Educators of O Círculo da Matemática do Brasil took part in a training workshop week in São Paulo, between May 19th and 23rd. The classes were given by the professors from Harvard University Bob and Ellen Kaplan, creators of The Math Circle approach. All 62 teachers participating in the project this year attended the training – some of them have already been part of Círculo since last year, while others are new. The goal was to join the expertise of veterans and new educators, show how each of the municipalities involved is evolving, explain management models and the project’s methodology.
The highest point of the training week was the II “What if children liked Math?” meeting, which was held on May 21st at the HB Ninety Convention hotel. The speakers of the event were the Education coordinator of UNESCO in Brazil, Maria Rebeca Otero; the executive director of the Todos pela Educação (All for Education) movement, Priscilla Fonseca Cruz; and the Kaplan teachers. The meeting – the only program during the training which was open to the public and gathered 130 people, including representatives from municipal and state departments of Education – discussed the possibilities of changing the structure of the Brazilian education system.
Educator Gabriel Cogo, from Porto Alegre, said the workshops and the open meeting were crucial to exchange experiences and see the impact of the project throughout the country. “These meetings are important to make us more confident about the classes. As this is the second year of Círculo, we can now have Brazilian references and better develop the approach.” The educator teaches O Círculo da Matemática do Brasil classes at the Doutor Victor de Britto State School. “Most students start to enjoy Math, to interact and participate more. It is really interesting to see how classmates encourage each other,” he says.
O Círculo da Matemática do Brasil began in 2013 training and graduating 50 educators with the goal of teaching Math in a more dynamic way for 2nd to 4th year of Primary School students. In 2014, the project reached three more cities and today is present in Porto Alegre-RS, São Paulo-SP, Fortaleza-CE, Belém-PA, Brasília-DF, Salvador-BA, Aracaju-SE, Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Duque de Caxias-RJ and Porto Velho-RO. So far, more than 6,000 students have participated in the activities of O Círculo da Matemática do Brasil.
