The SCCTM Advisory Assembly

Fall 2005 Meeting Report

The SCCTM Advisory Assembly met on October 28, 2005 in the Palmetto Expo Center in Greenville, SC, in concurrence with the SCCTM fall conference. The Advisory Assembly is comprised of mathematics educators located throughout South Carolina. Representatives for the elementary, middle, secondary and post-secondary levels of education are recruited from each of eight specified regions of the state. The purpose of the Advisory Assembly is to provide guidance and make recommendations to the SCCTM Executive Board. The primary purpose of the fall meeting is to evaluate the fall conference and make suggestions for improvement.

The meeting opened with Bill Gillam reporting progress in addressing the suggestions and issues raised by the Assembly at the last meeting. He also recognized members of the Assembly who were rotating off this year, and thanked them for their service. The members leaving the assembly membership were Joyce Dodd, Gloria Brown, Angie McCune, Cathy DeMers, Theresa Davis, Don Hardie, Frank Caldwell, Lyall White and Tonya McIntyre.

Susan Hall addressed the board on issues concerning the success of the conference and particular issues for discussion in the group sessions. Issues targeted for discussion were the need for more sessions at the elementary and middle school level, improving the logistics of entering popular sessions, whether or not to provide lunch on site, and collaboration with science teachers. The Assembly broke into grade level groups and discussed these and other issues.

One issue that the groups provided feedback on was entry into the sessions. Specifically, there were long lines to get into many sessions, and some sessions filled up quickly. Many elementary teachers had indicated to Assembly members that they were shut out of sessions they wanted to attend. Suggestions included taking an interest inventory to determine popular grade-level topics and more aggressive recruitment of presenters for the elementary and middle grades.

Technology was a popular topic during the break-out session. Both the middle and secondary groups suggested an increase in the number of technology-oriented sessions. A specific request was made for more sessions addressing the use of interactive whiteboards as a teaching tool. More sessions on the use of Calculator-Based Laboratories and Calculator-Based Rangers were recommended. Members also suggested that computer access be available on-site for checking e-mail. The post-secondary group asked that the availability of wireless access be put into the program and that sessions requiring the use of web pages be placed in rooms where the access is available.

The Assembly members were asked how to address the availability of lunch at the conferences. Last year, the lunches provided on-site ran out quickly, forcing attendees to leave the conference site to eat. In an attempt to address that issue, we had more box lunches available this year. Many of the prepared lunches were not sold. One suggestion to address this was to provide attendees the opportunity to purchase lunch when they register; however many members felt that, in the future, SCCTM should avoid getting into the business of providing lunch for attendees. At most of our sites, there are ample food vendors and restaurants nearby to meet this need.

Other ideas discussed for future conferences included grant writing sessions, math and science inter-disciplinary lessons, the logistics of registration, and the need for more open discussion/networking opportunities. These focus areas and other information provided by the Assembly will be discussed in the January meeting of the SCCTM Executive Board.