Meghan Miceli, a 7th-grade math teacher at Alan S. Feinstein Middle School of Coventry Public Schools (RI), has been named the Open Up Resources 6–8 Math Teacher of the Month for April. Miceli is being recognized for her outstanding work in her classroom and ongoing support of teachers across the country as a member of the Open Up Resources National Professional Learning Community.
Miceli’s work with Open Up Resources 6–8 Math makes her one of the most innovative teachers in the country. The Open Up Resources 6–8 Math curriculum inspires a new way of teaching math by transforming classrooms into “hives of activity” focusing on discussion, questioning, debate, and the deeper conceptual learning of mathematics that follows.
Nicola Scheib, a colleague at Coventry Public Schools, nominated Miceli for her leadership in implementation of the curriculum. Scheib shared, “We were two of 12 math teachers in our building of over 1,000 middle schoolers using this awesome, highly-rated curriculum. We now have nine of the 12 teachers using Open Up and Meghan has been instrumental in supporting and continuing our use of Open Up Resources 6–8 Math.”
In her nomination, Scheib went on to say, “[Miceli] attends the monthly PLC meetings and is always looking to learn more and get better at facilitating the Open Up curriculum. We are lucky to have Meghan as a part of the Open Up Community.”
Miceli shared that her favorite thing about using the curriculum is the community. She explained, “From the Facebook pages to the monthly PLC meeting, having a community of teachers to get tips and tricks from makes this curriculum 10 times easier to teach.”
And Miceli offered some advice: “[It takes] patience. While it is tempting to get right to the point, such as using a formula, trust the Open Up process. There is a reason each unit is set up the way it is. It’s all for the students to have a deeper understanding of the material.”
Open Up Resources is a non-profit on a mission to increase equity in education by making excellent, top-rated curricula freely available to districts. You can learn more at www.openupresources.org. Learn more about our National Professional Learning Communities here.