Participant Biographies

Jo Baranko

I am originally from Indiana and received my B.S. from Indiana University. After the blizzards in 1967 and '69, my family had had enough snow and moved to Alabama. Four years later we moved to Athens, Georgia which is really home now.

I have taught mathematics from sixth grade to college for 27 years and now I get to play. I have retired from full-time work as of June 30 and I am not sure what I will do next fall. Geometry and computers are my favorite areas and fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds the age group I liked to teach the most. I was a beta-tester for GSP and it really changed my teaching and I would like to share these changes with anyone who is interested.

At the forum I hope to learn to navigate the superhighway of Internet and find lots of things to investigate.

Ruth Carver

Hi! My name is Ruth Carver. I live in Flourtown, Pa. I'm married and have 2 children. I teach at Mount St. Joseph Academy, also in Flourtown. It is a Catholic, private, all-girls prep school, not necessarily in that order. I am entering my 8th year of teaching mathematics. I formerly worked in the banking industry--doing a lot of training and manual writing. I have a BS in math with enough credits also for a major in accounting. I also have a paralegal (I got this for fun because I'm interested in the law). I have an MEd in math education. I have also taught on the college level (Math for Elementary Teachers) and graduate courses (Teaching of...subject specific courses). I have also given many workshops on topics such as the TI-81/82 graphing calculator, Cooperative Learning, etc. I have been attending as many math conferences and workshops as possible over the past 5 years. I think that this is a very exciting time to be involved in math education. I love technology and am trying to incorporate it as much as possible into my math classes. Presently, all my classes use graphing calculators and last year my classes took part in several telecommunications projects. I am pretty much a newcomer to the Internet. I want to learn as much as possible. I am particularly interested in ways in which teachers are using it with limited resources.

Mary Denise Curran

Current Position: Mathematics Chair at Archbishop Carroll (Radnor, Pa.)

Archbishop Carroll is one of twenty-four high schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, located in Delaware County, about a mile from Villanova University.

I have been teaching mathematics for twenty-three years at the secondary level. I just finished teaching A.P.Calculus, Calculus, and Geometry. Next year, I should have the same roster. Last summer I attended the RGI at Smith College for the month of July. I had the opportunity to experience Geometry in a way that took me to a new dimension. As a result of that experience, I was fortunate enough to become aware of this workshop at Swarthmore and to be accepted into it.

We have just outfitted a 40-computer Mac lab and I hope to gain some expertise in using the internet for teaching, especially in the area of Geometry.

Pat Daley

Pat Daley, Fairfield HS
Math teacher and Math Department Liaison

My first four years of teaching were at Westlake HS, Westlake, OH where I taught mathematics and computer science. Since then, my husband and I moved to Connecticut and have been teaching in the same high school for years. Don teaches English; I will be teaching honors geometry, personal finance, honors and regular precalculus with graphing calculators, and calculus with graphing calculators next year. English teachers in our school teach four classes; all other teachers are assigned five classes -- often five preps. Our school of 1700 students is divided into three houses. We have a headmaster and three housemasters. Since all algebra, geometry, calculus, etc. classes must be evenly distributed throughout the houses, each teacher often has five preps. We have a math department of fifteen teachers. We have been using graphing calculators in our precalculus classes for the last four years with the Demana/Waits book.

Besides teaching, I and my college professor friend, Ed O'Neil, do several workshops for teachers each year throughout Connecticut on using graphing calculators in the math classroom. I have also recently completed two years of NSF funded graduate mathematics courses on Saturdays -- Chronological Development of Geometry and the Chronological Development of Calculus.

My family has done a lot of camping in the last twelve years, visiting forty-eight states. My "crunchy" son will be backpacking and mountain biking and (I hope) studying at the University of Vermont next year. My daughter, who likes the city, will be a junior at Boston College and will spend her second semester studying in London.

Mike Diamond

I'm Mike Diamond from the Charleston SC area. I teach High School Math and Computers at Pinewood Prep School in Summerville, SC. This will be my second year there as the Math and Computer Coordinator. I'm relatively new to teaching. My Bachelor's Degree is Chemical Engineering from Univ. of Missouri-Columbia (Ol' Mizzou). I have a Master's degree in Christian School Administration and Bible Teaching. I worked for 6 years as a Nuclear Engineer doing Refueling and Testing of Naval Nuclear Submarines.

I was involved in 6 major overhauls before going back to school for my Master's. I taught in two Private Christian Schools in the Los Angeles Area. I taught Chemistry, Physical Science, PC Computers, and Geometry. Since moving to SC after the California riots and earthquakes, I have been an adjunct instructor of various levels of College Chemistry at Trident Technical College. Last November I started at Pinewood teaching Calculus, PreCalculus, Geometry, and PC Computers. The coming year I will be teaching Middle School (4-7) Computer, Advanced Placement Calculus, Geometry, and PC Computers.

Our school just started on the Internet with a modem connection to the Citadel. Our computer lab has 10 non-networked 486 Compatibles with very little Software. We're in the process of installing an Ethernet 10-Base-T Novell network starting with peer-to-peer networking and using MicroSoft Office Professional Software. In the middle school rotation I'll teach Basic Keyboarding using WordPerfect 5.1, and Logo Programming. Advanced kids will be introduced to Windows and the Internet.

I'm slowly becoming the sole resource for our school for introducing new technologies: Computers, Internet, Graphing Calculators, Image Scanning and manipulation, and any other -NEW- Stuff as it comes out. As an Engineer, I'm trying for Critical Needs Certification through the South Carolina Dept. of Education. I'm also attending every available Mathematics and Computer Conference, Forum, Workshop, Seminar, Institute that I can go to. Other background: National Junior Olympics 1 & 3 Meter Springboard Diver. Missouri NCAA Division 1 Diving National Qualifier. Univ of MO Cheerleader. South Carolina State JUDO Champion (Heavy weight). Brown Belt United States Judo Association. Security Guard at Disneyland and the QueenMary. Licensed and Ordained Baptist Preacher. Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. National Society of Professional Engineers, American Nuclear Society, Orange County Association of PICK Professionals, So. Carolina Association of Math Teachers.

Paul Doyle

Fiction: (not really written by or about Paul)
I am a JR. High student from the 60's. Most of the effects of experimenting have left, have left, have left.

I used to hate math but then I met Janet. She loved math and I loved her. As my first project I collected data on her, analyzed it, then projected(?). Since then I've attended workshops ("Inspiration happens in the middle of work, not within...") and have developed many favorite quotes.

This whole thing on the forum is kinda fun. Writing and getting letters is really fun. I want to find where the pictures and videos are, and look forward to all you folks volunteering your time to help.

Where was I... Oh yeah, I went to U.C. Berkeley in the 60's with a resulting degree in Philosophy. Not really oxymoronic - lots of students at Berkeley were morons, I mean philosophy. When I decided to go into education, which was years later, I decided to work with prisons. Or really juvenile detention students. I came to realize they were not dumb, just misunderstood. I've committed my whole life to serving students. Yes, I quit teaching for a real career in the school system, serving students lunch. The benefits are good and I can have their left-overs.

The connections with math are myriad. How does food waste vary as a function of menu? How does student consumption vary as a function of sugar or sodium content? How do tests affect student eating patterns? Can trays be arranged in a more useful (Geometric) pattern? Can they be made to tesselate? Should all students be made to tesselate? Are there religious bases for refusing to tesselate in public?

In closing, I'm looking forward to a future with lots of math stuff. --- Biographer: Ben Preddy

Saundra W. Handy

I am Saundra W. Handy, currently the director of an evolving Mathematics, Science & Technology Demonstration Center in Washington, DC. This Center receives funding from a Dwight D. Eisenhower SEA Grant. This Center provides a location for public and private school teachers to receive training in mathematics and science and to preview and critique resources, as well as to borrow materials not available in the local school. During my tenure in the DC Public Schools I have taught mathematics to students in grades 7 thru 12, served as a mentor teacher to new teachers, presented workshops to both teachers and administrators, authored and taught mathematics courses focused around implementing the NCTM Standards in the secondary schools, and assisted in the development of curriculum materials.

As I move to better assist teachers in their reform efforts, I relish this opportunity to spend a week focusing my attention on Geometry and the Internet. In additon to this institute, I will attend another week in Pennsylvania in a training session on the EQUALS Project. I look forward to sharing with the DC community this fall.

Howard McKenzie

My name is Howard McKenzie and I am attending a week-long workshop at Swarthmore--"The Geometry Forum and You - Perfect Together" :-). We were instructed to write a short autobiography on ourselves--so here goes!

I was born on a warm June day on the Island of Jamaica in 1963. Migrated to the South Bronx in 75. Attended All Hallows H.S. right near Yankee Stadium, and from there on to Iona College in New Rochelle. After college I taught at Iona Grammar School for five years., teaching the fifth grade and doing plenty of coaching. At present I am teaching many levels of mathematics at Essex Catholic High School in East Orange, New Jersey.

The most exciting thing I ever did was to teach for an entire summer in the country of Liberia in Western Africa (this was before the "troubles" started). I taught in a small classroom with over 75 students, all sitting on long wooden benches. The teaching experience was very eye-opening because of the respect the students had for learning. I often share these experiences with my students.

I enjoy getting away for the summer months to experience sitting on the "other side of the desk" for a few weeks. Last summer I attended the Regional Geometry Institute at Smith College (awesome!) and this summer I am at Swarthmore. It's great to experience visiting all these great institutes of learning--for free!

Ben Preddy

Ben Preddy is a member of the Geometry Forum's Summer Institute. While his interests are many and varied, he has an abiding interest in mathematics and systems. With regard to systems he is especially interested in finding ways in which education might work more intelligently than it currently does. He tries to find a common language for talking about educational issues, and finds much in the work of Jonathan Edwards Deming that is useful. He asks two parametric questions: (1) What are the goals of the enterprise? and (2) How do we measure progress toward them?

Ben believes that much talk about reform in math education is just talk, and that not even the purveyors themselves take their words seriously, so he thinks of ways to tease out the implications for action of what it is that people say. Having established these connections he works like Socrates to demonstrate inconsistencies. His purpose is not pedantic; it is to engender reflection and change established practice. He is, in every way, a revolutionary. As he has said many times, 'the unexamined life is not worth living'! -- Paul Doyle [Ben's biographer :-)]

Roseanne Ratigan

I am a high school math teacher and I will begin teaching at Cardinal O'Hara in the fall of '94. I have taught all levels of math from elementary through college; however, I prefer to teach at the high school level. In the fall I will teach trig/pre-cal and algebra3/trig. This will be the first time that I will teach all seniors and the first time in many years that I will not have freshmen. During most of my career I have taught the courses that no one else wanted to teach. Some day I would like the chance to teach the roster of my choice.

However, one of the most enjoyable years was time I was asked to teach physics. The course was primarily experimental and the students were a unique group of people and very well informed on most topics. It was very difficult to suggest a topic that was new to everyone. When I started to present a topic everyone joined in the discussion; therefore the class was handled as a seminar. At the end of the year some students entered science fairs and won first place in their respective areas. The year was so enjoyable that I never accepted the offer to teach the course again.

When I am not teaching I enjoy painting the interior of my home as a means of relaxation. During the summer I enjoy traveling, especially in the New England states.

Cindy Schmalzried

Here I sit, with the younger of my two daughters--Jamie, 6--at Swarthmore College, from which I graduated in 1976. My older daughter--Megan, 11--is home (also in Swarthmore) with a broken leg, keeping cool. I currently teach at nearby Friends' Central School, in the math department. I teach a variety of math classes, from 7th through 12th grade, and I am coordinator of the math curriculum for 5th-12th.

I began my teaching career at Germantown Friends School, in Philadelphia, and I have also taught at Swarthmore High School, Bryn Mawr College, and Swarthmore College. For five summers in the late '80s, I co-directed a program in math and science enrichment for "average" ability students from both city and suburban schools. This program, called AIMS, was held at Swarthmore College and brought together 9th graders, public-school teachers, Swarthmore College students, and Swarthmore College professors. I think of it as my best work to date.

I consider myself a mathematician, having received my masters' degree in math from Bryn Mawr College and having published two little papers in combinatorics. Teaching is my life, however, and I expect to be at Friends' Central until my little one graduates. I am fortunate to be in a supportive department with open-minded and up-to-date colleagues.

During the years of baby-raising, I worked on several projects to develop materials for use in math classes. The best-known of these is the Visual Geometry Project, also based here at Swarthmore College. This NSF project produced the software program "Geometer's Sketchpad" and the videos and activity kits titled "The Stella Octangula" and "The Platonic Solids."

I have been involved in teacher workshops for a long time. I began with work in the Education Program here at Swarthmore, training preservice teachers in mathematics and computer education curriculum and methods. Since publication of the Visual Geometry materials, I've given workshops in Geometry at NCTM and at the Exeter conference. This is something I like to do but have little time for any more.

At school, we use the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project textbooks for all pre-precalculus courses; we are involved in pilot projects with the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics for precalculus and calculus. I teach advanced-placement calculus, AB and BC. All students from 9th grade on use graphing calculators. Cooperative learning, writing in mathematics, computer labs, and portfolio assessment are all things we are tinkering with. It is a happening place!

Allison Venables

My name is Allison Venables and I am participating in The Geometry Forum at Swarthmore College. I live in Columbia, SC and teach Geometry, Algebra I, and Algebra II to 9th-12th graders at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School. My husband, Daniel Venables, also teaches mathematics at Heathwood and is a National Math-Science Faculty member for the Coalition of Essential Schools.

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