I was fortunate enough to have my session of Walking the Number Line in grades 3-5 selected to be a part of the California Mathematics Council South Conference in Palm Springs, CA this past weekend. When I applied back in the spring, I honestly wasn’t expecting to present as this is a pretty popular conference among math presenters. I felt so blessed to have been chosen and over time worked through my thoughts on exactly what I wanted to include in my 90 minute session.
A little inside baseball- conferences send out multiple emails to keep presenters in the loop about various things. We are privy to the presenter lineup before it goes live. When I saw the names of presenters that were also invited to speak at this conference I was intimidated. So many of the math educators that I look up to, respect, and share with others were presenting this weekend and sharing so many wonderful ideas. For weeks leading up to the CMC South Conference I was so nervous and anxious about being as good as and sharing great things with teachers. I was comparing myself to these math educators I look up to. To be honest, I was feeling a bit of imposter syndrome. I would think, “What do I have to share with teachers that would be anywhere near as good or important as _________?” I listened to a lot of podcasts and somewhere along the lines I’ve started doing more positive self-talk. I got my materials prepped and ready for the conference.
- Slide Deck
- Handout
- Downloads
- Materials gathered and packed
I was so excited going into this conference for so many reasons. I haven’t been to a big math conference since before 2020 when I went to the SDE National Conference in Las Vegas, NV. Those conferences were amazing for teachers, but also for presenters. It was always a week that I knew I would get to catch up with other math teachers and presenters. I looked forward to growing my personal relationships with mathematicians I looked up to and growing my own teaching & presenting practices. I was looking forward to building those connections again and to make new ones.
I was also meeting my great friend, Kristin Hilty, in Palm Springs, CA for this conference. We used to teach across the hall from one another and now we are both on the road working with schools, so meeting up for certain jobs is always a shining light on my calendar. Our time together did not disappoint. It’s always a great time to be at a conference with a friend. What makes it even better is how we build each other up and are constantly working together not against each other.
Lastly, I was excited to learn from some of my favorite math teachers in the US: Dan Meyer from Desmos, Graham Fletcher, Mike Flynn, Nat , Zak Champagne, Berkley Everett, Duane Habecker, Brittany Hege, Robert Klapinsky, Fawn Nguyen, and many more. I was not disappointed. Luckily, I was able to attend many of their sessions and meet a few of them as well. I walked away from each session inspired to get back into schools with teachers and get back to work.
This is my message to you: When you have an opportunity to attend a math conference, GO! You won’t regret it!
Some of my favorite parts of the conference are below.
- Manipulatives were everywhere! I was so happy to have seen and used manipulatives being used in most of the sessions I was in. I was fortunate enough to also have a conversation with a Hand2Mind representative and a Didax representative. There are so many great math tools available for teachers to use to aid in mathematical comprehension. I’m hoping to grow these relationships to bring something fun to the Middle School Digital Conference in June.
Graham Fletcher hit this point on the head. When we teach students rules and tricks to get an answer, we are robbing them of comprehending the math, we are robbing them of their curiosity, and their intuition. Inquiry based can feel like it takes longer on the front end, but the results on the backend make it work while. Discover > Being told.
Graham also put this image up on the screen that shows the 5 Representations of Mathematical Ideas. As educators we must model and allow students to “Think Freely & Flexibly”, to be a mathematicians and construct viable arguments using models in mathematics.
Check out these 2 mathematicians representing our base 10 place value system.
Zak Champagne posted this during his session and I could not have agreed more. Students discover so much when we allow them time to be curious, play, and experiment. This is what I say all the time when I encourage opportunities for students to just play with manipulatives before using them as toys and exploration.
I feel energized returning from the California Mathematics Council Conference South and am looking forward to the California Mathematics Council Conference North Conference on December 7-8, 2024 in Pacific Grove, CA.
CMC North Conference Information & Registration Here!
I will be presenting Saturday, December 7, 2024 from 9:20am-10:20am with the session title: Walking the Number Line– The Multi-Purpose Tool for K-2. I hope to see you there!
