NCTM Annual Conference 2016 - A Report from Matt part 1

Going into the conference I had the following questions:

• I don't know how to balance conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. How do I do that?
• How do I get students to stop seeing grades and focus on learning? Take charge of their learning?
• How do I help students help themselves?
• How do I fix holes? Get students up to speed?
• How do I differentiate in a reasonable way?

While I didn't expect to answer all of these from the zillion and a half sessions, I figured I needed some direction going in.

Here are the sessions I went to and a quick recap:

Thursday

1. Session 19: Goal-Setting and Self-Assessment Strategies to Promote Achievement

1. Awesome session. The presenter showed real data from her school on before and after using a self assessment tool. Huge gains. Closed the achievement gap.
2. Session 86: 3 Act Math: A How-To
1. Again a good session, but a bit too much of an introduction for me. The presenter shared some good resources and showed how it works in the classroom.
3. Session 112: Create Debate
1. Awesome session. Presenter shared 15 easy ways to get your students started on a debate. Off to a good start on how to have students discuss things.
4. Session 158: Posing Purposeful Questions
1. Good session. Emphasized picking the right questions. Stop using questions that lower the cognitive demand. A great task can be destroyed when you ask questions that get them the answer without requiring them to think at the level you wanted.
5. Session 197: Geometry Tasks That Promote Habits of Mathematical Thinking
1. A bit dissapointing. Presenters spent a lot of time having us complete tasks - which isn't particularly useful. I had to bail early unfortunately.

Friday

1. Session 270: Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices: Purposeful Questions and Meaningful Discourse
1. Packed session. Peg Smith, so that is understandable. Solid session. Really gets at the heart of making tasks good - getting students to think, express their thinking, and defend it.
2. Session 320: Ignite! Session
1. Great Ignite! session. I particularly like the 80/20 time principle presentation. I've been thinking about my own classtime use and been working on making it better.
3. Session 368: Fumbling toward Inquiry: Starting Strong in Problem-Based Learning
1. FANTASTIC session! Especially for me - a rookie in this whole inquiry-based activities.
4. Session 410: My Journey from Worksheets to Rich Tasks
1. Also great. Along the same lines as the previous session. Just as helpful.
5. Session 438: A Brief History of Math Education: Lessons for Today
1. Entertaining. Particularly interesting. We can stop the pendulum swing this time!
6. Session 507: Reflect on Your Practice: National Board Certification in Mathematics
1. Not particularly useful for me. I wanted to learn about how other people use reflection to improve their practice.

Saturday

1. Session 518: Forget What You Know; Listen to What They Know
1. Good. Great question stem: "What question would you ask to get the information you need to figure out..."
2. Session 560: Why and How to Let Students Struggle? Thoughts from Research
1. I skipped out on Dan's session because he was going to record it. This was a great presentation on productive struggle. Presented by a professor from BYU (go Utah!). Basically, the research says that struggle is productive if they struggle, but don't get frustrated. The gains in student learning are significant. Retention goes up too.
3. Session 583: Facilitating Meaningful Mathematical Discourse
1. um... I'm having a hard time remembering this session. I'll have to listen to it again.
4. Session 597: Framework for Effective Teaching - Integrate Common Core Math Practices!
1. Possibly the best final session I could go to. The presenter introduced a framework for getting your classes into the habit of mathematical discussions - completing tasks at a high level. Resources on her website.