You’re Awesome

What an awesome experience… I feel fortunate that I was able to present at this year’s BC Association of Mathematics Teachers (BCAMT) provincial professional development conference in Burnaby at Cariboo Hill Secondary on October 21, 2011.  It was my first year being on the BCAMT executive as a Secondary Representative and presenting at the conference.  I must admit that it’s really nice to have colleagues recognizing me, compliment me, and say hello.

The best part is… I’m still involved in secondary mathematics education.  I’m still involved in teaching.  I’m still involved in improving student achievement in secondary mathematics.  I met awesome people.  I had a wonderful time distributing SWAG at the beginning of the conference.  I loved greeting people at the BCAMT presentation stand and passing out Assessment for Learning books published by the BCAMT.  I was fascinated to be reunited with teachers from my UBC Education program in 1994, from previous workshops as an educational consultant, and from participants from my workshop I presented at last year’s conference.  A classmate of mine from the Doctor of Education program referred to me as the Assessment for Learning in Mathematics Education expert.  I was humbled.

I presented twice at the BCAMT conference.  The session was titled, “Assessment for Learning in the 21st Century.”  It is not to say that I am an expert at Assessment for Learning (AFL) and 21st century Learning, but what I like to present to practicing teachers is that it’s OK to take risks, it’s OK to have fun, and it’s OK to make math engaging for kids.  My BIG message focuses on AFL and how it’s not a huge shift from what we already do.  In fact, with AFL… we get to teach kids, understand their learning, and nourish some of the skills needed for the 21st Century.  What I talked about was AFL, 21st Century Skills, and the summative review game I facilitated with my Math 12 students called, Math 12 Olympiks.  The workshop was a success. 

How do I know?  Teachers would approach me after the workshop telling me stories of their experiences using AFL… asking me specific questions how to implement AFL in their classroom… and expressing their gratitude with comments like:  “Are you a maverick?”  “I really liked your enthusiasm and excitement.” …. and…  “You’re AWESOME.”

I still love the learning and teaching… as long as we are heading in the direction where we help kids learn, particularly mathematics, then what I do is worthwhile.  THANK YOU EVERYONE.