Representatives from First In Math were excited to be part of the Prince Georges County Public School's 2nd Annual Teaching and Learning Conference in October. The focus of the 2015 event was ‘Literacy Across the Content Areas.’
PGCPS educators participate in an interactive First In Math professional development session.
The conferences brought together more than 9,000 principals, assistant principals, teachers, teaching staff, counselors, and administrators for a day of learning and engaging. Altogether, 15 different PGCPS schools offered sessions covering a variety of content areas.
First In Math Implementation Specialists Shawn Collier and Melissa Walsh, along with FIM Coordinator Nancy Kane, presented five separate First In Math sessions in three locations: Friendly HS, Laurel HS and Greenbelt MS. “It was an excellent opportunity to share implementation strategies and ideas and to receive feedback from teachers who are working daily with students,” says Walsh.
“I enjoyed teaming up with Sharone Anderson Davis at Williams Elementary, Regina Walters at Templeton Elementary, and Marcia Frank-Sun, Instructional Lead Teacher at Cherokee Lane Elementary in Adelphi,” says Kane. “Other Lead Teachers—Jessica Schiery, Judy Cameron, Monica Cobble and Sharise Hazel—conducted their own presentation. It was a great collaborative effort by both the First In Math Implementation Team and PGCPS.”
“I have heard nothing but rave reviews of the sessions,” reports Judith Russ, Supervisor of PGCPS Department of Elementary Mathematics.
Frank-Sun, who is also the Southern Regional Representative for the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics, agrees. “It went really well, participants seemed to truly enjoy the sessions and were able to take away a lot of new information. And we enjoyed working with Nancy.”
Kane was equally impressed with the Maryland event. “As we were one of the sessions that included a technology component, it was really nice that the sessions were BYOD—Bring Your Own Device,” explains Kane, who says that attendees were asked to bring their own fully-charged laptop or tablet.