Last year, Delta State faculty and affiliates began planning for implementation of the Mississippi Delta Math Teacher\u2019s Circle (MDMTC) in the Cleveland community. The initiative, supported by the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM), empowers middle school math teachers to bring new excitement and interest in mathematics to their students.<\/p>\n
The planning team for MDMTC includes Dr. Liza Cope, Dr. David Hebert, Whitney Janous, Kathleen Lott and Dr. Clifton Wingard. These leaders plan to launch the local Math Teacher\u2019s Circle in July.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope to attract math teachers from the area to provide network opportunities, to increase content knowledge and to give them an outlet for developing their professional skills,\u201d said Cope.<\/p>\n
MTCs are collaborations between professional mathematicians, middle school math teachers and school administrators. In a MTC, teachers experience open-ended problem solving firsthand in lively discussion sessions led by mathematicians.<\/p>\n
By enriching teachers\u2019 own experience of mathematics, the program hopes to impact classroom teaching so that it includes more problem solving \u2014 a key component in student learning and engagement in mathematics.<\/p>\n
The local planning team visited Washington D.C. last year to aid their efforts in starting a MTC in Cleveland.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very helpful,\u201d Cope said. \u201cWe learned a lot of problem solving strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group was also awarded a $2,000 seed grant from the AIM.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis money has been put into the Delta Math Teachers’ Circle fund through the Delta State University Foundation,\u201d said Cope. \u201cWe welcome charitable donations from any members of the community interested in supporting our mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mission of MDMTC is to provide opportunities for teachers to enrich their own knowledge and experience of mathematics, while building longterm, meaningful partnerships with other teachers and mathematicians in the Mississippi Delta through professional development workshops.<\/p>\n
MDMTC plans to host a two-day summer immersion program this July and six evening circles throughout the 2015-2016 school year. The programs are estimated to serve about 20 teachers of 6-8th graders and will be funded by the seed grant.<\/p>\n
Cope said the team behind MDMTC aims to ensure that it\u2019s meeting the needs of local participants by obtaining feedback through post workshop surveys and by interacting with them throughout the year.<\/p>\n
AIM provides circles with ongoing support, including notes from successful math sessions, a full suite of planning resources, a discussion group and a semi-annual newsletter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe plan on using these resources to help us manage and plan our circles,\u201d Cope said.<\/p>\n
Those interested in joining MDMTC are asked to contact Cope at lcope@deltastate.edu or 662-846-4512.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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