At the end of the workshop, one participant indicated that she had the materials in her building but had no knowledge of what they were or how to use them. She asked how she could get others excited about Hands-On Equations. I told her my story and my first experience with the program. I stated I was so excited about the presentation that I immediately went back and used my individual set with one student during our remediation/enrichment period and invited my principal to come and watch. After my principal saw how quickly my student was picking up on the concepts, he ordered me a class set of 30. I then used my planning period for several weeks to go to different classrooms and model Hands-On Equations with individual teachers’ classes within my building with the stipulation that they had to remain and watch. After demonstrating a few sample equations and their solution in their classrooms, they became excited and wanted the materials as well. I even went to resource classrooms to model the power of the program. She was excited about this suggestion and stated she would start with her principal first and share in a departmental meeting with her peers.
–Instructor Kathryn Dillard
