Professional Development Opportunities
For more information contact:
EMPower Workshops
TERC
2067 MassachusettsAve
Cambridge, MA 02140
617.547.0430
The workshops are designed to connect teachers to the exemplary new EMPower curriculum, developed at TERC. The curriculum materials are available from Peppercorn Press and Key Curriculum Press.
EMPower Professional Development
EMPower Professional Development Workshops are an exciting opportunity for adult numeracy teachers interested in maximizing the quality of mathematics instruction for adults and out of school youth. EMPower workshops are designed to make math accessible to teachers at all levels of “math comfort”—from the skittish to the confident. Together, teachers will expand their ideas of what it means to do math, focusing on reasoning, communication, and problem solving (in adult contexts) with a variety of approaches and strategies, not just rote memorization of procedures.
Workshop Features:
- 1-day or 2-day intensive sessions
- Hands-on, minds-on mathematical investigations
- Reflection on practice
- Connection with current math ed research and standards
- Suitable for ABE, preGED and GED classrooms
- Can be customized to other populations (e.g., alternative high schools, college developmental programs, workplace, or corrections)
Workshop Offerings
Algebraic Thinking
Participants use a variety of representational tools—diagrams,
words, tables, graphs, and equations—to understand linear patterns and functions.
They connect the rate of change with the slope of a line and compare linear
with nonlinear relationships. They also gain facility with and comprehension
of basic algebraic notation.
Data and Graphs
Participants collect, organize, and represent data using frequency,
bar, and circle graphs. They use line graphs to describe change over time.
They use benchmark fractions and percents and the three measures of central
tendency—mode, median, and mean—to describe sets
of data.
Geometry and Measurement
Participants explore the features and measures of basic
shapes. They describe shapes verbally using informal language and gradually
acquiring more formal terminology. They use spatial reasoning to solve problems.
Perimeter and area of two-dimensional shapes and volume of rectangular solids
provide focus.
Proportional Reasoning
Participants use various tools—objects, diagrams, tables,
graphs, and equations—to understand proportional and nonproportional relationships
and learn which tools are most useful in particular situations. Participants
have opportunities to explore situations when direct proportion is applicable
and those when it is not.
Coming Soon—Fractions, Decimals, & Percents!