The BCAMT supports members by hosting virtual gatherings to discuss books related to mathematics and/or education. Last year, we met to talk about 2021 Northwest Mathematics Conference keynote speaker Francis Su’s Inspiring Mathematics for Human Flourishing.
We’re excited to announce our first BCAMT Reads event of this year…
by Karim Ani
Purchase and curl up with Karim Ani’s Dear Citizen Math and then join host Sean Chorney and other participants to talk about what you’ve learned.
Complete the registration form and join us online on February 22, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. Whether you are a BC math teacher of primary, intermediate, middle years, or secondary, you are welcome!
We hope that this is the first of several BCAMT Reads meetings that we are able to facilitate this year. Stay tuned!
The BCAMT also encourages educators to take part in school- or district-based book clubs. If you are interested in starting one up at your location, here are some tips that we think you’ll find helpful:
Is it to talk about the successes and challenges of implementing practical ideas in your classroom? Or, is it to broaden your philosophical understanding of or personal relationship with mathematics? Is it both? Is it something else?
Some titles, such as Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You’d Had and Necessary Conditions, are all-encompassing and, as such, will need to be discussed over many months. Others, like Number Sense Routines and Open Middle are more narrowly focussed and lend themselves to shorter “learning sprints.” Decide how often you will come together. Try to find your team’s “Goldilocks” schedule: enough time for each member to read the next chapter, but not so much time that the momentum of the group is lost.
Book clubs are successful when participants follow mutually agreed upon expectations. Beyond social norms, these might include reading the designated section prior to each meeting, trying a task or practice from a previous chapter, or sharing samples of students’ mathematical thinking related to the reading.
If possible, take turns serving as the “host” of each meeting. Organizing and leading every meeting can be a bit too much to ask of a single–already busy–colleague.
Most professional learning titles contain reflection or discussion questions, either within the book itself or through a companion website. Choose one or two questions; there won’t be time to answer them all! Alternatively, pose one of the following sets of questions (and don’t shy away from repeating them at different meetings):
The BCAMT recommends the following titles as candidates for your site’s book club:
The BCAMT acknowledges that we are fortunate to be able to learn, live and grow on many First Peoples unceded territories.
The BCAMT is a Provincial Specialist Association of the BC Teachers’ Federation.