Math Circles 1001 Leaders Course

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We’ll run this course again soon. Meanwhile, try one of the first tools from the course – a “construction kit” for different math circles. It will help you expand your view on math circles, and maybe try some new things you haven’t considered before!

Here are the past responses (it takes about 5 minutes for your new response to appear there).

It is finally here and we are super excited to let you know about it. What is it?

At every single event we lead, parents and teachers like yourself approach us and say that they dream of their kids doing well in math and enjoying it. And then they ask if we plan on offering math circles in their area.

At first we thought, how cool it would be to lead all those math circles. But an even cooler and more realistic solution is to help interested parents and educators to start their own circles. That’s how the idea for this course came to be!

We talked to many parents and teachers while planning our Math Circles 1001 Leaders Course. We asked them not just about their dreams for their kids’ math education, but also about the obstacles they face, and what they thought would help them achieve those dreams.

Like many of the parents we talked with, you may find yourself dreaming of a different math, yet constantly falling back on the same old content chock-full of worksheets and drills. After all, this is how most of us were taught math. It is very hard to break out of the mold. Fear not! We designed this course to help you and your kids get out of the vicious cycle of drab mathematics.

We know it is important to you that your children learn and explore with friends. Math circles provide a perfect environment to support your child’s curiosity and self-confidence. Yet so few math circles exist. That’s because there are no resources to help parents and teachers figure out the nitty-gritty logistical details, or cope with fears and doubts. This course changes things.

Many parents mentioned their frustration with the existing options for math resources. There are so many out there – in books, blogs, and curriculum offerings. They all look shiny and new and perfect, but most don’t quite work for your kids. So you are back to the beginning, spending more time and money looking for the ideal resource.

Why is it so hard to find a perfect match? That’s because most of these resources give you ready-made scripts that don’t match who you are, don’t fit your children’s interests and needs, and don’t provide ongoing live support.

We won’t give you scripts. We will teach you how to find great ideas, and how to make them work great for you. We will teach you holistic and sustainable approach to math education.

Math Circles 1001 Course

How we developed the course that changes it all

It took more work than anticipated to develop the quality we wanted, but we’ve done it! You won’t be able to find anything like our Math Circles 1001 Leader Course anywhere else: this is the first such online course in the world, organized because you told us you need it. How did we do it?

First, we listened to parents and teachers just like you. They told us why they were hesitant to lead math circles. They also told us about things that would help them along.

We then reflected back on our years of experience participating in math circles as children, leading them as adults, attending them as parents of our own children. We used records of our math circles. We analyzed our past successes and failures. We went to some of the most successful math circle leaders and asked them to share their experience with us.

But we know a course has to be based on more than just a collection of life stories. That is why we used the latest research on early learning and metacognition in developing the course materials.

Finally, we took all this content and organized it to mirror the way an actual math circle is organized. As a result, this is a course in which we will take you by the hand and walk you through every step of creating and leading a successful math circle, from finding the time and place to coming up with activities and documenting accomplishments.

In the end, we knew what we created was a great course. How? Because we wanted to take it ourselves!

Let’s get down to the details. Here is what you can expect when you enroll into the course:

Week by week course flow

The Math Circles 1001 Leaders Course is eight weeks long, starting Friday, October 24, and ending Thursday, December 18. Each week will be dedicated to exploring a different key aspect of what it takes for you to be a math leader, from planning and documenting activities to reaching out to larger leader communities.

By the end of the course, you will feel comfortable with leading at least one math circle. and be ready to run ongoing meetings in the new year. Expect to spend 2-4 hours a week on this course. This is similar to the total workload of running a weekly math circle.

  • Week 1: Types of circles. Which kind is right for you?
    • Math circle leaders have fears and doubts. Identify yours and find out ways to overcome them. Find the type of circle that is right for you and for your students.
  • Week 2: Logistics of a math circle. Time, tasks, place, money, people.
    • How often to hold circles. How long should each meeting last. Where will you meet. How to find students. How to organize and share math circle tasks. Finally, should you charge for your math circle and if yes, how much.
  • Week 3: Content and where to get it.
    • What does “making math your own” mean. Great resources. How to borrow creatively. Developing one short activity or puzzle that will become your “business card”.
  • Week 4: Your math values.
    • What math and education values are important to you. How to create values-driven math circle and incorporate them into your daily practice.
  • Week 5: Circles under a microscope: high-comfort zone.
    • Find out the circle structure, style, and type of content you are most comfortable with. Meet and interview experienced leaders whose style works for you.
  • Week 6: Circles under a microscope: low-comfort zone
    • Look at circles that are exciting, but whose style, structure, or content makes you feel uncertain or uncomfortable. Find out why it happens, and the importance of feeling uncomfortable. How your math circle leadership skills grow in low-comfort zones.
  • Week 7: Just do it!
    • You will plan, lead, and document an actual math circle. This is a capstone project for the course.
  • Week 8: Reflect and share.
    • Share your experience from the previous week with other students. Get feedback from peers and the instructors. Help other students assess the results of their efforts. Celebrate successful completion of the course in a group conference call for last-minute high-fives, questions for the instructors, and networking.

During Weeks 4-7 you will have access to our most popular content course, Natural Math Multiplication. You will use it as a resource for planning activities for your sample math circle.

We plan for three live meetings during the course. Before the end of Week 1, we will run individual orientation meetings with each participant, via Google Hangouts. Think of these as private consultations where you can pick our brains and get any help you need. During Week 4, we will schedule several small group meetings to check on everyone and answer your questions. During Week 8, we’ll have small group meetings to celebrate the end of the course, and to see what ongoing help our graduating participants need to run their circles in 2015 and beyond!

Course Registration

In the past we offered courses for a large numbers of participants (600+ signed up last time we ran Natural Math Multiplication). This course is different. We will give extensive individual consultations and help to each participant. That’s why we will only accept 20 people into this first, pilot Math Circles 1001 Leaders course.

What will you get with our course

To recap, when you sign up for one of the seats in this course, you will get:

  • 8 weeks of highly-individualized small group instructions that will give you the resources, knowledge, and confidence to start your own math circle
  • Access to a course-participants-only forum for professional discussions
  • Interviews with experienced and successful math circle leaders from around the US
  • Full access to our best-selling Natural Math Multiplication course ($40 value)
  • One-on-one consultation with Dr. Maria ($100 value)
  • Ongoing support to help you continue your math circle in 2015

Compare the course fee (with or without the discount) to average costs of extracurricular activities your children are involved in. Keep in mind that while gymnastics, soccer, or music lessons incur monthly expenses, you will only pay once to take our course and your children will be able to enjoy math circles, a great extracurricular activity, for years, at considerable savings to you.

Additionally, after completing the course, you will be able to organize and lead your own math circles. This means you will be able to make money using highly-portable and in-demand skills in a business with very low start-up costs.

If you have questions about the course, shoot us an e-mail.

We’ll see you in the course!

P.S One need-based scholarship is available for this course. E-mail us at moby@moebiusnoodles.com to apply.

4 comments on “Math Circles 1001 Leaders Course
  1. Beth says:

    Is this course available for continuing professional development credits?

    • MariaD says:

      Beth,

      We can provide certificates of completion that detail the workload, and recommend the corresponding number of CE credit hours (about 20). I recommend you first ask your local office on whether they accept such documentation for their purposes, because it varies in different organizations.

  2. Debbie MICHELS says:

    When will you run this again?????

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