Welcome to the 2016 MidSchoolMath National Conference!
Session scheduling is limited to registered attendees - all attendees should receive schedule access via email by Jan. 4 or within two business days of registering. Click on the "More Information" link for detailed directions on accessing SCHED and signing up for concurrent sessions.
Programming begins each morning at 8:15 am sharp, ending at 4:30 pm on Friday, followed by a social hour from 5:00 - 6:30 pm; and ends at 4:15 pm on Saturday.Please note, schedule is subject to change.
To learn more about MidSchoolMath or register to attend the conference, please visit www.midschoolmathnationalconference.com or email conference@midschoolmath.com.
Last year MidSchoolMath released the first socially-networked story-based math game, EMPIRES.
Trading of virtual goats and researching metallurgy, interwoven with a youthful love story and the creation of settled civilizations in Ancient Mesopotamia is not the formula one expects when considering methods to raise the dismal track record of US students
on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) scale in math.
So why goats? Because goats, or metallurgy, or wherever else a civilization story can take you, can help math make sense. A compelling story pedagogy takes learning deeper. The game starts with an introductory trailer that creates a captivating setting with a feeling that this is the beginning of civilization. Characters and plot are essential parts to keeping to story moving as the game begins. Students manage their empire, tallying assets, investing and distributing resources. As each activity unfolds, opportunities for deep learning of math – and repetitive practice – appear, woven into the context of the game.
Math uniquely comes to life within EMPIRES. Ratios and proportional relationships are explored as resources are invested in projects; the Pythagorean Theorem serves as a tool that allows the measurement of distance and time between a neighboring empire to complete a trade.
Join math teacher, Lori Brown, to find out what happened when she brought EMPIRES to her classroom!