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September 23, 2016

Meeting Minutes:

9:35 – Call to order and introductions

9:40 – Report on summer activities

  • We taught a Patterns, Functions & Algebra course this summer. We offered the course online and in person.

  • Part of the grant involved a collaboration between W&M and Longwood

  • Development in Newport News - Has a STEM school. Dr. George Rublein is working on developing tasks.

  • He is not excited about having students make bridges out of cardboard and glue. He doesn’t believe this is a valid approach.

  • “If the students are not doing mathematics, they are not doing science”

  • Interested in developing exercises in which students deal with adult subjects – this will compel them to call on mathematics skills to resolve the problem.

  • Currently working on a problem for first graders.

  • Ex. Kids go outside and look at their shadows. They then come in and draw their shadows and read the poem “My Shadow.” Students then go back outside and hold up a 4 ft tall rod and a 2 ft tall rod. He them asks them how many short rods make a tall rod and has them use string to measure the shadows of each. “How many short shadows make a large shadow?

  • Final step is to apply the process to calculating the height of a tree.

  • Grant update

  • Got funding for the 2nd year and are hopeful we will get the 3rd year. There is a possibility that the Federal Government will shut the grants down

  • VA Math Teacher will do a feature on grant funded projects – hopefully this will help show the effectiveness of the grants to make a case for why these types of grants should continue.

  • We are currently teaching the Leadership 1 course.

  • We will teach Rational Numbers and Proportional Reasoning in the spring.

  • The Math for Struggling Learners course will be a one week course with a semester follow up this coming summer.

  • We have added a non-grant section of Leadership 1 here at W&M

  • We have a non-grant section of Leadership 1 being offered in VA Beach this semester.

  • Dr. George Rublein:

  • Freshman at W&M are required to take a writing intensive course

  • New course in the mathematics department – Have students read the SOLs looking for specific facets. Students then have to write up a paper on their findings. We will look at the papers to see if anything useful comes out of this.

10:15 – Upcoming Events

  • 20th Annual Math Day

  • We will have a Math Camp like last year. Topic brainstorming:

  • Functions

  • Patterns

  • Number Sense (hundreds charts, etc)

  • App Share

  • Problem solving/rich tasks (possibly targeted by grade levels)

  • Process standards – not well attended last year – Embed throughout other topics

  • CRA

  • Math Talks – Increasing mathematical communication

  • Student engagement

  • Effective homework practices

  • Effective student feedback practices

  • Building relationships with students

  • Manipulatives – how are you implementing code 19

  • Information on code 19:

  • http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/participation/mathAids_swd_accommodation_code19.pdf

  • Dr. Terri Roettinger will lead a session on this at Math Day

  • VA Council of Mathematics Specialists – September 29-30 in Culpeper

  • VA Council of Mathematics Supervisors – October 27-28 in Glen Allen

  • NCTM Regional – October 31 – November 2 in Philadelphia

  • NCTM National is in San Antonio – April 5-8

  • NCSM – April 3-5

  • Ed Camp VA – York County – October 15

  • edcampEVA.weebly.com

  • 9AM – 2PM at Grafton MS

11:00 – Update from TI

  • Conferences to put in your head

  • VCMS – Dr. Staley will be there as a speaker

  • March 10-12 - T3 International – Chicago

  • NSTA International – LA California – March 30 – April 2

  • Other updates

  • Went to professional days for VA Beach and Norfolk

  • If you want to meet with department chairs, let Ellen know so she can help out

  • TI has synchronous and asynchronous webinars online

  • Ellen is very good at teaching with calculators – she is happy to help teachers

11:03 – Break

11:10 – Overview of the new website

11:30 – Geometry add on endorsement

  • It is very difficult to find secondary math certified teachers

  • Add 3 courses to allow people to get a geometry add on

  • Non-Euclidian Geometry

  • Analytic Geometry

  • Should these courses help teachers get their full secondary certification?

11:45 – Lunch

12:15 – Stem Project Ideas from Dr. George Rublein – Will be posted on the website when these lessons are formalized

12:30 – Discussed the readings from Mathematical Mindsets by Jo Boaler.


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