I was proud to be a part of Math for America’s second annual MT^2 event , Master Teachers on Teaching.

MT^2 invites MfA teachers from around New York City to propose short talks related to the conference theme.  This year’s theme was Change, and the seven teachers selected to present offered many different and interesting interpretations of that theme, including changing our practice, changing how we see our students, and changing the rules in mathematics.

At this year’s event, I offered a lighthearted but sincere take on my mathematical relationship with change.  At last year’s inaugural event, where the theme was Modeling, I talked about how standardized testing often works against our attempts to teach proper mathematics (the video of the talk can be seen here).

This event is typical of how Math for America celebrates and empowers teachers.  They created a space where teachers could share their ideas, grow their practice, and interact around mathematics, science, and teaching, and it was all teacher-led and teacher-driven.  Several hundred teachers were inspired by the work of their peers, challenged to think differently, and encouraged to continue to strive to be better teachers.  It’s great professional development, and it was a fun evening!