Monthly Archives: August 2016

Summer 2016 Workshops Concluded

This has been a very exciting summer for PMI!

The summer workshops have now concluded at all three campuses.  A longer post should follow by the end of August that includes quotes from participants, photos from the workshops, and some of the quantitative data.  We worked with 75 teachers from across Pennsylvania

Until the full review, here is a map where each pin represents a school building  with a PMI participant (Thanks, Lisa!).

Each pin represents a school where a PMI participant has taught. By Lisa Krol and batchgeo.com.  Click for an interactive version.

Each pin represents a school where a PMI participant has taught. By Lisa Krol and batchgeo.com. Click for an interactive version.

Day 5 of Functions & Algebra (7/29/16)

We started the morning with Andrea and Fran sharing resources. Andrea showed the Google Folder titled PMI 2016 Resources for Participants. Then she showed the NCTM website, and discussed benefits of membership (remember that K-8 institutions get a great deal!!). This segment ended with Andrea and Fran sharing some books (here are the covers):

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Andrew and Matt spent a brief time discussing Unit FA-4 on Functions, which are really just a formalization of the Processes from FA-1 with a new notation.  We then dipped into the Fox’s Furniture Store sequence from FA-5, both from the perspective of solving problems and evaluating students work on its mathematical merits.

Next we formed a large circle where Fran led a discussion about the readings on Professionalism from Principles to Actions.

After lunch, the group took the post-test (a necessary evil).  After that wrapped up Andrew and Matt tied up some loose ends and lingering questions: the Chipmunk formula from Wednesday’s homework, a strategy for solving the Milk Problem, and a justification for the “add the digits” trick for recognizing multiples of 9

It has been a fantastic two weeks!  We will be writing a longer post later with a full summary of these workshops and the workshops at Greater Allegheny and Brandywine as well.

Homework

Keep up your enthusiasm.  Seek change, and be patient.

Keep the commitment you made to yourself as you progress through the school year.

Don’t shy away from digging for the why of the mathematics you teach.  It all hangs together to form a cohesive whole.  You are welcome to send burning mathematical questions to Andrew.

Look for good candidates to recommend to PMI next summer.

Keep us updated on any revelations or experiences in your classroom that you can attribute to PMI.