Registration for Volunteers
Thank you for choosing to volunteer for the TAMU Math Circle! Our work would not be possible without the generous commitment of our volunteers. This year we are back to two types of volunteers:
Instructors
Facilitators
Instructors are responsible for creating a lesson plan for an activity of their choice and carrying out this lesson plan during a Discovery Learning or Problem Solving Session (1.5 hours). We encourage Instructors to prepare one 1.5 hour activity that will be suitable either for the Beginner group (in Pre-Algebra or below), Intermediate Group (in Algebra 1 or Geometry), or Advanced Group (in Algebra 2 and above). In the past students have done map coloring, truth tables, Platonic solids, elementary enumeration, and more. Previous experience with instructing kids is not necessary to be an Instructor, although it is highly recommended to serve as a Facilitator a few times first to become familiar with the students' level of thinking.
Facilitators are not responsible for making a lesson plan or any content creation, but should be prepared for math related questions from students regarding the Instructor’s activities, which will be provided in advance. To be a Facilitator one should be comfortable with the mathematics in the instructor's activities, which will be provided in advance, and be able to respond to students' questions.
If you are interested in volunteering (for any role), please fill out the registration form at the following link: https://forms.gle/iS7hKg9WAXqyeFQe9
If you are interested in volunteering as an Instructor, in addition to filling out the above form, please contact Phil Yasskin <yasskin@tamu.edu> about Discover Learning Activities and Guoliang Yu <guoliangyu@math.tamu.edu> or Wencai Liu <wencail@tamu.edu> about Problem Solving Activities. It is not necessary to have an activity in mind before volunteering as an instructor. There are plenty of resources for leading an activity, so if this is something you are interested in, don't hesitate to ask one of the organizers for help.
Please read the following sections carefully, depending on your role.
Information for Instructors
Instructors will be required to undergo a Background Check and Child Protection Training. Please see below for more information about this requirement.
Instructors should arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of their schedule activity. The schedule for our sessions can be found in the "About" link on our website.
You may provide some form of information about your activity to one of the organizers before Saturday (the earlier the better). This will allow us to prepare our Facilitators for your activity.
Any questions should be directed to Phil Yasskin <yasskin@tamu.edu> for Discovery Learning Activities or Guoliang Yu <guoliangyu@math.tamu.edu> or Wencai Liu <wencail@tamu.edu> for Problem Solving Activities.
Information for Facilitators
Facilitators will be required to undergo a Background Check and Child Protection Training. Please see below for more information about this requirement.
Facilitators should arrive 15 minutes before the start of their scheduled session. The schedule for our sessions can be found in the "About" link on our website.
Instructors may provide you some form of information about the activity they plan to do. This can be a pdf of their activity, or a Zoom recording what they plan to do. You are required to read this information before the meeting and ask any questions to the instructor before Saturday.
Instructions for Background Check and Child Protection Training:
According to Texas law, everyone working with the minors, needs to have a Criminal Background Check and to take the Child Protection Training Online Course. The Background check needs to be done yearly. The Child Protection Training needs to be done once every 2 years.
Volunteers should email Donna Hoffman (donna@math.tamu.edu) to set up the Background Check. She will send your name to Human Resources and they will contact you to complete the online form for the background check. So watch your inbox and your junk inbox for that email in the next day or so. If you have had a Criminal Background Check for another camp or something else for the University in the last year, you can email Donna that you have already done it and give us the approximate date and activity it was for.
The instructions for taking the Child Protection Training Online Course are at http://studentactivities.tamu.edu/camps/safety in the section Child Protection Training Online Course Information. If you are a University employee, you will take the training through "TrainTraq". When you complete the training please send a pdf file of your Certificate or your "TrainTraq" transcript to Donna at donna@math.tamu.edu. It takes about 20 minutes.
Email Dr. Yasskin at yasskin@tamu.edu if you have any questions.
