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Announcements

• More information regarding the monthly Teacher's Circle events has been posted, including dates, locations, and speakers.
• Many of the materials distributed during the summer workshop are now available in pdf format at the Teacher Forums page.

Overview
The aim of The Teacher’s Circle is to equip educators with an effective problem-solving approach to teaching mathematics. This style of learning is based on the math circle environment that has proven to be successful for students around the world. Therefore The Teacher’s Circle will immerse a group of middle school math teachers in engaging mathematics and expose them to a dynamic style of classroom presentation. Participants will come away with a variety of resources, lesson modules, and a renewed sense of appreciation for the fascinating world of mathematics. Teachers will also be eligible for continuing education credit, professional development units, or college course credits.

Schedule
The program is designed to provide mathematical material and collegial support for teachers in preparation for, as well as during, the 2006-2007 academic year. Therefore participants will first attend a summer workshop held at the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) in Palo Alto, CA during the week of August 14–18, 2006 which is being cosponsored by AIM and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI). This event will be complemented by seven sessions scheduled from 5:00 to 8:00 on certain Thursday evenings. For more complete information, please follow this link.

Summer Workshop
The core of the summer workshop at AIM will consist of the morning and afternoon sessions held from Monday through Friday. This time will be devoted to discovery, problem solving, and interactive learning. During the earlier part of the week teachers will gain experience with a variety of problem solving techniques such as symmetry, mathematical patterns, and parity. Subsequent sessions will focus on particular topics such as geometry, sequences, counting, and number theory. Traditionally relegated to the high school curriculum or beyond, these topics actually provide a natural starting point for exploring and appreciating interesting mathematics at the middle school level. All the sessions will be led by exceptional educators and mathematicians from the San Francisco Bay area. We are grateful to MSRI and the NSF for supporting our summer instructors.

A major theme throughout the week will be finding creative answers to the question of how to incorporate a problem-solving approach to math education into the existing curriculum. To this end leaders will supply participants with handouts or short modules based on the material covered during their sessions. They will also work with teachers to share ideas for enlivening any math class and to develop lesson plans. Focused discussions will be held regularly to determine what obstacles exist to incorporating this style of teaching into the present curriculum, what resources would be most helpful to teachers, and other related topics.

Evening Sessions
An equally important component of the program consists of seven follow-up events which occur once a month throughout the school year. Teachers will gather on Thursday evenings to participate in a math circle, have dinner together, and discuss experiences in their respective classes over the prior few weeks. In this way participants can regularly explore exciting new math topics, which can serve both as a refreshing time spent enjoying the subject they teach as well as a potential source of enrichment material for their classes. They will have the chance to present ideas based on their own classroom experiences and to find out how others are adapting the math circle philosophy into their lessons. This time will also serve as a venue for the leaders to share news of local events for math students and to discuss contests or organizations in which the teachers may be interested.

We are grateful
to our sponsors:

American Institute of Mathematics (AIM)

Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI)

National Science Foundation (NSF)