PSCTM Fall 2024 Dinner

MATH FUN WITH FLYING DISCS – Jane Bissonnette

Squares, rectangles, triangles, parallelograms, and angle measures of regular polygons, this presentation has it all. We will explore different shapes and geometric properties as we create paper flying discs and discuss the geometry of each shape as we go along. At the end, you will have a fun take-away to keep your students entertained for minutes or maybe longer depending on our origami and taping skills. This presentation is a great for elementary to high school ages.

ART & MATH COLLIDE - Projects bridging math, art, & inclusivity

Build a project to take home! Angela teaches a weekly Art in Math elective to students in grades 6-8 including many with disabilities. They explore Math concepts (especially in Geometry) while creating beautiful art projects. Several projects with instructions will be shared during this presentation and can be used in an ongoing course or as a stand-alone project. Come and build one of these projects yourself! This talk is based on an elective class developed to include students with disabilities. The focus is seeing the connections between art and math and allowing all students to express themselves through art.

Jane Bissonnette earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Master in Business. She was a telecommunications engineer for 20 years specializing in 9-1-1 call routing and location based services in the early days of cellular phone use. She returned to school to earn a Master in Teaching with endorsements in mathematics and computer science. She taught high school math and business education courses for 17 years. She is proud to have launched, along with a colleague, the computer science curriculum at Bishop Blanchet High School. Jane is the past president and current secretary on the PSCTM board. Jane loves games and believes playing games in the classroom facilitates learning. She is a nationally ranked ScrabbleR player and director of the Seattle ScrabbleR club. When not playing with her granddaughter or preparing for a Scrabble tournament, Jane enjoys pickleball, cribbage and pinochle each week.

Angela Ensminger is a teacher and middle school department chair at St. Madeleine Sophie Catholic School (SMS) in Bellevue, WA. Her involvement with SMS goes back to the founding of the school, where she was instrumental in defining the school’s focus on inclusive education for all. Currently, her classes include middle school Math, Algebra I and Geometry as well as Religion, Robotics and a Math / Art elective. Outside of SMS, Angela is president of the Puget Sound Council of Teachers of Mathematics and has served multiple years on the board. She has served on several NWMC committees. Angela holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Loyola University in New Orleans and a M.S. in Statistics from the University of Texas at Dallas, and teaching certification from Western Governors University. While her professional experience spans teaching elementary to college, her passion is working with middle school students. Most of her classes at SMS include students with disabilities. This environment has led Angela to develop the skills needed to help all students be included and succeed. Beyond the typical academic classes, this inclusiveness is seen in robotics and art. Angela is a coach for Special Olympics where SMS participates in many unified sports including her WA state winning teams in Unified Robotics.

Schedule:

• 5 pm social
• 5:30 pm dinner
• 6:15 pm: announcements
• 6:30 – 7:30 pm presentation

You may register on this site and pay for dinner or dinner and membership online. $15 for Members, $20 if not. Annual membership costs $8 for elementary teachers, $15 for all others. Members are eligible for the Royal Pennewell door prize drawing.

Free clock hours are provided by Puget Sound Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Please register for them at the door.

Host or Publisher PSCTM