like I’m trying to make lemonade out of lemons - which I’m not always successful at doing. Which brings me to Sketchpad vs. Geogebra.

Next month my wife and I are going on vacation to Italy. Our first stop is Venice where I’m looking forward to a delightful journey through the canals of Venice. The last time I enjoyed a canal boat ride was when I was in San Antonio, TX for a conference. How will the two experiences compare I wonder? It will be interesting to reflect on the differences and similarities. But would I give a talk titled: Canal Showdown: Venice vs. San Antonio? I think not. Both have their charms and I will remember the experiences I had there and what I learned. I think the same thing is true with Sketchpad and Geogebra. Both have their strengths and limitations. Is Sketchpad "better" than Geogebra? Is Venice “better” than St. Antonio? It really doesn’t matter. Either one can be used very effectively in achieving Scott's vision. It all depends on the context in which it is used. Personally, I love Sketchpad and always have. Do I have some problems with it? Of course. On the other hand, I know several math teachers who I respect who love Geogebra and use it effectively with their students. And I think that is great.

I was pleased with Jeffrey Hall's presentation (though I would have preferred a different title.) It was an honest attempt on his part to compare the ways the programs were similar & different and he did a good job. He was helped by Scott who was in the audience helping to give a fuller understanding of the various fine points in how Sketchpad worked. 

I admired this collaboration between Scott (and other members of the audience) and Jeffrey to help the attendees better understand the two programs so that they can make better informed decisions about which program to use in their schools so that their students get to experience the kind of mathematical thinking and exploration that dynamic geometric software makes possible.

-Ihor

NCTM Conference - April 15 - Day 3

Ihor Charischak & Keith Devlin

My highlight of the day is connecting with Keith Devlin. He's my newest hero and hope for the future of math education. His Apollo program for math is to create a web-based simulation platform for cool learning objects that motivate students to "wanna do" math by engaging them in mathematical thinking. His session Video Games for Mathematics Education: They Will Soon Get  Better was on Friday and he stopped by the CLIME booth for a photo op with me. I was thrilled. If you missed his talk you can still catch an archived presentation that he hosted on Math 2.0 Live last Monday.
For updates on Keith's project follow this blog via RSS feed and/or Twitter (@climeguy)

NCSM & NCTM - April 13 - Day 1

I finally got my "office" for the conference set up. It's in a Starbucks* - Marriott Downtown - Indy. Why here? For the Coffee* and Wifi. Starbucks doesn't offer the wifi, but the Marriott does in the lobby. You need a password which you can get from the Starbucks guy.

There's an Internet station at the Convention Center for those of you who are laptopless. (It wraps around.) Location: Convention Center - near room 110.

Speaking of laptops I see many more folks using them.

Also Smartphones! I hope people are taking advantage of the new NCTM conference app. It's great. Anyone want to share how they are using it and how it is helping them? (See comment below.)

Early morning NCTM Research presession. I attended this session hoping to learn more about how this group is planning to scale up quality math teaching. Afterwards I asked the main speaker why technology wasn't even mentioned in his talk. He said it was not something they could do much with within the parameters of the project. My reaction was: WHAT? I walked away very upset. Vanderbilt is a high visibility showcase for excellent research and no technology initiatives? There's got to be more to the story. Apparently there is another group at Vanderbilt that handles the technology end of education. Don't they talk to each other? It didn't seem like from this session.

NCTM Affiliate Group Caucus. In the afternoon I attended the At-large regional Caucus for affiliate groups. Since CLIME is not affiliated with a geographical location it is "at-large." It's a session to prepare for the Delegate Assembly tomorrow. Shared my concern over the lack of sessions on Web 2.0 related topics at NCTM. The discussion got heated as you might expect. I had to leave early (in a bit of a huff) to get to my NCSM session at the Marriot.

CLIME leads a discussion session at NCSM conference. I managed to get there late because I went to the wrong Marriott. Yes, there were 2 Marriotts - downtown and JW. Fortunately, David arrived on time and got the discussion going. I taped most of it and will have some interesting comments in a later blog.

Cathy Fosnot. Before the kickoff of the NCTM conference at the convention center, I was in the exhibit hall getting our booth ready for tomorrow's start. Across from us was the  Heinemann booth where David introduced me to Cathy Fosnot - one of Heinemann's authors. She is being honored for her lifetime achievements at a conference at City College in NYC.

NCTM Conference Kickoff: a 3-D version of a 2-D idea. The keynote was about Flatland: the Movie presented by a visionary group of film makers. The film was fun but most likely will be remembered more for its glitz than its content. Quality, much less expensive math videos that engage children in learning are out there and need to be better promoted in the new Math 2.0 world.

*Not full service - no sandwiches. (I got one at a Subway near by.) Not easy to get a sandwich on the run around here.

Key Curriculum's Ignite Session @ NCSM & Encore Performance @ NCTM

Ignite Sessions at NCSM & NCTM

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Ignite @ NCSM

When: Tuesday, April 12th @ 11:15 a.m. 
Where: The Santa Fe Room at Indianapolis’ Downtown Marriott 
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Ignite @ NCTM

Join us at Bartini's, 7 p.m. on April 15th. Please Ignite responsibly.
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