Minutes of September 12, 2002 ISMAW Meeting at the Maret School.

In attendance were Doug Adams of St. Stephen's and St. Agnes; Nancy Wright
of the Washington Episcopal School; Betsy Bennett of St. Albans; Martha
Trigeiro, Betty King and Kay Cortelyou of the Maret School; Anneke Bates
from Key Curriculum Press; Syamala Chenulu and Ann Lawrence of the Capitol
Hill Day School; Susan Harris of Queen Anne School; Joan Reinthaler and Mary
Milroy of Sidwell Friends; Harriett Scheuermann of National Cathedral
School; Karen Dee Michalowicz of the Langley School; Steve Leinwand

1.  We started out by going around the table and having those in attendance
talk about summer activities in which they were engaged.  Among the
activities cited, Kay Cortelyou attended a Geometer's Sketchpad seminar in
Oakland, CA.  She introduced to us Anneke Bates, from Key Curriculum Press,
who is now living in McLean and is willing to give Sketchpad workshops.
Karen Dee Michalowicz continued work with MAA on CD Roms that explore math
topics from a historical prospective.  Betty King coordinated a 5 day
workshop at Maret centering around the notion of "curriculum mapping."
Nancy Wright attended an in-house technology workshop that explored various
math web sites.  Betsy Bennett, in her 3rd year on the board at NCTM, spent
time working on various projects, including the online journal.  Ann
Lawrence attended a 2 day workshop for teachers on Capitol Hill on
"algebraic thinking."  Steve Leinward, husband of Ann Lawrence, spent time
working on the NCTM Reflections website.

2.  Before hammering out the 2002-03 schedule, we heard a treasurer's report
from Nancy Wright.  Also, Joan Reinthaler asked if anyone was up to date on
changes in the Eisenhower Fund.  Was it only for DC schools?  Have there
been changes in the administration of the Fund?  Steve Leinwand had some new
information for us, i.e. the fund is no longer called the Eisenhower Fund,
and it no longer focuses on just math and science.  The drill is apparently
the same in terms of requesting funds, but the larger scope may make it more
difficult to obtain money.  After that, we scratched the surface on a couple
of topics:  standardized testing at the various levels (calculator vs. no
calculator) and the many inconsistencies that surround calculator use on
those tests.  We then spent a few minutes discussing the upcoming changes in
the SAT tests (new writing section, will include Alg. II/trig, no
quantitative comparison problems) and how these changes may force students
into higher level classes sooner.

3.  Topics for this year!

a.  Second Meeting, Georgetown Day Upper School, Monday, October 28

Topic:  How to help elementary math teachers in our schools.

We would like to invite some of our lower school teachers to the meeting so
that we can hear from them about their experiences, successes, failures,
frustrations, etc. as they teach math to grades K-5.  The thrust of the
meeting will be to answer questions they may have concerning curriculum,
etc. and to brainstorm and offer concrete suggestions to help make their
jobs easier and more enjoyable.

b.  Third Meeting, National Cathedral Upper School, Tuesday, December 3

Topic:  Comparative Education--Let's hear from teachers in our schools who
have experience outside of the United States.

We will invite any teachers to the meeting who would like to discuss their
experiences teaching abroad.  Let's compare and contrast the different
systems and styles and explore the comparative strengths and weaknesses as
it relates to teaching mathematics here and abroad.

c.  Fourth Meeting, Jewish Day School, Thursday, February 27

Topic:  Karen Dee Michalowicz will offer an encore presentation of "Math
Books from Long Ago!"

d.  Fifth Meeting, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School, Wednesday, April 30

Topic:  Let's Talk Geometry!

We would like to discuss math topics (grades K-12) from a geometric context
and perspective.  We'll look at spatial thinking and picture in our minds
the many connections between arithmetic, algebra, and geometry.  This might
also be a good time to think about the different ways that students learn,
i.e. auditory, visual, and kinesthetic.

In closing, a couple of reminders:

1.  We must reserve some time at the 5th meeting to begin planning for next
year

2.  Remember this year to send math meet scores to Peter Aleksiewicz at
Landon

Cheers!
Doug Adams