SoCal Joyful Math Ecosystem
The AIM SoCal Joyful Math Ecosystem
AIM supports joyful, meaningful, and engaging math experiences for students, teachers, and communities, at both a national scale as well as in our local area. Since moving to the Merkin Center on the Caltech campus in 2023, we have worked with local leaders of Math Circles, Festivals, and after-school and summer enrichment programs to develop a SoCal Joyful Math Ecosystem. The major goal of this Ecosystem is to increase access to joyful math opportunities for students throughout Southern California.
Please see below for more information about our activities.
For students
Math Circles are communities focused on the enjoyment of mathematical problem solving. Meetings are lively, interactive, and often “funstrating”: challenging, but in a highly rewarding way! Math Circles can take many forms, including after-school programs for students. There are now an estimated 100-200 U.S.-based Math Student Circles. They are also becoming increasingly recognized as effective programs for minoritized students and students experiencing poverty by giving them access to joyful, rigorous, and relevant mathematics. Emerging research suggests that participating in Math Circles may increase students’ interest in wanting to engage with and succeed in math over time.
Email circles@aimath.org for more information.
For teachers
Math Teachers’ Circles are professional communities of elementary, middle, high school mathematics teachers and college professors that provide teachers with the opportunity to enrich and supplement their knowledge and appreciation of mathematics.
Math Teachers’ Circles workshops typically meet once a month and are free to participants.
Math Circles play an important role in increasing access to joyful, rigorous, and relevant mathematics. We also see Math Circles as powerful bridges between K-12 education and higher education institutions. Math Teachers’ Circles are recognized as a high-quality form of professional learning by the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences and as a “bright spot” in promoting teacher voice by the STEM Network 100Kin10.
Some local Math Teachers Circles, with a contact information:
American Institute of Mathematics MTC at Caltech in Pasadena
dcrombecq@aimath.org
Los Angeles MTC at USC
chaskell@usc.edu
CSUN Math Teachers Circle in Northridge
tml0044@lausd.edu
Cal State Dominguez Hills MTC
https://www.csudh.edu/mtc/
Professional Development for K-5 teachers:
Joyful mathematics emphasizes creative and collaborative problem solving through activities and experiences that typically trigger enjoyment. The topics may relate to the curriculum but often cut across multiple grades and areas of mathematics.
Led by a group of facilitators composed of math educators and mathematicians, AIM offers a workshop for elementary school teachers interested in implementing joyful math activities in their classrooms or in after-school programs.
The teachers leave the workshop with ready-to-use hands-on activities and with the knowledge to find and use more such activities.
The workshop lasts about 3 hours and is facilitated at the school site.
Contact: David Crombecque dcrombecq@aimath.org
For everyone
A Math Festival is a school-wide or community event designed to make mathematics fun and engaging through hands-on, collaborative puzzles and games rather than competitive testing.
Festivals serve grades K-8 and fosters a positive, joyful attitude toward math through free-exploration stations. Commonly, a math festival is two to three hour long event with multiple stations where students and their families explore a game.
Visit the Julia Robinson Math Festival website for details.
AIM celebrates its birthday with a Math Fair of activities for families and children of all ages. The third annual Math Fair will be held on Saturday June 27 on the lawn outside Caltech Hall on the Caltech campus.
For more information on any of these activities, please email joyfulmath@aimath.org