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Call for Math Mentors-- Short-term Commitment
Posted:
Jul 17, 1996 10:09 PM
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Hi, my name is Ruth Carver and I run the Elementary Problem of the
Week.
http://forum.swarthmore.edu/sum95/ruth/elem.pow.html
Can you volunteer a week of your time?
Each week from October to May of this past school year, I sent out
open-ended questions for students in grades 3 through 6. My idea was
to
have a companion project High School Math Mentors, where high school
students would respond to the elementary student's solution,
praising,
offering advice, asking for clearer explanations, etc.
The Elementary Problem of the Week was greatly received. The problem
was
that I couldn't get commitments from other high schools, and so my
students
ended up doing the majority of the work and in the end, I did most of
it
because I really couldn't expect my students to, although some
volunteered
their time and stuck with it to the end.
A Possible Solution
Instead of having a High School Math Mentors group, I would like to
change
it to "Visiting Math Mentors" who would receive special recognition.
Each
school/person would only have to commit to one week, although if they
could
do more weeks, not necessarily consecutively, it would be greatly
appreciated (with more possible perks - see below).
Who Falls into the Visiting Math Mentor Category?
Some possibilities are: classes of high school students; middle
school
students (grades 7-9); pre-service teachers; retirees who love
problem
solving and interacting with young children; college students;
teachers;
college professors; and anyone else with a love of problem solving and
a
willingness to share it with elementary students.
Responsibilities
During the week that you or your students are the designated Visiting
Math
Mentor, I will forward you all the responses from that week. You'll
reply
to the students, and usually, by the end of the week after the problem
is
due, you will e-mail me a list of students who haved solved the
problem
correctly, and a list of a few interesting solutions to put into the
Highlighted Solutions section. Again, if you look on the Elementary
Problem
of the Week web page, you'll have a better idea of what I'm talking
about.
I will then send them to Eric Sasson at the Math Forum, who maintains
the
page.
Other Help Needed
Submitting problems for the elementary Problem of the Week. You
should
check out past problems to get an idea of the types of problems we're
looking for.
http://forum.swarthmore.edu/sum95/ruth/elem.pow.html
What's In it For You/Possible Perks and Rewards
Steve Weimar, Program Administrator of the Math Forum has suggested
that
people who make a significant contribution to the project (mentoring
for a
week(s), sending several problems that we could use, etc.), would be
able
to use the services of the Forum staff. For instance, if you need
help
with something you're doing on the web, they would be available to
help
you. We're thinking of issuing "credits" that you could accumulate
and
exchange for a certain number of "help hours."
We also want to make sure that the "Visiting Math Mentors" get
special
recognition on the web.
How do I sign up?
Please e-mail me at ruth@forum.swarthmore.edu
Let me know which week or weeks would be best for you.
If you have any possible problems to use, you can e-mail them to me
also.
Please let me know to what extent you'd like to be involved.
Thanks,
Ruth
******************************************
Ruth Carver
ruth@forum.swarthmore.edu
Germantown Academy
P.O. Box 287
Fort Washington, PA 19034
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