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Schools Energized with Conference Ideas, Inspiration
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EIM
delegates to NCTM include (from left) John Brannan,
Stephanie Cherrington, Manuela Crowley, Carol Ryan,
Cindy MacIsaac, Annie Le, and Luke Runnoe. (Not
pictured: Delegate Dave Gardner, EIM Mathematician in
Residence).
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Three days. Eight
delegates. More than 100 sessions attended. And that was
just the beginning.
Explorations in
Math's delegation attending the
annual meeting of the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics (NCTM) April 22-25 in Washington D.C.
returned to the Pacific Northwest with great ideas and
inspiration. The elementary school teachers who attended the
conference on EIM scholarships, made possible by the
generous support of our donors, have begun using the best
practices they learned with their students and sharing those
practices with their school colleagues. Exploration in Math
staff attendees are applying research and resources gleaned
at the conference to their work building sustainable math
culture in elementary school communities. Here are some
highlights in the words of teachers who attended:
"The conference was a wonderful inspiration for me. I have
shared several ideas with my grade level teammates and I
just presented today to the whole staff on "Equity in
Practice" and hope to bring the whole staff into a project
that brings equity into our math practice. Developing a math
culture doesn't just happen, you have to become aware of the
"math that is around you" and be explicit in communicating
this awareness and mathematical thinking to kids. They
instantly 'get it' when you do, however, and that is the big
pay back. Kids love being good at math and when you show
them how many ways they are talented in math, the more
comfortable they are being mathematicians. Being at the
conference brought math to the forefront of my thinking and
I am really jazzed to be a better math teacher! Thank you!"
Cindy MacIsaac, second grade teacher
Dearborn Park Elementary
"The conference was amazing. One of the strongest lessons
I learned was that we need to maintain a high level of
relevancy in the mathematics class room. I have been trying
hard to bring in real world numbers from the Web and other
sources to keep my lessons relevant that way. I have also
started to include kid-generated data from surveys that they
ask. I am then able to teach kids what kind of
generalizations they can and can't make from a given set of
data."
John Brannan, fourth grade teacher
Coe Elementary
"I have shared many of my new learnings with my
grade-level team mates. My team's favorite was the 'Skip
Counting Activity Guide,' which helps students count by
higher numbers using a whisper/loud technique that
emphasizes the underlying number pattern. They like it with
movements. I also shared with my team the 'Helping
Disadvantaged U.S. Kindergarten Children Understand Place
Value Like East Asian Children.' I already made the
number chart going vertically to 100. (Muir Principal) Awnie
Thompson helped me schedule a time to share with Muir staff
all the other strategies I took from the NCTM
conference.Thank you for the opportunity. It is a time that
I will treasure for life, being inspired by all of you."
Annie Le, first grade teacher
Muir Elementary
Elementary Schools + EIM = More Math in 2008-09
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New School at Columbia
fourth-grader Silas Morrow plays cards at a Family
Math Night.
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Thousands of
students, parents, teachers, and leaders in 18 area
elementary communities grew in their enjoyment of and
confidence in math this school year through the partnership
between their schools and Explorations in Math. School
communities did more math in fun, challenging ways using the
variety of programs EIM offers, including Math Clubs,
Monthly Math Challenge Boards, Family Math Game Nights,
Summer Math Camps, and Mathematicians-in-Residence. The
total reach of Explorations in Math in 2008-2009 inlcuded
generating 9,180 student responses to 45 monthly math
challenges; supporting 29 teachers with Mathematician in
Residence programs; and serving 1,118 students in 81 math
clubs; 210 students in Summer Math Camps (Summer 2008); and
4,785 family members at 33 family math nights. An
additional family event was MathFest Fall 2008, which drew
nearly 700 attendees Nov. 13 to the Rainier Community Center
to celebrate their children's success in math. Thanks to our
EIM partner schools and to our donors for making these
programs possible.
Tease Your Brain, Play a Game
Two candles of equal
length are lit at the same time. One candle takes six hours
to burn and the other three hours to burn. After how much
time will the slow-burning candle be exactly twice as long
as the fast-burning candle?
Email responses to
carolry@eimath.org and win a game! Congrats to
Mark Taylor, winner of the Spring 2009 Supporter Newsletter
Brain Teaser Challenge.
Volunteers Wanted
Have you always loved math,
and do you want the same for all children? Did you struggle
with math in school but now find that you employ your math
skills every day? Do you wish you had been encouraged to
have more fun with math? Have you ever said, “I can’t do
math,” and would you like to never say that again?
Share with us your time and
talents, and we’ll share our passion for building competency
and confidence in math. We have a variety of volunteer
opportunities, ranging from event planning to financial
analysis and community outreach. Any level of commitment
will be greatly appreciated! Contact Carol Ryan at
carolry@eimath.org or call 206-419-1456 for more
information.
SAVE THE DATE: MathFest 2009 is Nov. 12
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Nearly 700 total attendees, more than 450 of them
students, came out to play math at MathFest Fall 2008.
The fun continues at MathFest 2009 at the Rainier
Community Center Nov. 12.
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To celebrate the
thousands of children Explorations in Math has worked with
over the past six years, we are hosting MathFest 2009, the
third annual city-wide celebration of elementary students
and math. MathFest showcases students having fun and
mastering math--and shows those students and their families
that the community supports their achievements.
MathFest 2009 will be held on November 12, 2009, at the
Rainier Community Center in Seattle. Save the date, and stay
tuned for more details to come in the fall. If you are
interested in being a MathFest sponsor or volunteer, please
contact Carol Ryan at
carolry@eimath.org or by calling 206-419-1456.
Web Resources
The
Math Fact Cafe is the ultimate in free printable math
worksheets for K-5 teachers and home use. This includes
generators for math drills, flashcards, time, and money! A
great tool for teachers and parents alike.
http://www.mathfactcafe.com/
Cross The River: Kids will
have fun while building familiarity with fractions by
playing this interactive math game.
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/cross_the_river/
MathCats: Check out the
Math Cats' Photo of the Week and then explore this fun Web
site
http://www.mathcats.com/realcats/scene22.html
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