Travis Lemon
Candidate for Director, Western Region
Position: Mathematics teacher and department chair, American Fork Junior High, American Fork, Utah (2000–).
Education:: B.A. (mathematics education), Brigham Young University; M.A. (mathematics education), Brigham Young University.
Previous Experience: Adjunct instructor: University of San Diego (2014–), Utah Valley University (2012–); mathematics teacher: Provo High School, Provo, Utah (1999–2000).
Memberships: NCTM; Utah Council of Teachers of Mathematics; National Education Association.
Activities in NCTM: Editorial Panel member, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School (2016–); Program Committee member for the Regional Conference in Las Vegas (2013); Local Arrangements Committee member for the Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City (2008).
Other Activities: Master Teacher, Math for America, Utah (2014–); U.S.-Japan Summit on Mathematics Education, Saitama University, Japan (2014–15); Utah Council of Teachers of Mathematics board: president (2012–14), member (2005–12).
Publications: Coauthor: Secondary Mathematics Two: An Integrated Approach (mathematicsvisionproject.org 2017); Secondary Mathematics One: An Integrated Approach (mathematicsvisionproject.org 2016); “Japanese Professional Development,” Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School (NCTM 2016); Secondary Mathematics Three: An Integrated Approach (mathematicsvisionproject.org 2014); “Thinking on the Brink: Facilitating Student Teachers’ Learning through In-the-Moment Interjections” (master’s thesis, Brigham Young University 2010).
Honors: Muffet Reeves Award for Excellence as a Teacher of Teachers (Utah Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2017); Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (2007).
Statement: NCTM should consider two main initiatives to address its membership challenges. First, it should consider an à la carte approach, allowing membership to vary in price according to the services desired by the member. Second, NCTM should make a greater effort to recruit preservice and early career educators. New teachers need support and are eager to receive it. NCTM should work through its affiliates to create and provide this support. NCTM is in position to create and provide toolkits to its affiliates that can be used to support new teachers and foster a relationship with them.
NCTM’s website needs to be the best place for mathematics teachers and math educators to turn for math education resources. Many teachers and other mathematics education professionals say they can find NCTM resources more quickly and easily by using Google than the search feature found on NCTM’s own website. Changes need to be made to the NCTM.org search feature so it returns relevant, valuable results. With this change, NCTM can become the ultimate resource for all mathematics education professionals, and the mission, vision, and strategic priorities of the Council will be more widely spread.
Continued emphasis on the effective teaching practices for all educators is an important part of NCTM’s work, but these effective practices need to be realized in more classrooms. I believe that the NCTM affiliates could further this effort, given the proper resources and guidance from NCTM. Affiliates could take the lead in connecting with early career educators by building relationships with higher education institutions and supporting the transition of their graduates into the profession. With NCTM as a leader and resource provider, affiliate groups could provide much needed support to early career educators. This effort would build the capacity of the early career teachers and also allow them to connect with NCTM in a meaningful way.
I love to teach math! I am committed to the quality teaching and learning of mathematics. I have benefited greatly from the meaningful vision of NCTM and the many quality resources provided by the Council. I love to get things done and see a great opportunity as a Board member of NCTM to further the mission of the Council.