Bootstrap: Modeling Algebraic Concepts through Functional Programming

Bootstrap (http://www.bootstrapworld.org/) is a curriculum that teaches students to program their own video games using Common Core Mathematics. It consists of detailed lessons (aligned to standards), student handouts and software. The video games that students create can be played on any device, and students can continue to share, update and enhance their games long after the class is over.

Many people assume that "Programming is just like Math", and expect students who've taken a class in Java, Scratch or Python to transfer that understanding into mathematics. Unfortunately, this assumption is far from accurate. In this workshop, Emmanuel Schanzer, Founder and Director of Bootstrap, will share the literature and current research in the field of algebra education and programming. He will also introduce two of the techniques used in Bootstrap, a standards-based curriculum that teaches students to program their own video games using purely algebraic and geometric concepts. You are encouraged to bring a laptop, though one is not required.

Emmanuel spent several years in the private sector as a developer and program manager, before becoming a High School teacher in Boston, MA. After observing his students struggles with algebra, he developed the Bootstrap curriculum to teach core algebraic concepts through a highly-mathematical programming language. In the past seven years, Bootstrap has been adopted in schools across the country. He serves as the Director of Bootstrap, and works under Jon Star as a doctoral candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He travels, cooks, and mixes a mean old-fashioned.