Math and Technology Enrichment Program
Sunnyside’s innovative math and technology program provides grade 1-5 students a strong foundation in math. Our Math and Technology Enrichment Instructor, Angela Dosalmas (Dr D), works closely with teachers to develop activities that make math come alive. She works in each classroom 10 weeks per year, leading creative and challenging math projects. Students even get to do a bit of basic computer programming!
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An interview with Dr D - our math enrichment instructor
What are your goals with this program?
I have several for this program. For the older students (4th/5th grade), one goal is to challenge them to think. Around 4th grade students begin to worry so much about what the teacher wants from them and what it says about them personally if they don’t know something that they stop thinking. My first day at Sunnyside, I was working with a 4th grade class and one of the students asked, “Is this going to be on the test?” A second goal is to engage all students and all learning styles. Many students begin to disengage from mathematics in 4th/5th grade. I pay particular attention to students who are not engaged in a certain lesson and bring a lesson that focuses on a different modality for the next lesson. I keep switching modalities until each student in the class has been engaged at some point. I have the goal of engaging all students and learning styles in the younger classes as well, but it is usually much easier. The younger students are still eager to soak up information and share what they learned/know. For both the younger students and the older students, a particular goal is to make mathematics relevant to their life. I want students to see mathematics as a tool that is useful outside of school as well as in school. So I try to bring in mathematical applications. I also want to expand students’ idea of what mathematics is. In elementary school, most students think that math=arithmetic. They have no knowledge about other branches of mathematics or mathematical thinking in general. In this regard, I like to focus on the mathematics of change and variation which encourages students to build the knowledge that ultimately lead them to calculus. This more advanced thinking is not only great for future foundations, but also tends to be more interesting and engaging for the students as well. Finally, I like to engage in mathematical conversations. One of the recurring themes that high school students told me in my dissertation research was that “we don’t talk about mathematics like say, someone would say did you see the game last night. We don’t talk about mathematics like that.” This is something I’d like to change. What can you do as an enrichment instructor that a classroom teacher can't do? I have a LOT more freedom than a classroom teacher. I don’t have to formerly evaluate students which allows me to focus less on what they “can’t” do and more on what they “can” and what the students “can’t” do does not reflect on me. Teachers are held accountable for all sorts of things they have no control over. Since I am an enrichment instructor, I do not have the same expectations placed on me. Additionally, I rarely have to spend time on discipline because the teachers have, for the most part, already done this before I even come into their classrooms and they standby to reinforce the discipline environment they’ve already created if the class forgets their manners while I am there and that is quite a luxury. In my opinion, through the view of the general public, classroom teachers are expected to perform miracles. I feel like the expectations for an enrichment instructor are a bit more realistic and I can actually focus on teaching/learning nearly 100% of the time. Outside of this, I am highly specialized, so unlike a classroom teacher I get to focus on mathematics. Because I am so specialized, the depth of my knowledge in my area of specialization -- mathematics -- is likely to be deeper than a classroom teacher. Because of this I can turn almost any conversation or interest into a mathematical conversation and I can scaffold a non-mathematical question, or interest into a mathematical one. For example, on my first day in a second grade classroom several |
students had just seen a 3D movie and we had a whole conversation about graphing in 3 dimensions (this in turn led to a conversation about
what is meant by 4D and whether it is possible to graph more than 3 dimensions)!! I didn’t learn about 3 dimensions until calculus. It is not likely that a classroom teacher would have taken this direction with a discussion about a current 3D film. I am also not limited by grade level curriculum and have extensive knowledge of mathematical applications (having worked in mathematical or related fields). Tell us something interesting about yourself or your interests outside of math Well, I don’t fit in the traditional gender binary, I guess that’s interesting (and, funny if your in 2nd or 3rd grade... the students think its hilarious when I tell them I’m not a Ms. or when I ask them how they know I’m not a Mr.). Anyway, this is why I prefer to be called Dr. D. It is the only gender neutral title. Thankfully, I earned it or I’d be stuck with the binary. Oh, also, because I look ambiguously ethnic, people find my racial background interesting as well. In fact, several of the students have asked me about my racial background already. I have been identified anywhere from Fijian to South African, South Asian (Indian, Sri Lankan, etc.), to Mexican, Filipino, and Hawaiian (and several other islands). I even got asked more than once how I had such a nice tan in the middle of winter!! These very Eurocentric folks assumed the only way I could have dark skin was to get a tan! Well, none of these identifications were accurate. In fact, my dad is black and American Indian and my mom is white (of German & Swedish decent). Because my mom looked young and had blonde hair and blue eyes, they made her bring my birth certificate to pick me up from high school! I could talk forever on this subject, but my mom’s family was very racist, so I didn’t see them much growing up. Outside of math, I am an athlete. I love to play pretty much every sport. In high school, I played football (yes, tackle on the boys’ team), softball, track and tennis. In college, I discovered crew, ultimate frisbee, sailing and racquetball. A few years ago I discovered soccer and while it is not the sport I play the best, I think it is the one I enjoy the most (although football and racquetball would be a close second). I’m a spoken work artist and sometimes perform at open mic nights. One of my pieces was even published. I have two awesome daughters, one 22 the other 12 and an amazing partner. I love to watch foreign and independent films and live theater. I am an assistant soccer coach at Albany High School. I teach a theater class at Realm Middle School in Berkeley. I am teaching Probability and Statistics at Holy Names University in Oakland. I love to travel, attended high school in Australia (where I learned how to play cricket, Australian rules football, and squash and learned to call the football played in the US “grid iron”), was homeless part of the time I was getting my masters degree in stats (and almost homeless again recently thanks to the economy), taught teachers in China, took my daughters backpacking in England, France, Spain and Italy, have been to 26 of the 50 United States, and 6 additional countries, but am sadly, monolingual (but learning!!) What is your favorite number and why? My favorite numbers are 11 and 12 because this is my birthday. From a very young age, I thought it was very cool that my birth month and day were in numerical order and they’ve always been my favorite numbers. Its even cooler this year because my driver’s license is up for renewal so it says 11/12/13. |
Dr D - Profile
Dr. Dosalmas brings a rich background to this position. In addition to several years' experience as a preschool and kindergarten teacher, Angela formerly worked for Intel as a statistician and researcher. Currently, she is completing her PhD in Education from UC Santa Barbara. While in graduate school, she has worked with the Center for Equity in Mathematics and Science Education and with Youth Enrichment Adventures to develop STEM teacher training and curricular materials. She has also taught math and STEM classes at College Track in East Palo Alto and TechGYRLS at the Berkeley YWCA. Her strong background in differentiation and working with diverse student populations makes her an excellent fit for our school.