Professional Development

Goals of the work

Teachers, departments, and schools partner with Jason to engage students in open-ended mathematical problem solving.

• Teachers who want to create, facilitate, and assess inquiry-based mathematics in their classrooms
• Mathematics departments that want to shift to a more equitable and student-centered approach to teaching mathematics
• Schools that want to improve the way mathematics is perceived in the broader community

Nature of the work

Professional development with teachers, departments, and schools might include:

• Classroom visits and demonstration lessons
• Co-teaching mathematics lessons that employ an inquiry-based approach
• Supporting teachers and students around the unfamiliar (and sometimes uncomfortable) aspects of teaching and learning through inquiry
• Assistance with integrating rich mathematical explorations into existing curriculum

Qualifications

In addition to his years in the secondary classroom, Jason has extensive experience in teacher education and professional development.

As a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, Jason taught courses on the theory and practice of inquiry-based instruction for STEM majors, which included coaching preservice teachers during their apprenticeship in local elementary, middle, and high schools. Jason also taught mathematics courses for future elementary school teachers, centering those classroom experiences on exploration and problem solving, rather than traditional university-style lecture.

Jason is a founding member of the Mathematics Teachers' Circle of Austin, a professional development group aimed at helping teachers incorporate more authentic, open-ended problem solving and mathematical inquiry in their teaching.

Recent Presentations

• Can We Use a (Broken) Calculator ? (September 2021) Monthly meeting of the Mathematics Teachers' Circle of Austin.
• The Arithmetiquities: Adventures in Mathematical Problem-solving (June 2021). Annual UTeach STEM Educators Conference.
• Mythic Adventures! Adventurous Mathematics! (March 2021) Monthly meeting of the national Mathematics Teachers' Circle Network.
• Mythic Adventures! Adventurous Mathematics! (November 2020) Monthly meeting of the Mathematics Teachers' Circle of Austin.
• Quests of Epic Proportions: Adventures in SEL Skill-Building (October 2019). Annual meeting of the Northwest Association of Independent Schools.