Middle School - Middle East
Donation protected
Kids are not part of change - they are the change.
This is a passion project I'm currently embarking on to help our NYC public school students become global citizens. Would you like to join the movement?
THE GOAL: I am using math and technology to connect my middle school students (ages 11-14) to kids in Middle Eastern schools. Through positive and respectful discourse, I already create connections between the students in my S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) classroom. Now, I will extend this approach far beyond my class by nurturing healthy conversations between new groups in an effort to create a global sense of community.
THE TEACHER TASK: In the summer of 2018, I am traveling to the Middle East to volunteer, learn from and work with educators to create cross- curricular, cross-continent learning to spark academic and cultural dialogue among middle school students. All organizations and volunteer opportunities in the Middle East have already been booked!
THE STUDENT PROJECT: Upon my return and throughout the 2018/2019 school year, my students in New York City will partner with their peers abroad on a math/technology project based on early Egyptian mathematics. The research I gather in the Middle East this summer will inform the project.
THE WHY : Most of my NYC students rarely leave their neighborhood, much less their country.
In order to continue evolving into a globally tolerant species, we need to achieve two things:
1) Dispel the myth of the ‘other’ by working with people of different cultural and social backgrounds.
2) Work together on a concrete project through scaffolded and goal-oriented tasks for the students’ own academic achievement.
THE FUNDING: The costs (travel, lodging, security) for this initial planning effort will be $12,000. A portion of the funding has already been secured through one organization and a few private donors. I am now actively seeking additional financial support for this summer effort and the implementation for the student project during the 2018-2019 school year.
WHO IS MICHAEL PAOLI: Michael is a grade 7/8 math and science teacher at Ella Baker, a NYC public school. Originally from Canada, he and his wife have lived in the US over the past decade. Michael and his class have been featured in the Wall Street Journal , CBS , Daily Mail , Humans of New York and Fox News on their math/science project "To Eat, or Not to Eat? That's the Question on Class Pets ".
In 2014, he was awarded the Fund for Teachers travel grant. (page 5 of article).
In 2016, he and his students were invited to speak at the TEDx "Makers" Conference.
Subsequently, he was invited to the White House in 2016 to celebrate National Teacher of the Year.
Michael is a member of Math for America and Mathematics for the Study of Mathematics.
Please look out for the Middle School - Middle East Blog!
This is a passion project I'm currently embarking on to help our NYC public school students become global citizens. Would you like to join the movement?
THE GOAL: I am using math and technology to connect my middle school students (ages 11-14) to kids in Middle Eastern schools. Through positive and respectful discourse, I already create connections between the students in my S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) classroom. Now, I will extend this approach far beyond my class by nurturing healthy conversations between new groups in an effort to create a global sense of community.
THE TEACHER TASK: In the summer of 2018, I am traveling to the Middle East to volunteer, learn from and work with educators to create cross- curricular, cross-continent learning to spark academic and cultural dialogue among middle school students. All organizations and volunteer opportunities in the Middle East have already been booked!
THE STUDENT PROJECT: Upon my return and throughout the 2018/2019 school year, my students in New York City will partner with their peers abroad on a math/technology project based on early Egyptian mathematics. The research I gather in the Middle East this summer will inform the project.
THE WHY : Most of my NYC students rarely leave their neighborhood, much less their country.
In order to continue evolving into a globally tolerant species, we need to achieve two things:
1) Dispel the myth of the ‘other’ by working with people of different cultural and social backgrounds.
2) Work together on a concrete project through scaffolded and goal-oriented tasks for the students’ own academic achievement.
THE FUNDING: The costs (travel, lodging, security) for this initial planning effort will be $12,000. A portion of the funding has already been secured through one organization and a few private donors. I am now actively seeking additional financial support for this summer effort and the implementation for the student project during the 2018-2019 school year.
WHO IS MICHAEL PAOLI: Michael is a grade 7/8 math and science teacher at Ella Baker, a NYC public school. Originally from Canada, he and his wife have lived in the US over the past decade. Michael and his class have been featured in the Wall Street Journal , CBS , Daily Mail , Humans of New York and Fox News on their math/science project "To Eat, or Not to Eat? That's the Question on Class Pets ".
In 2014, he was awarded the Fund for Teachers travel grant. (page 5 of article).
In 2016, he and his students were invited to speak at the TEDx "Makers" Conference.
Subsequently, he was invited to the White House in 2016 to celebrate National Teacher of the Year.
Michael is a member of Math for America and Mathematics for the Study of Mathematics.
Please look out for the Middle School - Middle East Blog!
Organizer
Michael Albert Paoli
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY