Math Guru to Address Master Teachers at College

07/01/2015 

Highly sought-after math expert Dan Meyer has talked numbers on “Good Morning America,” “Everyday with Rachel Ray” and CNN, and soon he’ll address some of New York state’s most promising teachers at SUNY Cortland. 

Meyer, a former teacher with more than 38,000 Twitter followers, will work with 60 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) educators who double as New York State Master Teachers during a full-day workshop at the College on Thursday, July 16. They make up a group chosen for its classroom effectiveness, a commitment to professional development and a willingness to mentor new teachers.

The event, sponsored by the Master Teacher Program, reached its participant capacity quickly.

“We’re excited for this opportunity to bring someone of the caliber of Mr. Meyer to Cortland to share best practices on math education with the state’s Master Teachers,” said Dominick Fantacone M.A.T. ’12, the Central New York region coordinator and the statewide chief campus coordinator for the program.

A resident of Mountain View, Calif., Meyer is recognized as an effective advocate for better math instruction who “taught high school math to kids who didn’t like high school math,” according to his personal bio. He opts for memorable and practical lessons over stale, outdated approaches. 

He recently earned a doctorate from Stanford University in math education and currently serves as the chief academic officer at Desmos, where he’s pondering the future of math textbooks. The San Francisco-based web application development company is reshaping the concept of math literacy, having created a free computer browser-based graphing calculator that does not require a download. 

A former curriculum fellow at Google, Meyer has offered hundreds of presentations internationally and was named one of Tech & Learning’s 30 Leaders of the Future in 2010. His TEDxNYED presentation that proposed new ways to teach math has been viewed more than 200,000 times. 

Meyer earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 2003 and a master’s in education in 2005, both from the University of California, Davis. 

The teachers he will address meet routinely for mini-courses and workshops and pursue individualized development plans in their STEM content areas. They also share what they learn with their colleagues and student teachers, including many from SUNY Cortland. In May, the College hosted more than 450 people at the second annual New York State Master Teacher Program Professional Development Conference.

The program, launched in 2013, includes 552 teachers across 10 regions throughout the state. It requires a four-year commitment to mentoring other secondary school teachers and helping both prospective educators and new teachers. The idea is to give outstanding teachers in math and science an incentive to continue teaching in New York while sharing their methods, experience and insight with fellow teachers.

With 70 master teachers, SUNY Cortland is the largest regional hub for the New York State Master Teacher Program in upstate New York.