Personal Narrative: White House Math Initiative

Anghileri, J. (2006). Children's mathematical thinking in the primary years perspectives on children's learning (Repr. 2006. ed.). London: Continuum.

Problem Solving, Numeracy and Reasoning: Helping to expand their knowledge of problem solving using stories, games, role play, singing and games. Making the child feel easy talking about and understanding the language of reasoning and problem solving.

Van de Walle, J, Karp, K. S. & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2015). Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Teaching Developmentally. (9th ed.). England: Pearson Education Limited.

It will be argued that my position of using an outdoor setting to support children’s learning in Mathematics, specifically to achieve mastery

You need to be able to use different strategies and resources in order to develop mathematical skills in young children, you can do this through focused activities as well as using the learning environment to stimulate children’s learning.

Using hands-on resources and manipulatives in mathematics is important for student’s development of mathematical content knowledge. Knaus & Featherstone (2014. p. 12) state that through the manipulation of objects in a mathematically rich environment children are able to achieve an understanding providing a bridge between everyday concepts and abstract concepts. Furthermore, manipulatives and play are linked. During play with manipulatives such as an age appropriately fill treasure basket children are able to explore a range of objects shapes, sizes, textures, weights, lengths and the mathematical language that is related to the objects (Knaus & Featherstone, 2014). According to, Connell, Shearer, Tobin and Harrod (2006) exploratory manipulatives provide students with the opportunity to explore their

Mathematical Genius Community (MAGIC) managing a math competition biweekly, mainly for third graders to eighth graders attending the Young Explorers School. In these competitions, math concepts (algebra, geometry, probability, number sense, and counting) will be covered in order to enrich the student's knowledge. The competitions will be free of cost. Our main goal is for children to expand their mathematical knowledge through competition. We will host an individual test taken by everyone. Then, students will be placed in groups based on their score to take team tests. The testing portion of the competition will take around two hours with short breaks in between the

"I felt a little lost between the blue and white of the sky and the monotony of the colors around me—the sticky black of the tar, the dull black of all the clothes, and the shiny black of the hearse. All of it—the sun, the smell of leather and horse dung from the hearse, the smell of varnish and incense, and my fatigue after a night without sleep—was making it hard for me to see or think straight." –Albert Camus, The Stranger

Julia Bowman Robinson was an esteemed mathematician who was highly praised for her immense contributions to the mathematical community. Even though she grew up during a time when women’s suffrage and rights had just become publically recognize within the United States, she would still go on to become one of the most prestigious mathematicians of her generation, and arguably, of history overall. Being the first women to ever serve on the mathematical section of the National Academy of Sciences as well as being the first ever women to be elected to become president of the American Mathematical Society (Feuerman, 1994), she never fell short of performing feats to which many never thought they would ever see.

students eyes to a world of mathematics that they never before could have even began to

Nancy feel incredibly fortunate to have played with and solved mathematical problems with her father and taken Donald Knuth's class in Concrete Mathematics, from which she became aware that it was more fun to learn by discovery than to be told how to solve problems and just to apply a formula. To inspire students to explore the richness and beauty of mathematics, Nancy founded the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival (jrmf.org).

dedicated to a single activity. Students are led in their exploration by a facilitator, a

Thank you so much for taking the time today to speak with us about the Julia Robinson Math Festival. We're so pleased that Janet Coffey of the Moore Foundation recommended we chat.

As the focus of math changes students are asked to develop their mathematical thinking rather than their calculating. “While math traditionalist are correct that it is beneficial to memorize formulas, facts, and algorithms, the math reformists emphasize the need for students to have avenues such as journals, portfolios, or projects to demonstrate their understanding” (Kostos & Shin 2010). In math it is difficult to encourage students to think critically when many students, teachers, and administrators are drawn to the idea of right verse wrong. In mathmatics many hold tight to the idea that there is one correct answer and one way to get to the correct answer and that’s it; parents and teachers were taught mathematics just like this. Now with the focus changing we have students who are challenged to look at math differently. The focus of looking at mathematics as critical thinking, number manipulation, reflection and strategy has been hard for many to grasp. It is important that students are challenged to critically think and problem solve so they are capable of transferring their learning to new and different situations. Students must have the ability to problem solve and apply their thinking because as our world changes and technology gets more advanced we can no longer predict the situations our students will be in. Teachers must encourage critical thinking, so students are ready to enter an ever-changing

Unlike most other math events for kids, our focus is on creating a collaborative, non-competitive atmosphere to explore the joys and power of math. We use mathematicians to guide young peoples’ experience. As you know, JRMF is named after a female mathematician, Julia Robinson, and 30-50% of our festival attendees are girls. Our goal is to reach a diverse audience to broaden society’s appreciation and support of math.