Transitions in Math - Spokane

Welcome back! In part because I'm becoming increasingly paranoid about district spam catchers eating my e-mails(especially when attachments are involved), I'm going try to become a little more reliant on this website for communication this year.

 

Although we are no longer receiving funding from the state Transition Math Project, we have been able to raise enough money for another year. The lunch won't be as nice, and I don't think we'll be handing out flashdrives or other goodies, but there will be a lunch, there will be coffee, other drinks and a munchie or two, and we have money for sub reimbursements. Things will be tighter, so if your district is willing to kick in for a share of the subs, we would be quite grateful, but I'm confident we'll have the subs covered for those who need it.

 

In broad terms, we'll follow the same general format which has developed over the last 2 years; 1) A session to update folks on changes in math education at high schools and colleges, 2) An interactive activity like the curriculum comparison of 2 years ago or the attributes discussion of last year, and 3) sharing on local initiatives in Math education, past, present and future. We have a basic outline in mind, but ideas are always welcome. Traditionally, the Symposium has been in November, and this year the date will November 17^th.

 

 

My rough estimate is that the OutReach presentation was given to somewhere between 1500 to 2000 people last year, including a Gear Up family night at West Valley. We will try to set up the faculty-high school pairings earlier in the year next year (as in, during the fall) to facilitate planning for everyone.

 

We're also looking to expanding our audience to parents and families. A small group of us met in late June to take a good look at the current presentation and how it could be adapted to an effective presentation for families. We've updated the data on the PowerPoint, and plan on creating an interactive version to use with iClickers. The current draft is on the OutReach Resources page.

 

Since our funds are limited, the plan is to see if there is interest from the high schools in having college folks come out in groups of 2 or 3 as part of a parent night or open house presentation.

 

As always, all comments and suggestions are welcome. Many thanks to everyone and a wonderful new year to you.

 

Jim Brady

Dean of Computing, Math and Science

Spokane Falls Community College