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.
For the Love of Math
Heather Novitski has always found mathematics to be both fascinating and fulfilling. She credits this positive perspective to the many incredible educators she encountered as a student, especially her 3rd grade teacher, who had an innate ability to incorporate gamification into math lessons. Heather’s love of math only continued to grow during her 13-year career as an educator, where she helped her students believe that challenges should be embraced, mistakes are opportunities for growth, and everyone can be a “math person.” She is thrilled to utilize her experience to help students around the world develop their own passion for mathematics.
Lee Watson