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	CMC Central Conference Algebra Symposium March 12 - 13, 2010 Seaside, CA
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	Sessions: *Keynote Speaker* 3 - 5 Speakers 6 - 8 Speakers 9 - 12 Speakers Keynote Speaker: Paul Giganti Session: The CMC Math Festival- A Different Mathematics Experience for Students and Families When was the last time you let your students play with mathematics? When was the last time you saw parents and their children having a good time doing mathematics together? The CMC Math Festival Program is designed to make both these important things happen in schools. In these times of ever increasing textbook and testing pressures on teachers and students, we sometimes forget that finding enjoyment in mathematics can be a powerful motivation for student learning. The activities at a CMC Math Festival are designed BOTH for student learning AND enjoyment. Tonight you'll hear just a bit about the CMC Math Festival, but you'll have LOTS of time to experience first-hand the Festival activities. Enjoy MATH! Getting to know Paul: Paul Giganti is currently the Director of the California Mathematics Council's (CMC) Math Festival Program, and conducts programs for students, teachers, and families all over the state. Paul is retired from the University of California at Berkeley where for 20 years he was a coordinator of public programs at the UC Graduate School of Education. He is also the former Director of the Bay Area Mathematics Project (BAMP) at the UC Berkeley, where he worked with K-12 educators in improving mathematics instruction, curriculum, and assessment for all students. Prior to his involvement at UC, Mr. Giganti was a California public school teacher for 15 years, having taught all grades, Kindergarten through eighth grade. Paul is active in professional organizations that support mathematics educators, and is a Past-President of the California Mathematics Council. Paul is also proud to be an author of Children's literature books with mathematics themes including How Many Snails, a Counting Book, How Many Bluebirds Flew Away? and Each Orange Had Eight Slices (Greenwillow Books). Paul wants his love of mathematics to be contagious and tries to make this all-important subject exciting and enjoyable for students of all ages. Contact information: Paul Giganti, Jr. CMC Math Festival Program Director & Coordinator http://www.cmc-math.org/festival Back to the Top K - 2 Speakers *Session Canceled* Back to the Top 3 - 5 Speakers *Virginia Bastable* Session: Early Algebraic Thinking: print and video examples from grades K - 8 In this interactive session, we will explore cases of elementary students working with two aspects of algebraic thinking: Making and proving general claims that arise in the context of arithmetic Developing concepts of functions by examining patterns In addition we will examine teachers' instructional moves designed to support and develop this kind of reasoning ability in their students as a routine part of mathematics class. Getting to know Virginia: Virginia Bastable became the Director of the SummerMath for Teachers Program at Mount Holyoke College in 1993 after teaching middle school and high school mathematics for twenty years. Dr. Bastable is an author of the Developing Mathematical Ideas Professional Development Curriculum and of the second edition of Investigations in Number Data and Space. Since 1993, Bastale has collaborated with Deborah Schifter of EDC and Susan Jo Russell of TERC to investigate the algebraic thinking of elementary-aged students and their teachers. This work resulted in two DMI modules related to algebra (Reasoning Algeberaically about Operations and Patterns, Functions, and Change) as well as a current NSF grant funded project Foundation of Algebra which includes the development of the on-line course for classroom teachers, Connecting Arithmetic to Algebra. She holds a BS from the University of Massachusetts, a MS from Worchester Polytechnic Institute, and a Ed.D from the University of Massachusetts. Contact information: vbastabl@mtholyoke.edu Back to the Top 6 - 8 Speakers *Sheldon Erickson* Session: Conceptual Algebra: How to Teach More, Better, and Faster Research supports the fact that students learn more, better, and faster when they first gain a conceptual understanding before moving to procedural recipes. We will explore hands-on investigations and video animations that develop a conceptual understanding from which the procedures are developed. The session will focus on the areas of solving equations and linear functions. You will gain experience in facilitating hands-on learning and how to lead students to the more abstract procedures and understanding. You will receive resources to will let you get started Monday and will learn how to integrate active learning into your regular classroom instruction. Getting to know Sheldon: Sheldon Erickson has been teaching since 1976, and his wide range of classroom experiences in grades three through ten provides a rich source of practical experience. Since his involvement with the initial AIMS writing team in 1981 he has been developing curriculum to actively engage students in learning math and science. Shelly currently splits his time between teaching middle school students in Fresno Unified and working as a research fellow at the AIMS Education Foundation. He also shares his practical knowledge and the engaging AIMS curriculum through in-service teacher training around the country. Contact information: serickson@aimsedu.org Rajee Amarasinghe Session: Geogebra Geogebra is a free, open-source dynamic mathematical software that is designed by joining geometric, algebraic and spreadsheets components. It is an extremely intuitive and user friendly software that can be used as a teaching and learning tool from Kindergarten to graduate level mathematics classes. This presentation will show main features of the software and how it can be used in the various levels of mathematics classes using examples. For this session you may bring your laptop computer to make it an interactive session. To get the free software go to www.geogebra.org and download the program for free. This great demonstration and learning tool will be presented in a format that doesn't require that you have the your laptop in front of you, but if you do have your laptop you will have the opportunity to investigate with the program. Getting to know Rajee Rajee is a professor at California State University, Fresno. Rajee is passionate about using technology in mathematics teaching and learning. The use of technology changes student attitudes and beliefs about mathematics. Rajee works with the San Joaquin Valley Mathematics Project and is a university support professor for grants working with Lesson Study. Contact information: ramarasi@csufresno.edu Back to the Top 9 - 12 Speakers *Hope Bjerke* Session: Making all the Connections with Quadratic Equations We will solve quadratics equations by graphing, factoring, using the quadratic formula, and completing the square. We will use algebra tiles to connect the factoring and completing the square processes to the area model the students used when they learned to multiply and divide. We will also investigate how each of these solution methods connects to the graph of the parabola. Getting to know Hope Hope taught mathematics in public school classrooms throughout the United States for thirty-five years. For the final eighteen of those years, she taught at Anderson Union High School where she was the math department chair. She is active in the Mt. Lassen Math Council and served as President for two separate terms. She was Secretary for two terms and then President-elect and President of the California Math Council Northern Section serving as conference chairperson for two years including the 50^th CMC Mathematics Conference at Asilomar. Hope was awarded the 15th George Polya Memorial Award in 2001 by the California Math Council for sustained outstanding mathematics teaching and support of all mathematics activities in California. She is currently serving a four year term on the California Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission and is Chairperson of the Mathematics Subject Matter Committee. Hope works as a mathematics consultant and coach for the North State Mathematics Partnership, as an instructor for the Chico Mathematics Project, and is Assistant Director of the Shasta County Mathematics Partnership. Contact information: shcowboy@frontiernet.net *Rajee Amarasinghe* Session: Geogebra Geogebra is a free, open-source dynamic mathematical software that is designed by joining geometric, algebraic and spreadsheets components. It is an extremely intuitive and user friendly software that can be used as a teaching and learning tool from Kindergarten to graduate level mathematics classes. This presentation will show main features of the software and how it can be used in the various levels of mathematics classes using examples. For this session you may bring your laptop computer to make it an interactive session. To get the free software go to www.geogebra.org and download the program for free. This great demonstration and learning tool will be presented in a format that doesn't require that you have the your laptop in front of you, but if you do have your laptop you will have the opportunity to investigate with the program. Getting to know Rajee Rajee is a professor at California State University, Fresno. Rajee is passionate about using technology in mathematics teaching and learning. The use of technology changes student attitudes and beliefs about mathematics. Rajee works with the San Joaquin Valley Mathematics Project and is a university support professor for grants working with Lesson Study. Contact information: ramarasi@csufresno.edu Back to the Top