Here is a list of my upcoming appearances, ranging from 20 minutes to a full week. Perhaps you can attend one of them!
NCTM National Meeting in San Francisco
A Hands-on Approach to Operations and Equivalent Expressions
Thursday 14 April, 8:00-9:15am. 3022 Moscone West
This is a hands-on Lab Gear workshop aimed at grades 6 to 8. The manipulatives help students transition from numbers to variables, and from the concrete to the abstract, through activities that promote an understanding of operations: the distributive law, combining like terms, factoring, etc. This is a necessary prerequisite to understanding equivalent expressions, a key concept in middle school.
Participants will work through activities which develop a visual / geometric model of the basic structures of algebra. This enhances classroom discourse: it provides an entry point for students who find it difficult to generalize the ideas of arithmetic, and at the same time deepens and enriches the understanding of all students. The inner logic of the model replaces the memorization of seemingly arbitrary rules, students work cooperatively, and they learn to communicate about math.
Thursday 14 April 4pm, and Friday 15 April 1pm. Didax booth (211) in the Exhibit Hall
I will present a condensed version of the same material twice in the Exhibit Hall. I’ll be in and around the Didax booth briefly before and after those mini-presentations. Come by to say hello. However, there will only be 12 seats, so if you can, I recommend attending the full-length workshop Thursday morning (140 seats.)
The Two-Color Theorem
Friday 15 April, 9:30-11:30am (drop in any time.) Math Teachers’ Circle
Cove 4, 3rd floor, Moscone West
Friday 15 April, 3:30pm. Math Corner in NCTM Central in the Exhibit Hall
This is an enrichment activity suitable for almost any grade level: a fun visual exploration leading to a worthwhile discussion of terminology and reasoning — two necessary ingredients of a valid mathematical statement.
San Jose Math Teachers’ Circle
Abstract Algebra
Tuesday, April 19th, 5-8 pm, at AIM (600 E. Brokaw Road, San Jose CA)
This is an enrichment unit consisting of several very different, very entertaining activities suitable for almost any grade level, to help students think about operations in contexts other than numbers. If time permits, we will extend the unit with some high-school and teacher-level lessons.
The event is free, and dinner is included!
Summer Workshops
Visual Algebra
Oakland, CA (June 27-July 1) and Saint Louis, MO (July 25-29).
This is basic training in a multidimensional strategy to make algebra both more interesting, and more accessible. This includes a full training in the Lab Gear, but also an introduction to other visual, kinesthetic, and conceptual approaches (function diagrams, technology, and assorted labs and explorations.)
I will present different versions / different components of this, in workshops that last from 1 to 4 days, for grade 6 to precalculus. More information.
There will be an 80% discount for the first six public school teachers who apply to each workshop!
See you soon, I hope!
–Henri
Henri's Math Education Blog 