Later this week I’m privileged to be able to participate in this year’s NCTM National Meeting and Exposition. I haven’t attended this conference in many years and am very excited to be going to New Orleans. I expect the meeting to be an intense learning experience that I plan on sharing in future posts.
Last Friday I reviewed the list of presentations and developed a plan for how I want to spend my time. I plan on attending four or five sessions a day as well as spending time in the exhibition hall. I’ll be busy, but I don’t want to miss out on such a rare opportunity.
The sessions I’ll be attending can be organized under one of four themes.
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Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS-M): I’ve selected sessions that focus on the CCSS-M and, in particular, the Standards for Mathematical Practice. Incorporating the practice standards into test items will be an important part of my work this year. So, I’m looking forward to hearing the latest ideas about the practice standards.
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NCTM’s Principles to Actions: I discovered last week that this year’s meeting also marks the release of NCTM’s Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All. I suspect that the ideas and recommendations contained in this book will heavily influence U.S. K-12 mathematics education for the next several years. I’m eager to learn what this book is all about.
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Consortia Assessments: Both PARCC and Smarter Balanced are providing updates on their assessment programs. I must attend these briefings and listen for important information about the future of these programs.
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Professional Development: Many of my projects this year revolve around teaching educators about what it takes to write high-quality items. I picked a few sessions that I believe will help me design and implement these programs. I’m looking forward to getting insights that will help me with a number of projects, including this blog.
If you plan on being in New Orleans, let me know by leaving a comment. Perhaps we can find time to meet and chat.
Photograph courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net.
