Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Recap of our October meeting



The October DEMC meeting was a HUGE success! Our attendance included 130 teachers, 4 principals, the Schultz Center math training team, 2 district personnel, and Tommy Hazouri, a member of the Duval County School Board. We were absolutely thrilled with the turnout. Thank you to all who were in attendance.

The meeting began with an introduction by our former superintendent and current Executive Vice President of America’s Choice, John Fryer. Mr. Fryer spoke about the America’s Choice School Design and focused on the fact that their work is rooted in quality research about successful schools. After Mr. Fryer, our featured speaker, James Williams, presented on student misconceptions in mathematics. James presented quality research on student misconceptions in mathematics and did so in an entertaining and engaging way. James kept the crowd involved with his humor and wit. I think most of us walked away feeling much more prepared to assess and attack our student’s mathematics misconceptions.

And a huge thanks goes out to Leslie Hendricks with America’s Choice for making our event such a huge success. If any of you would like more information about the Mathematics Navigator program that James presented, please contact Leslie at…

Leslie Hendricks
South Region
America's Choice, Inc.
3423 Brahma Bull Circle North
Jacksonville FL 32226
904-757-0698-office
904-571-9710-cell
904-339-9901-fax


Saturday, October 6, 2007

You are invited to learn about
Misconceptions, Misunderstandings, Misinterpretations and
other Math Misfortunes that cause us to “Miss-AYP”,
at the Duval Elementary Mathematics Council meeting.

The Duval Elementary Mathematics Council is proud to annouce James Williams as our featured speaker for the October 25th meeting.

When: Thursday, 25 October 2007
Dinner Reception: 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Presentation: 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Where: Mandarin Oaks Elementary
10600 Hornets Nest Road
Jacksonville, FL 32257

Please R.S.V.P. by school or individual before 22 October 2007 to Zachary Champagne at Champagnez@dreamsbeginhere.org

In this session participants will be presented with information about how some student misconceptions about math are developed and their impact on student achievement. Participants will also be presented with instructional and intervention strategies to address these misconceptions and improve student performance.

James Williams is a Senior Associate/Math Specialist for America’s Choice Inc. Prior to this position Mr. Williams worked in the field of education in various capacities. He was a teacher and high school administrator at Berkeley High School in Berkeley CA. He was co-director of the Diversity Project, a research initiative between Berkeley High School and the University of
California at Berkeley. He has also served as an education consultant to various schools, districts and the Mississippi Department of Education.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

1st Meeting of the 2007 School Year!


Come out to the Schultz Center Monday, September 24th for our first DEMC meeting of the year. Below is our agenda...Big news will be shared about the newly adopted Sunshine State Standards and the FCAT roll out to match those standards. This information is brand new! We hope to see you there.


Introductions of Board Members
Goals of DEMC
Membership/ Recruitment
Turn-n-Talk: Successes/Suggestions first 5 weeks of school
News from FCTM
New Standards – Timeline and FCAT Changes
2007 state conference in Orlando
2008 state conference in Jacksonville!!!!!
October meeting- National Speaker to talk to DEMC

Monday, April 23, 2007

The Mathematics Educator of the Year Finalists!

The DEMC would like to congratulate the three finalists for the 2007 Mathematics Educator of the Year. They are:

Jeffrey Braden, from Henry Kite Elementary
Angela Phillips, from Chet's Creek Elementary
Richard Pinchot, from Chet's Creek Elementary

The winner will be announced on May 7th at 4:00 pm at the Schultz Center. Please come out and support all the wonderful mathematics educators in Duval County. We hope to see you there.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Election News

The following members are campaigning for the board offices of the DEMC. The election will be held on May 7th at the Schultz Center. Only members in good standing can vote in our bi-annual election. We only have one member running for the offices of president, secretary, and treasurer. Therefore, we will only be voting for the office of vice president. Members will be asked to choose 4 vice-presidents to serve on the board of DEMC. We look forward to seeing you on the 7th at 4:00!

Running for the Office of President

Timothy William Kenney

It has been my pleasure to serve as President of the Duval Elementary Mathematics Council for the past two years. The council has gotten off to a great start, but I believe we need to continue to grow and affect others in the mathematics community. Over the past two years, in conjunction with other members of the council, I have worked on creating a set of by-laws, facilitated meetings (Board/ Council meetings), presented at FCTM, and helped develop the award for Math Educator of the Year. I believe with your continued support we can truly impact mathematics in Duval County.


Running for the Office of Vice-President

Melissa Kolb Buchanan

While I have only taught for 5 years, those years have been filled with experiences that would help me as a DEMC Vice President. As San Mateo’s Math Lead teacher and now active member of Hendricks’ Mathematics VLC it has always been a goal of mine to help further mathematics education. My objective in obtaining this position is to facilitate the spreading of awesome instruction not just in my school, but also throughout the county. As the chair of several committees and former Vice President of my Sorority I have leadership skills that enable me to plan big events and accomplish a range of objectives.


Zachary Michael Champagne

My name is Zachary Champagne and I am running for the office of Vice President. I have been a classroom teacher at West Jacksonville Elementary for the past eight years, and I have also served for the past two years as a vice president of the DEMC. During this time I have created a website, secured sponsors for the Mathematics Educator of the Year, presented at DEMC meetings and at FCTM on behalf of the council. This year I was also honored as a Presidential Award finalist for the state of Florida. I am looking forward to continuing to serve as a vice president of the DEMC.

Lon King

I am Lon King and I currently serve as one of your vice-presidents. I have been active in DEMC from the beginning and believe that the success of our council depends on teacher support. I know that this support and attendance at meetings will come as the result of providing useful, interesting, and real-world information at all meetings. I will continue to try to provide this either as a vice-president or as an active member. I am currently the math coach at Long Branch Elementary and have been teaching for five years. Thank you for your support and assistance.

Matthew Peterson

Matt Peterson received his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Kinesiology, along with his United States Naval Officer Commission, from the University of Minnesota. After completing 11 years of military service, he joined Duval County Public Schools. His Professional Teaching Certificate has been completed through the University of North Florida’s Alternative Certification Program. As Arlington Elementary’s 2005-2006 Teacher of the Year, Mr. Peterson currently serves as a Third Grade Math / Science teacher, Math Model Classroom, Grade Level Chair, Shared Decision Making Chair, Academy of Mathematics participant and Vice President of Region IV on the Duval Elementary Mathematics Council.


Marcia Rivas

I would consider running for a vice-president position if I could continue to work with great people who love math. I am a 24 year veteran of Duval County Schools, and for 19 of those years I have taught math. I have been the math coach for my school since 2002. Our school (Twin Lakes) is a national model school for America’s Choice, so I get lots of training in math beyond the district level. I am a member of NCTM and obviously of DEMC (our school has the highest percentage of DEMC members).

Running for the Office of Treasurer

Carol Hazouri

As a member of DEMC this year, I have enjoyed attending the meetings and seeing how the organization works. I would like to serve next year in the capacity of treasurer. I am comfortable handling money, and am accurate in my record-keeping. After teaching for 39 years, I still find teaching math fun and stimulating. As a part-time math coach, I have experienced all levels of the curriculum. I feel honored to have been the 2007 teacher of the year at Crown Point. I enjoy networking with and learning from other teachers.

Running for the Office of Secretary

Rhonda Bajalia

I am interested in becoming more active in the DEMC by running for the office of secretary. After teaching for 29 years, I feel that I have a skills set that will be helpful in this capacity. As a teacher in grades 2 – 5, and a guidance counselor for six years, I feel my experiences have provided a good understanding of what children in need in mathematics. My experiences as a district-level, state and national presenter allow me to feel comfortable working with and presenting information to other teachers.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Today's meeting

This is just a reminder that we have a meeting today at 4:00 at the Schultz Center. This meeting will be brief--we expect to be adjourned by 4:45. We will be discussing the election guidelines as well as our recommendations to the SSS revisions. Hope to see you there.

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Guidelines for elections

Guidelines for those wishing to run for office in the Duval Elementary Mathematics Council.

The following positions are up for our bi-annual election on May 7th.

President
4 Vice-President positions
Secretary
Treasurer

To run for the office of President, the DEMC by laws state that you must be a full time PK-5 classroom teacher. This excludes district employees, administrators, and school or county based mathematics and standards coaches.

To run for the office of Vice President, Secretary, or Treasurer, the DEMC by laws state that you must be a school based employee. This excludes all district level employees, but does however include school based mathematics and standards coaches.

If you would like to be considered for one of these offices, please send a description of yourself, your experiences, and why you’d like to run (less than 100 words) to kenneyt@educationcentral.org by Friday April 13th at 3:00. These biographies will be sent to all DEMC members and voting will be held on May 7th. The winners will be announced at that May meeting. If a new person is elected to office, they do not officially take over until next school year and will become familiar with the council during the summer.

MEMBERS MUST BE PRESENT TO VOTE!