The ATMIM Spring Conference was held on Friday March 24th at Worcester State University. The conference began with the introduction of Dr. Mary Sullivan, Margaret J. Kenney Award Presenter. During her presentation, “Take a Risk: Be Square in Your Math Classroom” participants worked on problems and puzzles involving looking at squares from a multitude of different perspectives. Dr. Sullivan’s topic was specifically chosen to pay tribute to Peg Kenney whom she considered a mentor and friend.
Throughout the day, conference participants had the opportunity to attend a total of 3 one hour sessions, choosing from 8 different workshops during each session. Workshops were on a variety of topics and spanned all grade levels. During these sessions, classrooms at WSU were buzzing with participants working on problems, discussing strategies, and contemplating best practices in their mathematics classrooms. Click here for materials from the presenters.
Dr. Anne Collins provided the lunch keynote address, “I Taught It But They Didn’t Learn It: Now What?” She spoke of the importance of teachers engaging students in hands on learning and mathematical discourse and giving students time to think when problem solving. Participants came away from the presentation with specific examples of activities and rich tasks that could be used in their classrooms to help students gain a deeper understanding of the mathematics they were learning. Her luncheon remarks were followed by the presentation of the Father Stanley J. Bezuskzka award to Jayne Lynch from Lesley University.
Many thanks to all the speakers who shared their ideas and expertise, the ATMIM Board members who helped to ensure the conference ran smoothly, and Worcester State University for providing a wonderful venue for us to hold our conference. And a sincere thank you to all who attended the conference. If you haven’t already, please take a few minutes to fill out a short evaluation and provide us with your valuable feedback.