ICTM Newsletter for March 2023

March's newsletter is packed with opportunities, updates, and free PD!

Celebrate Women's History Month

Check out these resources and teach your students about great women mathematicians such as Hypatia (370?-415), Euphemia Lofton Haynes (1890–1980), Katherine Johnson (1918 – 2020), and more!


Looking for a K-12 Afterschool Activity? 

Dive into the Quantum World and bring quantum computing to your classroom, club, or afterschool program. This workshop is free for students. The 1-2 hour workshop introduces them to basic quantum mechanics, explores how quantum computers work in fundamentally different ways, and teaches students how to code their first quantum circuits (for high school-level audiences). Don't worry about background knowledge: these workshops are pre-req free! Students do not need to know anything about quantum, math, or physics for a workshop.

Get In with NCTM

  1. Are you an NCTM Member? Check out one of NCTM's free webinars. Your NCTM membership includes exclusive access to 100+ hours of on-demand professional development! NCTM Member-Only Webinars are delivered by experts in mathematics education, including NCTM authors.

  2. Check out the five (free!) webinars from NCTM Professional Development on Success Stories from Catalyzing Change. 

  3. March Mathness is here! March offers up big entertainment including activities related to basketball, daylight saving time, Pi Day, St. Patrick's Day, academy wards and Oscars. Check out these member-only classroom resources. Keep the math going all month long!

  4. Finally, don't forget to mark your calendar for the 2023 NCTM Virtual Conference (March 29 - April 1):  Amplify & Activate: In and Beyond the Classroom.

Have an Impact on Mathematics Education in Iowa

  1. The Iowa Department of Education is seeking mathematics educators to serve on a statewide committee to review and update the statewide academic standards for mathematics. Apply by 3/17/23. Click here for more information.

  2. ICTM has had a great response to the call for volunteers! 19 members signed up to serve on committees for 2023 and help the Executive Board with our goals and all the exciting work to improve the organization. Thank you to everyone that has volunteered. We are very excited to extend the organization's important work to include more members. Members will also have the opportunity to volunteer at the conference next fall. Sign up here!

Professional Development Opportunities

  1. Our words matter. How we speak to and about our students helps set them up for success and ourselves when we teach them. Check out NCTM President, Kevin Dykema's message, "Sticks, Stones, and Labels" where he gives us some short reminders of how to cultivate our students' math identities.

  2. ICTM can help YOU fund a webinar, book study, event, or course. We have a Professional Development grant and we would like to give it to you Check it out here. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so apply now!

  3. Join the PCMI 2023 Workshop on Rehumanizing Mathematics (July 16-29) and develop your understanding of equity (identity & power issues) in mathematics and rehumanize mathematical experiences for those with whom you engage. In this workshop, you will explore different perspectives/theories, reflect on your own practices, learn from experts in the field who have been altering their practices, and create your own action plans for work you intend to carry out after the workshop ends. Travel support & stipend are available. Check it out!

    Math Community Circles

    Math Community Circles are an opportunity to come together to share and discuss topics of interest to math educators. We will have our last discussions for Peter Liljedahl's "Building Thinking Classrooms" and implementing Illustrative Mathematics this month. See below for the March dates for each topic. Everyone is welcome to join! We typically share how implementation is going for those who want to share and we field questions and share ideas throughout the hour. The vibe is casual and intended to be conversational. As we wrap up the Math Community Circles for these topics this month, we will provide opportunities to continue the conversations with Facebook groups for each topic. Look for more information coming soon on social media.

    Go to iowamath.org to sign up for the meeting links. We will email the link the day before the meeting. Contact Angie Shindelar, ICTM President, with any questions at ICTMPres@gmail.com.


    Invite the Pres to Math Class

    The "Invite the Pres to Math Class" initiative has sent President Angie Shindelar to 34 classrooms across Iowa. The campaign spotlights all the great things happening in Iowa's K-16 math classrooms. Our goal is to visit 55 classrooms in the 2022-2023 school year. Share with us all the great thinking and reasoning happening - highlight your growth as a math teacher and how you are making a difference! Have you signed up yet? Sign up here. 


    New Data Science Lessons

    In partnership with Women in Data Science (WiDS) Next Gen, Jo Boaler's youcubed has launched four new lessons that are available for free. They can be found on the Data Big Ideas page for grades 8-10, and three of them are also suitable for grades 6-7.  These lessons were developed with WiDS and aim to inspire secondary school students to consider careers involving data science, AI, and related fields. Data science is for every student: check out more lessons as well as number talks for kindergarten, grades 1-2, and grades 3-5.

    We Want to Hear from You!

    Do you have ideas for future emails, professional development activities, or website and social media posts? We'd love to hear from you; contact us at one of our email addresses or submit an item for social media, the website, or the newsletter here.
     

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