Forgive the small amount of excitement, but we’re pleased to announce Volume 1 Issue 1 of the Zone 3 Newsletter just hit inboxes an hour ago.  Don’t fret - if you didn’t get signed up in time, you’ll be able to download a pdf version in a week or two.

Stay tuned for another issue soon!  Get signed up so you don’t miss out!!

Kids Who Count, Will

I recently received a request for an emailed newsletter. This comes from a busy elementary teacher who moonlights as a mother of three on nights and weekends. She says she knows there are wonderful websites out there with lots of things for her to use in her classroom, but she does not have the time nor will she make the time to visit them, including sites like this one.

Yet, she does subscribe to a few emailed newsletters - ones which are short and offer a few helpful hints or maybe a couple of links and annotations. She can spend a quick minute looking at the delivered information and decide then and there if anything looks interesting enough for further evaluation.

So, in the interest of teachers like her everywhere, I have created a newsletter which you can subscribe to here on the home page. You will find its location on the right menu; simply type in your preferred email address and click subscribe.  You will then need to visit your email and confirm your subscription.  After confirmation from you, you can visit your inbox one more time to get a link to set up your preferences.

Upon completing the process, you will receive an occasional newsletter from Zone 3 with a fair amount of goodies inside. Suggestions for content are always welcome.  If you would rather not add more to your inbox, you can instead subscribe to the website using an RSS reader such as Google Reader or Bloglines. To do so, click on the found at the bottom of the left menu.  We’ll post notices when new newsletters are available for download.

We are continuing to search for ways so that you can stay connected to your Zone 3 peers which are convenient and useful to you. Please keep the suggestions coming! And remember:

Kids Who Count, Will!

I would like to offer you the chance to let us know what you would be interested in learning more about or what you would like to talk about on this blog. Some ideas to get you going could include recruitment and retention of math teachers, effective teaching methods, technology, conferences, professional development, NCLB, and assessments. What’s missing from this list? What is on your mind right now? What can/should KATM do for you?

You can leave a comment for me by clicking on the “Comments” link below this and every post. If you haven’t already registered (and you probably haven’t), the link will take you to a log in screen. There, under the password box, is a link to register with the site. Choose your user name and type in a current email address where you will receive your temporary password as well as a link back to this blog to log in for the first time.

After logging in, you can change your password to anything you’d like. Click on “view site” at the very top of your screen to get back to the main page, then leave your comment! After you’ve registered, you’ll be able to leave comments as often as you’d like whenever you’re signed in. I hope you’ll spend the few minutes it will take you to register and join our community. It’s the first step in making the connections to a terrific network that’s waiting for you!

As always,

Kids Who Count, Will!
Fred

I want to make you aware of two scholarship opportunities that are available through KATM.  The first is the Capital Federal Mathematics Teaching Enhancement Scholarship, which is awarded to a practicing K-12 teacher with the best mathematics teaching enhancement proposal.  And the second is the KATM Cecile Beougher Scholarship, which is awarded to a practicing elementary teacher (K-6) for mathematics or mathematics education professional development.

The CapFed Scholarship is for an amount of up to $1000 and the Beougher Scholarship is for up to $400.  Applications are available on KATM’s website here.  If you look at the scholarships and decide they are not for you, I’d love to hear why you think so.  In keeping with the theme of this blog, I’d like to find more ways to connect with our members and the scholarships from KATM are one way to do that - but only if you feel they are of use to you.  If not, why?  If so, I hope you’ll complete the application process.

Hello, and thanks for stopping by a web space for both members and non-members of the Kansas Association of Teachers of Mathematics (KATM) who live and work in Zone 3, located in northeast Kansas. We welcome you and hope you’ll continue to stop by as we develop the site and make it a home for your mathematics teaching needs.

Zone 3 includes the counties of Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Douglas, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami, Osage, Shawnee and Wyandotte. The Northeast Kansas Association of Teachers of Mathematics (NEKATM) also makes its home in Zone 3.

In the coming weeks, we will begin to add content which we hope you will find both relevant and significant to your teaching. We hope you’ll bookmark us and check back frequently. We want this to be your site; come in, make yourself at home, and please feel free to engage and join in the conversation to make math education in Kansas the best it can be. Until then, remember:

Kids Who Count, Will!

Fred Hollingshead
KATM
Vice President, Middle School/Junior High