Math in Action 17

A highlight of February in these parts is Math in Action. Our local, 1 day math fest. Having been at the U for 20 years now, part of it is just great reunion, with our former students coming back to present and knock 'em dead. The last two years have felt stepped up, though, with a keynote from Christopher Danielson in 2016 and Tracy Zager, the math teacher I want to be, this year.

After taking a year off presenting last year, first ever, this year I was back at it to talk Math and Art with Heather Minnebo, the art teacher at a local charter that does arts integration. I've consulted with her, she's helped me a ton and we get to work together sometimes, too. (Like mobiles or shadow sculptures.) The focus this session was a terrific freedom quilt project Heather did with first graders. Links and resources here.

Next up for me was Malke Rosenfeld's Math in Your Feet session. Though I've been in several sessions with her before, I always learn something new about body scale mathematics. She ran a tight 1 hour session using Math in Your Feet as an intro to what she means by body scale math. One of my takeaways this time was how she made it clear how the math and dance vocabulary was a tool for problem solving. I often think about vocabulary in terms of precision, so the tool idea is something I have to think about more. Read the book! Join the FaceBook group!

On to Tracy's keynote. She was sharing about three concrete ways to work towards relational understanding. (From one of her top 5 articles, and one of mine, too.)

1. Make room for relational thinking.
2. Overgeneralzations are attempted connections.
3. Multiple models and representations are your friends. 

Illustrated by awesome teacher stories and student thinking. She wrote her book from years of time with teachers and students looking for real mathematics doing, and it shows.  Read the book! Join the FaceBook group!

Plus, just one of the best people you could meet. She gave her keynote twice, and then led a follow up session. One of the hot tips from that was the amazing story of Clarence Stephens and the Pottsdam Miracle. 

 The only other session I got to was a trio of teachers, Jeff Schiller, Aaron Eling and Jean Baker, who have implemented all kinds of new ideas, collaboration routines, assessment and activities, inspired by Mathematical Mindsets. I was inspired by their willingness to change and by the dramatic affective change in their students. We had two student teachers there last semester, and it was a great opportunity for them as well.

Only downside of the day was all the cool folks I didn't get to hang with, including Zach Cresswell, Kevin Lawrence, Rusty Anderson, Kristin Frang, Tara Maynard... So much good happening here in west Michigan. Check out some of the other sessions and resources from the Storify. 

See you next year?