TEXAS
GRADUATE
CENTER Monthly
SHINE FOR GIRLS
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TEXAS
GRADUATE
CENTER
About Us: The Texas Graduate Center (TGC), a component of the Texas Valley Communities Foundation, has been established to support programs in higher education that will guide new and emerging leaders in education to implement transformational change that will impact schools and communities. TGC will offer distance learning graduate programs from outstanding universities in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The TGC will make available the latest telepresence technology and virtual classrooms with direct connection to world-class undergraduate and graduate programs from across the country. TGC will also serve as a college and career readiness facilitator offering assistance in selecting, preparing and enrolling in nationally recognized graduate programs.
Monthly
President Dr. Roland Arriola Executive Director Dr. Mary Alice Reyes Associate Director/ EDITOR Adriana V. Lopez Designer/ PHOTOGRAPHER David Alvarado TGC OFFICES 1098 W. Expressway 83 Mercedes, Texas 78570
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In this issue... Harvard University Extension School TGC has partnered with the Harvard Extension School to provide a graduate program created specifically for teachers of middle and high school mathematics. Harvard University believes that teachers with a solid foundation in mathematics are most capable of communicating the essentials, guiding students around mathematical pitfalls and avoiding potential misunderstandings.
TGC has partnered with Washington University in St. Louis to provide a master of science in Biology for Teaching. The two-year program is designed to fit the schedules of working teachers. It will consist of two summer institutes, three weeks each, in residence at Washington University. The remaining coursework during the academic years will be completed online at the TGC.
06 SHINE for Girls Dance Recital
Texas Graduate Center in partnership with La Joya Independent school district held a recital that integrated math and dance promoting math to girls to help build their confidence in math and sciences and to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields. The group consisted of 25 sixth grade middle school girls who met on Saturday mornings for ten weeks learning dance and math and mentored by teachers and university and high school mentors.
08 Dr. James Tanton
The Texas Graduate Center and Region One GEAR UP hosted Dr. James Tanton this month as part of our MATHTEACH Collaborative Professional Development Series. Dr. Tanton’s workshop, “Quadratics: How to understand them and how to do absolutely everything one is expected to do with them with ease and joy and no memorization,” targeted Algebra II and Precalculus teachers.
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FROM THE EDITOR
O
ne of our main goals at the Texas Graduate Center (TGC) is to improve math instruction to help generate lasting interest and ability in mathematics for both teachers and students. We’re interested in innovative and effective approaches to math. This month we welcomed back Dr. James Tanton, a passionate mathematician and educator, who approaches math as a creative art “that speaks to something transcendental.” He joined us as part of our MATHTEACH Collaborative Professional Development Series speaking to over 75 local math teachers about the importance of approaching math from a more creative and inquisitive angle. This month we also celebrate SHINE for Girls, an innovative math program that incorporates dance as a way to build confidence and math ability in middle school girls. Kirin Sinha, a Theoretical Mathematics and Electrical Engineering graduate from MIT created the SHINE program. We launched SHINE in La Joya ISD where girls met on Saturdays to practice math and dance. The program culminated in a dance recital where the girls performed an original dance for family and friends. We also spoke to parents about the importance of encouraging their girls to pursue STEM, an area where girls are significantly underrepresented. By partnering with creative thinkers like Dr. Tanton and Ms. Sinha we continue to work towards our goal of improving math education in the Rio Grande Valley.
ED I T O R - I N - C H I E F
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GIRLS ENGAGED IN MATHEMATICS
Building CONFIDENCE and reducing MATH ANXIETY The notion that only boys can become scientists and engineers has persisted over time. Studies have shown that negative stereotypes about girls’ abilities in mathematics and science have impacted their performance in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and math) areas.
to schedule a gem camp at your school, contact: Executive Director, Dr. Mary Alice Reyes 956.903.4231 | mareyes@tvcof.org
Girls Engaged in Mathematics is a public-private initiative of the Texas Valley Communities Foundation
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Dr. James Tanton
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T
he Texas Graduate Center and Region One GEAR UP hosted Dr. James Tanton this month as part of our MATHTEACH Collaborative Professional Development. Dr. Tanton’s workshop, “Quadratics: How to understand them and how to do absolutely everything one is expected to do with them with ease and joy and no memorization,” targeted Algebra II and Precalculus teachers.
He believes teachers need to change the classroom culture from Am I allowed to do this? to Is it helpful to do this? To which he says the answer is always, “I don’t know. Try it and find out!”
Dr. Tanton drew a large crowd of over 75 local math teachers. There was such a strong interest in his workshop that we had to move to a larger room to accommodate all attendees. Dr. Tanton spoke about “cutting through the clutter” of jargon and memorization of standard quadratic equations so that students can develop the confidence to work through the challenges of problem solving. He stressed the importance of perseverance while working on math and relying “on one’s wits, and to not be afraid of making mistakes.” He also stressed the importance of teaching students to become agile thinkers and to engage in effective and reflective problem solving. He believes teachers need to change the classroom culture from Am I allowed to do this? to Is it helpful to do this? To which he says the answer is always, “I don’t know. Try it and find out!” Dr. Tanton is a mathematician and math educator. He founded The St. Mark’s Math Institute and is a scholar at the Mathematical Association of America. He’s published over ten books on mathematics, curriculum, and education. This was Dr. Tanton’s second visit to the Rio Grande Valley as part of the MATHTEACH Collaborative.
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SHINE recital The Texas Graduate Center is making every effort to help girls thrive and believe in their own abilities to succeed in mathematics, and they have the dance moves to prove it.
“I
’m even smarter at math now,” said Marisol Munoz, La Joya ISD middle school student. “I had fun learning new math and of course the dance moves.” Marisol said she has a love for animals and wants to become a veterinarian. Interest in dance is very high among middle school girls. By teaching math through dance, SHINE for Girls is able to use kinesthetic learning to transform girls into more confident and joyful math students. SHINE’s five core principals are supporting local youth in education, harnessing self-esteem and confidence on stage and in the classroom, inspiring young women to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields, nurturing a love of mathematics and empow8 | Texas Graduate Center
ering women across America. As a simple example of the technique of kinesthetic learning, dance can be taught as 3x+y where x equals twirl, y equals jump. Through movement, students begin learning algebraic equations. Last weekend the Texas Graduate Center in partnership with La Joya school district held a recital that integrated math and dance promoting math to girls to help build their confidence in math and sciences and to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields. The group consisted of 25 sixth grade middle school girls who met on Saturday mornings for ten weeks learning dance and math and mentored by teachers and university and high school mentors.
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PARTICIPANTS CONSISTED OF 6th Grade Girls
100% 90% of participants met or exceeded the program’s expectations
reported an INCREAse in math confidence as a result of the program
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“Girls are not as interested in STEM,” said Dr. Mary Alice Reyes, executive director, Texas Graduate Center. “Even though they express an interest in these areas in middle school and high school, when they get to the university they pursue other career interests.” The Mercedes based Texas Graduate Center partners with Valley school districts to promote mathematics with 21st century learning models. They also offer a Math for Teaching Graduate Degree though Harvard University Graduate Extension School to area math teachers. The Texas Graduate Center partnered with SHINE for Girls. The program was founded by MIT students in Boston and is expanding nationally to cities such as New York, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Atlanta. “It is very important that we have these types of activities for girls,” Reyes said. “The interest of girls in these areas has continued to decline through the years and girls aren’t anymore interested in STEM careers now than they were 10 to 20 years ago.” According to Reyes the SHINE for Girls program at La Joya helped produces incredible results in increasing both math scores and self-confidence in its students. She said the girls showed improvement in math scores and improvement in confidence as measured by preand posttests. La Joya Juarez-Lincoln High School assistant principal Isabel Marichalar-Solis said the recital was excellent. “I thought it was very interesting how the dance and the math connected together to help young ladies,” Marichalar-Solis said. “When we get students excited and motivated, the academic is always going to have extraordinary results.” This article was written by Raul Garcia, contributing writer to TGC Monthly.
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BUILDING THE CAPACITY TO MAXIMIZE IMPACT
MISSION
The mission of the Principals Academy is to build the capacity of principals to lead for instructional improvement within their schools and districts by creating the conditions for building a collaborative culture of efficacy and high performance expectations focused on results.
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PROGRAM COMPONENTS
8 Training sessions with Resource Guide Book: The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact External campus visits Speakers to enhance curriculum On-site and On-line support Principals Academy shirt Certificate of Completion
PROGRAM MODEL
Each meeting will consist of training based on the work of Michael Fullan, Lyle Kirtman, Keith Leithwood, Robert Marzano and other leading authorities in educational leadership.
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Roles and Responsibilities of the Principal
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Building System Coherence
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Urgency and Drivers of Change
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Principals as Agents of Change
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Transformational vs Instructional Leadership
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Change Challenges and Strategies
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Building Professional Capital
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Designing a Maximizing Impact Plan
LEAD FACILITATOR
Dr. Mary Alice Reyes, Vice-President of the Texas Valley Communities Foundation, has extensive years of experience in educational leadership as a campus principal, district-level administrator and superintendent of schools. Her expertise will lend to developing a personal and practical learning community environment that will build on the principals’ strengths and address their unique needs. “The role of the principal needs to be balanced between content and organizational leadership. The educational leader is the overall leader of instruction, but he or she needs to have time and skills to motivate and build teams and develop leadership capacity in his or her school for change.” – Kirtman, 2013 Texas Graduate Center is a public-private initiative of the Texas Valley Communities Foundation | 1098 W. Expressway 83, Mercedes TX, 78570 | 956.903.4231 | for more info, contact Mary Alice Reyes at mareyes@tvcof.org
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Thank you to our MATHTEACH Collaborative Partners:
The Texas Graduate Center is a public-private initiative of the Texas Valley Communities Foundation. 12 | Texas Graduate Center