LOCAL NEWS:

Math Educators Convene in Baltimore Oct. 14-16

Source: The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Speakers will focus on developing ways to get students to "BELIEVE in the Power of Math."
BALTIMORE, Oct. 8, 2004—The 100,000-member National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM) will host the NCTM Eastern Regional Conference and Exposition in Baltimore, October 14-16.

The three-day conference, "BELIEVE in the Power of Mathematics," will bring together math educators from preschool through university levels to exchange ideas on how students learn math. Local host MCTM has organized a conference offering nearly 350 sessions and workshops that will challenge educators to add to their math knowledge and increase their instructional skills. In the era of "No Child Left Behind," the sessions will help teachers plan lessons that motivate and engage their students and help them make sense out of math concepts.

NCTM President Cathy Seeley will open the conference with the session with an address titled "The Power of What You Believe" at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 14 in the Convention Center. Seeley will make the connection between what teachers believe about their students and how these students learn mathematics.

Other key sessions include "Who's Teaching the Future Mathematics Teachers," presented by McDaniel College professor Francis (Skip) Fennell and Karen Karp, professor at the University of Louisville, in which they will examine the emerging profile of teachers of mathematics teachers. This session will be presented on Thursday, October 14, at 10:15 a.m. Virginia Commonwealth University Professor Emeritus John Van de Walle will present "Believe in the Power of Computational Fluency," in which he will discuss the importance of having students develop their own strategies for solving problems, instead of relying on outdated, traditional algorithms. This session will be held on Friday, October 15, at 11:30 a.m. (This session will be repeated Saturday at 9:00 a.m.).

On Saturday, October 16, many presenters will highlight the connection between math and literature, looking through a variety of different lenses from prekindergarten through college. Featured speaker Stuart Murphy, author of the MathStart series, will present "Believe It! Achieve It!" His talk will emphasize how important it is to believe that teachers can motivate children to do better at math and that they can present math in various ways to meet the needs of different learners and demonstrate to them that math is a crucial life skill.

Conference activities will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center and the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel. To learn more about these sessions and other details related to the conference, or to seek admittance to some or all of the programs, visit nctm.org, and click on Regional Conferences, Baltimore. For more information, call 703-731-7110 or 703 620-9840.


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This story was published on October 9, 2004.