I created and planned a school-wide project where teachers could tackle creative and critical thinking in any class they chose. This involved coordinating rooms, times, dates, teachers, administrators, and students. It also required presenting introductory and informational sessions, developing a system that allowed students to self-select into classes, creating and printing posters, brochures, maps, student and teacher handouts, QR codes, and staff shirts (I designed and ordered these). I also coordinated the school-wide “Expo Day,” which included making sure technology and class-specific needs were met, teachers were assigned to classes, students had rotation times, guests had an electronic sign-in process, and all small details were taken care of. Taught in a high socioeconomic setting.

Developed for district-wide use. Created as a partnership between any interested departments, the goal of this project is to provide structure without backing teachers into a corner. The unit uses The Martian by Andy Wier as its primary text, and consists of “missions” oriented toward three areas: teaching and supporting core content, supporting students’ understanding of the text, and scaffolding the project. This project culminates with four different project options based on potential students’ strengths and interests, and was meant to end in a visit from a NASA astronaut, but due to scheduling had to end with a viewing of the movie version of The Martian. The driving forces behind this project are to integrate STEM across multiple subjects, to engage students through a challenging project and text, and to shift the district focus to a more student-centered approach. Additionally, this unit was meant to introduce the district to the possibilities of an integrated curriculum and open a dialogue between (normally) disparate disciplines. Taught in a Title I setting.

Centers around a mathematical and economic justification for social cooperation and social justice. Culminates in a Socratic Seminar about a Scientific American article concerning computer-simulated iterated Prisoner’s Dilemmas, the evolutionary emergence of cooperation, and the implications for everyday life. Taught in a Title I setting.

Examines mathematical concepts as an evolutionary process rather than something just handed to mankind. Also examines the mathematics of evolutionary processes, with a special emphasis on Conway’s Game of Life. Taught in a Title I setting.

A cross-disciplinary intensive class cotaught by the art, ELA, and math teacher. The class draws upon student and teacher perspectives, including viewing each discipline as different sides of the same coin. Students examined and reexamined graffiti art in a museum, articles about mathematics, and a nature documentary through each lens. Taught in a Title I setting.

Delves into the underlying mathematical structure and symmetry behind artwork, and encourages students to create their own artwork and develop a personal philosophy of mathematics. Taught in a Title I setting.

Focuses on a purely practical approach to mathematics. Encourages students to solve fuzzy problems using any means necessary. Taught in a Title I setting.

Usually used as the first class students received when entering the school. This class builds students’ soft and social skills (healthy and appropriate outlets for competition, incremental skill growth, acclimation to the school environment, introduction to classmates, etc.). Taught in a Title I setting.

Immerses students in an environment where they could choose to interact positively or negatively with their environment and each other. This class stretches across almost all content areas, including history, language arts, math, economics, psychology, health and survival skills, and art. Taught in a high socioeconomic setting.

Uses Flatland as a primary text, and centers around using mathematics and language arts as a vehicle for social change. There are two pathways to pursue: examining writing about math (math literacy focus) or examining the presence of science and math in literature (literary math focus).

Immerses students in an environment where they could choose to interact positively or negatively with their environment and each other. This class stretches across almost all content areas, including history, language arts, math, economics, psychology, health and survival skills, and art. Taught in a high socioeconomic setting.

Students are often taught that they need a consistent scale, that they need to label their axes, and lots of other rules for graphs, but they don’t understand why these rules exist. In this PBL, students explore how easy it is to mislead people if these rules didn’t exist. This PBL culminates with an advertisement and a Mad Men-style ad pitch. Taught in a high socioeconomic setting.

Students create a storefront façade and a menu where other students shop. Students shop at their friends’ restaurants; fill out bills; calculate discounts, tax, and tip; and then write checks and record them in a check register. Taught in a Title I setting, a high socioeconomic setting, and an online setting.

Students write for, design, and edit articles about mathematics. The topics for exploration are chosen by students from flexible and open prompts. Taught in a high socioeconomic setting.

Geometry students perform all the actions of a professional mathematician including proving theorems, writing proofs, giving lectures and teaching classes, and publishing articles. Students’ grades are determined by their “paycheck.” Taught in a Title I setting.

Highly adaptable unit meant to fit virtually any classroom structure, covering virtually any major educational framework, but especially focused on developing a rigorous Place-Based, Project-Based Learning unit. The sample provided is on harmful algal blooms, but this portion had to be scrapped because of logistical issues. However, the unit structure is complete.

Students examine ratios between surface area and volume in grocery store packages. Culminates in a student-created package and discussions about why boxes are not always created to maximize volume for a set amount of material. Also has a conservation component.

Students survey with clinometers and complete other surveying tasks, emphasizing applied trigonometry. Project culminates in a student-constructed and illustrated map. Possible areas for integration with other disciplines include examining sociopolitical and historical factors and their contribution to the current landscape, examining primary source material of other well-known figures who had surveying backgrounds (e.g. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Banneker), and the surveying process on other planets and heavenly bodies.