Upcoming Workshops and Events
Community Conversation: Sustainable Organizing for Math Circles
Tuesday, May 28, 2025, 4-5 p.m. Pacific (register)
Facilitated by Maria Droujkova (Natural Math) and Brianna Donaldson (Math Circle Network / AIM)
In an environment where funding, networks, and partnerships have become less certain or even disappeared, how can we keep our Math Circles going strong? Let’s get together and talk about sustainable organizing. What established practices, such as crowdfunding or giving circles, could we adapt? Can we reconceptualize our Math Circles as communities of care as well as communities of practice? What other organizations and their ecosystems could we befriend for mutual sustenance? We’ll share ideas, pose questions, and maybe help one another solve a small but existential problem or two.
Past Workshops and Events
Math Circle Network Webinar: Parent Engagement Strategies
Presented by Kathy Cordeiro, Associate Director of Engagement and Growth, Art of Problem Solving
Tuesday, February 25, 2025, 4-5 p.m. Pacific
Join your fellow math circle leaders and our featured speaker Kathy Cordeiro, a 15-year math circle facilitator and veteran math circle parent, for a practical discussion about increasing student attendance through parent engagement. We’ll explore field-tested approaches that have successfully transformed parent perception from “another extracurricular activity” to “essential enrichment worth prioritizing.” Our speaker will share specific strategies that worked for their circle, while fellow leaders can exchange ideas that have proven effective in their own communities. From innovative programming to strategic parent communication, you’ll leave this session with concrete tools you can implement immediately. Come ready to share your challenges and successes as we work together to build stronger, more sustainable math circles. At the end of the session, you’ll have a number of strategies to use at your circle, such as:- Curated resources for making informed decisions about students’ education journey and learning style
- Reaching parents who aren’t typical math circle attendees by solving their pain points, e.g., college admissions or careers in STEM
- Broad range of training for math competitions and math adjacent options
Dr. Koshi Dhingra, Founder and CEO of talkSTEM
Thursday, June 6, 2024, 4-5 p.m. Pacific
Recording and Slides
Learn how to design an inquiry-based Math Walk for your Math Circle!
talkSTEM has been designing and conducting math and STEM walks for K-12 students and their adults for years. Their MathFinder and walkSTEM initiatives allow participants to see the world around them through the lens of mathematics and STEM.
In this webinar, talkSTEM founder and CEO Dr. Koshi Dhingra discusses her organization’s inquiry-based approach to creating math walks. She also provides an overview of talkSTEM’s open-access resources—including videos, video templates, and creative guides—that you can use to design math walks of your own.
Math Circle Network Meeting: Solicitation Release for Equity Learning and Collaboration Grants
Thursday, February 15, 4-5 p.m. Pacific
Math Circle Network Meeting: Solicitation Release for Math Circle Grants
Thursday, February 15, 4-5 p.m. Pacific
Find out about new grant opportunities from the Math Circle Network. We’ll have a brief presentation, followed by Q&A. Please spread the word!
Find out about new grant opportunities from the Math Circle Network:
- Toolkit Teams: Small collaborative working groups that will develop toolkits addressing significant needs of the network ($1000 stipend per team member, plus a $1000 grant for their Circle)
- Equity Redesign Community of Practice: Circle leaders whose Circles are committed to engaging in a redesign process to increase attention to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging ($1500 grant per Circle)
- New Circle Seed Grant Cohorts: Training and mentoring for leadership teams of new Math Student Circles and Math Teacher Circles ($1500 grant per Circle, plus funds to support a Circle Mentor visit)
- Regional and Affinity-Based Collaboration Meetings: In-person meetings for geographically nearby Circles or Circles who share a common interest ($500-3000, depending on what is proposed)
We’ll have a brief presentation, followed by Q&A. Please spread the word!
Math Circles at the Joint Mathematics Meetings
Organizers: Jeffrey Musyt (Slippery Rock University), Lauren L Rose (Bard College), Tom G. Stojsavljevic (Beloit College), Nick Rauh (Julia Robinson Math Festival), Edward Charles Keppelmann (University of Nevada Reno), Allison Henrich (Seattle University), Violeta Vasilevska (Utah Valley University), and Gabriella A. Pinter (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee)
The low floor, high ceiling nature of math circle activities makes them ideal for exploring mathematics at a variety of levels. The resulting open-ended investigations naturally lead to questions that can develop into research projects. During the session, presenters from diverse backgrounds and institutions will share activities and discuss ideas that have led or can lead to research projects for college students, K-12 students, teachers, or faculty research.
Lightning Talks presented by Maria Droujkova (Natural Math and the Bluebird Math Circle), Kyle Evans (MTC 4 Social Justice), Pedro Morales-Almazán (Math Teachers’ Circle Santa Cruz), and Peter Tingley (Chicago Math Teachers’ Circle).
Presented by Tien Chih, see how knots, movement and fractions intertwine in Conway’s Rational Tangles! While typically done in person, this popular activity has been adapted to remote facilitation for a pandemic world.
Organized by members of the Math Circle community, this three-day online event was geared towards educators looking to start a Math Circle and long-time Math Circle leaders.
This free workshop included math sessions, “Teachers’ Lounge” seminars, and social time to connect with math friends near and far. All MTC members were invited to join the workshop for as many sessions as they liked!
