tgc monthly - january 2016

Monthly

JAN2016TEXAS

GRADUATE CENTER

COHORT IVINTRODUCING

IN THIS ISSUE:University Student Tour 2016

Spring 2016 Harvard Classes

Introducing Cohort IV

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2 | TexaS GradUaTe CenTer

Monthly

PresidentDr. Roland Arriola

executive directorDr. Mary Alice Reyes

AssociAte director/ editorAdriana V. Lopez

designer/ PHotogrAPHer David Alvarado

tgc oFFices1098 W. Expressway 83

Mercedes, Texas78570

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.

AboUT US:

TEXAS GRADUATE CENTER

TXGRADCENTER.ORG

TGC has partnered with the Harvard Extension School to

provide a graduate program created specifically for teachers of

middle and high school math-ematics. Harvard University

believes that teachers with a solid foundation in mathematics

are most capable of communi-cating the essentials, guiding

students around mathematical pitfalls and avoiding potential

misunderstandings.

05 Spring 2016 Harvard Spring ClassesA brief overview of the instructional courses Texas Graduate Center Scholars will be taking during the Spring 2016 semester.

06 Get to know the newest member of the TGCNereyda Puente is an aspiring social worker attending Our Lady of the Lake. She is now an intern at the Texas Graduate Center helping make a difference in her community.

08 University Student Tour: District Rep. MeetingThe TGC is planning for another successful student university tour this summer and have added two tours to our summer itinerary.

10 Introducing Cohort IVThe Texas Graduate Center is proud to welcome Cohort IV into our Harvard Mathematics for Teaching Graduate Program.

In this issue...

Harvard UniversityExtension School

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.

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FROM THE EDITOR

T o be the most effective teacher, one must go back and understand the students’ perspective to gain better understanding of your students in general. We must understand that everyone is different and teaching must be adaptive and ready to change for every student. No one student is strictly an auditory learner, given a specific task. For example, when assembling an object together, students do not rely on someone reading the instructions to them and understanding how to build it in one go. They must read the instructions and understand them. They must have a visual representa-

tion of what the object should look like and they must have some kinesthetic awareness of where a certain piece of the object is in relations to the whole. This is how students learn, a combination of styles

I t’s going to be a great year here at the Texas Graduate Center (TGC). We welcome our fourth cohort into our Harvard Math for Teaching graduate program. Five Rio Grande Valley (RGV) teachers begin their program this

month, and even though they’re our smallest cohort, we are confident they’re going to do big things. And as we welcome five new teachers into the program, we say goodbye to seven from our very first cohort. Cohort 1 completed their program and will be participating in commencement ceremonies at Harvard this summer. We are very proud of their accomplishment and confident they will continue to positively impact math education in their schools and community. This year we also welcome a new partnership with Washington University, St. Louis. We will begin offering a masters degree in Biology for Teaching for local RGV Science teachers. The program begins this summer, July 2016. It is a blended program with Fall and Spring courses here at the TGC via distance learning and summer residency in St. Louis. With this partnership we take another step in fulfilling our goal of increasing the number of RGV teachers attending outstanding universities across the nation. Along with our program offerings for local teachers, we’ve also expanded our university tour offerings to area high school students. Last summer we took a group of 46 RGV students to visit universities in the Boston area including Harvard, MIT and Brown University. This summer, we will visit not only Boston area universities, but Washington University in St. Louis as well as universities in the New York area including Princeton, Columbia and Yale. We continue to work to empower and transform communities through education and innovation by providing advanced studies to educators and by exposing local students to new opportunities. We’re confident this will be our best year yet!

e d I T O r - I n - C H I e F

TXGRADCENTER.ORG

T o be the most effective teacher, one must go back and understand the students’ perspective to gain better understanding of your students in general. We must understand that everyone is different and teaching must be adaptive and ready to change for every student. No one student is strictly an auditory learner, given a specific task. For example, when assembling an object together, students do not rely on someone reading the instructions to them and understanding how to build it in one go. They must read the instructions and understand them. They must have a visual representa-

tion of what the object should look like and they must have some kinesthetic awareness of where a certain piece of the object is in relations to the whole. This is how students learn, a combination of styles

MATH E- 16 CAlCulus 2 wiTH sEriEs And diffErEnTiAl EquATions

Instructor: Eric Connally, BA

This course covers integration, differential equations, and Taylor series with applications. It covers most of the topics in a second-semester calculus course with the emphasis on applications as well as graphical and numerical work. The use of a graphing calculator with the capability of computing (approximating)

definite integrals is required. Students enrolling for graduate credit participate in weekly pedagogical seminars designed for current and future K-12 teachers.

MATH E-300 MATH for TEACHing: AlgEBrA

Instructor: Srdjan Divac, MA

This course examines the mathematical underpinnings behind what is taught in secondary level algebra courses. It considers what, why, and how we teach what we teach, and investigates different strands of algebraic competence with particular emphasis on how we assess the students’ proficiency in these various strands.

SPRING 2016 Harvard Courses

MATH E-6 MATHEMATiCs & THE grEEks

Instructor: Graeme D. Bird, PhD

In this course we seek to understand how the ancient

Greeks thought about mathematics by focusing on three activities: finding solutions and proofs for simple numerical problems, drawing geometrical constructions using compasses and straightedge, and reading brief historical abstracts by and about early Greek mathematicians. Students also learn the Greek alphabet to enable

them to read a few common mathematical terms. Graduate-credit students prepare a series of lesson plans showing how a section of the course material could be taught in high schools.

srdjan divac studied computer science and applied mathematics, then pure mathematics at Harvard University, Tufts University, and Boston University. He has been teaching math at various levels for more than 25 years at Harvard, Tufts, Boston University, and Boston University Academy, and has collaborated on a number of textbooks and educational projects. Divac is a many-time recipient of the Harvard

University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching. He was nominated for the Levenson award, the highest teaching honor at Harvard. He also spent about six years helping to inflate and then deflate the dot com bubble.

A brief overview of the instructional courses Texas Graduate Center Scholars will be taking during the Spring 2016 semester.

ProfEssor sPoTligHT:

JanuaRY


I come from a deep-rooted

Mexican family. Both of my parents are from southern Mexico, a small town in San Luis Potosi called

Matehuala; they’ve been

here for over 30 years. I was

born here in the rio Grande Valley, Mcallen

to be exact. after being born, my parents went through very hard times getting through so they decided to move north to Texarkana, Tx were I lived until 2nd grade. In second grade I came back to the Valley where every following summer I migrated with both of my parents and sister to Michigan.

I became a migrant for about eight years. In the summers my parents would take me to work in the fields to pick blueberries. Even though I never complained about working in the fields I understood I needed to get an education to not have to work in the fields the rest of my life. My parents have always encouraged me to get an education and to take advantage of the opportunities I have. I hope to one day make them proud. With their support I graduated from donna High School in 2012 and graduated with an associate’s degree in Social Work on december 12, 2015.

Coming from a community where drop out rates are very high and very few attend college, I decided that would definitely not be me. When I first started at South Texas College I wasn’t sure what field to go into. I started in the medical field but after taking a sociology class

my whole perspective changed, that is when I changed my major to Social Work. I decided to go into this field because there is high demand for social workers and the change social workers make in the community is incredible. What really attracted me to this career was how social workers pull communities together and find solutions to those who need them. also, social workers promote and emphasize change in social policy, promote social justice, and foster human and global well-being. I know after receiving my bachelor’s degree more opportunities will be open to me. My future goal is to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. My ideal work place would be working with children and families in providing emotional and mental health counseling. I currently found out as a future Social Worker I can also work with refugee’s which would also be an ideal work place for me.

I am currently attending Our Lady of The Lake, La Feria, Tx for my Bachelor’s degree and hope to graduate in the Spring of 2017.

One of my favorite things to do in my spare time is volunteer. The place I volunteer more frequently is at the Sacred Heart Church in McAllen. Since the mass influx of refugee children and mothers from Central america back in 2014, I’ve continued to go and sponsor families as they go through the process of receiving food and clothing, to helping them make a call either to their homes back in Central America or to family in the United States. I first started volunteering there because my Intro to Sociology course at STC required 30 volunteer hours, but after seeing the high demand of volunteers needed, I kept going back. I have met so many wonderful people coming from el Salvador, Honduras and other countries where poverty and crime are the main causes they are leaving there home towns.

- Nereyda Puente

Get to know the newest member of the

Texas Graduate Center!

TXGRADCENTER.ORG

Girls EnGaGEd in MathEMatics is a public-privatE initiativE of thE tExas vallEy coMMunitiEs foundation

GIRLS ENGAGED IN MATHEMATICS

Building CONFIDENCE and reducing MATH ANXIETYThe 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 Reyes956.903.4231 | [email protected]

JANUARY


UNIVERSITY STUDENT TOUR

DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVEMEETING

TXGRADCENTER.oRG

We are planning for another successful student university tour this summer and have added two tours to our summer itinerary. In

addition to our Boston Ivy League University Tour, which includes visits to Harvard, MIT, and Brown University, we will also be travelling to New York to visit Columbia,

Princeton and Yale. We’re also excited to add Washington University, St. Louis to our university tour roster. This month, representative from eight Rio Grande Valley school districts joined us for an informational meeting to discus logistics for the upcoming tours.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN ATTENDENCE:DoNNA ISD EDINbURG CISD LA JoYA ISD LYFoRD CISD MERCEDES ISD MISSIoN CISD PSJA ISD WESLACo ISD

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Challenge has been common in Tiffany’s life; nonetheless, she has learned to emerge from it triumphantly. At Moody High School, in Corpus Christi, Texas, Tiffany succeeded

in graduating in the top ten percent while being very active in various varsity sports including volleyball, basketball, track, and cheerleading. At Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, Tiffany was the only female to receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Science for Mechanical Engineering for the 2009 graduating class. Furthermore, while attending the university, she was receiving a scholarship for making the Islander cheerleading squad, a position that is very difficult to acquire. Tiffany’s goal as an educator is to continue to help guide her students. She wants to be the mentor and role model that her parents were for her so that her students can accomplish their goals, just as she did. The challenges Tiffany has encountered as an athlete, mechanical engineer graduate, Texas State Trooper, mother, coach, and educator have made Tiffany the person she has become today.

T E X A S G R A D U A T E C E N T E R

Tiffany Ochoaedinburg CISd

COHORT IVINTRODUCING

The Texas Graduate Center is proud to welcome Cohort IV into our Harvard Mathematics for Teaching Graduate Program. Teachers in the three-year masters program through Harvard extension School learn new strategies that dramatically improve their ability to teach middle and high school students the math skills needed to succeed in life, work, and academia. Cohort IV begin classes this spring and will travel to Cambridge for their 7-week summer residency in June. Cohort IV includes Joseph alanis and Manuel rodriguez from La Joya ISd, doni Fernandez and Oscar Santos from PSJa ISd, and Tiffany Ochoa from edinburg CISd.

TXGRADCENTER.ORG

I was born on April, 1978 in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Graduat-ing from High school in 1996, I enrolled and spent the next four years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I majored

in mathematics and history, while playing college football for the Badgers. In 2001, I graduated and began my career in education via Teach-for-America. As a member of Teach for America, I was placed in E.L. FURR High School in Houston Texas. As a first year teacher, I quickly realized that my passion for teaching involved working with “At-Risk” youth. For the last 15 years I have dedicated my craft as an educator to help students see their true po-tential and I have worked hard to push them to aspire for greater lev-els of education.

M y name is Oscar Servando Santos. I was born in Laredo, Texas and moved with my family to the Rio Grande Valley at the age of 3, where I have lived most of my life. My

passion for mathematics dates back to my childhood when I was learning multiplication tables. I initially pursued an undergraduate degree in actuarial science but ultimately changed to Social Work in 2009. I spent the next 4 years working with children for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Tropical Texas Behavioral Health. Throughout this time I returned to school to obtain a Master’s of Science degree in Social Work. In 2013, I decided

to pursue a career in education and obtained my teaching certification for High School Mathematics. My first two years in the classroom provided me with wonderful learning experiences. In my third year, I look forward to further advancing my knowledge in the field of mathematics as well as my skills in the classroom, so that I may provide a quality education to my students in helping them prepare for college.

T E X A S G R A D U A T E C E N T E R

Manuel Rodriguez

Oscar Santos

La Joya ISd

PSJa ISd

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M y name is Doni Fernandez. I was born and raised in Iloilo, Philippines and I moved to the United States after graduating college. After working in the retail industry in California for

a couple of years, I felt that I needed a change of environment and with a degree in Electronics Engineering, I was encouraged to teach mathemat-ics in high school. After a couple of months, I found myself moving to the valley and teaching my first Algebra 1 class. I had a hard time adjust-ing at first, primarily with the language and culture, but as I went along, I was able to learn from my coworkers how to handle my classes and

teach better. I can’t believe that was 8 years ago and I can say that teaching is a rewarding experience and I want to keep improving. It’s very fulfilling when students thank me for helping them pass their exams or just saying that it’s the best class they’ve ever had. I feel privileged to be in this program and I’m looking forward to learning how to make my lessons more rele-vant to my students and inspire them to become better thinkers and solvers in the future.

Doni FernandezPSJa ISd

I was born in July, 1990, in Chicago, IL, and am currently a 2nd year Mathematics teacher at Juarez-Lincoln High School where I teach both Algebra 2 and Geometry. Although a native of Wisconsin, I attended Upper Iowa University where I obtained a bachelor’s of science in mathematics and minors in information technology and

general business. During my time at Upper Iowa, I served as a student representative for the INNSPIRE-LSAMP Steering Committee, which developed faculty peer groups that collaborated across the alliance to share inclusive pedagogy and mentoring practice that lead to greater success for minorities. As an underrepresented minority being raised within a low economic family in Wisconsin, I have overcome a vast amount of disadvantages, such as discrimination and poverty in order be successful. Therefore, I am an advocate for education as the leveling field for all individuals and my goal is to enlighten and guide minority populations to appreciate the enhanced opportunities that education provides for both themselves and their family. Ultimately, I would like to help shape the future of higher education for Latino/Latina minorities because I believe, collectively, the Hispanic population is not ready to be leaders of tomorrow. My ambition is to become a president/chancellor of a university.

Joseph AlanisLa Joya ISd

Master of Science in Biology for Teachers

• EarnaMasterofSciencedegreeintwoyears(onlineand3-weeksummerresidencies)

• LearnfromrenownedlifesciencefacultyatWashingtonUniversitySt.Louis,oneofthemostprominentresearchuniversitiesinthecountry.

• Participateinactionresearchandlaboratoryworkinstate-of-the-artresearchfacilitiesoncampusandwithinthecityofSt.Louis.

• Participateinprofessionalnetworkswithteachersfromacrossthecountry.

• Developandapplyskillsincurriculuminnovation.

Texas Graduate Center is a public-private initiative of the Texas Valley Communities Foundation.1098 W. Expressway 83, Mercedes, TX 78570 | 956.903.4231 | [email protected]

aPPLICaTIOnS dUe FeB. 26

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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 [email protected]

LEAD FACILITAToRdr. 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.

MISSIoNThe 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.

PRoGRAM MoDELeach 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.

PRoGRAM CoMPoNENTS• 8TrainingsessionswithResourceGuide• Book: The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact• Externalcampusvisits• Speakerstoenhancecurriculum• On-siteandOn-linesupport• PrincipalsAcademyshirt• CertificateofCompletion

1Roles and

Responsibilities of the Principal

5Building System

Coherence

3Transformational vs Instructional

Leadership

7Change

Challenges and Strategies

2Urgency and

Drivers of Change

6Principals as

Agents of Change

4Building

Professional Capital

8Designing a Maximizing Impact Plan

BUILDING THE CAPACITY TO MAXIMIZE IMPACT

“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

TXGRADCENTER.ORG

MATHTEACHCollaborative

JUly

10-162016

Febuary

52016

Mathematicianandmatheducator,founderofTheSt.Mark’sMathInstitute,scholarattheMathematicalAssociationofAmerica,authorofovertenbooksonmathematics,curriculum,andeducation.

James Tanton

Harvard Graduate School of education

superintendents leadership seriesLeadership: An Evolving Vision

WoRkSHoP# 49184

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The Texas Graduate Center is a public-private initiative of the

Texas Valley Communities Foundation.

Thank you to our MATHTEACH Collaborative

Partners:

tgc monthly - january 2016

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