Name: Sonja Latimore

Role on the NGPM team: help to conceptualize the overall project, with particular focus on the online teacher’s guide educational content and offline student materials

My favorite thing about preschool is… The kids are adorable, wide open, honest, and smart as a whip

If I had to explain subitizing to a four-year old, I would say… how many here, QUICK!

 Any other comments? I’m excited to be involved with this innovative educational tech project. Will learn a lot about integrating tech into preschool and develop new skills for the future

 

Name: Elly Schottman

Role on the NGPM team: To suggest off-line classroom activities (playground games, snack time and learning center activities, read-aloud books, etc. that support the math learning goals of the tablet games (subitizing and equipartionining). To create manuscript for the online TG, giving teachers the information and tools they need to use the online and offline activities we provide, to help kids get the most out of these resources, and to monitor the kids’ understanding and progress. And in general, to brainstorm and collaborate with the rest of the NGPM team.

My favorite thing about preschool is… There is good stuff to play with people who are interested in playing with you.

If I had to explain subitizing to a four-year old, I would say… It’s a big word that mean “Look quick and tell me how many things you see!” For example, when I hold up my fingers like this, how many fingers do you see?

 In addition to Next Generation Math, NGPM also stands for… Nearly Global Psychic Meltdown? No Good Parents mantra? No Growth Population Movement?

 

Name: Mary Haggerty

Role on the NGPM team: As the Manager for Educational Outreach, I selected our Massachusetts pilot sites in Lawrence and Worcester, and am responsible for maintaining communication with center directors, teacher trainers, and classroom teachers. I would also say that a second role for me on NGPM is that of student. This initiative is a real learning experience for me in terms of math concepts, and how digital media can accelerate children’s learning.

My favorite thing about preschool is… children’s positivity. They are so eager to learn and explore.

 
If I had to explain subitizing to a four-year old, I would say…

“Subitizing” was a new term for me, and the way it was explained to me was quite simple: it’s the ability to quickly look at a group of objects and know how many objects make up that group. So, I would explain it to a four-year-old in similar simple terms. I’d probably demonstrate subitizing with a four-year-old as a way to explain the term.

 
 In addition to Next Generation Math, NGPM also stands for…

Couldn’t think of anything clever, so I decided to do a Google search of “NGPM” to see how other groups are using the acronym. The search came up with 99,900 results in  0.43 seconds. One result: “Nested Grid Particle Mesh,” which I’m told is a cosmology algorithm used to study gravitational instability, sounds interesting.