STEMinNM Teaching Math – A New Direction for Professional Development
MathAmigos has a unique and special mission – helping teachers to inspire students to love math. Our team believes that confident teachers, equipped with state-of-the art practices, excite students about the joy and power of math to explain the world around them. Instilling mathematical thinking and problem-solving lay essential steppingstones for success in life and work in the 21st century.
We began in 2017 as three “amigos” at a chance meeting at the Santa Fe Community Foundation – a retired Cal Tech mathematician with a love of Cuisenaire rods, a math and computer science teacher retiring after 21 years at Santa Fe Prep, and a retired physician and medical educator experienced in curriculum innovation. At the time, a number of community groups were boosting the science of reading, but we were among the first to address a chronic gap in math proficiency – only 17% of students in our public schools were at grade level in math (currently 24%). So began MathAmigos, a volunteer team of mathematicians and educators who has just hosted its 36th teacher workshop. As partners of teachers throughout northern New Mexico, we stand committed to building innovative strategies that engage students, but not just in math. We want much more, we want to teach children to solve problems in general.
Initially MathAmigos embarked on a series of three teacher workshops each year, featuring foundational math skills for students in grades K through 6. Soon, we were joined by a K-12 educator and former chair of education at the University of Texas/El Paso, who added key sessions encouraging K-3 teachers to blend math with literacy through math-themed books and math in their every-day world.
We are now in our 9th year, thanks to generous grant funding and the excellent volunteer instructors from schools and surrounding colleges who staff our workshops. Our workshops have reached over 350 teachers and provided over 5,000 teacher training hours. Workshop sessions are interactive and provide best practice solutions for engaging struggling students. Requests for coaching, family nights, and math competitions and wrangles often follow.
Our participating teachers are important partners. Through anonymous evaluations, they provide feedback and propose topics that make sure our workshops meet daily challenges in the classroom. This year our workshops have a new format, three three-hour mini-courses focused on teachers teaching math (rather than other subjects) that deepen instructor interaction and allow more in-depth discussions and teacher collaboration. Current mini-courses are “Friendly Fractions”, “Integrating Mathematical Thinking through Engaging Math Circles and Games”, and “Enriching STEM Teaching with Creative Data Science”.
Math leaders have written: “Thank you all for this work and for the great energy and commitment you have to supporting teachers in their math journeys.” And teachers have commented: “These workshops are a great opportunity to learn and also share ideas with colleagues that we often don’t see!” “Thank you for this wonderful workshop. It was so helpful and supportive for our students!” We are now reaching out to early childhood educators and teachers in rural areas and pueblos. Our mission to boost math proficiency is far from complete.
