Growing up in Cle Elum, Megan was always good at playing school and enjoyed being a student. As a student at the University of Idaho, she earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and realized her love of learning. The university course catalog was a new world of knowledge, and she dabbled in architecture, art, and history, in addition to the required courses for her mechanical engineering degree.
After working as an engineer in New Mexico and Texas, Megan transitioned to a career in education through iTeachTexas. In the past 16 years, she has taught everything from 6th grade mathematics to AP Calculus BC and Multivariate Calculus. Megan currently teaches at Lewis & Clark High School in Spokane where she has been the lead mathematics teacher for the past six years. Before Spokane, she had the privilege of teaching at Fort Hood, Texas, and Daegu, South Korea.
As a mathematics teacher, Megan has become passionate about representing mathematicians who resemble all students in the classroom so that everyone can see themselves as a “math person” and runs @mathematicianslooklikeallofus on Instagram. This project led her to pursue a PhD in mathematics & science education at Washington State University, focusing on equitable grading and the impact of written feedback, instead of points-based feedback, in the mathematics classroom.
What you will hear in her talk:
- The importance of changing the culture of public education from chasing grades to developing lifelong learners.
- How implementing equitable grading practices, like written feedback and allowing revisions, can help develop a student’s understanding in the classroom that is more authentic to how we learn in the real world.