AMAonline Term 3 2026 – Sept 5th
Programme Overview for Term 3 #AMAonline below. The event has happened now and links to videos and resource re available through links.
10-10:45am
Keynote: A Photo on a Wall – John Rowe – mrrowe.com
The things we value most are not always the easiest to measure.
Being correct matters. Solving the problem matters. Learning matters.
But so do the questions that led us there, the ideas we tested, the mistakes we made and the way our thinking changed along the way.
In a world increasingly designed to make things easier, mathematics offers us a chance to consider something surprisingly difficult: what is worth figuring out for ourselves?
John is a high school mathematics teacher from Adelaide, South Australia, passionate about fostering students’ natural curiosity and presenting math in engaging, accessible ways. He joined Desmos in 2019 to help develop the Middle School Curriculum, which has evolved into the Amplify Desmos K–12 Curriculum. Before that, John led professional learning for educators, focusing on encouraging rich discussions about mathematical thinking. He also authored the free eBook Hook Line Sinker, where he shared teaching resources and a simple framework for sparking curiosity and helping students explore math more deeply.
Video link
11-11:45am
Choice from two workshops
Many Forms, One Story: Exploring El Nino-La Nina Through Data – Leticia Perez
Data rarely comes in just one form. In this session, we’ll investigate El Niño through a range of visualizations and data types — from maps and time series to tables and graphs — exploring how different representations highlight different patterns, questions, and interpretations. Along the way, we’ll discuss classroom strategies that help middle school students navigate, compare, and make meaning from complex, real-world data.
Leticia is a former high school science teacher with a passion for creating space for students and teachers alike to use data in creative and fun ways. Leticia Perez is Data Science and Professional learning Specialist in Science and Engineering at WestEd in the USA. She has over 19 years of experience planning and carrying out professional learning experiences across a variety of informal and formal learning environments. As Co-PI Boosting Data Science Teaching and Learning in STEM project and Co-lead of development work for the Place-Based Learning to Advance Connections, Education, and Stewardship Project (NASA PLACES) she supports teachers in the integration of Data Fluency in middle and high school math and science classrooms. By applying a critical and humanizing pedagogical lens to her work, Perez seeks to center students’ identity and sense of place and being within data itself and broader educational experiences.
Inquiry or Direct Instruction? Getting the Balance Right – Halley Kondamudi
Inquiry and direct instruction have both been in and out of fashion with maths educators. This session considers when inquiry can deepen mathematical thinking, when explicit teaching is important, and how the two approaches can work together to support student learning. Halley will share some of his experiences, successes and challenges along that journey, and explore what he has learned about the relationship between inquiry and direct instruction. Over time, his thinking has shifted towards finding the right balance between the two approaches, depending on what students are learning, what they already know, and the level of support they need.
12-12:45pm
Choice from two workshops
Maths Craft, what is it and how do you use it? – Carl Rushton
Maths Craft New Zealand is a non-profit organisation which relies on donations to provide free kits to schools to support creativity and develop deeper mathematical understanding of broad concepts. The first box provided was based on Fractals and the Menger Sponge. This presentation will go through the resources and ideas in their first box: Fractals & Menger Sponge You’ll get a chance to experience what is in the box and how they might be used. Maths Craft have an all-new Box being released soon that explores the mind-bending world of the Möbius strip. If this new box interests you, having gone through the fractals box should help you understand what will be in the next box.
Carl Rushton is the Assistant Head of Faculty at New Plymouth Boys High School, President of the Taranaki Mathematics and Statistics Teachers’ Association and PPTA Executive Member Taranaki. He also helps moderate the NZ Maths teachers page on Facebook. He has been teaching for over 20 years and trained in the UK before emigrating and working at Pukekohe High School in 2007. He has been involved in both the MCAT and Numeracy from the start and has presented at various events around the country. As the curriculum changes, Carl is always looking for new initiatives that will engage students. The needs of students and the experiences they have are constantly changing, and he believes that we, as teachers, need to keep abreast of what is provided that can give the students the best opportunity to succeed.
Classroom Economies: Building Financial Literacy in Maths Class Through Real-World Learning – Qing Wang + colleagues from Ormiston Junior College
Discover how classroom dollar systems can teach financial literacy in an engaging, practical way. Three teachers share their different approaches to using classroom currency to explore earning, spending, saving, budgeting, and responsible decision-making while building student engagement.
Three Year 7/8 Maths teachers: Qing, Yumi and Mizpa from Ormiston Junior College who use different yet inter-linked classroom dollar systems to make financial literacy practical and engaging. They share classroom-tested strategies for teaching students how money works while encouraging responsibility, participation, and positive decision-making.
