BCAMT Fall Conference 2013

Steveston-London Secondary School

Regardless of my current occupation (or preoccupation), I am a mathematics teacher at heart.  I truly believe that everyone can learn mathematics and learning mathematics is fun.  Today, I had the privilege of presenting at this year’s BCAMT (BC Association of Mathematics Teachers) Fall Conference.  I presented an afternoon session titled, “Formative Assessment for Teachers.”  In hindsight, I should have called it “Assessment for Learning (AFL) for Teachers.”  Nor here or there, but I like the idea of learning from formative assessment.  I loved creating this learning environment for students when I was a classroom teacher.  Now, I am promoting it as a way of being for teachers with their professional learning.  As I attempted to connect AFL to my literature review from my doctoral thesis proposal and the new BC curriculum, I shared a few personal experiences that transformed my practice: (1) mentorship, (2) Instructional Skills Workshop, and (3) Twitter chats.  I much enjoyed presenting today along with connecting with other mathematics teachers and the BCAMT Executive Committee Members.  It’s nice being connected with like-minded individuals who are passionate about mathematics education.  What I love about presenting is not the delivery of the content itself or the participation of the audience as they concur with my message.  It’s the subtle thank you’s and acknowledgements.  I loved how teachers at the conference recognized me from past workshops, Twitter, or this edu-blog.  Moreover, I realized today that I have an AFL following.   During my presentation today, I saw several familiar faces in the audience (aka. keen mathematics teachers passionate about AFL and the subject area who’ve attended previous AFL workshops with me).  At the end of the session, one teacher who was a Teacher-On-Call (TOC) spoke with me to say “thank you” and that the AFL workshop I offered last school year at the BCAMT New Teachers’ Conference about AFL in Secondary Mathematics transformed her practice.  She told me that attending that session dramatically changed her practicum, changed her ways of thinking about mathematics and assessment, and she wrote her final paper based on the contents of that workshop.  Even her friend said to me, “I need that workshop too.”  Hello?  Is that not the BEST formative feedback ever?  I say, YES. #makingadifference #mathematicseducation #assessmentforlearning #newcurriculum