NATCHITOCHES – Judith Covington, professor of mathematics at Northwestern State University, served as a facilitator for the North Carolina Network of Math Teachers’ Circles (NCNMTC) Summer Math Camp for K-12 teachers at Western Carolina University in the mountains of Western Carolina. The camp took place July 20-22.
Participants were housed at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT https://www.nccat.org/). Due to the renovations at NCCAT, the sessions were held on the campus of Western Carolina University.
“While at the camp I facilitated three sessions. The first was FLIP 7 where participants learned about the FLIP 7 game and discussed the mathematics involved in the game and what a good strategy would be for playing the game,” she explained. “The second session was about Parking Functions where drivers had preferred parking spots and guidelines about how to park. Participants analyzed whether or not all cars would be able to park. In the final session, titled Math or Magic, participants watched a video of a card trick and determined the mathematics that made the trick work.
This is the 12th year that NCNMTC has held a summer camp and the eighth year that Covington was invited to facilitate sessions. She said the best part of attending Math Camp is working with the teachers involved.
“These teachers are always so eager to jump in and participate and they enjoy the challenges presented to them. Being in the mountains in July is not bad either,” she said.
Covington leads a local Math Teachers’ Circle called Math 4 Fun that meets bimonthly on the NSU campus. For more information, she can be reached at covingtonj@nsula.edu. All teachers are invited to attend.