The MAPPS mini-course, Geometry for Parents, ran from the first week of January to the last week of February, 2009, for parents of students from Hohokam Middle School or one of its feeder elementary schools: Lawrence, Johnson, Maldonado, and Miller. Also, throughout the 2008 – 2009 school year, fifteen two-hour, stand-alone Math for Parents – MAPPS Workshops took place throughout the five schools. The facilitators for both mini-course and workshops were teachers from the five schools. In March, teacher-facilitators, principals from the participating schools, and others on the MAPPS team commented on the year’s activities. The selected comments that appear below reflect the rich benefits of MAPPS activities to the schools.
Several talked about the benefits of MAPPS activities to the parents and their children:
“The parents who took the course were excited to be there. They looked forward to the next meeting.” – teacher
“[in the workshops] I like having their student next to them working with them because it gives students an opportunity to teach their parents.” – principal
“MAPPS is the best thing we have going for the parents.” – teacher
“The parents really enjoyed coming.” – teacher
Many discussed the benefits to the teacher-facilitators themselves:
“Excellent training/professional development for our teachers….I have really seen the benefits of the professional development with the teachers on [the MAPPS team].” – principal
“The MAPPS activities are fabulous! Very engaging and fun. I love how they’re broken down into bite-sized bits of information that build upon one another. I think the teachers loved these activities as much as the parents did! I would *love* to participate again next year!” – teacher
“A lot of the facilitators really learned a lot of mathematics and a lot about teaching mathematics by teaching the mini-course.” – administrator
Several brought up the issue of cooperation and bonding that took place between teacher-facilitators from the different schools:
“I see benefits [of MAPPS] on so very many levels. The networking that teachers in the feeder pattern have done is tremendous. They have pulled together to work on a meaningful project that includes deepening content understandings as they consider how to deliver that same content to [parent] participants. [All] that must flow over into classroom practice. They are honing instructional practice related to learners of all ages.They are sharing their passion for mathematics with parents who appear to become excited as they work through the content themselves. In essence, every teacher involved is refining mathematics leadership skills, learning with and from each other.” – teacher
“In the end, for the facilitators [teaching the mini-course] was a bonding experience between the Hohokam folk and the feeder folk. The two groups wound up having respect for each other.” – administrator
“What worked: The cooperation of feeder pattern MAPPS teachers.” – teacher
Others spoke of building community:
“The interaction and community building at Hohokam was great… We should always …help parents feel more comfortable within the school setting. Their support and trust come as they get to know us.” – teacher
“At the heart of the concept was for us to inspire our community of families to learn math skills to assist their children. Secondary was to begin to change the ‘negative’ perception of Hohokam and invite the feeder-pattern to our campus prior to their actual middle school articulation.” – teacher
“Relationships amongst teachers, administrators, parents, and children were developed.” – principal
– David
MAPPS - Math and Parent Partners 