The Sacramento Area Mathematics Educators and CSU Sacramento Mathematics Project heldtheir 11th annual Making Math Meaningful and Mini-Conference on Saturday in the University Union.

These two groups worked in cooperation with the Center for Mathematics and Science Education at Sacramento State to hold the conference.

The conference invited Sac State students working toward becoming math teachers and educators from school districts around the Sacramento region. The districts included San Juan Unified, Sacramento City Unified, Elk Grove Unified and several others.

Director of the CSU Sacramento Mathematics Project and Sacramento Area Mathematics Educators President Debra Stetson said the conference is a great way of learning new concepts and techniques that can help students learn.

“The goal of S.A.M.E. is provide a network for area teachers to share their ideas that have been working inside the classroom. This includes Sac State instructors serving as presenters in the break-out sessions,” Stetson said.

The conference held three 50 minute break-out workshops for teachers to attend information sessions on what has been working in the various classrooms and lecture halls in the Sacramento area.

There were a total of 15 topics shared throughout the conference. Such topics included “Exploring Fair Sharing, Parts, and Wholes,” a lecture by professor Stephanie Biagetti on how to use story problems and pictorial representations to solve fractions.

The conference also had eight exhibitors sharing various techniques and information that could be used inside the classroom. Stetson pointed out the most important piece of information being shared at the conference was new California education common core standards for mathematics that were adopted by the state in August 2010.

Beyond the informational booths for teachers, there were also national vendors that provide the education system with necessary curriculum materials.

The five vendors included were Resource Area for Teachers, McGraw-Hill Publishing, Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt Publishing, Holt-McDougal Publishing and Pearson Education Publishing.

Cynthia Powers, sales representative for Pearson Education, said many resources were available for attendees to use.

“We are here to show the educators that we have some pretty dynamic and interactive textbooks,” Powers said. “Also that we offer digital media that students can access at home and features help options, instructive tutorials and work examples.”

Mira Loma High School math teacher Paul Burger said the conference helped him discover techniques he could use in his own classroom.

“I wanted to look for a few more ways I can work with my students effectively and find ideas that will help me reach more students in the classroom,” he said. “I wanted to learn how to work with underachieving students and one of the sessions dealt with this topic and how to help these students perform better.”

He said he will keep coming back to the conference for as long as he can. He feels the more he learns the better equipped he will be when he encounters students from all backgrounds.

“I want to be able to reach the kids that are harder to reach through conventional means,” Burger said. “A lot of times, it seems that teachers don’t want to deal with the lower-end classes. But for me, I want to be able to help those kids.”

Matt Harrington can be reached at [email protected]