Teaching

I’m excited to be participating in the inaugural Summer Think, a teacher-led summer conference hosted by Math for America.

The theme of the conference is Big Ideas In and Out of the Classroom.   I’ll be delivering the opening keynote, Connecting Big Ideas In and Out of the Classroom, and will also be running a related workshop later in the conference.  I’m honored to be providing the opening remarks for this event, which is undoubtedly the first of many.

The Summer Think has been organized and orchestrated by teachers from Math for America’s various fellowship programs, and features two dozen sessions proposed and facilitated by teachers.  In addition to the underlying support offered through their fellowship programs, MfA has provided organizational support for the conference.

Teacher-led, teacher-driven professional development lies at the heart of Math for America’s programs, and the fact that over 50 teachers are participating in a conference less than two weeks after the end of the school year speaks to the impact it has on MfA’s teachers.

You can learn more about the conference, including a list of sessions and presenters, here.

On Wednesday, February 15th, I’ll be participating in a webinar hosted by the National Science Foundation for teachers who are applying for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

The purpose of the webinar is to help interested teachers navigate the application process, which involves a lot of planning, recording, reflecting, and writing.  As a PAEMST awardee, I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences applying for, and receiving, the award.

If you are applying for the PAEMST, or considering it, you can register for the free webinar by clicking here and searching for “Applicant Webinar”.  I will be participating in the webinar on 2/15 at 2:00 pm, but NSF is running webinars throughout the nomination period, so there are many dates and times to choose from.

And if you know a deserving teacher, it’s not too late to nominate them for the Presidential Award!  You have until April 1st, 2017.

Related Posts

• PAEMST
• Awards and Recognition

I’m excited to be heading to San Antonio in April for the 2017 NCTM Annual Meeting!

NCTM’s annual meeting brings together thousands of educators from across the country to discuss mathematics, pedagogy, technology, and more.  It’s been many years since I attended an NCTM conference, so I’m looking forward to seeing what has changed in how the organization approaches math teaching, math teachers, and professional development.

I’ll be presenting Making Math in Scratch, a 60-minute session about my work integrating computer programming into math class using Scratch, the free, web-based, block-based programming environment designed by the MIT Media Lab.  The talk is scheduled for Thursday, 4/6/17, at 9:30 am, so if you’re planning on attending the NCTM Annual, please pencil me in!  And if you like, I’d be happy to give you a pre-conference homework assignment.

Conferences like this are great opportunities for professional growth, but the logistics are often complicated for classroom teachers.  I’m fortunate to have received support from Math for America and the Empire State Excellence in Teaching Award, which makes attending NCTM’s Annual Meeting in San Antonio possible.

Related Posts

• Resources — NCTM 2017

Tonight I’ll be running a workshop at the Math for America offices in New York City on Mathematics and Scratch.

I’ve been working to incorporate more computing into my mathematics courses, and Scratch, the free, web-based, block-based programming language developed by the MIT Media Lab, has become an invaluable part of my approach to teaching basic mathematical computing and simulation.

In my workshop participants will engage in elementary mathematical explorations in Scratch that span the mathematics curriculum, from Algebra and Geometry to Calculus and Statistics.  We’ll solve some mathematics problems using computer science and some computer science problems using mathematics!  And I hope that teachers will leave with some ideas about how to get their own students making math in Scratch.

After the workshop, I’ll be posting links and resources here.

Related Posts

• MfA Workshop — An Introduction to Desmos
• MfA Workshop — Surfaces in Space
• Scratch@MIT, 2016
• SIAM ED16