BOLIVAR, MO – SBU Mathematics faculty members, Dr. Bob Glasgow, professor of mathematics, and Dr. Kevin Hopkins, chair of the SBU Mathematics department, presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional Conference on Oct. 25-26 in Kansas City.  SBU students, Bethany Kellogg and Brooke Dye, also attended.  The conference theme, “Jazzed about Math,” highlighted the Council’s commitment to providing teachers with exciting and challenging ways to improve mathematics learning for all students.

Dr. Hopkins said, "We also saw at least six SBU math alumni there: Penni (Aaron) Martin, Andrea (Johnson) Hill, Stephen Rives, Dustin Jones, Amanda (Jimenez) Edinger, April (Watkins) Richards, and Tim Garber.  Rives and Dr. Jones both presented at the conference."

Hosted by the Kansas City Area Teachers of Mathematics, the Kansas Association of Teachers of Mathematics, and the Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the conference offered nearly 300 sessions and workshops that featured nationally known speakers from the region as well as throughout the United States and Canada. The two-day conference attracted math educators from all levels, preschool through university, to exchange ideas on how student learn math and to take a look at new ways to solve old problems.

"Mathematics teaching is a demanding job, which gets more complex as teachers strive to meet the diverse needs of their students and of their profession. The regional conferences provide teachers with opportunities to grow as learners and help their students become the best that they can be,” said NCTM President Francis (Skip) Fennell. “The conferences also afford an opportunity for both new and experienced teachers to share ideas, develop new ones, and think creatively about how to support mathematics learning for all students."

The conference was the second of three regional conferences NCTM will present in 2007 throughout the United States. Each conference will feature sessions presented by widely known speakers, as well as workshops, lectures, panel discussions, and exhibits of the latest mathematics education materials and innovations.

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics was founded in 1920 and is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education association. With 100,000 members and more than 230 Affiliates in the United States and Canada, NCTM is the world’s largest organization dedicated to improving mathematics education for all students. The Council’s Principles and Standards for School Mathematics provides guidelines for excellence in mathematics education. Its recently released Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics identifies the most important mathematical topics for each grade level.

Topics presented by SBU faculty and alumni were:

Teaching Pre-service Teachers about Integrated Mathematics While They Teach

by Robert E. Glasgow

Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, Missouri

This session will describe a model, used in a college mathematics course, for preparing middle and secondary school pre-service teachers to teach mathematics from an integrated, exploration based approach. The model drops pre-service teachers into the role of teacher, then it draws out important mathematical concepts studied at middle school, secondary school, and college levels.

Classroom Response Systems

by Kevin W. Hopkins

Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, Missouri

There are many classroom response systems on the market today. What are they? How can they be used in a mathematics classroom to help get student feedback on questions? How hard are they to use? What are the differences among the different systems?

Textbook Examples of Great Probability Tasks

by Dustin L. Jones

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas

The speaker will share probability tasks that help address and correct students’ misconceptions about probability and that require high levels of cognitive demand. All examples are from middle grades mathematics textbooks. Come help create and debate the definition of “great” mathematics tasks.

Learn-Reflect Reflection Session

by Jeffrey Shih

University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada

Brian Townsend

University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Robert Glasgow

Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, Missouri

Linda Coutts

Columbia Public Schools, Columbia, Missouri

This is the culminating session for those who have attended the Learn-Reflect sessions. The session will be a facilitated discussion of four reflection questions. Attendance at the Kickoff session, at least one Learn-Reflect session during the day, and the Reflection session is required for those interested in receiving the Learn-Reflect personalized certificate.

Teaching Techniques to Tackle Some Sticky Topics in Algebra 2

by Elizabeth Kim McClain

University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

Stephen Rives

Christ Preparatory Academy, Kansas City, Kansas

Topics such as piecewise functions, where functions are positive and negative, and complex numbers are some topics in Algebra 2 that students have trouble grasping. Join the speakers as they discuss some teaching techniques and share some real-world applications and resources they have used in their classrooms.