Making Math Meaningful—Greg's Gigs

Jump to 2012 Appearances.

Greg Tang travels extensively around the country to share his unique vision of math with students, educators, and parents. He is a keynote and featured speaker at NCTM and IRA conferences, consults with schools on math curricula and professional development, teaches children as part of enrichment and after-school programs, and promotes literacy through library and bookstore appearances.

Schools.   Greg is well-known to school districts throughout the country, and has worked with teachers and students in 40 out of the 50 states. His message has been extremely well-received, as evidenced by the growing number of repeat school visits and follow-up teacher workshops he does each year. He has been described as "awesome," "insightful," "inspirational," "revolutionary," and "an answer to my prayers!" for his enlightening and thought-provoking sessions.

Workshops.   Greg offers professional development opportunities for individual schools and districts. He is particularly interested in helping schools develop a more systematic approach to teaching math, from kindergarten through sixth grade. Greg is also part of the teaching staff at Creative Mathematics and provides full-day math workshops open to any teacher. His teaching methods are based on the extensive work he does with children and teachers at over 200 school visits, workshops, and conferences each year.

HMH Workshops.   Greg is an author on Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's new California, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky textbook programs and is also creating supplemental teaching materials that will allow teachers and parents to easily implement his strategies and techniques. If your organization is interested in bringing Greg to your school or district, please contact your HMH representative. Teaching materials will be available for purchase through this web site soon.

Kudos.   "Thank you for the most exhilarating hour of math understanding I have ever had in my life. I am not only speaking of the new hope I have for my child, but for the opportunity to use math, myself, in a new and freeing way from here on. As I said most emphatically earlier this evening, I have a doctorate from Harvard and I just learned more about math from you in the last hour than I have ever learned in all my years of formal schooling." Valerie Johnson

"I am so glad that I took the risk as a high school teacher to attend your seminar last week at Ohio's math conference. It was fascinating to learn your theory about teaching students to think mathematically! Your simple strategy of "making things simpler by smart grouping" is very consistent with the current brain theory of learning by connections in all subject areas." Cathy Fischer

"Mr. Tang came to my school to do a workshop for the math teachers. His passion and concern for all students was evident throughout his workshop, but watching him in action in a third grade classroom was remarkable. The kids loved him and everyone was amazed at his ability to bring math concepts alive with clear and fun strategies that are in all his books. Just very impressed!" Patricia Jussaume

"I just wanted to thank you for your inspirational appearances at CAMT in Houston. I attended the session at noon, which was incredibly packed! It was a wonderful presentation. Thank you for sharing your wisdom, encouraging students to become mathematical, and supporting teachers who are trying to help make a difference!" Hilary O'Connor

"Greg has great math moves!" Madeline Doherty (age 8)

Booking Workshops, Conferences, and Author Visits

If your organization is interested in working with Greg, please contact him at gregtang@gregtang.com for more information. Travel is more feasible when two or more groups are involved, and help identifying interested organizations is always appreciated. Following are some of the sessions and workshops Greg offers for students, teachers and parents.

Poems in Math Class? Yeah, Write! (grades K-3)
Mathematical concepts written in rhyme have the power to be direct and concise in their message and at the same time memorable and fun. We'll look at poems, riddles and fables to see how they can be combined with art to intuitively and effectively communicate math. Finding new approaches is increasingly important as teaching focuses more on understanding and less on repetitive drills. We'll also explore opportunities to combine math with subjects such as reading, science and even art history. Language and art make creative teaching synergies a real and exciting possibility.

Ka-Chunk! An Intuitive Approach to Math (grades 1-4)
In this session, we look at an intuitive approach to arithmetic called chunking that is based on grouping and rooted in common sense. The idea is to teach kids to think about numbers in ways that make calculations easier. In a segment called "Number Chunks", separating single digit numbers into pieces makes adding and subtracting easier. In "Funny Numbers", we use numbers like "forty-sixteen" to add two and three digit numbers in our heads. In "Less Is More", we use subtraction to add and multiply more quickly. Making clever chunks (smart groupings) is the key to arithmetic and the essence of good problem solving.

The Best of Times (grades 3-6)
Don't choose between computational and problem solving skills when you can have both! Deriving the basic times table is a great way to teach kids arithmetic while introducing important problem solving techniques. We'll look at common sense strategies that make multiplying more intuitive. Kids that learn to multiply quickly aren't limited by what they've memorized - they can calculate what they need, when they need it. In this session, students will also get a head start on long division, and learn not just how to do math but how to think mathematically. Giving kids the tools to solve problems gives them the chance to love math.

Teacher Workshops
Greg offers one-hour, half-day, and full-day workshops for schools and districts looking to provide professional development opportunities for their staff. He works with classroom teachers, curriculum specialists, and administrators to increase content knowledge, introduce new teaching methods, and coordinate teaching strategies across grade levels. Greg's goal is to help schools develop critical math skills in a more systematic and efficient way.

One-Hour Session. We'll explore a common sense approach to numbers based on simple grouping strategies that develops good number sense and strong computational and problem-solving skills. We'll also integrate math with literature and art to address multiple learning styles and communicate more effectively to kids. The goal of this mind-stretching session is to re-energize staffs looking to inspire change.

Half-Day Session. In this longer session, we'll reinforce and extend grouping strategies with proven activities for the classroom. The focus is on developing fluency with numbers, combining problem-solving and arithmetic, and making math truly understandable for children. Topics include: creative approaches to place value, carrying and borrowing with Funny Numbers, multiplication without memorization, and a short-cut to long division.

Full-Day Session. This comprehensive workshop targets both teacher knowledge and effective teaching methods. This full day session develops a teacher's own math intuition, number sense, and skills, and at the same time provides effective classroom strategies and lesson plans that can be implemented immediately. We'll identify key areas of the curriculum, coordinate skill development across grade levels, and give teachers the tools and confidence to make math more meaningful for their students. Please click here to download a recent brochure.

Parent Workshops
When working with parents, Greg has three primary objectives. The first is to introduce a simple way of thinking about numbers that makes math more intuitive, no matter what a person's past experience with math has been. Parents often leave truly amazed at how easy math can be. The second objective is to encourage parents to be more active with homework. We'll cover little things they can do now that will have big payoffs later. Finally, Greg encourages support for teachers by helping parents gain a better understanding of new teaching methods. Kids benefit most when everyone works together.

Book Sale & Signing
A book sale and signing is a great way to generate interest and raise money. For every school visit, Scholastic offers a special discount on Greg's hardcover books (paperbacks are available separately through Scholastic Book Clubs). For more information, please contact Antonio Gonzalez.