Mitch Slater
Mitch Slater spent 20 years in education as a classroom teacher, math intervention teacher, and administrator. The Levered instructional model is an extension of an adaptive pencil and paper curriculum that he developed and refined for over 12 years in the classroom.
For the Love of Math
Joshua Bradley's love of math bloomed in the 7th grade when his teacher in rural Alaska gave him algebra II and geometry books to study on his own, with a caution that she may not be able to help him. Joshua is excited to use his 20 years of experience in technology and entrepreneurship to help kindle the unique sense of empowerment that solving math problems can bring to young minds.
In 4th or 5th grade, the Voyage of the Mimi (starring a teenage Ben Affleck) taught us all about oceanography and the way math can be used to understand and help humpback whales. I remember two classes joining together to sit in front of a TV rolling cart. It opened my eyes to innovative math and science education! The kids in the show were so cool—they had all kinds of adventures while using various measuring tools and creating graphs to look at the data. While this 80s show is dated to watch in the current times, they made some efforts on diversity: one of the adult actors is deaf—she reads lips and speaks in sign language and there is one segment on a school for the deaf. There was a black teen actor and of the 3 scientists, 2 are women. Since then I have dedicated my career to understanding and creating effective learning in various educational settings. This includes research comparing physical and virtual materials for my PhD or postdoctoral research studies researching an exhibit about the Secrets of Circles (with Children's Discovery Museum in San José ). In my almost a decade of curriculum development, my work has focused as much on designing for the educators as for the learners.
Mike Missiaen has worked in education since 1996. He spent many years teaching ESL in Europe, Asia, and the States. He has led countless teacher training workshops. In 2015 he got both an elementary school teaching credential and a master's in Digital Media and Learning from USF. He loves helping teachers learn how to use technology to reach more students and reduce their workload.