Matt Ator

Math Balderdash
by Peter Albert

I first worked with Matt Ator in our faculty cohort last year and was impressed by the thoughtful and creative approach he took whenever addressing educational topics. I was especially impressed to hear about his Logic and Reasoning course, which unfortunately is not running this year. This course demonstrated not just Mr. Ator's level of commitment to teaching excellence, but his concern with providing authentic lessons for his students.

One of Mr. Ator's innovative lesson plans is "Math Balderdash." Aadil Mufti, one of his students, says the lesson "really helped [me] understand how and why graphs are formed for certain purposes. The exposure to the different graph shapes really challenged [me] to create a logical purpose for the graph." When I asked Aadil to help me spotlight this lesson, he lit up and was excited to help, a sure sign of not just a great lesson, but great teaching.

Here is my interview with Mr. Ator, describing the game and his thoughts on education and innovation.

Peter Albert: Can you describe the game? What are your objectives, and why do you think it is successful?

Matt Ator: The game is a variation of Balderdash, in which players are shown an obscure vocabulary word and have to guess what the definition is. Players then vote on which definition they think is correct. In my version, students are broken into teams of three or four, and each team logs in to Pear Deck. I show them a graph with limited information (no units, axes are not labeled, etc.) as shown here:

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Students then look at what is happening in the graph and try to guess what is being represented. They type in their answers to Pear Deck, and I add the correct answer from my own account. Guesses might be:

• Temperatures in Princeton through the month of October 2014;

• Average visitors to the air and space museum in Washington DC; 

• The chance each team in this year's World Series game 7 had to win over the course of the game, etc. 

I show the answers to the entire class. They will only know their own answer and are asked to guess which explanation is correct. Teams receive two points for guessing the correct answer and one point for every other team that guesses their explanation. Teams also get five points if they guess the correct explanation for the graph (this has only happened once since I started the game).
The game's success comes from the creativity required to play. Students have to understand how you would display data in different ways. What would make sense as an independent or dependent variable? Why were the colors used in the graph chosen? Occasionally, I will give some of the units on the graph (notice above the x-axis goes from 1-9) to assist in guesses, and they have to figure out what units are being used. Instead of students having memorized a formula and regurgitating facts about it, they are asked to think creatively and make connections between real life situations and how those might be represented graphically. Students who might struggle with memorizing formulas are often very successful in the game.

Peter Albert: How do you think that this game creates authentic learning that will contribute to the real-world success of these students? 

Matt Ator: When students encounter "real world" math, it will rarely be in the form of "Read an example and copy the methods to solve for x." Students will need to be literate in math ideas and how they can be utilized. This forces students to analyze data with minimal information and figure out what it could be applied to. This can be reverse engineered to ask students to create interesting representations of data they might have collected. By thinking about creative examples, they are able to become more creative in their own work.

Peter Albert: What place does innovation have in the math classroom? 

Matt Ator: Many adults were turned off of math at an early age because of the way they were taught. I could easily lecture 50 minutes a day about how to use a formula, give an example, do an example as a class, then have the class do one on their own. This is repetitive and boring; it is very easy for students to be left behind or resent the subject if you never show them more than one method for how to do a problem.

In my classroom, I will often skip the first two steps and go straight to the students trying an example on their own. They are then required to work with each other to think about how things they have used in the past might be applied to the given problem. They are forced to try to solve with a trial and error method. They have to talk to each other about the topics they have learned and how they could use them in different ways. Even if they are not able to figure out the given problem, they have, hopefully, gained a deeper understanding of past topics. This has been much more effective than feeding them they steps they need.

Peter Albert: How important is risk-taking as an educator? 

Matt Ator: Risk taking in the classroom is being stressed in just about every book, blog, and conference you'll see right now. It is very important that teachers feel able to try something different, because when it works, the rewards are incredible. However, with a very limited number of teaching days throughout the school year, it is very intimidating to break from what is comfortable, because the potential clean-up can put you far behind where you want to be. I have found that trying out smaller discovery learning lessons, 15-20 minutes, will give me a good idea of what my classes are capable of and how much freedom they are capable of working with. By building from smaller unique lessons, students can become more comfortable with a new style and eventually can get to the point of learning entire sections in a more student driven way.

Peter Albert: Grant Lichtman says that innovation "enhances value for your organization." How do you think that this game "enhances value" for The Hun School? In other words, how does it contribute to our mission and our search for best practices as teachers to serve our students? 

Matt Ator: The game "enhances value" by allowing students of all levels to be put on the same playing field. Basic graphing principles are taught in Algebra I, so nearly every student in the upper school could participate in the game. Students enjoy the competition and want to come up with their best answers to win. Although every time we play there is a winner, I have never given out a prize. Students are driven to do their best because they are having fun and competing. In numerous college recommendations, I have mentioned this game as an example of creativity, making connections, and mathematical understanding. One of the best skills for the game is well-roundedness, and that is a prime characteristic we are looking for in all our students.

Peter Albert: How do you think this game could translate into other classes and disciplines in a productive fashion? 

Matt Ator: The graphs I choose can require making connections between topics ranging from science

Sunrise sunset times over the course of a year

to technology

MySpace users with respect to time
note: students have no idea what MySpace is 

to silly​

Preferred temperature of different animals (real and imaginary)

and the first graph I showed... 

Athletics​

Data analysis will be required no matter what you do in life, whether it is a quarterly report or just understanding the next week's expected weather. This game gives examples of all of these and helps students gain a better understanding of their applications.

As an observer, my favorite part of the activity is the requirement of the students to interpret data for which they do not necessarily have any context. This provides an authentic experience, reflective of the messiness and complexity that will appear in students' lives as the move into the "real world." As with all of the other innovators featured in this blog, Mr. Ator is giving his students a rich learning experience that is also, as Aadil says, "a genuinely enjoyable" experience.

For anyone interested in some real, interesting depictions of data, see http://flowingdata.com.

Karin Guns

An Old-fashioned Innovator

by Todd Loffredo

When Karin Guns first came to Hun four years ago, she had 25 years of teaching experience at a public school under her belt. Ms. Guns came to Hun from Pemberton, an Abbott District school. Abbott Districts have a large percentage of both minority and low income students, so crafting creative lessons and having hands-on activities became tantamount to her teaching. Ms. Guns has taught all levels of Biology here at Hun: AP, Honors, and Regular. Additionally, she has taught physics.

My favorite thing about Ms. Guns is her dedication to her students and colleagues and the diligence with which she approaches the classroom. My best Ms. Guns story comes from five years ago, when I taught her son Nick in my Biology class during my second year at Hun. I was so nervous to have a parent teacher conference with a “real” Biology teacher. Instead of coming in with guns blazing, she came in with four grocery bags full of extra lab supplies for me to use in my class. Her collaborative nature and desire to help others is remarkable.

Students use hydrogen peroxide and a liver milkshake to study enzymes.

Ms. Guns, without fail, does at least three hands-on activities or laboratories each week in her Biology classes. In a time where buzz words such as hands-on, experiential, and student-centered might be an educational phase, Ms. Guns is unwavering in her approach to pedagogy. She honed her teaching skills before coming to Hun and has really perfected them over the past several years. You might be thinking that it is easy to teach biology - a subject in which there are built in exercises to do hands-on work. Ms. Guns, however, takes these activities to a new level to keep her pupils engaged.

When I asked several of her students what words three words they would use to describe her, the adjectives that came up often were dynamic, fun, and challenging. Ms. Guns' students know that she demands a lot from them, but they look forward to her class, because every day offers them a new opportunity to get up from their desks and take ownership of their learning.

Allayna Garrett

The American Dream: Then And Now
by Joan Roux

Allayna Garrett and her English 3 students will explore the phenomenon of the American Dream since James T. Adams coined the term in 1931, and trace its evolution through subsequent decades.

“What does it mean to be American?” This is the overarching question that the English 3 curriculum examines through a variety of texts. The Dream is woven into the fabric of American literature, and students become familiar with a cast of characters who search for their identity both as individuals in a certain time and place, and also as members of a larger community that shapes their world view.

Ms. Garrett will give her students firsthand exposure to the aspirations of generations of Americans as they pursue the illusive and ever-changing dream.

Students will do group research of news articles from three assigned decades, looking for trends in how the American Dream has evolved. They will familiarize themselves with how people thought and felt about their hopes and dreams, and what might have impacted those aspirations.

Once they have compiled this information, the group members will collaborate to make a list of interview questions. Each student will then find and interview at least one person who came of age in the assigned decade. These interviews will be recorded on their iPads for their final presentation.

The groups will extract overlapping and contrasting ideas from their interviews and create charts to identify indicators and illustrate how and why these thoughts developed.

Next each class will create a pie chart comprised of 3 colorful wedges to graphically illustrate the cultural shifts over three decades.

Finally, students will present an oral and video presentation using their notes and clips from their interviews.

The outcome will be that her students will have personal connections with and first hand knowledge of preceding generations of Americans whose legacy helped to shape current culture. This empowers these young people to reach their own conclusions, and make mature and well informed assessments of the ubiquitous American Dream.

Simon Espinosa

Giving Every Student The Chance To Be Heard
by Patricia Garrison

"It was just a coincidence!"

So says Simon Espinosa when explaining his first encounter with the program, Pear Deck. During this year's pre-school week of activities, he happened to be walking to his classroom at the same time Mark Davies, The Hun School's Educational Technology Coordinator, was in a room close-by, demonstrating a new classroom application, Pear Deck. As he passed the door, Mr. Espinosa noticed large moving dots on a screen and was intrigued. Stopping in to the demonstration, he now reports that he could immediately see the educational possibilities the program offered, and so, he was determined to try to integrate Pear Deck into his lessons.

According to Mr. Espinosa, Pear Deck is as easy to use as it is effective. He says that while he is "not a tech person," he was able to go home that day, experiment with the program, and feel that he would be able to utilize it almost immediately, which, in fact, he did. After a "dress rehearsal" with colleagues, Mr. Espinosa used his prepared presentation for one of his initial class meetings in the course, Latin American Culture and History. He was delighted with the result; immediately, he was able to assess his class' prior knowledge regarding Latin America. Using maps and short quotations, he provided an interactive exercise for his students during class time, which later allowed him, as the teacher, to see the details of the individual answers. In this way, Mr. Espinosa was able to evaluate the skill level of the class in general and each student in particular. And in turn, this knowledge has allowed him to plan more effective lessons. 

Another benefit of the program is what Mr. Davies calls the "non-embarrassment" factor. Even the shyest student can participate in the exercise, without the fear of exposure, and still the teacher can gather important information about that student's learning. Mr. Espinosa agrees, saying that this program gives every student, including the most quiet, an opportunity to be heard. Due to the success he has had already, Mr. Espinosa intends to use the program as chapter "conversation starters," as well as a review tool for assessments, as the program also allows him to gauge the efficacy of test and quiz questions.

And the students' reactions? One student offered this comment: "Pear Deck? It is so cool! In Mr. Espinosa's class, we had so much fun seeing what we know and learning what we didn't know!" Indeed, an enthusiastic endorsement of a fine teacher and an exciting new program!

(Interested in getting started using Pear Deck? See Mark Davies for a quick tutorial!)

David Bush

Finding their Paths
by Alex Lipoff

At their best, our classes can help students begin to see themselves and the world around them a bit differently; David Bush’s Advanced Art Class, made up of all seniors and one junior, is both literally and figuratively helping students “find their way.”

Using the smartphone app “Map My Run,” which is intended to give runners data about the course, duration, and difficulty of their workouts, students have been utilizing the mapping capabilities of the app and incorporating those images as part of a visually evocative project that combines technology, artistry, and poetry.

Students are asked to use Map My Run to come up with a project that is visually interesting and looks professionally presented, and they must incorporate a poem or a page-and-a-half long reflective response that uses the word “Path” in its title. Students are randomly paired in groups of two, a gesture toward the idea that rather than distancing ourselves from one another, technology can also be used to bring people closer together.

While many projects and classroom activities that utilize technology can err on the side of superficiality, only relying on the “sizzle” of the tech itself to interest students, this art project, in the words of Mr. Bush, “lets students use technology as a drawing tool that expands the notion of what technology can be, as well as the notion of what drawing can be.”

As students have progressed with the project, and continue “drawing,” they are beginning to find things and ask questions that they initially hadn’t considered. Some students have begun leaving the app running all-day, while others have been going up and down the stairs in different buildings, and some students have even been trying to walk in particular directions to create a recognizable image, like an animal or a human face.



One of the universalities of education is that we hope that our classes can be, whether explicitly or covertly, experiences that our students draw upon when solving problems and making decisions in their lives. Mr. Bush has figured out a way to incorporate technology in his course without compromising the promise that art is the vehicle that we can use to teach about creativity.

Patty Garrison, Pauline McKean & Otis Douce

Video Pen Pals Around The World
by Dana Radanovic

This week, the Blue Sky Project is pleased to highlight the collective efforts of Patty Garrison, Pauline McKean, and Otis Douce for reaching halfway around the world to Istanbul, Turkey, in hopes of having a group of Seminar 9 students make a connection to a global community. 

Pauline McKean, who hails from George School, brought many travel experiences and connections to the Hun School and thus was able to have Patty Garrison “meet” Erica Hoffman, a teacher at Robert College High School in Turkey. As an English teacher, Ms. Hoffman was searching for ways to enhance her students’ writing skills, while Ms. Garrison and Mr. Douce were looking to build on the seminar curriculum theme of community. This connection was the start of a unique journey.

The students on each side of the globe were paired with one another. Because of the time difference and busy schedules of the students, using Skype was not an option. Ms. Garrison and Ms. Hoffman decided to have their students become video pen pals. Each of the Seminar 9 students created a video to introduce themselves and to inquire about their pen pal’s interests, hobbies, communities, and education. Two favorite questions the students asked were, “What were your best and worst memories from your childhood?” and “If you were a song, which one would you be?” All students have created and exchanged their videos and are waiting with great anticipation to hear back from their pen pals. This is just the beginning of a wonderful opportunity for our students to learn that they are really no different than their counterparts in Turkey, and they are all part of the same global community.

Historically, the Seminar 9 classes have studied the classic story set in South Africa, “Cry, the Beloved Country,” by Alan Paton. Ms. Garrison has found this book “rich with opportunity for students to see, feel, and make a connection to a community,” far beyond their own communities of friends, school, church, and teams. Now she and Mr. Douce have discovered that sharing stories across continents has provided distinct teaching similarities to the South African tale. 

The Project applauds the collaborative efforts involved in this cross-global correspondence!

Marty Hoban

Searching for Innovators
by Ted Shaffner

For this week’s showcase, the Blue Sky Project is pleased to highlight the work of Marty Hoban. The entire faculty read and discussed the book, Creating Innovators, by Tony Wagner, over the past couple of years, but Mr. Hoban took this to entirely different level. He made it his professional goal to examine the arguments in the book specifically and then to seek out examples of innovation right here on the Hun Campus. This is something we also seek to do over the course of the year, so we are very grateful to him for doing our job!

For his Teacher Support Team project, Mr. Hoban crafted a 20-minute documentary about innovation at Hun, which you can watch below. He highlights the work of several teachers and classrooms. Full disclosure - I’m one of them, but luckily I’m only in a small part of the video and my students receive more of the spotlight! He also interviews Julie Davis, Vivian Piel, and Kevin Chen, as well as other alumni, students, and outside experts.

The video really speaks for itself, but the Project is grateful for Mr. Hoban’s diligent work, which he says he intends to continue this year.