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Calendar of Events

March 2008

  • March 12. A district-wide Video Club session will be held afterschool. The time and site are TBA.

January 2008

  • January 21-23. A team of four lead teachers from the McAllen PD3 project visted the Seattle PD3 project, making classroom visits and participating in the Seattle PD3 Video Club.

December 2007

  • December 15. A second Saturday morning session was  held as a follow-up to the December 8 session on the CSCOPE curriculum in Algebra I.
     
  • December 8.  A Saturday morning session was held with 8 high school teachers, two administrators, and on one UTPA faculty member to discuss the 5E Instructional Model for instruction and continue work on the use of the 5E model in implementing the CSCOPE curriculum in Algebra I.
     
  • December 5.  Site Leadership Meeting (Julie, Judi, Roger) was held at Lamar Staff Development Center from 4:30 - 6:00 to discuss the December 8 session on the 5E Instructional Model, the CSCOPE curriculum in Algebra I, and recruiting of participants for the 2008 summer program of PCMI.

November 2007

  • November 26. The Algebra I team at Rowe High School met with Julie and Roger to review the current CSCOPE lesson in Algebra I.
     
  • November 17. Six teams of McAllen teachers delivered presentations at the 2007 Annual Conference of teh Rio Grande Valley Council of Teachers of Mathematics. All presenters were teachers who either attended or participated via video link the 2007 summer program of PCMI, or were instructors in the 2007 Jump Up to High School Math program.
     

October 2007

  • October 27.  A teacher-led workshop was organized and delivered by 11 secondary school teachers based on their experience at either the 2007 summer program of PCMI or their instruction of the 2007 Jump UP to High School Mathematics program.
    • Participants included 8 high school teachers, 12 middle school teachers,  1 administrator, and 1 UTPA faculty member.
    • Two teachers led participants in the use of video case studies to examine student learning.
    • Another two teachers demonstrated Cabri3D and its use in helping students understand three dimensional geometry.
    • A team of two teachers had participants design, make, and use their own ruler as an activity for helping students understand linear measurement and fractions.
    • Finally, a team of four had participants design, make, and use trundle wheels as an activity for helping students understand linear measurement and perimeter of a circle.
       
  • October 11.  Julie, Judi, and Roger met with the department chair and two other teachers from McAllen High School to discuss planning and progress on the implementation of the CSCOPE curriculum in Algebra II.

September 2007

  • September 13.  Julie and Roger met with the four teachers who attended the summer CAMT conference to begin planning for the CAMT Share Fair professional development day for the district. The next planning session will be on January 17, and the workshop on March 1.
     
  • September 13.  Site Leadership Meeting (Julie, Judi, Roger, Anastasia, and Sarah) was held at Lamar Staff Development Center from 4:30 - 6:00 to discuss the fall plans and begin planning of presentations at the 2007 Annual Conference of the Rio Grande Valley Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

July 2007

  • July 2 - 20.  The McAllen PD3 project sent 7 participants to the 2007 Summer Session of the Park City Mathematics Institute in Park City, Utah.    These middle school and high school teachers participated in the Secondary Schools Teacher Program.    A simultaneous video-link was made between UTPA and Park City to enable an additional six teachers to participate in some of the summer program activities.

June 2007

  • June 28-30.  The McAllen PD3 project sponsored the travel of four teachers to attend the 2007 Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching (CAMT) in San Antonio, Texas.   These teachers participated in special sessions that actively explore and identify rich mathematics, and will design and lead a professional development workshop for McAllen teachers in the spring of 2008.
     
  • June 4 - 28.  The McAllen PD3 project conducted two summer programs June for students entering McAllen I.S.D. high schools.  Held June 4-14 and June 18-28, this program provided approximately 100 students two weeks of enrichment activities in measurement and geometry, as well as a chance to roam the halls of Rowe High School.
     

May 2007

  • May 5. A teacher-led workshop was organized and delivered by three middle school teachers based on their experience at the 2006 CAMT conference.

    • Participants included 2 high school teachers, 7 middle school teachers,  2 counselors, 2 administrators, and 1 UTPA faculty member.
    • One teacher led participants on Making Mathematics Accessible for English Language Learners.
    • Another teacher led an activity based on the 5E model for instruction.
    • A third teacher presented different strategies for solving word problems.

April 2007

  • April 24. Site Leadership Meeting (Julie, Judi, Roger) was held at Lamar Staff Development Center from 4:30 - 6:00 to discuss summer PCMI, PD3 Leadership Meeting in McAllen on April 27-29, CAMT professional development workshop in May, CAMT 2007 summer program, and Jump Up to High School Math program.

  • April 3.  Site Leadership Meeting (Julie, Judi, Roger) was held at Lamar Staff Development Center from 4:30 - 6:00 to discuss the summer PCMI and ePCMI plans and the summer Jump Up to High School Math program.

March 2007

  • March 31.  A teacher-led workshop was organized and delivered by a McAllen I.S.D. high school teacher and the district Secondary Mathematics Coordinator. 

    • Participants included 6 high school teachers, 1 UTPA faculty member, and the district Secondary Mathematics Coordinator.

    • Throughout the day, participants practiced lesson planning discovery-based activities through a model of anticipating, monitoring, selecting, sequencing, and connecting.

  • March 24. Site Leadership Meeting (Judi, Julie, Roger, Michelle) was held at Lamar Staff Development Center from 4:00 - 6:00 to discuss the March 31 Lesson Planning Workshop, Jump Up to HS Math program, summer PCMI and ePCMI plans, and the CAMT professional development workshop in May.

  • March 1. Site Leadership Meeting (Judi, Julie and Roger) was held at Lamar Staff Development Center from 4:00 - 5:30 to discuss the coming summer PCMI program, Jump Up to HS Math program, and the rescheduled Lesson Planning workshop.

December 2006

  • December 2.  A teacher-led workshop was organized and delivered by eight McAllen I.S.D. teachers who participated in the 2006 summer program of the Park City Mathematics Institute. 

    • Participants included 6 high school teachers, 3 middle school teachers, 1 UTPA faculty member, and 1 McAllen I.S.D. administrator.
    • Two high school teachers provided demonstrations of work using Geometer's Sketchpad that they had developed in the summer PCMI program regarding geometric constructions and investigations of conics.
    • A middle school and a high school teachers led participants through a data collection activity and subsequent statistical analysis using Fathom software.
    • A middle school and a high school teacher led participants through the use of video case studies as a way to observe how students learn mathematics, and how to evaluate lessons based on them.
    • A fourth group of two high school teachers led a session on Reflecting on Practice based on their experience at the PCMI summer program.  In this activity, participants anticipated and presented ways in which students might approach the problem of computing the area of a trapezoid.

November 2006

  • November 15. Site Leadership Meeting (Judi, Julie, Roger) was held at Rowe High School from 4:00 - 5:30 to discuss tracking of students from the 2006 Jump Up to HS Math program and initial plans for the 2007 program.

  • November 14.  Eight McAllen teachers (six high school and two middle school) who attended the 2006 summer program of PCMI met with the Secondary Mathematics Coordinator and one UTPA faculty member to plan the upcoming December 2 workshop Deep in the Heart of PCMI.

October 2006

  • October 7, 14, 21, 28; Nov 4. Six McAllen teachers (four high school and two middle school) organized and ran the first annual Jump Up to High School Math program.  These teachers worked with thirty freshman students from Rowe High School as they explored measurement and geometry through a sequence of activities.  The teachers worked with the students each Saturday for three hours in the morning, then completed additional professional development activities in the afternoon.

  • October 26. Site Leadership Meeting (Julie, Judi, Roger) was held at Rowe High School from 4:30 - 6:00 to discuss the focus of the McAllen PD3 project for the year (the transition from middle school to high school mathematics) and the challenges facing Algebra I teachers at the high school.

  • October 18.  Four McAllen teachers (three middle school and one high school) who attended the 2006 CAMT conference met with the Secondary Math Coordinator and one UTPA faculty member to plan the upcoming CAMT Share Fair.

  • October 9.  Site Leadership Meeting (Julie, Judi, Roger) was held at Rowe High School from 4:00 - 5:30 to discuss the schedule for the fall and early spring, including Jump Up to HS Math dates, PCMI and CAMT workshops, and Lesson Planning workshop.

September 2006

  • September 30.  A teacher-led professional development workshop was held on September 30 by teachers who attended the 2006 Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  Three concurrent sessions were held that day with activities targeting high school, middle school, and elementary school mathematics.
     
    • Five middle school teachers led a group of approximately 24 other middle school teachers through a series of activities in order of operations, linear models, and probability, and provided participants and overview of the CMP 2 curriculum.
    • Two high school teachers and the McAllen Secondary Math Coordinator led a group of four other high school teachers through a series of activities in algebra and the use of Cabri Jr in TI calculators in teaching geometry.
    • Three elementary teachers, sponsored by the McAllen I.S.D. led a third group of approximately 15 elementary school teachers through a sequence of counting problems.

August 2006

  • August 26.  Nine teachers from the McAllen I.S.D. (2 HS, 4 MS, and 3 ES) who attended the 2006 Annual Meeting of the NCTM met with the Secondary Mathematics Coordinator and 1 UTPA faculty member to plan the NCTM Share Fair, to be held September 30

June - July 2006

  • June 26 - July 15.  Eight high school teachers and two middle school teachers attended the summer program of the 2006 Park City Mathematics Institute.  Six additional home-bound teachers (two high school and four middle school) also participated in a portion of the PCMI via video link.
     
  • July 26-28.  Four teachers (three middle school and one high school) attended the state Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching in Houston, Texas.  These teachers will return to provide a day of professional development for the district based on their experience.

May 2006

  • May 5.  Site Leadership Meeting (Judi and Roger) with the Rowe Dean of Students to discuss the Jump UP to High School Math program.  Based on TAKS results, it was decided that the program would focus on measurement and geometry.

April 2006

  • April 26-29.  Ten teachers from the McAllen ISD, including four middle school and high school teachers supported by the McAllen PD3 project, attended the annual meeting of the NCTM in St. Louis.  These teachers will provide professional development workshop for district teachers this fall..
     
  • April 22.  A training session on Fathom software was held on Saturday, March 25 from 9:00 - 3:00 at the Design Center at De Leon Middle School.  Participants included 5 high school teachers and one UTPA faculty member.  Teachers were given an overview on the use of Fathom and investigated activities that were appropriate for algebra and statistics. 
     
  • April 6.  A planning session between the PD3 Steering Committee and administrators from Rowe High School will be held at Rowe from 2:00 - 3:00 to continue planning of a summer enrichment camp for entering high school students.

March 2006

  • March 25.   A teacher-led PD3workshop was held on Saturday, March 25 from 9:00 - 3:00 at the Staff Development center at Lamar Academy.  Highlights included
     
    • Participants included 6 middle school teachers, 9 high school teachers, and 3 UTPA faculty members.
    • One teacher led an activity in geometry on the use of line segments to construct pictures.
    • Another team of teachers led the group through the identification of the golden ratio in the human body.
    • A third team of teachers led an activity related to an investigation of transformations in the plane using tracing paper.
    • Participants discussed the use of "backwards thinking" or "inverse problems" in teaching both middle school and high school mathematics.
    • The workshop concluded with an examination of "proofs" that 1=2. 

February 2006

  • February 21.  A Steering Committee Meeting will be held at the McAllen Central Office from 4:00 - 5:30.
     
  • February 15.  The application for the 2006 PCMI summer program is due.
     
  • February 11.  A teacher-led PD3 workshop was held on Saturday, February 21 from 9:00 - 3:00 at the Staff Development center at Lamar Academy.  Highlights included
     
    • Participants included 5 middle school teachers, 8 high school teachers, and 4 UTPA faculty members.
    • One team of teachers led a hands-on activity to determine the optimal dimensions of a sandbox through the construction of paper models.
    • Another team of teachers led the group through a derivation of Pick's Theorem for computing the area of lattice polygons.
    • A third team of teachers led a calculator activity on constructing stars from the graphs of lines.
    • The workshop concluded with an activity that investigated packing densities of spheres in various three-dimensional geometric shapes.
    • A lunch-time topology activity of deforming letters of the alphabet into topologically equivalent letters or symbols.  Some examples include A, B, G, K, K, K, K, O, R
       
  • February 6-8.  Neelam and Jessica conducted a site evaluation visit, interviewing teachers, administrators, and UTPA faculty members. 

January 2006

  • January 21.  A teacher-led PD3 workshop was held on Saturday, January 21 from 9:00 - 4:00 at the Staff Development center at Lamar Academy.  Highlights included
     
    • Participants included 5 high school teachers, 3 middle school teachers, 4 UTPA faculty members.
    • The middle school and high school teachers identified topics and skills that students struggle with regardless of grade level or content area.
    • The teachers identified several areas that could be addressed through the design and implementation of activities, including measurement, solving equations, and slope/rate of change. 
    • Discussion then centered on two possible activities:  composition of Work on problems centered around the design and construction of a house.
       
  • January 6. A PD3 workshop on creating mathematical web pages was held from 9:00 - 1:00 at Rowe High School. Highlights included
     
    • Participants included 2 high school teachers, 5 middle school teachers, 1 UTPA faculty member.
    • Teachers created their own web pages.
    • Vertical alignment and university teacher preparation discussions.