Pre-AP Middle School Math

The goal of the workshop is that teachers work together to build on their own experiences as they explore ways to further student understanding and use of the concepts and skills needed for success in pre-AP and AP mathematics courses. A variety of TEKS-correlated activities,strategies, and methods, including manipulatives, graphing calculators, and other tools, will be used. Emphasis will be on investigation and problem solving algebraically, numerically, graphically, and verbally, since facility changing a problem's representation is often critical in revealing a method of solution. Teachers will share best practices and activities that they have found to be effective in fostering student comprehension in their own classrooms. This course is targeted towards both inexperienced (2 years or less) and experienced teachers.

Materials to Bring

*A TI-83 of TI-84 graphing calculator, if you have one

*An activity (10-20 minutes) to share (optional). Please bring 30 copies for use with fellow participants, if possible.

Learning Outcomes

  • Identify skills and concepts necessary for success in Pre-AP middle school mathematics
  • Explore the College Board Standards for College Success in mathematics and statistics
  • Adapt AP problems for use in middle school mathematics classes
  • Develop strategies and lessons for your class

Deborah B. Prestonattended Rice University and received her BS in mathematics from UTSA, and her Master of Arts degree in mathematics from the University of the Incarnate Word. She has been teaching for 34 years, 28 of which have been in AP and Pre-AP mathematics classes at Keystone School, where she chairs the Upper School Mathematics Department, and teachers seventh grade prealgebra, Calculus BC and AP Statistics. A member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, she co-authored the Instructor's Guide to accompany Paul A. Foerster's Calculus: Concepts and Applications.For 12 years, she and Mr. Foerstertaught mathematics summer institutes for teachers through the University of California at Berkeley. She makes presentations at national conferences on technology use in the mathematics curriculum and is an experienced writer of standardized mathematics tests. A national consultant for the College Board for 22 years, she has presented many AP summer institutes in middle-school pre-AP mathematics and calculus and has spoken at numerous 1- and 2-day conferences regionally and nationally. Mrs. Preston has been recognized as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a Radio Shack/Tandy Technology Outstanding Teacher, and was a recipient of the state-level Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching. In February 2006, the College Board's Report to the Nation reported that the 2005 Calculus BC AP scores for Mrs. Preston's students were the best in the nation for small schools under 300 students.