All Learners Network (ALN) is pleased to offer our in-person Math for ALL Conference each year with generous support from the Vermont Agency of Education. Our 2024 conference will take place on April 9, 2024 from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm at the Killington Grand Resort & Conference Center in Killington, Vermont. This event is being offered to attendees, completely free of charge.

Date: Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Location: Killington Grand Resort & Conference Center in Killington, Vermont

Cost: Free

Included accommodations: Breakfast and lunch on April 9, 2024

Please email ashleymarlow@alllearnersnetwork.com with any questions!

*Planning to stay in Killington? Use this link to access a room to attend the conference at a discounted rate.

2024 CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Presenter bios can be found here.

REGISTRATION & BREAKFAST 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Registration opens at 8:00 am for attendees to check-in. A breakfast buffet will be available from 8:00 am - 9:00 am.

WELCOME & KEYNOTE 9:00 AM - 10:05 AM

INTERSECTIONAL INSIGHTS: THE CROSSROADS OF MATH AND IDENTITY,
DR. LATEEFAH ID-DEEN

In this talk, we'll delve into the ways cultural and societal influences shape our students' mathematical journeys. Let’s uncover the often-overlooked link between who our students are and how it influences their engagement with mathematics.

SESSION 1 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM

BUILDING NUMBER SENSE WITH CARD GAMES, TARA TRUDO

Card games are a great way for kids to practice important High Leverage Concepts (HLCs). Come learn about some of my favorite card games that are easy to create, require minimal prep, and have a long shelf life. By changing the deck of cards we are using, we can leverage the same games throughout preK-5 classrooms to practice important HLCs. Participants will also get access to several All Learners Network (ALN) card decks to use with their students.
Intended Audience: PK-5 classroom teachers, interventionists, and special educators

MODELS AND MANIPULATIVES IN THE SECONDARY CLASSROOM, TARA SHARKEY

Manipulatives and models are not only for elementary students! Learn how to make abstract math concepts more concrete for middle school and high school students. Play with bar models, algebra tiles, pictures, and virtual tools to find ways to help secondary students build conceptual understanding of concepts such as expressions, equations, and systems of equations. Learn how these tools can put students in the driver's seat, increase engagement and thinking, and decrease the need for lecture and student mimicking. This session will be hands-on, fun, and will give you practical strategies to try in your classroom next week.
Intended Audience: 6-12 classroom teachers, interventionists, and special educators

REIMAGINING THE MTSS PROCESS, KIM WICYK

Have you ever felt like the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) process of just a few years ago no longer supports your students and staff? This presentation will ask us to rethink what we previously believed about the MTSS process so that students find success and support when they need it. This presentation will include discussions and resources and will ask participants to reimagine how the MTSS process might work when it truly meets the needs of all learners.
Intended Audience: Teacher leaders, coaches, and administrators

GETTING MESSY WITH FRACTIONS WITH KATHLEEN LEGG

“It’s important to provide a variety of ways students can learn about fractions.” - Marilyn Burns, About Teaching Mathematics.

Spend time experiencing fractions in multiple ways to build meaning. Students need to live in the “messiness” of learning in order to truly understand fractions. In this workshop, we will dive into modeling fractional relationships (equivalency, adding, multiplying & dividing) with pattern blocks, fraction tiles, number lines and colored tiles.

Intended Audience: 4-7 grade classroom teachers, special educators and interventionists

MINI GOALS FOR BIG GROWTH, KATE HUGHES

With the passing of Act 173 in Vermont, schools are expected to have a robust Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). This presentation will focus on using ALN resources as part of a high-quality MTSS. We will explore how to use the High Leverage Concepts, Progressions, and Assessments to create Tier 2 and 3 interventions. We will talk about the importance of targeted, specific goals that lead to huge growth over time.
Intended Audience: PK-8 special educators and interventionists

SUPPORTING MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS, KRISTEN BINGEL AND JANELLE GENDIMENICO

Do you wonder how to best support multilingual learners in math? Learn six important practices from ELLevation and how to integrate them into your math instruction. We will share approaches to best support multilingual learners while using All Learners Network resources and recommendations.
Intended Audience: PK-5 classroom teachers, special educators, interventionists

LUNCH 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM

A buffet lunch will be available for conference attendees.

SESSION 2 1:00 PM - 2:15PM

BUILDING AND FACILITATING LESSONS WITH CRITICAL CONTEXTS, NICOLE HANSEN

One way to support students in building a positive math identity, agency, and authority is by facilitating lessons with critical contexts. In these lessons, students use math as a tool for making sense of our world and engage with issues of representation, power, and justice. In this session, participants will experience and analyze an Algebra 1 lesson from the Desmos Math curriculum where students model the population change in Detroit over time. Participants will then think and plan together about facilitating lessons with critical contexts in their math classrooms.
Intended Audience: 6-12 classroom teachers, special educators, and interventionists

USING MATH MENU IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, ELIZABETH KIELTY

In this presentation, we will explore the what and how that make math menu accessible, equitable, and sustainable within our dynamic classroom systems. Because mathematics is a social activity, we will address some of the most common challenges that arise when using Math Menu in middle school together.
Intended Audience: 6-8 classroom teachers, special educators and interventionists

BEYOND PRACTICE: LEARNING MATH CONCEPTS BY PLAYING GAMES, KAREN GARTLAND

Mathematics games are developed in many forms. This presentation will move beyond how games are often used in classrooms to simply practice previously learned concepts and, instead, will consider a focus on game-playing as an instructional practice for teaching concepts by building mathematical thinking. Participants will engage in playing games primarily for grades 5-8 and discuss the integration of game-playing into main menu routines. Additional topics will include managing routines for game-playing in middle school classrooms, student accountability, and ideas for game variation.
Intended Audience: 5-8 classroom teachers, special educators and interventionists

FOSTERING POSITIVE MATH RELATIONSHIPS, DR. KELLY BITINAS

Are you looking to improve the quality of math instruction in your school district but are afraid of administrative pushback and teacher disengagement? Learn how one school district in southern Massachusetts collaborated with ALN to help foster positive math relationships for staff and students alike, involving stakeholders from Central Office administration to building-based math coaches.
Intended Audience: Teacher leaders, coaches, and administrators

A TRAUMA-INFORMED MATH CLASSROOM, KERIANNE SEVERY

If all means all, that includes that highly reactive student whom you may or may not know has a trauma history or is currently experiencing trauma at home. We will discuss how to structure your classroom, how to speak to students, and how to address misbehavior in ways that do not escalate and instead make the student feel safe. Math does not innately lend itself to relationship building as well as say English, so we will also discuss how to intentionally build relationships through math class. We will spend time discussing how the ALN Launch and low floor/high ceiling tasks provide inroads with students who fear rejection or judgment.
Intended Audience: PK-12 classroom teachers, interventionists, and special educators

LEVERAGING THE POWER OF MATH MANIPULATIVES, LILLY DEPINO

This workshop will focus on the benefits of using manipulatives to support access, equity, and sense-making of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade High Leverage Concepts. We will explore strategies for introducing (or reintroducing) manipulatives into problem-solving contexts and discuss the vital connections manipulatives can help learners build between concrete, representational, and abstract thinking.

Intended Audience: 3-5 classroom teachers, special educators, and interventionists

SESSION 3 2:30 - 3:45 PM

SYSTEM CHANGE IS A TEAM EFFORT, CARLY EPSTEIN AND DAVID COHN

In this workshop participants will learn about the partnership between ALN and Union Street Elementary School (USS) in Springfield, VT, specifically what it takes for impactful system change. What role does each part of the system play in ensuring change? What are actionable steps to building distributed leadership for impactful change? Participants will engage in goal setting and role expectations and learn about the system supports necessary for transforming math classrooms to a place where all students have agency and ownership. Participants will see firsthand how a supported collaborative shift to teaching for understanding impacts students, educators, and schools. Participants will leave this workshop with strategies to support system change in math instruction through distributed leadership as well as tools to support responsive teaching and learning through PLC structures.
Intended Audience: Teacher leaders, coaches, and administrators

A FOCUSED LOOK AT STRATEGIES TO BUILD STUDENT ENGAGEMENT THROUGH STUDENT DISCOURSE, JOY DOBSON AND BRANDI CORBETT

In this presentation, participants will experience math as learners while strengthening their understanding of the importance of student discourse. Student discourse is integral for all students to access and engage in mathematical concepts. Participants will learn strategies in a fun and collaborative session while exploring strategies from Connie Hamilton, Peter Leijadal, Teachers Development Group, Jo Boaler, and All Learners Network.
Intended Audience: PK-8 Classroom teachers, special educators, and interventionists

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN A CLASSROOM TEACHER AND THEIR COACH, JOSHUA BUNKER AND ALEXA STEWART

Opportunities to collaborate between coaches and classroom teachers support differentiation and access to grade level learning. In this session, we will build on the work we shared this fall at the ALN Virtual Conference related to using the High Leverage Concepts to Guide Your Coaching Conversations. We will share our experiences throughout the year as we worked to use the HLCs to drive all our coaching conversations and decisions. This presentation will demonstrate how a team can build and plan for appropriate differentiation and small group construction. It is not mandatory to have attended this fall in order to engage in this workshop.
Intended Audience: Teacher leaders, coaches, and administrators

MATH REASONING THAT SUPPORTS MATHEMATICAL PROCEDURES, NAKASHA KIRKLAND

The over-reliance on algorithms can create misconceptions that hinder the development of mathematical reasoning. In this session, we will examine flexible approaches to solving equations and proportions that will aid in bridging the chasm between student's numerical reasoning and their algebraic reasoning. Student-ready activities will be shared.
Intended Audience: 6-8 classroom teachers, special educators and interventionists

OUTDOOR MATH FOR ELEMENTARY LEARNERS, TIMINY BERGSTROM

This workshop is an introduction to the purpose and value of incorporating outdoor nature experiences into math instruction and routines as well as how to implement these experiences in a manageable way. There will be opportunities to brainstorm, discuss, and troubleshoot problems that can arise during an outdoor classroom experience so that participants feel ready to try some outdoor learning math activities when they return to their classroom.
Intended Audience: PK- 6 classroom teachers, special educators, and interventionists

HIGH SCHOOL MATH UNTRACKED, LYNNE MANLEY

This presentation will share Milton Town School District’s journey using the Plan Do Study Act cycle to move closer to full inclusion in math classes, particularly Algebra I for all in 9th grade. This work includes a belief that all students can achieve at the level of Algebra I mathematics with their peers, strengthening math identity, agency, and authority. We will share where we’ve been and where we are going concerning differentiated math instruction and intervention.
Intended Audience: 9-12 classroom teachers, special educators, interventionists, teacher leaders, and administrators

VT AOE: Math for ALL Conference in Killington!