Section NExT

Lunch and Workshop:  Friday, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM 

Title:   Teaching Strategies for Building Positive Faculty-Student Relationships in the Classroom

Presenter: Stephanie Pollard, Mount Wachusett Community College

Abstract: Forming true connections with students, while one of the greatest achievements, is also one of the biggest struggles in teaching. Using the work of Paul Hernandez and his book Real Talk as a jumping-off point, this talk will discuss strategies to assist in creating these connections. We will look at the two main approaches posed in the book: real talks and alternative lessons, discuss how they can be implemented in a mathematics-based classroom, present examples of each, and provide a space to begin developing your talks and lessons. Additionally, we will discuss best practices in teaching mathematics. Please come to the talk with a lesson or class in mind that you would like to begin refining and any best practices you would like to share with the group.

Bio: Stephanie Pollard is a Professor and Chair of the Mathematics Department at Mount Wachusett Community College. She began her teaching career as a teaching fellow at Boston College in 2005 when she was studying for her M.A. in Mathematics. Since this time, Stephanie has earned two teaching awards while working in higher education. Stephanie is also the higher education representative on the DESE ADC committee for the Grade 10 Mathematics MCAS exam, where she has served since 2022, and was recently appointed as a member of Pearson’s Developmental Math Digital Advisory Board. Stephanie has also been a member of the Faculty Academy at Mount Wachusett Community College since 2022, a group dedicated to creating connections with students and improving teaching practices in their classrooms.

Look at the NES/MAA website under GET INVOLVED/SECTION NEXT https://www.northeastern.maa.org/section-next for information about NES/MAA Section NExT and the spring conference. Pay particular attention to the benefits for those in their first four years of teaching.