"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!"

As members of NCSM, you are receiving this message in your email at a time I had planned to be flying to Atlanta for my final NCSM board meeting and conference as President. When NCSM made the difficult decision to not hold our in-person conference in Atlanta, I will not lie…I was sad. As you can imagine, years of planning go into the details and logistics of holding each NCSM Annual Conference. Now, due to the pandemic, we have had to cancel two wonderful programs, the 2020 Conference in Chicago and the 2021 Conference in Atlanta, created by two amazing conference committees and led by two inspirational program chairs. These volunteers worked tirelessly to bring together mathematics leaders across the continent to network and learn from one another. However, like many of you working overtime as mathematics leaders, we took the “lemon” that was handed to us and did our best to make lemonade.

Rather than focus on our loss, we choose to focus on our mission and what actions we can take to continue to “equip and empower a diverse education community to engage in leadership that supports, sustains, and inspires high quality mathematics teaching and learning every day for each and every learner.” (NCSM, 2017). As a result, there are three new virtual opportunities for mathematics leaders to learn together. 

With the support of our Platinum Sponsor, Texas Instruments, we are hosting the NCSM Virtual Celebration on Monday and Tuesday, September 20-21 (dates that coincide with the original Atlanta Conference). We know we can’t all get together in Atlanta, but that doesn't mean we can’t get together with our math colleagues that work in the same school, district, or state. With this in mind, we have two registration options. You can register as an individual for $40 and you can watch from your home or office OR you can register for a group of any size for $60. The group rate allows you to invite your math friends and colleagues to join the virtual session all from one location and learn together. Use #NCSMpubPD during the event to showcase your network of mathematics leaders at your watch party. 

The second learning opportunity is the preconference sessions on Sunday, September 19, 2021. There are two sessions focused on coaching and site-level leadership based on two of the NCSM Essential Action Series books. 

And finally, NCSM is hosting Beyond the Conference. Listen to Shawn Towle, the program chair, and myself share some of the highlights HERE. 

NCSM prides itself on creating opportunities for mathematics leaders to connect with other leaders so we can build shared learning and affirmation we are on the right track. So, as we ASPIRE to be Bold leaders, the live sessions at the NCSM Celebration and Beyond the Conference will provide time and space for leaders to reflect and ACTIVATE new learning. Then we  can plan how to ACT to ensure that all students engage in high quality mathematics teaching and learning each and every day. 

From Mona Toncheff, NCSM President

Check out the newest NCSM Podcast in the Learning with Leaders: The Bold Mathematics Leadership series. In this month’s podcast, co-hosts, Mona Toncheff, NCSM President, and John SanGiovanni, Regional Director, Eastern Region 2 interview Sunil Singh, one of the concurrent speakers for the 53rd NCSM Virtual Celebration on September 21, 2021.

In this episode, we talk with Sunil Singh about storytelling in mathematics. He shares ideas about the value of stories, the need for context in learning mathematics, and that each person’s math story is a work in progress. Stories are a powerful way to develop a deeper understanding of and a personal connection with mathematics

New episodes for the Learning with Leaders: The Bold Mathematics Leadership series podcast will be released on the 11th of each month. More information on how to listen to the podcasts can be found on the NCSM website.  

You can listen on your favorite podcast platform using the links below.  

• Spotify
• Itunes
• Stitcher
• Google Podcast  
   

From Mona Toncheff, NCSM President, and John SanGiovanni, Regional Director for Eastern Region 2

Archived Podcasts

The Summer 2021 NCSM Journal of Mathematics Education Leadership is available to all members and can be found HERE. 

The purpose of the NCSM Journal is to advance the mission and vision of NCSM by:

• Strengthening mathematics education leadership through the dissemination of knowledge related to research, issues, trends, programs, policy, and practice in mathematics education
• Fostering inquiry into key challenges of mathematics education leadership
• Raising awareness about key challenges of mathematics education leadership in order to influence research, programs, policy, and practice.

Highlights from this issue of the NCSM Journal include the following articles:

• Curricular Reform in Schools: Secondary Leaders' Perceptions by Amanda Bauer, Erin Lehmann, Kristine Reed, and Gwendolyn Zimmermann
• Design and Impact of Flexible, Asynchronous Online Video-Based Mathematics Professional Development by Nanette Seago, Angela Knotts, and Catherine Carroll
• An Interdisciplinary Coaching Approach to Data-Based Individualization: A Year-Long Partnership Between Mathematics Teachers and Special Education Researchers, by William S. Walker, III

The NCSM Journal is available quarterly with NCSM membership. 

From Brian Buckhalter and Erin Lehmann NCSM Journal Co-Editors

The Fall 2021 NCSM Inspiration! is available to all members and can be found HERE. It is currently available in PDF format.

The current issue contains articles for:

• Bold Mathematics Leadership: Reflections On and Ideas for Leading During These Critical Times
  • What's Your Legacy by Mona Toncheff
  • On the Shoulders of Giants by Paul Gray
  • Supporting Ambitious Teaching in the Mathematics Classroom by Dr. Tina Moore
• Board Members at Work:
  • Beginning a New School Year Following the Pandemic Challenges by NCSM Regional Directors
• Empower Mathematics Leaders: Connect, Learn, and Honor
  • NCSM's 2021 Annual Conference - Atlanta, Georgia
  • Recognizing Our Members: NCSM's Ross Taylor/Glenn Gilbert National Leadership Awardee - Jonathan Wray
  • NCSM Affiliate: Bold Leaders Tackle the Challenges

For non-members, there is a FREE PREVIEW from the Summer 2020 Inspiration! to provide a taste of what kind of articles are included in the quarterly NCSM Inspiration! To access the free preview on the NCSM website, click on the LEADERSHIP RESOURCES tab and the preview will be available on the right side of the menu.

The NCSM Inspiration! is available quarterly with NCSM membership. 

From Gwen Zimmerman and Kim Romain, NCSM Inspiration Co-Editors

There are three virtual NCSM seminars planned for Fall 2021 and Winter 2022. Stay tuned for additional information and registration information.

• November 8, 2021 - Bold Mathematics Leaders: Coaching 101
• February 7, 2022 - Bold Mathematics Leaders: Coaching Practices that Promote Equity and Access
• March 7, 2022 - Bold Mathematics Leaders: Leadership Actions for Culturally Relevant Teaching in Mathematics Education

From Gina Rivera and Jenny Novak, NCSM Professional Learning Directors

Investigations in Mathematics Learning is publishing a special issue on mathematics specialists and mathematics teacher leaders. Additional information can found on the Call for Manuscripts and on the website.

Please consider submitting a proposal to this special issue by November 30, 2021. Authors should submit proposals to the editors of the special issue at [email protected].

Notification of a proposal acceptance will be made by December 30, 2021 with full articles due February 28, 2022. Please feel free to share this call for manuscripts with others you believe would be interested.

From Guest Editors, Courtney Baker, Margret Hjalmarson, and Skip Fennell

The NCSM INSIDER is published monthly.

Please consider forwarding this to a colleague—let's get everyone involved in the conversation!

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Encourage others to subscribe. Forward this issue to your friends and colleagues who work in or have an interest in mathematics education leadership - or have them click here where they can subscribe themselves. 

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NCSM...Where Mathematics Leaders

Go To Learn

NCSM is a mathematics education leadership organization that equips and empowers a diverse

education community to engage in leadership that supports, sustains, and inspires high quality 

mathematics teaching and learning every day for each and every learner.

When you become an NCSM member, you join a network of leaders in mathematics education from around the United States, Canada, and abroad, which works to ensure every student in every classroom has access to effective mathematics teachers, relevant curricula, culturally responsive pedagogy, and current technology.

JOIN TODAY!

Visit us 24/7 at mathedleadership.org
to explore ways to actively engage with NCSM.