With our 1st semester almost gone and the holidays upon us, I wanted to thank everyone for your participation in our teacher circle this semester, make a few announcements, and give you an update on things to come. It has been a very good beginning to our new academic year!
Reflections: Tulsa Math Teachers’ Circle (http://tmtc.utulsa.edu/) hosted three excellent meetings this fall:
- September 4 – Marilyn Howard from TMTC led the Pathways Puzzle problemfrom the Summer/Autumn, 2014 MTCircular.
- October 2 – Mark Brown from Heartland MTC in Olathe, KS led us in IntersectionMath with ideas from James Tanton.
- November 6 – Bill Coberly from TMTC led a session on surprising andsometimes lucky numbers.
Our average attendance was 25 teachers, with a good mix of faculty, prospective teachers, and teachers.
Tulsa Girls’ Math Circle: Congratulations to Donna Farrior, TMTC member, for successfully launching a new circle for middle school girls! (http://tgmc.utulsa.edu/) The 1st quarter session just ended, with regular attendance of over 20 girls for each of the five weekly, two hour long sessions. The idea for this circle originated with Bill Coberly, Chair of Mathematics at The University of Tulsa, and is supported by the TU Math Department and the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences. The problem solving sessions cover topics not usually covered in the middle school curriculum. Both Bill and Marilyn assisted at the meetings and two TU undergraduate math education majors, Ellen Eisenhour and Carter Scarborough, helped with the planning, contributed ideas on presenting new mathematics to the students, and conducted parts of each session. They did a terrific job! The 1st quarter session went very well and two more quarter sessions are slated for January 20-February 24, 2015 and March 24-April 28, 2015. Please encourage your middle school girls to join!
Puzzle Winners: Our circle won the Puzzle Challenge sponsored by The American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) for having the most teachers submit answers to the puzzle! Our prize was five AIM mugs! Two teachers, Spencer Pearson and Marilyn Howard also won mugs for individual entries. Congratulations all!!
Facebook: Thank you to Sarah Hagan for putting us on Facebook. She sent out an invitation at our last circle meeting on November 6 to all our TMTC members to “follow” us and share photos:
You Tube Video: AIM asked for one minute videos on “Why you love your math circle?” At our November meeting we celebrated the life of Martin Gardner, a native Oklahoman and puzzle master extraordinaire, during the 100th anniversary of the year of his birth. Gardner was featured monthly in the Mathematical Games column of Scientific American. We found out that Martin Gardner lived at 2187 S. Owasso Ave, Tulsa, OK and that 2187 turns out to be 37, a lucky number, a Friedman number, and 10000000 in base 3. How cool is that? View our videos as well as those submitted by other circles at http://www.mathteacherscircle.org or at http://youtu.be/7uJRyVY1t6s?list=PLRa5gIXimPcbgff8ljYtG_yD4z6T8j6sG.
Congratulations!: Sarah Hagan, TMTC teacher from Drumright High School, has been chosen as one of NPR‘s 50 Great Teachers!! What an honor! Kudos to Sarah!!!
Save the Dates: Our spring semester is just around the corner. We hope you will be able to attend our meetings:
- January 8, 2015 – MATHCOUNTS Problem Solving Session—invitation coming soon!
- February 5, 2015 – Logic Problem Solving Session—Donna Farrior—TMTC member
- April 2, 2015--Mathematical Magic for Muggles—Paul Zeitz from AIM and San Francisco University
Submit the Name of a Math Friend: We would like to add a few new teachers to our contact list for our circle meetings. Please send me the name and email address for a friend or colleague to invite to our spring meetings. Thank you!