My favorite math lessons are the ones that end with more questions than they answered.
Relatedly, my favorite conversations leave me more interested in learning, not satisfied with the learning I’ve done already.
CMC has been the professional highlight of my year for the past few years, and this year was no exception.
My face hurts. I've been laughing and smiling for the last 7 hours.
— Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) November 3, 2018
What a great day of learning, sharing, and laughing with colleagues at #cmcmath.
And another day of it tomorrow!
In her blog post,* Claire offers thanks to “Big names” in Math Education (her terms) for the encouragement and advocacy given in loud voices:
Your work has gotten me through a difficult time professionally and I am so grateful.
John and I will be the first to tell you that we haven’t sought notoriety within the Math Education community (and are both uncomfortable with it), so we regularly check to see that our compasses still point toward North, toward students first and always.
But if taking a selfie, signing a book, and speaking encouragement into a microphone makes teachers stand a little taller, then it’s worth it.
As Patricia mentions in her blog,* it’s time to start bringing more ideas to the table:
I realized during this conference that there are so many talented teachers doing great things in their classrooms that make a big difference in the lives of their students. We need to hear from them too; their voices, their stories, their strategies so that we can all be better.
Yeah. The comments section of this blog has been pushing on that for years.
So that’s where I am. I want to use my medium amount of influence to make more seats at the table, to celebrate more ideas, and to pass the mic more often (even though I love the mic).
Sunil wrote about the CMC workshop he attended, given by Chris Shore. Both parties are nudging people like me (white males with a microphone) to nudge — okay, push — the pace of education toward more students, eventually toward all.
~Matt “Change is a-comin’ ” Vaudrey
*These two mention me, and I’m sending y’all there to read despite my discomfort with their praise. That’s how good they are.