Re: reflections
Tom Dick (tpdick@MATH.ORST.EDU <tpdick@MATH.ORST.EDU>)
Mon, 11 Dec 95 15:01:05 PST
This is to provide a bit more detail regarding the reunion meetings
we have had for the teachers in the Calculus Connections Project.
Our budget had built in these meetings spaced about 6 months apart
for the year and a half following the initial workshop. They lasted
1-2 days and we provided $60 per day stipend plus travel/lodging costs.
We have used both a national meeting as well as regional meetings.
The format of the reunion meetings has been primarily teachers sharing
with other teachers - good experiences witht the curriculum or technology,
bad experiences, strategies for dealing with logistical problems,
strategies for dealing with administrators, strategies for dealing with
parents, etc. When possible, we have the room set up in round tables
so when we have a discussion period on some question or issue, each
table prepares an overhead transparency of the main points raised at
their table. This allows for more intimate personal discussion while
having the advantage of sharing all the ideas to the entire group at
the conclusion of the session.
I think the teachers come away from the meeting feeling that they have
been at a conference of professionals talking with each other (as
opposed to a meeting where the *project staff* has talked down to them).
Most importantly, they find out their local problems are not unique
and that they are connected to a community of folks who care.
Tom Dick
Director, Calculus Connections Project
Mathematics Department
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331-4605
Phone: 541-737-5179
FAX: 541-737-0517
e-mail: tpdick@math.orst.edu <tpdick@math.orst.edu>