Oct20 Pro-D: BCAMT Conference

For the Pro-D day on October 20th, I attended the BCAMT conference through Zoom (I unfortunately could not attend in-person because I had other plans later that day). 

The sessions I attended were: 

1. Timothy Spray - Going to Math Class vs. Belonging to Math Class: Elevating Classrooms to Communities
2. Patrick Nelson - Quizzes Where Wrong Answers Don't Count Against You
3. Aleda Klassen - Culturally Responsive Thinking Through a Thinking Classroom Approach

The ideas and strategies suggested and discussed by each presenter were really interesting and informative. I obtained a lot of resources and ideas that I could easily incorporate during my practicum. Furthermore, it was a nice experience to also meet other math teachers and their different thoughts and perspectives on what was discussed. To me, all these ideas were really unique and nice, but it definitely gave a reality check when there were other teachers who had critiques/issues with some ideas because nothing is perfect. 

From Timothy's presentation, I really liked his strategies on how he gets his students to connect and work with different students by completely randomizing the group seating arrangements. What I especially liked was how after setting up the arrangements, he gets the students more comfortable with each other by having the students ask their seatmates simple questions (what they did on the weekend, etc) or ask low-stakes questions to the entire class and have them knock on their desks if they agree, and so on. As someone who was very shy in school, I really appreciate that he tries to build a sense of community using low-stakes questions because it doesn't make anyone feel "dumb" or singled out. Unfortunately, Timothy had much more to his presentation but was cut short because of time. I may try to reach out to him about his ideas when I have the time. 

From Pat's presentation, I liked the idea of how he assesses whether his students have met each competency/skill and makes wrong answers not count anywhere so students can keep trying without any detriment for being wrong. I think this is really good because grades can really deter students' motivation and interest (as discussed in a previous reading). As for Aleda, her presentation gave nice insight on how to frame questions that are more open-ended on how to approach them, so that it gets students thinking and problem solving in whichever way works for them. 

I really enjoyed and gained a lot from the BCAMT conference and I would definitely attend again next time if there is another one!