Teacher Training

Areteem Institute is committed to improving mathematics education throughout the world. Much of our focus is preparing students with the academic foundation and passion necessary to become leaders who will share their knowledge with others as they grow. Areteem also recognizes the importance of resources and training for current teachers, parents, professionals, and tutors to reach as many young minds as possible. These resources and training are the main goals of the Teacher Training Programs.

Areteem Certified Instructor Program

The Areteem Certified Instructor Program is designed to provide the training necessary to successfully teach students using Areteem methodology.

Benefits of Being a Certified Areteem Instructor

• Proves your passion and dedication which helps one stand out among other teachers, coaches, and tutors. Certified Instructors are listed on the Areteem website, giving access to referrals of local students.
• Teachers and coachs follow the Areteem system, including lesson plans and materials, to save time and ensure their students' success.
• Being a part of the Areteem platform gives students extra resources for practice, including forums, online math competitions, and local events.

There are two main components to a certified Areteem teacher, coach, or tutor. The first is the initial screening and training process for new applicants. Second is the continuing learning process to ensure that teachers, coaches, and tutors are always practicing and improving their teaching methods.

New Applicant Procedure

1. The initial application includes background information about the applicant as well as a teaching statement that outlines the applicants teaching style. Qualified applicants are then accepted into the training program.
2. Initial Live (Online or Onsite) Training (1 hour):
   • After acceptance, the first stage of training is a one hour session to introduce the applicant to Areteem’s teaching philosophy and problem solving methodology.
   • This session includes classroom techniques, problem solving strategies, and methods to keep students engaged during class sessions.
3. Subject Training (6 hours for certification at one level):
   • Once an applicant has been accepted into the program, they gain access to the training materials for various levels: Upper Elementary School, Middle School/AMC 8, AMC 10, etc.
   • For a given level, applicants watch 4 selected video lectures (1.5 hours each) from previous live classes. These videos give applicants examples of online classrooms in action and samples of the problem solving techniques. Each video has a short assignment meant to be completed while the video watched.
   • Applicants then pass a gateway exam showing their ability to teach students at the given level (e.g. the AMC 8 Gateway Exam ensures that applicants have the fundamental background necessary to prepare students for the AMC 8).
4. Final Project (3 hours)
   • The final step is a small teaching project submitted to Areteem for assessment.
   • Sample projects could include creating a short worksheet for students or a short video explaining a problem or concept.
   • An outline of the project must first be approved by Areteem before the final draft of the project is submitted.

Note: This application process is meant to be flexible so that parents or industry professionals from around the globe can complete the process around their prior commitments. Onsite training workshops will also be offered by Areteem staff that complete the process in a streamlined manner.

Continuing Education

• Certified Areteem Teachers and Tutors have access to online resources and forums for discussion.
• Each year, teachers are required to stay active and continually improve their teaching.
• Certain activities, such as workshops, forum discussions, sample lessons and problems, etc, count as learning credits and teachers are required to accrue points each year to keep their certification active.

Upcoming Live Workshops

Onsite workshops cover the Initial Live Training (step 2 above) as well as jumpstart the Final Project (step 4 above) for applicants.

• The next onsite workshop will be held the weekend of April 7th-8th (date and time TBA) in the South Bay area in Northern California. Register for the workshop (fee is $100) by clicking here. You will be prompted to create a free Areteem account if you do not already have one.

Teacher's Institute

Mathematics education researchers recognize the importance of mathematical preparation for teaching grades K-12. Mathematics is often taught in primary and secondary schools as a set of algorithms bypassing the conceptual understanding needed to advance to higher levels. The need for teachers to have a good procedural understanding of the arithmetic of integers, fractions and decimals, as well as a sound conceptual understanding of the fundamentals is essential, as they must provide their students with this needed understanding for reaching higher levels of mathematical thinking. 

Our Teacher's Institute aims to show participants that deep understanding of elementary ideas is attainable in K-12 classrooms, and one way to cultivate this understanding is through engaging problems. The Institute's philosophy is that learning mathematics can be motivated by interesting problems. The idea is to come up with problems whose solutions require, or strongly motivate, the development of the area of mathematics to be learned. Participants of the Teacher's Institute are expected to attend two 3-hour classes each day and spend an hour each night in a study hall to practice the skills learned during the classes.

• Take a look at one of our recent Teacher Training Workshops in December 2016 for high school math teachers at Southlands Christian School.
• Watch this video to see and hear teacher testimonials on professional development and hands-on practical problem solving experiences.