This year’s Secondary Convention focuses on mathematics being inclusive and accessible to all. The theme ‘Everything counts. Everyone counts.’ highlights that every student is important and can engage with mathematics regardless of ability. Furthermore, we as educators, should make every moment count by capatalising on every learning opportunity to pique our students’ interest and harness their potential.
The event will be held at the Crown Convention Centre, Burswood on 20 and 21 November with two highly-respected educators delivering the keynotes. Dan Finkel, is the founder of Seattle-based Math for Love and co-creator of two award-winning maths games, and Di Siemon, professor of Mathematics Education at RMIT, is the director of the Reframing Mathematical Futures II Project. Both speakers are extensively involved in mathematics professional development and will share a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will inspire all delegates.
The Heads of Learning Area (HOLA) Day on 22 November will include a panel discussion and interactive workshops covering a range of topical subjects such as numeracy and STEM. Over the 3 days there will be plenty of opportunities for professional growth and networking, and we encourage you to register as soon as possible to take advantage of the early bird discount.
Wendy Pero
Secondary Convention Convenor
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Monday 20 November
Dan Finkel
Dan Finkel is the founder of Math for Love (mathforlove.com), a Seattle-based organisation devoted to transforming how mathematics is taught and learned. A teacher of teachers and students, Dan works with schools, develops curriculum, leads workshops, and gives talks on mathematics and education worldwide.
Dan is the co-creator of two award-winning maths games: Prime Climb, the beautiful, colourful, mathematical board game, and Tiny Polka Dot, the number-loving learning game for young children. He is also co-architect of Seattle Public School’s Summer Staircase math program, and was a longtime contributor to the New York Times Numberplay column. He has a PhD in algebraic geometry from the University of Washington.
Sponsored By:
Tuesday 21 November
Di Siemon
Di Siemon is a Professor of Mathematics Education in the School of Education at RMIT University (Bundoora) where she is involved with the preparation of pre-service teachers and the supervision of higher degree students. Di is currently the Director of the Reframing Mathematical Futures II project, which is working with 32 secondary schools nationally to develop an evidenced based teaching and learning framework for mathematical reasoning in the middle years. She is also actively involved in the professional development of practising teachers, particularly in relation to the development of the ‘big ideas’ in number, the teaching and learning of mathematics in the middle years, and the use of rich assessment tasks to inform teaching. Di has directed a number of other large scale research projects including the Scaffolding Numeracy in the Middle Years Project (2003-2006), the Researching Numeracy Teaching Approaches in Primary Schools Project (2001-2003), and the Middle Years Numeracy Research Project (1999-2001). Di is a past President of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers and a life member of the Mathematical Association of Victoria.