Radford brings math teachers to campus for professional development conference
Radford University hosted more than 500 people for Virginia Council for Teachers of Mathematics (VCTM) annual conference on March 9-10.
Spread out over two days and four academic buildings, the conference was designed to enhance teaching and learning for those in-service and pre-service teachers in attendance and provide them with time to network and exchange ideas, engage with the latest advancements in the mathematics field and discover new learning practices that promote student success.
“The more exposure teachers and pre-service teachers have to conferences like this and to see the ideas being shared about teaching mathematics, the more they can bring to their classrooms to leverage their students learning,” said Darryl Corey, an associate professor who helped organize and bring the conference to Radford University.
The event offered numerous professional development workshops and sessions, as well as noted speakers from the Virginia mathematics education community. An important topic this year was the upcoming changing standards for mathematics.
“We invited teachers and other professionals who have innovative and important ideas about teaching mathematics,” Corey said.
This year marked the first time VCTM has held its annual conference on the Radford University campus.
“We try to take our conferences to all places in Virginia and we realize there are people in this area who are unable to get to our conferences when we have them in other parts of the state because it’s too far to travel,” said VCTM President Jamey Lovin. “It has been awesome here at Radford.”
Radford University’s College of Education and Human Development, School of Teacher Education and Leadership and faculty from the M.S. in Education: Math Education Content Area Studies program hosted the event after nearly two years of planning.
“Radford has one of the largest graduate programs for secondary mathematics teachers in the state of Virginia,” said Associate Math Professor Agida Manizade, who also helped bring the conference to the university. “If we want to continue to be the lead institution in the state, we need to host these events that are specifically designed for that population. Since we are a leader in educating mathematics teachers, it makes sense for us to host events such as this conference.”
In addition to hosting, Radford University had faculty and a few students who attended and presented at the conference. Manizade and assistant professor Anthony Dove and Ryan Smith were among the faculty presenters.
Students Erin McGuigan and Catherine Turner, along with alumna Kim Rygas, presented on their work and experience as educators last summer in Malawi. Their talk focused on Malawi teachers’ style and how they helped struggling learners.
Cameron Leo ’17, a graduate student in the Math Education Content Studies program, and junior math major Alex Largen of Laurel Fork, presented three sessions for teachers, including a workshop on GeoGebra.
Presenting to professionals in the field at a prestigious conference was “a great experience” for the duo even through “all the hard work and long hours” it took to prepare, Leo said.
“And we did it in heels,” Largen joked.
Mathematics and Statistics Associate Professor Jean Mistele was the program contact person for the Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics (VCTM) conference. She said she hoped the workshops and speakers would inspire Radford’s pre-service teachers to learn from the in-service teachers and be open to try new techniques in their future classrooms.
“We have a lot of great teachers from this area and around the state who can share their knowledge with each other and our future teachers,” Mistele said. “This is a wonderful opportunity for our students, and the teachers to receive professional development in a friendly and enjoyable environment.”
Growth in her profession was one of the many reasons Allison Herrington ‘15 registered for the conference at her alma mater.
“As a teacher, you have to be continually learning,” said the Pulaski County High School math teacher. “As the years move on, students learn differently, often because technology advances come into play. I came to the conference to check out the different sessions aimed at helping teachers to better reach students.”