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Welcome to my school website (2011 - 2012). The top navigation bar should get you wherever you want to go.
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mike patterson

A Little About Me:
I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta and got my teaching degree at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. After completing my bachelor's degree Nola and I moved to Richmond, British Columbia, Canada to teach. I taught there for five years and then left to do a Masters Degree at the University of Georgia. After completing my Masters Degree in a year and a half as a full-time student I took a job in Lethbridge, Alberta in the District office as the Mathematics Consultant over the District. I did that for a year realizing that I loved the classroom too much to be behind a desk. I returned to teaching but this time in Las Vegas, In 1999, I began teaching at Durango High School and then in 2003 moved to A-Tech. In 2009 I was recognized by receiving two of the most prestigse awards for secondary teachers, I was named National Educator of the Year by the Milken Foundation and presented with a check for $25,000 and I was named a Presidential Awardee in Mathematics Teacher and presented with $10,000. As a part of the presidential award I was able to meet President Obama in person and shake his hand..... I moment of a life time. In 2010 I was also named Mathematics Department Chair at A-Tech. Life is great... I do what I love!! See the surprise of being awarded the Milken Award (VIDEO).

Senator Ensign, Nola Patterson, Me, & Senator Harry Reid

 
2009 Presidential Awardees in Mathematics (52) & Science (51) and President Obama

 
 
Professional Interests:
  
 
Technology - I have always personally loved technology in all of its forms and this has helped to drive my career. I have investigated the use of the internet and a website to aid classroom instruction. Thus the creation of e-zgeometry.com. This site has helped literally 1000's of students over the years. It has brought me national recognition and opportunities that I have greatly enjoyed. I have also been involved with the formation of the Virtual High School here in Las Vegas as I developed their Algebra I and Geometry classes materials and also taught classes for a few years. This introduced me to many cool tech tools. I have also been greatly blessed to be at A-Tech where technology abounds at my fingertips... I use a smartboard, elmo, classroom set of computers and much more to jazz up the experience and make it meaningful. In geometry we use Geometer's Sketchpad regularly to investigate ideas and concepts.
 
Games - A few years back I realized that growing up playing games developed my love for math and that games inherently have a powerful way of reinforcing and teaching. It was this realization and a desire to connect with more kids that I wrote grants to purchase games to help me teach. Five years later I now use games in all of my courses to teach concepts such as deductive reasoning, probability, 3-D spatial sense, parallel/skew lines, transformations and much much more through game use. This investigation has provided many new opportunities, for example, I have now spoken twice on this topic at the National Mathematics Conference for Teachers in the last two years, in Salt Lake City and then at Washington, D.C.
 
Alternate Assessment - The creation of a new course, Modern Mathematics Topics, has got my juices flowing again. This course looks at a variety of mathematical topics that are not typically covered in the standard curriculum. We cover topics such as number theory, game theory, non-euclidean geometry, ancient number systems, matrices, linear algebra and much much more. This class format has got me thinking very differently about the presentation of knowledge through alternate methods than just tests and quizzes. We have demonstrated knowledge through posters, powerpoint presentations, oral reports, videos, and much much more. It has really opened my eyes to alternate ways to assess student's ability.
 
Problem Solving - I believe strongly that problem solving is one of the most important skills that we teach in mathematics and yet most of the problems given are simple one or two steps problems that are mimicked by the teacher. I want to get away from this model. I want students to face problems without expectation or directed help. I want them to truly problem solving a unique situation. To help reinforce this we do a weekly Problem of the Week on e-zgeometry.com and we also will do Four on Tuesday (FoT). These are opportunities to work on problems that are not directly centered on the material that we are covering that day or week but can be done wtih knowledge developed up to that point in their math career. The problems also are asked in such a way that many different types of solutions are available - this creates great discussion.
 
Personal Interests:
  
   
Sports - Generally I love all sports and play most of them. Currently most of my time is spent golfing. My two boys are learning golf and so we get out usually once a week to play a round. I'm not very good at the sport but I really enjoy the challenge of the game and the beautiful courses that we play on.
 
Games - Yes I am a little game crazy. I love to play board games... and yes I enjoy computer and console gaming as well but generally I love the person to person contact/competition of a board game. I have a group of friends that get together fairly often and play games together - it sounds a little geekie... but it is really fun. This hobby of mine has made an impact on my classroom as I use games to teach, on the school through the after-school club, on the district as we give out grants to support other teachers to start up their own clubs, and upon family as we spend a lot of time around our kitchen table battling it out.
 
Camping - I love to get out and enjoy this wonderful world that we live in. Our family has a tent trailer and we love to travel and camp. Our two favorite spots are Zion National Park in Utah and San Diego Sea World. We like to hike, bike, cook and play while camping. My two boys are also involved in Boy Scouts of America and so I do a bunch of camping with them.
 
Church - This isn't a relgious platform and so I won't say much about this part of my life.even though it is probably the most important part of my life. In December of 2007 I was made Bishop of a congregation in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and this assignment has been a great spiritual adventure for me. I love working with people and helping them when times get tough. At A-Tech the morning seminary class for the students is held in my classroom and I am the seminary advisor at A-Tech. It is wonderful to start everyday by studying the scriptures.