2015 MCTM Elections

It is time again for the Annual MCTM Elections.

According to the Montana Council of Teachers of Mathematics Bylaws (Article III, Section 1) “the membership of the Council shall elect from its members eight (8) directors. The term of office for each director shall be three (3) years. These directors shall be elected in such a way that each of the five regions shall always be represented by at least one representative. The directors shall also be elected in such a way that each level, elementary (K-4), upper elementary (5-8), secondary (9-12), and higher education (13-up) shall be represented by no less than one director at all times. No member of the MCTM may serve more than one elected term unless a time of five years has elapsed between terms.”

The following Directors remain active through the year indicated:

Jason Stewart, Region I, 9-12 (2017)

John George, Region III, 9-12 (2016)

Pamela Murnion, Region III, K-4 (2016)

Jennifer Brackney, Region IV, 5-8 (2016)

Leslie Bogar, Region V, 9-12 (2017)

Three current Board members have terms that expire this June:

Don Hickethier, Region I, higher ed (2015)

Deb Wickum, Region II, 9-12 (2015)

Hilary Risser, Region III, higher ed (2015)

Furthermore, (Article III, Section 6), “The president-elect will be elected in odd numbered years.”

Therefore, we must elect at least one candidate from each of the following areas: President-Elect, Region II, and Higher Education.

Submitted by Don Hickethier

MCTM Elections Committee Member

President-elect, Region II, and Higher Education.

NCTM Conference - Boston

#NCTMBoston

Starting my second year of teaching and my first at Capital High School in Helena (my Alma Mater), I was very excited to get ahold of as much professional development as possible. I taught in Rigby, Idaho last year, and had a great first year, but now that I had the 1^st year rockiness out of the way, I was eager to get my hands on some professional development that would foster my development as an educator. I applied for and was granted two scholarships, one from my school district and one from MCTM. For these I am extremely grateful as together they made an expensive trip to the NCTM national conference in Boston a possibility instead of a 2^nd-year teacher’s dream. I am very grateful for MCTM for making this scholarship a possibility, and I am also thankful for this opportunity to share some of what I learned in Boston.

I arrived in Boston late Tuesday afternoon and was able to reconnect with an old classmate before the craziness of the conference started. I explored the history and culture of Boston Wednesday morning while I waited for my friend and colleague to arrive so that we could catch the opening session at #NCTMBoston (the hashtag that we enjoyed using all week on various forms of social media).

Opening Talk by Elizabeth Green

Paul Revere and Old North Church 

"One if by land, two if by sea"

The opening ceremony was highlighted by a talk from Elizabeth Green, a notable educational journalist who has traveled all over the world learning about education and what its biggest  challenges are. Her main point was outlined by a trip to Japan where she witnessed fantastic practices and great results. Upon asking where the Japanese schools learned these techniques, they promptly told her that they learned them from us! Ms. Green was astounded to hear that the practices that Japanese teachers were employing were based on research conducted here in the US. Her biggest question to the 3500+ educators gathered in the ballroom was “why are we not employing the results of our own research?” It is a question not easily answered, but one easily worth pondering.

Feeling excited to be learning from so many fellow educators and fellow math teachers, I got an early start on the sessions Thursday morning, attending three in a row. There is no way to fully brief you on all of the incredibly valuable sessions I attended over the four days of conference, but I will do my best to highlight some of the most impactful.

Win probability example from a 

session titled "Strategy in Sports"

One of my favorite sessions was “Game Show Math” taught by Bowen Kerins.  Bowen has worked on and consulted for numerous game shows, and shared his experiences helping the shows maximize enjoyment and appeal while minimizing payout. He also demonstrated how we can include game show activities to teach probability and even game theory or combinatorics. He used several games from The Price is Right and discussed how they are skewed by the producers to make sure that the outcomes are desirable for the show. We played “½ Off” and “5 Keys” and learned how the show manipulates the outcomes via study and probability! The probability is easily approached by high school students in a stats class, but could also be readily adapted for Geometry or Algebra II students.  The best part of the discussion was comparing Price is Right games to Deal or No Deal and calculating the fairness of each. The teachers in the room had a great time role-playing the game, and students will have a blast as well.

My two favorite sessions by far were titled “When Am I Ever Gonna Use This Anyway??” given by Adam Poetzel and “Fake-World Math” given by Dan Meyer.  Adam’s talk focused on giving teachers possible responses to impart upon students the importance mathematics holds in the world we live in.  I learned several new tools to help students find the value in the mathematics they are being taught, instead of using the cliché can of standard responses. His presentation was geared so that a teacher could turn around and give a version of it to their own students in response to every math teacher’s favorite question: “When will we ever use this in real life?”  Although this talk offered me many tools for my tool bag of responses, Dan Meyer’s talk offered more in the way of lesson material to answer the question before it is even asked. Dan talked about what textbooks call modeling and why it isn’t modeling. Giving us a couple of tools to decide for ourselves if something is modeling, Dan led the group through several examples of good and bad modeling tasks.  Hearing these two talks as the last two talks of the conference was a great way to leave Boston energized, invigorated, and inspired to do the best I can for my students, not only in teaching them mathematical skills, but in impressing upon them the value of mathematics in our world. I will close with the same classic quote that Adam Poetzel finished his presentation with: “Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.”

Can't go to Boston without going to Fenway!

Thank you again to MCTM for giving me this opportunity to experience my first NCTM Annual Meeting, and I hope to be able to soak up the immense source of networking and collaboration that NCTM conference provides. I hope every member of MCTM takes advantage of the great scholarship opportunities offered, so that everyone can have the valuable experience that I did.

                                                                                                                                                                                    Ryan Swenson
Capital High School, Helena
MCTM Scholarship Recipient

Dean Preble Award

Greetings MCTM Members! Many of you are back to work after some time off. Some, like me, are just starting break. Either way, we are in the final weeks of a busy school year and yet here I am asking you to consider one more issue. Please help MCTM recognize our outstanding members by nominating a colleague for the Dean Preble Award. The Preble Memorial is the only award given by our organization and we need your help generating a pool of worthy candidates. The Preble Award announcement is included below, as is the impressive list of past winners. Please take the time to make a nomination this spring. (Note that nominations are held for consideration for three years.)

Thanks….Cliff Bara for the MCTM Preble Award Committee

The Dean Preble Award

The Dean Preble Memorial is awarded annually to a Montana educator who has made significant contributions to the teaching and learning of mathematics and who has consistently assumed a leadership role among math educators. Teacher-leaders at all levels, kindergarten through university, are eligible.

The Award

This award is given in memory of our colleague Dean Preble, who passed away from cancer in the fall of 1998. Dean was recognized for his unfailing support for mathematics education in the state of Montana. His dedication to the mathematics teaching profession, his love of his students, his involvement in state and national mathematics organizations, and his devotion to the improvement of mathematics education for all were unparalleled.

One of Dean's wishes was to establish an annual award to recognize outstanding teachers and leaders of mathematics in Montana. In keeping with his wish, MCTM created the Dean Preble Memorial Award. The award consists of an inscribed plaque, a $300 stipend, and a lifetime membership in MCTM. The award is presented at the MCTM annual meeting in October.

Award Criteria

Any member of MCTM may submit a nomination. Current members of the MCTM Board of Directors may not be nominated for this award.

• The nominee must be a current MCTM member.
• The nominee must have taught mathematics in Montana.
• The nominee must have a record of significant and consistent contributions to the teaching and learning of mathematics.
• The nominee must have a substantial record of participation and leadership in professional activities involving mathematics education.

Nomination Procedure

Nominations should consist of a maximum of two, double-spaced, typewritten pages and should directly address the criteria outlined above. The name, address, telephone number, and present position of both the nominee and the nominator must be included.

Deadline for submissions for the Dean Preble Memorial Award is June 15 annually. Nominations may be sent or e-mailed to:

Cliff Bara

Box 610

Troy - MT - 59935

cuda11235@gmail.com

PREBLE AWARD WINNERS

1999 Deb Johnson (Elementary) Larry Kaber (MS/HS) Maurice Burke (College/University) 2000 Jim Hamling (MS/HS) 2001 Dick Seitz (MS/HS) Glenn Allinger (College/University) 2002 Karen Longhart (MS/HS) Rick Billstein (College/University) 2003 2004 Terry Souhrada (MS/HS) Johnny Lott (College/University) 2005 Nina Miller (Elementary) Jacquie McDonald (MS/HS) 2006 Gary Bauer (MS/HS)

GRADE-BANDS ELIMINATED

2007 Jean Howard 2008 Jim Hirstein 2009 Terri Dahl 2010 Tony Riehl 2011 Ellen Rose 2012 Sherry Horyna 2013 Bente Winston 2014 Lisa Scott 2015 2016