2011+NCTM+Conference

2011 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference in Indianapolis April 13-15th Notes by Alex Kutsenok Introduction **-** about 8000 teachers attended, from grades K-12 - main theme was Geometry, so lots of talks on that - the other big theme was math in Asia, analysis of successful practices - I attended 15+ talks, so I will just summarize the most interesting ones below

Summaries of Best Talks

** Flatland the Movie ** - famous book written in the 19th century, now there is a modern cartoon-like movie about it - movie has high entertainment and educational value, famous actors (Martin Sheen, ….), talks about dimensions - big idea: students learn math better if there is a story or some context alongside the lesson

** Frank Wang: Teaching Methodology **

- drill is a good idea, but helps to spread it out over a long time - gives quizzes every day, using problems directly from hw: that is his hw check - lets kids discover on their own (indirectly) why it’s a good idea to do homework

** Teaching Proofs ** - came up with a very good problem involving a proof and a Concave Quadrilateral - there are 10+ ways to do it, using different concepts learned throughout the year - it is a great review problem and also encourages student creativity - teaching auxiliary lines is the most challenging aspect, must be approached carefully - there a lot of technical concepts both in this talk and other geometry-oriented talks which I have recorded and will try to use in my teaching of proofs next year - for example, there are some interesting algebraic proofs that I have not even touched in my Honors Geo class this year, which might be very interesting to do - using the circle in a proof is an extremely powerful idea that would be fun to explore

** Deal or No Deal ** - this turns out to be a very complex math problem, no easy formula or way to calculate the optimal decision - this talk gave me an idea for a class exercise that involves each member of the class playing the game at the same time, with the teacher playing the role of the Banker

** High-Achieving African-American Students ** - African-American students carry an anticipation of stereotypes/racism that is with them even when nothing of that sort happens, it is psychological - it helps these students if they are around people in similar positions - in many schools, black males are pressured to cut hair (dreadlocks) to meet society’s expectations, though this takes away from their personal identity **Singapore** **Method** - involves going into depth, not breadth - teach fewer concepts per year and don’t repeat as much

** Math Education in China ** - the PISA 2009 – international test on reading, math, and science - China (urban parts), Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan were the best - US was average in its scores

- US grad schools are flooded with international students, but now public schools here are getting them too (earn money from these students somehow) - US math standards are much lower than in China - “2 Million Minutes” – interesting documentary comparing how the high school time is spent in China vs. US where students do a lot more TV, video games, and other wasteful activities - US students spend 900 hrs in classroom, 1500 hours in front of TV on average - another good movie: “Race to Nowhere” - he criticized the NCTM – said it was oblivious to all of this in its reform efforts! - Chinese have a long, ancient history of examinations, emphasis on hard work and not natural talents - Mao Dzedong communist leader destroyed their education system but then it was reformed in 1980s by copying the Soviet Union - Chinese students work harder because the family unit puts pressure, fewer kids per parent now, only 5% can go to college, rest go to factories or farm work - ironically, they now want to be more like US - student classes are cohorts that stay together across years, teachers also follow them - so elementary teacher does many grades, not just 1 - teachers in China are generally better, only teach 2 periods at a time (1 prep), have 15/week devoted to prof. development - weak schools are paired with strong ones, so have exp faculty train young ones - middle school students have to apply to get into high school - Chinese parents have more freedom to choose where kids go, so not tied as much to location => this forces public schools to want to get better to attract kids

** Japanese Class Video ** - 40 kids per class, they are often asked to go to the board (blackboard used!) - very interactive classroom, definitely not top-down with teacher using Socratic method - teacher often is quiet and just makes encouraging noises as kid talks

** Teacher Professional Development in China ** - have competitions where teachers are judged on teaching, at district, city, and province level - winners don’t get more $ but do have honor, are showcased as master teachers - as part of prof. development, teachers are driven on buses to other schools where they can observe master teachers, there is even play-by-play analysis later - good teaching style is to be interactive, ask students a lot of questions - rural schools are worse in China, so those teachers are trained by looking at city schools - a high school math teacher only teachers 3 periods per day, earns up to $1200 per month - the curriculum is national, textbooks decided at province/city level, but teacher is free to design lesson plan - professional development is very formally organized, is part of the contract for teachers

Effects on My Teaching at Ransom

** Short-Term/Immediate Applications of What I Learned To My Teaching **

1. Did a lesson centered around the Concave Quad problem and its many proofs in my 3 Honors Geometry courses.

2. Did a lesson where the class played and then analyzed the Deal or No Deal problem

3. Discussed with my Honors Pre-Calculus classes how math is taught in Asia. We examined Asian society and how cultural differences have a significant impact on student motivation and teacher behavior. The students really enjoyed taking a global perspective on what we do in class every day

** Long Term Effects on My Teaching at Ransom ** 1. Since the main theme of the conference was geometry, I recorded a lot of neat ideas about teaching proofs. I will be eager to try them when teaching Honors Geometry next year. Also, I am very interested in incorporating stories such as Flatland in the teaching of geometry.

2. Interactive Classroom. I definitely took away an appreciation for the interactive style of the Asian teacher. They make the math come alive with zero technology: just chalk and old blackboards. I will strive to be just as effective as those “master teachers” in creating a living, breathing classroom with students constantly engaged in the discussion of math. The flow of the class should rarely be top-down with only the teacher talking.

3. I will try to read more about teaching in Asia, as I have gained an appreciation of the best practices of that region.

4. I will be very interested in going to other conferences, as I learned a lot and had a great time interacting with other teachers.

Alex Kutsenok