About Kyle

Sparking Curiosity to Fuel Sense Making

I am a former high school math teacher and now the K-12 Mathematics Consultant with the Greater Essex County District School Board.

I’m Kyle Pearce

My math learning journey began with the Greater Essex County District School Board in Southwestern Ontario back in 2006.

After only a few short weeks teaching my grade 11 college and workplace preparation courses, I knew that writing a note on the chalkboard and teaching the way I was taught was not going to reach every student.

Seeking out a data projector and using PowerPoint followed by a transition to using a SMARTBoard with SMART Notebook software, Kyle began delivering professional development with a focus on content knowledge, pedagogy and effective uses of technology in the mathematics classroom.

I knew that writing a note on the chalkboard and teaching the way I was taught was not going to reach every student.

Teacher Learning & Leadership Program (TLLP)

In 2010, Kyle wrote a proposal for an Ontario Ministry of Education classroom grant opportunity called the Teacher Learning and Leadership Program (TLLP). The Tap Into Teen Minds With iPad project proposal was accepted and funded the following year to create a paperless learning environment by introducing a class set of iPads into his mathematics classroom. The purpose of the project as to determine whether using an iPad would do the following:

  • increase engagement and student perception of learning mathematics;
  • improve student achievement in mathematics; and
  • cost less than his current digital interactive whiteboard mathematics classroom.

The Tap Into Teen Minds With iPad mathematics classroom was one of the first math classrooms leveraging mobile technology in a completely digital format and has attracted visitors from across the district, province, and continent. After one semester of implementing iPads in math classes, increases in student engagement, perception, and overall student success in mathematics were observed. It was also found that creating a paperless digital environment using iPads could be more cost-effective than purchasing many of the tools that are found in many interactive whiteboard classrooms.

Experience and Expertise

I teach, coach and consult from Kindergarten to Grade 12 in mathematics content knowledge, pedagogy and leadership for the Greater Essex County District School Board and independently for school districts. I have extensive experience delivering keynote talks, presentations and workshops at conferences across North America.

I specialize in creating rich math tasks that are contextual, visual and concrete. My latest project involves sharing my math visual animations on a website called MathIsVisual.com.

  • Rich Math Task Creating
  • Keynoting and Presenting
  • Workshop Facilitating
  • Constantly Learning

Currently the K-12 Mathematics Consultant with the Greater Essex County District School Board, I have experience as the secondary mathematics Department Head at Tecumseh Vista Academy K-12 where he focused primarily on teaching grade 9 applied mathematics. I also spent five years working with grade 7-10 mathematics teachers in my role as the GECDSB Middle Years Collaborative Inquiry (MYCI) Instructional Coach. My work with iPads and innovative uses of technology in math class has led to a number of designations and certifications including: Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE), Apple Education Trainer (APD), and Google Certified Teacher (GCT). I also served as a member on the Apple Distinguished Educator Canadian Advisory Board from 2013-2014.

Making Math Contextual, Visual and Concrete

I enjoy uncovering creative ways to spark curiosity through the inquiry process using tasks that are contextual, visual and concrete. I believe in spiralling new mathematics content and practice problems while interleaving assessments. While I believe that each math lesson should look different based on the content being introduced and the unique student needs in the classroom, my math lessons typically have 4-parts:

  1. Spark Curiosity Through a Contextual Task
  2. Allow Students an Opportunity to Inquire and Apply Prior Knowledge
  3. Make Connections from Student Prior Knowledge to New Learning
  4. Consolidate New Ideas Based on Student Work and Use Direct Instruction to Explicitly Teach Any Missing Pieces

I am passionate about creating Dan Meyer-style 3 Act Math Tasks to engage students through curiosity, exploring new ways to harness student creativity, gamifying the assessment process, and publishing student work to a global audience to promote student ownership of their learning.

Videos

The World needs more inquisitive people.

Let’s help draw out the natural curiosity that students bring with them to math class every day. You can help!

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