A few of my current projects include:
- Desmos Teaching Fellowship
- WA State Math Fellows
- NSD Secondary Math Fellows Program
- Mathcasts
- Math TOSA Newsletter
I began using the Desmos graphing calculator in 2012 while teaching at Maryknoll High School in Honolulu and found it to be a good tool, but in 2015 I dove into the Desmos Classroom Activities and the Activity Builder, and in Fall 2016 I became part of the 1st cohort of the Desmos Teaching Fellowship! This amazing group has helped me hone my Desmos skills and think about how I engage teachers in professional learning opportunities. As a Desmos Fellow, I continue to collaborate with other Fellows and Desmos staff to continue learning. I now faciltiate trainings and PLCs in my district to collaborate with colleagues and learn more about effective math instruction supported by Desmos tools.
Click here to see an example of Desmos PD I have provided for Northshore secondary math teachers based on my work as a Desmos Teaching Fellow.
See examples are available in selected classroom lessons I’ve shared.
I established the K-5 Math Teacher Lead Team for Northshore School District in 2017. The K-5 Math Leads have collaborated throughout the year to learn more about the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics, engaging math strategies that support the Standards for Mathematical Practice, and the eight Math Teaching Practices outlined in NCTM’s Principles to Actions. Math Leads developed an action plan for supporting teaching and learning of mathematics in their buildings, including facilitating professional development. This has been a fantastic team to work with and I look forward to continuing this year!
I have been a WA State Math Fellow since Fall 2013 through Spring 2017. As a Math Fellow, I support the school and/or district’s Washington State Learning Standards (CCSS) implementation efforts, implement learning from the state Fellows convenings within my own instructional practice, and share my learning with teachers within my district. I continue to support this program and collaborate as a Math Fellow Emeritus.
In Fall 2014 I established the Northshore Secondary Math Fellows Program to support development and growth of math teacher leaders in Northshore School District and as a way to share learning from the state Fellows convenings with teachers in my district. 
During the 2014-2015 school year, participants began their study of NCTM’s Principles to Actions and focused on the math teaching practice, Implementing Tasks that Support Reasoning and Problem Solving.
The 2015-2016 NSD Math Fellows program continued this work and has focused on classroom implementation of the math teaching practices. We did this through a combination of face-to-face meetings, participation in our online course, Math Teaching Practice for the Common Core, and instructional coaching support.
The 2016-2017 the NSD Math Fellows program expanded K-12 and included 21 teachers who explored how mindset affects student learning in mathematics through our book study of Mathematical Mindsets by Jo Boaler.
So, what exactly is a mathcast? Basically, a mathcast is a screen recording of a person’s written work on an electronic whiteboard that is captured along with their voice. My students and I began creating mathcasts in 2005, and it’s still a passion of mine. View Classroom Lessons to see some of our work. Tools have improved greatly since I began, and now I help teachers teach their students how to use Loom to capture their mathematical thinking.
In my role as our district’s Secondary Math TOSA and now our K-12 Math TOSA, I publish a monthly Math TOSA Newsletter to keep our teachers (and other readers) up-to-date with the latest news in math education. Click here to view recent issues or to subscribe!
Other Projects
I have been involved in many fantastic projects throughout the years, and the list is too numerous to list them all here. 🙂 For an extensive list of other projects, please visit my LinkedIn profile.
Patty Stephens 