Five workshops for elementary educators are being offered at Emporia State University throughout the 2018-19 school year by an award-winning math instructor.
Aimed at helping schools understand and teach the 2017 Kansas Math Standards, each of the workshops focuses on a specific area, but all of the workshops will include the associated concepts of problem solving, appropriate manipulatives, number sense and estimation.
Dr. Lee Anne Coester, director of Emporia State University’s Math Leadership Institute, will lead the workshops. Coester recently received Kansas Association of Teachers of Mathematics Ray Kurtz Service Award for her exceptional work to the math teaching community.
“We do not give this award every year. When a truly remarkable and extraordinarily deserving person captures our attention we welcome the opportunity to add to our list of Ray Kurtz awardees,” said Todd Flory, who presented her with the award. “Where she really excels and supports our math community is through her willingness to share her expertise with all math teachers.”
In that spirit, Coester is offering school districts the opportunity to take advantage of a math lending library.
“The lending library is full of manipulatives and materials school districts may not have regular access to,” Coester said. “I really want teachers to understand how much fun it can be to teach math by providing a deeper understanding of the math standards and access to the best in resources and teaching tools.
“Teacher enjoyment translates into student enjoyment,” she continued. “In fact, I want teachers and students to see math time as the high point of their school day.”
Each workshop is stand alone, so teachers can attend one or more. Information about the workshops are below:
- OPERATIONS & ALGEBRAIC THINKING — Thursday, October 25, 2018
- NUMBERS & OPERATIONS IN BASE TEN — Wednesday, November 28, 2018
- FRACTIONS — Thursday, January 17, 2019
- GEOMETRY — Friday, February 22, 2019
- MEASUREMENT & DATA — Tuesday, April 16, 2019
For more information about these events, visit www.emporia.edu/jones/ or contact Coester at lcoester@emporia.edu or 620-341-5372.