NCTM Reflection

NCTM 2018 finished up yesterday.  It was a whirlwind of experiences and it has taken a while, but I feel like I’m caught up on my sleep.  Overall, it was a memorable time in DC and the weather was terrific for the most part.   In this post I’m going to put together a couple brief takeaways during each day.  Emphasis on brief, as there’s so much that happened over the past few days.

My flight arrived late Wednesday afternoon. Later that night I was fortunate enough to attend the NCTM game night.  Check out the tag for a few Tweets.  I was a bit reluctant as I was going solo, but decided to try it out anyways.  Glad I went.  I think teachers need this type of time to meet each other and build community.  I found the games intriguing and the conversations even better. Kudos to the volunteers and designers of the game night. Everyone that I encountered was welcoming and inviting. I love the idea of the Pac-Man (@ericholscher ‘s idea) tables.  This is something I’d like to bring back to my own school’s staff meetings. It was here that I met many people face-to-face that I’ve known and followed online for years.  It was great to connect and engage in conversations that extend beyond Tweets and direct messages.  There are too many to mention in this post, but it was a pleasure to meet so many inspirational people in person.

Thursday was really the first day of the conference.  My hotel was about five blocks away from the conference and it was a great walk each morning.  Friday was the exception as it was raining.  I went to visit a few different sessions related to integrating math practices and technology tools.  Kudos to the presenters that also included short-links so that I can view the presentations later.  Annie shared her presentation on math tools and strategies.  I went out to the gorgeous city center for lunch.  Came back and learned about integers and the orb strategy from a group of three teachers.  By this time I had a decent understanding of where the rooms were located and how to navigate from one part of the conference to the other.  I dropped by the #MTBOS (I forgot to pack my #mtbos shirt from a few years back) booth multiple times throughout the day.  I was also able to meet my #msmathchat pals Casey and Bryan face to face.  Both are passionate educators and it was awesome to meet them in person.

Friday started off with a lot of rain.  I walked/ran to the conference center.  I attended a session on how to integrate mathematical practices better.  I also was fortunate enough to learn about Bongard problems – a new concept to me.

I didn’t get it as first, but was in rhythm after a couple practice tries.  I’m still looking for ways to integrate this into my math classes.  My presentation was at 11:30 and seemed to go well.  My only wish was that I had an extra 10-15 minutes of time.   I guess time management plays a role here.  Maybe I should apply for a full session in San Diego next year?  You can find the slides here.  During the afternoon I was able to learn more about math practices and attended a middle school Desmos session on equations and paper cups.  It was here that I actually learned how to use Desmos for the first time.  I’ve tinkered a bit with it this year and have used it for lessons, but found application potential at this session.  I closed out the day with a session on a partnership between the University of Delaware and a geometry lesson study.  It was interesting to hear how the university partnered with the local school districts in designing a lesson study.  Afterwards, I went out to meet some friends for dinner.

 

It was a good trip and worth the sub plans.  Excellent to meet many of my pln in person.  These people are truly changing math classrooms for the better.  There are still some people that I wanted to meet, but didn’t get an opportunity to do so.  Time was limited and so were the sessions.  Maybe next time. The people at this conference are inspiring.  Many of the presenters are still in the classroom or working with schools and I’m encouraged to see the work that they’re accomplishing and willing to share with the math community.  I’m looking forward to finishing off the school year strong.

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