Tag Archives: Math Teachers

Teachers who specialized in math.

MI Educator Glenda Lappan develops nationally-used math curriculum

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Former Michigan high school math teacher Glenda Lappan earns national recognition for developing the Connected Mathematics curriculum for middle schoolers. Photo Credit: Michigan State University

Have you ever heard of the Connected Mathematics instructional program for middle schoolers? If you have, then you have also probably heard of the curriculum developer, educator Glenda Lappan.

Glenda was born in 1939, and was raised as an only child on a farm in southern Georgia. After her graduation from high school, she attended Mercer University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in 1961. She earned her PhD at the University of Georgia in 1965.

Once she earned her undergraduate degree, Glenda taught mathematics at the high school level for several years in Georgia.

In 1965, Glenda earned a position as a professor of mathematics at Michigan State University. She taught there until her retirement in 2015, a total of 50 years. During these years, she directed the middle school portion of a project sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Her goal there was to help develop curriculum and evaluation standards for math.

When she completed that project, Glenda inaugurated her next endeavor, the Connected Mathematics Project. With colleague Elizabeth Phillips, she conducted research and developed five curriculum units for teachers and students focused on important ideas in mathematics. The undertaking was received so well it expanded from there. Today, the project’s curriculum is taught in all 50 states. It has even been assigned “Exemplary” status by the US Department of Education.

In addition to her research and teaching responsibilities at Michigan State, Glenda served as the President of the NCTM from 1998 to 2000. During her presidency, the volume Principles and Standards for School Mathematics was published. Later Glenda served as the Chair of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the National Academy of Sciences. She has also worked in Washington, DC, as Vice-Chair of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board at the National Academy of Sciences (1994-1998), and she served for nine years on the National Education Research Policy and Priorities Board of the US Department of Education.

For her work in the field of education, Glenda has earned many accolades. She garnered the Louise Hay Award from the Association for Women in Mathematics in 1996. She was named a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State in 1998. In 2002, the Connected Mathematics Project established the Lappan/Phillips/Fitzgerald Endowed Chair in Mathematics Education at Michigan State, named after Glenda and two other esteemed founders of the Connecte Math Project. The NTCM honored her with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Glenda and colleague Elizabeth Phillips shared the International Society for Design and Development in Education Prize. Finally, Glenda was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in 2009.

To learn more about the Connected Mathematics Instructional Program, click on this link to Educational Designer.

 

Brittany Bonnaffons named Louisiana’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

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Louisiana math teacher Brittany Bonnaffons has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: St. Charles Herald Guide

It is always my pleasure to shine a spotlight on outstanding educators who have earned accolades for their work in the profession. One of these is Brittany Bonnaffons, a secondary mathematics teacher from Luling, Louisiana. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Brittany teaches Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 at Hahnville High School in the St. Charles Parish Public School District. In a career that has spanned 12 years, she has taught at Hahnville for five years. Her teaching philosophy is that mathematics teaches students reasoning, problem-solving skills, and perseverance, while working collaboratively teaches them the importance of being able to work well with others. Under her guidance, her students, who before entering her classroom had not scored satisfactorily on their middle school standardized tests, have improved their scores by leaps and bounds. “My goal is to bring out the best in students,” asserts Brittany. “Yes, I want to teach them math, but I also want to teach them how to find their gifts and use those gifts to make a difference,” she continues. “Making a difference requires making connections with students and to help other teachers do the same. We are all better together,” she concludes.

Not only does Brittany teach math, but she also serves as the Head Coach for her school’s boys and girls track team. Since she accepted the position in 2018, her athletes have captured four District team championships and have placed as regional runner-ups twice. In addition, she has led more than 50 individuals to District medals, more than 30 individuals to regional medals, and more than 10 athletes to state medals.

In addition to her selection as Louisiana’s State Teacher of the Year, Brittany was selected as one of 22 educators from across the state to serve on the Louisiana Department of Education 2022-2023 Teacher Advisory Council.

Brittany earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University. She earned her Master’s degree in Exercise Science from the University of Louisiana, Monroe, and a second Master’s in Teaching from Northwestern University.

To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, click on this link to an article about her published by Louisiana Life.

 

During Black History Month, we celebrate educator and Civil Rights leader Bob Moses

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Math educator and legendary Civil Rights Movement leader Bob Moses organized Black voter registration efforts and the Freedom Schools made famous during the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer. Photo credit: The Pine Belt News

During Black History Month, we’d like to recognize Bob Moses. He was a legendary Civil Rights Movement leader who organized black voter registration efforts and Freedom Schools made famous during the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer. He was also an innovative math educator.

Bob Moses was born in New York City on Jan. 23, 1935, to a family of modest means. He was raised in the Projects in Harlem. Despite his family’s limited financial resources, Bob earned a scholarship to attend Stuyvesant High School, an elite public high school for gifted boys. Before his graduation in 1952, Bob was elected senior class president and served as the captain of the school’s baseball team.

Upon graduation, Bob earned another scholarship, this time to attend Hamilton College, a prestigious private liberal arts college in Clinton, New York. There he majored in philosophy and participated in both the basketball and baseball programs. After completing the requirements for his Bachelor’s degree in 1956, Bob traveled abroad extensively, working in a series of Quaker summer camps in Europe and Japan building housing for the poor, harvesting crops for a missionary hospital, and improving facilities for mentally disturbed children. The following year he earned his Master’s degree in Analytic Philosophy from Harvard University.

Bob was teaching at the prestigious Horace Mann High School in the Bronx when he became aware of the student sit-ins that were taking place in Greensboro, North Carolina. He decided to join them, and that decision launched the math educator’s path towards becoming a legendary figure during the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement. Bob is best known for organizing the Black voter registration efforts and the Freedom Schools made famous during the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer. This heroic teacher’s revolutionary work, which was not without risk to life and limb, transformed the political power structure of entire communities.

Forty years later, Bob advocated for yet another transformational change: the Algebra Project. When he created this program, Bob asserted that a deficiency in math literacy in poor neighborhoods puts impoverished children at an economic disadvantage. The deficiency makes students unable to compete successfully for jobs in the 21st century. This disenfranchisement, he declared, is as debilitating as lack of personal liberties was prior to the Civil Rights Movement. Bob’s solution was to organize people, community by community, school by school, to overcome the achievement gap. He believed this would give impoverished children the tools they need to claim their share of economic enfranchisement. Bob described his work in this area in his  book, Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project written with fellow Civil Rights worker Charles E. Cobb, Jr.

Sadly, Bob Moses passed away in Florida on Sun., July 25, 2021, at the age of 86.

A chapter about this remarkable teacher is also included in my second book, entitled Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve Courageous Teachers and Their Deeds of Valor.  This book is also available on amazon; click on this link to view: Chalkboard Heroes.

Melissa Matz named Florida’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

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Melissa Matz, a junior high school math teacher from Florida, has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Florida Education Foundation

Congratulations are due to Melissa Matz, a junior h high school math teacher from Florida. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, which includes her designation as Florida’s Christa McAuliffe Ambassador for Education. This role will allow her to elevate and celebrate the teaching profession by promoting the contributions of Florida educators, while visiting classrooms and serving as a keynote speaker.

In a career that has spanned 20 years, Melissa currently teaches mathematics to seventh graders at Lakeside Junior High School in the Clay County School District in Orange Park. She says she is committed to building a strong relationship with each of her students. In fact, she makes it a point to speak with each student as they enter her classroom. Her philosophy is that when an individual steps outside of his comfort zone and takes positive risks, that is how extraordinary gains are achieved.

“Middle school is a big transition,” Melissa observes. “There is more stress, more challenges. They are becoming much more independent,” she continues. “As a teacher, we set them up for success in high school by making sure they have test-taking and study strategies. And giving kids the tools to navigate through that time in their life is just so important to me,” she concludes.

Melissa also strives to include hands-on, real-world projects as part of her curriculum. Clay County Schools Superintendent David Broskie recognized this when he presented the honored educator with her award. “Melissa Matz’s students see firsthand that the skills they acquire in her classroom can be applied to a broad spectrum of fields, and therefore, they can become well-rounded members of our community,” he says.

Melissa also serves as her school’s Math Department Chair, she is the Chairperson for the Lakeside’s School Advisory Committee, and she is a part of the school’s Leadership Team. She helped develop her district’s curriculum map for algebra, and she served on the math textbook adoption committee. And as if all this were not enough, she participates in a mentoring program that supports students as they transition to high school. And Melissa’s passion for teaching math goes well beyond her classroom. Within her community, she raises awareness for water conservation.

Melissa learned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Northern Iowa.

As the 2023 Teacher of the Year, Melissa will receive $20,000 from the state education department and a tuition waiver to pursue a graduate degree from Florida State University’s College of Education. She will also be able to provide a student of her choice with a two-year scholarship to a Florida college.

Former teacher, NASA astronaut Joseph Acaba earns new appointment

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Joseph Acaba, former Melbourne High School science teacher turned veteran astronaut, has just been appointed Chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Photo Credit: Yahoo News

As an astronaut, Joseph Acaba has logged a total of 306 days in space on three flights, first as a mission specialist on the space shuttle Discovery, and twice aboard the International Space Station. And recently, this veteran astronaut was appointed as Chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston, the first astronaut of Hispanic heritage selected to lead the office. But did you know that this accomplished individual was once a science and mathematics teacher?

Before his selection by NASA in 2004 as one of three “educator astronauts,” an initiative intended to build upon Challenger astronaut Christa McAuliffe’s Teacher in Space legacy, he spent his first year, 1999-2000, as a full-time teacher at Melbourne High School in Florida. There he taught freshman science before moving on to teach math and science in Dunnellon Middle School in Florida, where he remained for four years.

And that is not all of this Chalkboard Champion’s impressive employment history. Joe was a member of the United States Marine Corps Reserves. He  also worked as a hydro-geologist in Los Angeles, California, primarily on Superfund sites. And he spent two years in the United States Peace Corps as an Environmental Education Awareness Promoter in the Dominican Republic. In addition, he worked for a time as the manager of the Caribbean Marine Research Center at Lee Stocking Island in the Exumas, Bahamas.

Joe once said that, as an educator astronaut, he hoped to reach out to minority students. On March 18, 2008, he traveled to Puerto Rico, where he was honored by the island’s senate. During his visit, Joe met with school children at the capitol and at Science Park located in Bayamon. Science Park boasts a planetarium and several surplus NASA rockets among its exhibits. Joe made a second trip to Puerto Rico on June 1, 2009. On that trip he spent seven days on the island and came into contact with over 10,000 citizens, most of them school children.