Speakers
Dr Raj Shah (USA)
He's on a mission to make math irresistible for all.
He has always had an affinity for math. Powered by his love of math, he earned a Ph.D. in Physics in 1999 which led to a decade in R&D at Intel. In 2008, he quit his job and founded Math Plus Academy, an after-school STEM enrichment program for kids from ages 5 – 14. He's also proud to be a founding member of The Global Math Project. In addition, he also helped lead a Math Teacher Circle and host the Julia Robinson Math Festival in Columbus, Ohio.
Core Principles
He's come to believe in these five math teaching principles:
Math is INTRINSICALLY IRRESISTIBLE (but school math often is not).
EVERYONE can do math.
Learning starts with CURIOSITY.
Teachers must present math like a VIDEO GAME DESIGNER.
Math is best learned by DOING, not being told.
Experience
Five years ago, he created a video explaining the “new math”. It went viral and was viewed over a million times. Parents, teachers, and administrators from around the country shared it within their communities.
In 2015, he joined James Tanton and several others to create the non-profit Global Math Project to spread math joy around the planet. As a result, over 20,000 teachers have shared joyful mathematics with over 5 million kids!
Kyle Pearce and John Orr (Canada - will be joining us virtually)
About Jon Orr
I’m a high school math teacher at John McGregor Secondary School in the Lambton-Kent District School Board in Ontario Canada. When not teaching my students and spending time with my family I lead workshops and presentations on teaching pedagogy in the math classroom. As an Apple Distinguished Educator and Desmos Fellow I routinely talk about implementing technology and great teaching strategies in my classroom. Lately I’ve been excited about promoting struggle in my students and teaching them about resilience while problem solving. I live in Tilbury Ontario Canada with my wife and three daughters.
About Kyle Pearce
I teach, coach and consult from Kindergarten to Grade 12 in mathematics content knowledge, pedagogy and leadership for the Greater Essex County District School Board and independently for school districts. I have extensive experience delivering keynote talks, presentations and workshops at conferences across North America.
Currently the K-12 Mathematics Consultant with the Greater Essex County District School Board, I have experience as the secondary mathematics Department Head at Tecumseh Vista Academy K-12 where I focused primarily on teaching grade 9 applied mathematics. I also spent five years working with grade 7-10 mathematics teachers in my role as the GECDSB Middle Years Collaborative Inquiry (MYCI) Instructional Coach. My work with iPads and innovative uses of technology in math class has led to a number of designations and certifications including: Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE), Apple Education Trainer (APD), and Google Certified Teacher (GCT). I also served as a member on the Apple Distinguished Educator Canadian Advisory Board from 2013-2014.
Biography
Chris Wild did his first degrees at Auckland followed by a PhD at the University of Waterloo in Canada before joining the then Statistics Unit of the Department of Mathematics in 1979.
He was Head of Auckland's Department of Statistics 2003-2007 and co-led the University of Auckland's first-year statistics teaching team to a national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award in 2003.
Research | Current
Currently, my main research interests are in statistics education with particular emphasis on visualisation, software for data analysis and conceptual development, statistical thinking and reasoning processes. Much of my career has been spent in developing methods for modelling response-selective data (e.g. case-control studies) and missing data problems, and other aspects of biostatistics.
Centre for Research in Mathematics Education - Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities
(New Zealand)
Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities (DMIC) is a model of ambitious mathematics teaching founded in equity which incorporates an advanced form of complex instruction (originally designed and developed by Professors Elizabeth Cohen and Rachel Lotan at Stanford University, and in mathematics by Professor Jo Boaler). DMIC in New Zealand is co led by Professor Bobbie Hunter and Dr Jodie Hunter. They bring their Cook Islands heritage, mathematics education, professional learning, and theory to practice expertise to this collaborative and culturally responsive pedagogy.
The focus of the project has been on developing teacher expertise, pedagogical leadership, what it takes to develop in-class mentoring expertise, and conditions for sustainability and ongoing improvement. The approach views student engagement in collaborative mathematical discourse as an essential component for their learning of mathematics with understanding.
Lifts in student achievement have been part of the success of DMIC, but the more important focus has been on other valued outcomes including an increase in student voice and agency, increased pro-social skills, enhanced mathematical dispositions and the valuing of the mathematics within the home and cultural context.
Dr Michelle Dalrymple
(New Zealand)
Dr Michelle Dalrymple is the Head of the Mathematics and Statistics Faculty at Cashmere High School in Christchurch. She is a passionate teacher who loves finding creative ways to engage her students. Her classroom practice is grounded in curriculum knowledge and the research, theories, and practices of mathematics and statistics teaching, growth mindset and positive pedagogies of care.
Michelle has run numerous workshops over the years, which aim to challenge teachers to think about their practice and provide them with practical takeaways that they can put into action in their classrooms. She has been involved in a number of curriculum related and assessment projects including the Royal Society Te Apārangi Expert Advisory Panel on Mathematics and Statistics and the New Zealand Statistical Association Education Committee. In 2019, she was the first mathematics and statistics teacher to win the Prime Minister’s Science Teacher Prize.
Building classroom relationships… don’t leave them to chance.
Being a mathematics and statistics teacher is the best job in the world! A successful teacher is one whose students are mathematically and statistically literate, where fear or anxiety around mathematics doesn’t prevent them from doing the things they dream of doing. Whanaungatanga, teaching-through-relationships, is crucial if students are to be successful and enjoy mathematics and statistics. Michelle will share some of her teaching philosophy, how she delivers this in her classroom and ideas for staying inspired and energised as a teacher.
Bevan Werry Speaker
Announced at the conference
(New Zealand)
To be a speaker they have to be an expert in their field, able and willing to go round the regions to spread their message which is either topical in terms of Professional learning or provocative to promote discussion by members. They have to present a plenary at the Biennial conference where they are introduced as the current BW speaker. The conference organisers suggest to the NZAMT Executive the person they would like to be the BW speaker for the conference and the Executive decides if they are suitable. This is then kept secret until at the conference. A BW speaker may be selected in the intervening years if the Executive feels there is a pressing need for someone to go round the regions. The NZAMT will pay for the transport costs associated with the BW speaker and the regions look after the accommodation - usually billeting.