MESA is currently holding an election for the 2020 MESA Co-Colloquium Chair. Please use the following link to cast your vote.
https://forms.gle/7TebcjECejmPkEpP6
The election will be open from 8 a.m., Tuesday (1/21/2020) until 5 p.m. the following Tuesday (1/28/2020). If you have any questions, please contact MESA Vice-President, Rett McBride, at mesaofficervicepresident@gmail.com.
MESA will hold our end of the semester celebration at the ice skating rink at the Classic Center on Wednesday, December 4th. The skate time we’ve selected is 5:00-6:30pm. If you are hesitant about ice skating, fear not! The Classic Center ice rink has skating aids to help support your balance (see photo below!) Please use this sign up sheet to RSVP for the event. Recall, MESA will cover the cost of the ticket for the first 35 individuals that sign up, so act fast! If you plan to bring your partner and/or children, please list their names on separate lines. Look for another email closer to Wednesday about when and where to pick up your ticket if you are one of the lucky 35! Please let me know if you have any questions!
MESA is excited to announce that on Tuesday, November 12th, principals from the surrounding districts will be in Aderhold Hall participating in a panel focused on future educators! The event will start at 6:00pm in Room 229. This will be a great opportunity to build connections with administrators in local school districts, ask questions related to teaching and math education, and learn about these principal’s perspectives. You do not need to be a member of MESA to attend, nor do you need to be in math education. All are welcome!
TI representative, Beth Smith, will conduct a workshop for the student teachers on Tuesday, November 19 from 9:00am – 12:00pm in Room 116. The workshop will focus on high school mathematics topics using the TI-84 CE, TI-Nspire, and the TI-Rover (coding). To participate, please sign up here.
Want to learn about how to fund your next research study? Do you know what goes into the process of grant development? Or what resources are available when writing a grant? What about how to communicate your grant writing plans when you’re on the job market?
Grace Thornton, manager of the research development office in the College of Education at UGA, will answer some of these questions on Monday, September 9 from 2 to 3pm. Location will be announced.
If you have a question that you want Grace to answer, please submit your question below.
Unable to make the First Year Teachers’ Panel? Interested in what recent UGA graduates have to say about their experiences in secondary mathematics classrooms? This video is for you! Enjoy!
The link to the video can also be found here: https://youtu.be/DqFMiv2sfVk
Thank you to the teachers who took the time out of their crazy schedules to talk to MESA about their experiences!
Begles is this coming Friday, March 3, and hopefully you are planning on attending. If you have a favorite dish or something special to drink that you would like to share, you can use the following link to RSVP:
https://docs.google.com/spread
Of course, please plan to come even if you are not bringing something, as there is always plenty to share!
On Tuesday, January 31st, Dean Stevenson (current PhD student in Mathematics Education at UGA) gave his talk titled:
A, B, C, D, and F: Meaningful Grades or Random Letters?
To watch the talk, please go here! If you have comments, questions, or would like a copy of the slides from the presentation, please contact Dean directly.
Abstract:
“Johnny is failing my class. He would have an ‘A’ but he won’t do his homework. He gets an ‘A’ on every test, he just won’t do what I ask him to do.”
-High School History Teacher, 2013, Parent/Teacher Conference
Based on this quote, what grade do you think Johnny deserves? An “F”? An “A”? Something in between? Contemplating the answer to this and similar questions is the premise of this professional development session. By attending, it is my hope that you will critically reflect on the way you approach both assessment (how you determine what a student knows) and grading (how you communicate what a student knows). The presentation will include several activities, a handful of thought provoking questions, and a brief outline of Standards-Based Grading.
Dean Stevenson is a former high school mathematics teacher in Virginia and was part of a team that lead professional development sessions on assessment practices. Dean is hoping to incorporate Standards-Based Grading (SBG) into his research while at UGA to see how SBG impacts both teachers and students.