The two weeks of workshops impacts nearly 9,000 students!

For a 3rd straight year, Rockhurst High School, St. Teresa’s Academy and the Phillips Exeter Academy partnered to facilitate an Exeter Mathematics Institute for Kansas City area math teachers. Great representation of teachers from schools all across the metropolitan area differentiated this year’s workshop.

Over one-third of the participants had already attended one of the previous two summers - a testament to the retention power of EMI. This year’s group of 88 educators averaged just over 100 students when asked how many students the teachers teach in a given year. This means that the two weeks of workshops impacts nearly 9,000 students!

Furthermore, the learning experience continued to be top notch for these math educators. Over 80% say they will recommend the experience to a peer and over 75% are very likely to attend again!

So what exactly did the teachers get out of the experience? Below are a list of quotes from some of the survey questions.

Why would you recommend EMI to another teacher?

“First, I have increased of my network community teachers which is an invaluable tool. Second, I feel increased comfort of keeping and extending the level of rigor of mathematics in the classroom since the Exeter Teachers and I have discussed some scaffolding tools.”

“Productive, engaging, challenging, fun.”

“You get a ton of great resources and it’s a great experience”

“This is some of the best professional development I have experienced. I can see where the things I learned this week can be implemented in my classroom.”

“Usually in PD we are told “And you can use this in the math classes as well.” And the reality is that we can’t. However, EMI is math centered and classroom ready.”

“My favorite part of EMI is networking with other local teachers. Depending on the course, it can also be a great way to broaden instructional models and sharpen skills.”

“The opportunity to work on math problems in a supportive environment is priceless.”

Why will you be willing to attend again?

“I love how it challenges my thinking and gives me more methods for creating dialogue in my classroom.”

“The classes were great. I really enjoyed being challenged and feeling how students feel when they are frustrated and challenged. It reminded me how to be more helpful to students, but not tell them now to do it.”

“It is a good use of my time. I improved my math skills and enjoyed talking to the other math teachers.”

Please tell us something you learned from a classmate that you think is worth sharing!

“I appreciate the diverse group of educators coming together to impact student learning in the community.”

“Ways of looking at a problem that never would have occurred to me.”

“The peers in my classes taught me a lot of math.”

“Just hearing other teachers’ situations and life experiences with teaching has given me new light on how I teach and what resources are out there. We all have different schools and situations and yet we are all trying to do the same thing. Networking is so important.”

“Get a professional twitter account and link with other teachers”

“Instead of giving students the information, we need to allow students to struggle and learn that information for themselves.”

How did EMI positively impact you?

“I love the idea of the students working interesting and challenging problems in a collaborative environment to learn critical thinking and math skills.”

“I feel more empowered to start my year teaching my low SES students via hands on learning.”

“EMI gave me even more proof that we need to change the way we teach in order to get kids really solving problems and understanding what they are doing.”

“It helped remind me how much a student can struggle with a concept.”

“Strategies learned at EMI can make my classes more engaging.”

“Sharing experience and learning that rural, urban, suburban, priviate and boarding schools all face the same issues with student readiness and willingness.”

“Very inspired by the professionalism of my colleagues.”

“I am able to bring back to my school activities and problems that are engaging and student centered.”

“I really enjoyed making connections and working with math teachers from other schools around the area. I also liked being challenged. It was easy to see the benefits of problem based learning. I could see why students would be more invested in their learning.”