CMC 2011: Day One

This is my first time attending the CMC math conference in Palm Springs on a Friday. I've been very excited for this weekend. In the past, I have onlymadeday-trips on Saturdays only. This morning, I left my home before 6am. Although I arrived at the convention center an hour before the first session, the system glitch caused me to wait in line and to be a few minutes late to the first session. Nonetheless, I'm happy and thrilled to be here.

The first session by Kyle Atkin was "Using Sports and Technology". It was excellent. He gave me ideas and tools that I can use in my AP Stats class next week. We used the new TI-Nspire CX to model a few problems. The second session by Lee Kucera was "Nspired Statistics Activities", which I also enjoyed. She introduced to me the new free web-based Nspired player that can enhance student learning via hands-on activities. During the lunch break, the AP Stats group gathered to discuss a few brief topics. At the conclusion of the meeting, we drew for prizes and I was lucky to have received a new textbook. My teacher friend Tim received a new Casio graphing calculator.

The afternoon sessions continued to be engaging. I attended Jared Derksen's "AP Statistics Exam Walk-Through" where I learned about how the free response questions are scored. Finally, the last scheduled session was Ivan Cheng's "Building Confidence in Algebra by Making Sense of Algebra". I first found out about Mr. Cheng from last year's IGNITE session. I thought he was the best presenter in that 5-minute format last year. His 90 minute session today was excellent. The theory and practice linked together to give me great ideas to help my struggling Algebra I students.

I saw a poster outside of one session about an evening IGNITE session. I loved the IGNITE session last year. Speakers have 20 slides that auto-advance every 15

seconds. Their talk is over in five minutes. After dinner, I returned to the hotel and enjoyed the session tremendously from the eight brave presenter. I serendipitously ran into my friend Matt, a teacher from Baldwin Park HS, who I met at last year's IGNITE session.

IGNITE Presenters:

1) Cheng: Message to Students

2) Teague: Residue of Math

3) Derksen: Tell a Story

4) Brown: Economic Case for Equity

5) Hakansson: High Quality Math and Access of Equity

6) Asturias: Math English Language Development

7) Jacobs: Math Practices: An Iconic View

8) Meyer: When Will I Use This in the Real World

I was told that videos of these presentations will be on the Key Curriculum website.

In all, it was a great day of professional development. I'm so glad I have this learning opportunity. Time for bed, looking forward to tomorrow's sessions.

(One side story: During the lunch meeting, a highly respected statistics author commented on the new AP Statistics exam format in which multiple-choice questions will be released. The reason for the change is due to some countries not playing by the rules. He said that "the Chinese is not known for their respect for intellectual property". I respect his expertise, but I found his comment a bit unfair.)