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"The National Math Trail Training Institute received the highest rating of any staff development that we have ever provided to our teachers." - Barry Doran, Pre K-12 Mathematics Coordinator, Dekalb County School System, Decatur, GA |
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The National Math Trail Training Institute is a two-day professional development institute that trains teachers to integrate real-world connections and technology into mathematics instruction, to engage student interest and to help students develop their problem-solving skills. The Institute features Presidential, Disney, Kilby and Essence award winning teacher Kay Toliver, senior faculty member of The Futures Channel and Dave Hendry, Chief Curriculum Officer at The Futures Channel and creator of the National Math Trail. About 400 teachers have taken part in six of the institutes, which took place in New Orleans, Louisiana; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, DC; Fresno, California; San Diego, California; DeKalb County, Georgia and Plano, Texas since June, 2001. Hosted by Kay Toliver and presented by The Futures Channel, the institutes combine technology training with a hands-on math trail experience. Teachers spend the first morning in highly interactive sessions with Ms. Toliver and Mr. Hendry. Then, armed with digital cameras (which they keep), pads and pencils, they explore surrounding shopping malls, parks, museums, structures and other places to find examples of mathematics. On the second day, attendees discuss and analyze their experiences on the math trail, then work in teams to create web pages that present those trials. At every institute, teachers enthusiastically embrace the sometimes difficult tasks of learning new technology, working with their peers to create math problems, describing how to solve them and writing background narratives. Attendees give the institutes their highest grades and look forward to doing the project with their students. To find out more about the institutes, click here |
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