Two years ago the Desmos Fellowship was born. The idea behind the Desmos Fellowship was simple: Bring together a group of talented, reflective, and diverse educators, and support and learn from them however we could. We flew the Desmos Fellows out for an all-expenses paid trip to our headquarters in San Francisco, where we spent the weekend learning, activity building, collaborating, community building and setting up relationships that would carry us through the year and beyond. After that weekend we continued to support the Desmos Fellows by offering weekly prompts to help them reflect and learn from each other, and we continue to build community through both virtual and face to face events.

What we didn’t anticipate was that the fellowship would become an integral part of the work that we do in the math education world. We receive far more from the Desmos Fellows than we could ever give. We are so grateful for the opportunity to learn from and with this amazing group. In the past two years the Desmos Fellows have had the first look at all of our new features and activities, offering feedback to help us make them the best we possibly could. Desmos wouldn’t be the same without its Fellows.

We look forward to supporting and learning from them the following teachers, our third Desmos Fellowship cohort:

• Allyson Timko. Miamisburg High School. Dayton, OH
  
• Andy Schwen. Anoka Hennepin School District. Blaine, MN
  
• Angel Prado. Sweetwater Union High School District. San Diego, CA
  
• Annie Forest. Berwyn South District 100. Brookfield, IL
  
• Annie Perkins. Minneapolis Public Schools. Minneapolis, MN
• Audrey McLaren. Learn. Dorval, QC
  
• Bob Janes. Capitol Region Education Council. East Hartford, CT
  
• Christelle Rocha. Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School. Los Angeles, CA
  
• Cindy Whitehead. Arlington School District. Stanwood, WA
  
• Dave Cesa. Charlotte Latin School. Charlotte, NC
  
• David Fier. Williamsburg Charter High School. New York City, NY
  
• David Petro. Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board. Harrow, ON
  
• Geeta Makhija. Berkeley Unified School District. Oakland, CA
  
• Joanna Stevens. Lincoln County High School. Lancaster, KY
  
• Jodi Donald. Independence R 30 School District. Lee’s Summit, MO
  
• Joe Dziuba. New Brunswick Public Schools. New Brunswick, NJ
  
• Juan Gomez. Carmel Unified School District. Monterey CA
  
• Justin Brennan. Community Unit School District 303. Plainfield, IL
  
• Kathleen Carter. North Hunterdon High School. Easton, PA
  
• Lara Metcalf. Georgia State Schools. Atlanta, GA
  
• Lauren Baucom. University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Wingate, NC
  
• Larissa Peru. Sunnyside Unified School District. Tucson, AZ
  
• Lauren Johnson. Hacienda La Puente Unified School District. Fullerton, CA
  
• Liz Caffrey. Atrium School. Arlington, MA
  
• Lori Bodner. Brooklyn Technical High School. Brooklyn, NY
  
• Martha Mulligan. Chicago Public Schools. Chicago, IL
  
• Mary Watson. Cedar Falls Community Schools. Cedar Falls, IA
  
• Mary Williams. Midlothian High School. Powhatan, VA
  
• Michelle Griffin. Maine-Endwell Central School District. Endicott, NY
  
• Nico Rowinsky. Toronto District School Board. Toronto, ON
  
• Oscar Perales. Richardson Berkner High School. Dallas, TX
  
• Patrick Aquino. The Chapin School. New York, NY
  
• Paul Chun. Downey Unified School District. Downey, CA
  
• Richard Hung. Palo Alto Unified School District. Santa Clara, CA
  
• Stephanie McBride-Bergantine. Bozeman School District #7. Bozeman, MT
  
• Steve Phelps. Madeira High School. Cincinnati, OH
  
• Tim Hébert. Sacramento City Unified School District. Sacramento, CA
  
• Tim Marley. Troy High School. Royal Oak, MI
  
• Wendy Menard. New York City Department of Education. Brooklyn, NY
  
• Yannabah Weiss. Hawaii Dept of Education. Hilo, HI
  

Please join us in welcoming these amazing teachers to the Desmos Fellowship!

Applications for Cohort 3 of the Desmos Fellowship are now open, and we think you should apply! Here’s what our current Desmos Fellows are saying about the Desmos Fellowship:

The Desmos Fellowship is a great opportunity to become a better teacher and better educate your students by learning more about Desmos and joining a huge collaborative group that is there to support each other.

It’s an awesome experience which will forever change your view of teaching.

The most wonderful aspect of this community is the “pay it forward” vibe - we all learn from each other, inspire each other with our ideas, and strive to help colleagues improve their practices.

Apply! It’s where you’ll meet your people.

Last May we invited 40 educators from the US and Canada to be part of the second cohort of the Desmos Fellowship. We brought them all to San Francisco for a weekend of learning and community building, and we’ve continued that work online ever since.

Desmos has benefited enormously from the Fellowship’s counsel and criticism. Our Fellows receive the first look at every new feature and activity we produce and we fold their input into the public releases. Our company wouldn’t be the same without them.

Applications for Cohort 3 are open during the month of February and we think you should apply. We’ll learn lots from you, and we’ll also make sure you get as much as you give. For example:

Access to the best resources, collaboration and feedback.

Fellows receive membership in a private Slack channel where some of the sharpest educators gather to trade awesome activities and resources.

I feel like I am constantly gaining new ideas, am always able to get help from a fellow or Team Desmos faculty member, and I can also get constructive feedback on activities. This fellowship has really reignited my passion for professional growth and student thinking…it is game changing.

Professional Learning and Community

Desmos Fellows share more than great activities. We select Fellows who demonstrate capacity in technology and pedagogy, but who also demonstrate a willingness to learn and to help others learn. The result is a chat channel full of people who help each other daily to become better teachers and coaches.

One of the best parts about this experience has been the continued connection (thanks to Slack, personal relationships, etc.) and on-goingness that extends beyond the weekend and models what professional learning and networks can really look like — and hopefully will look like more and more in the future.

And More

• Early access to our newest features and activities.
  
• An all expenses paid trip to Desmos HQ in San Francisco from July 13-15, 2018, to meet some of the most passionate and interesting math teachers around.
  
• A chance to join the Desmos team and earn income as a Desmos Certified Presenter.
  

Interested in joining Cohort 3 of the Desmos Fellowship? Apply now at learn.desmos.com/fellowship. Applications due March 1st, 2018, 12:00pm PST.

Last August we welcomed 39 teachers to the first cohort of our Desmos fellowship. Our goal for that program was simple. We wanted to bring together some of the most interesting, talented, and diverse math educators we could find. Then we wanted to support and learn from them however we could.

Some of that support happened over a weekend retreat in November full of professional learning, collaboration, community, and good food. We carried that community forward onto the internet after our weekend retreat where we support our fellows remotely, through Slack, and email, and direct communication with anyone on the Desmos team.

Let’s be clear: as hard as we try to support the Desmos Fellowship, we receive just as much as we give. The Desmos fellows keep us connected to the classroom and students. They use our tools in ways we never imagined and their reports from their classrooms improve our work immeasurably. The fellows receive a preview of nearly every new feature we release at Desmos and their feedback always improves the public release.

Given the success of our first cohort, how could we not invite a second?

So let us introduce you to the 41 teachers we have invited from across the United States and Canada into the second cohort of the Desmos fellowship:

• Alisa Marie McPherson. Panama Buena Vista Union School District. Bakersfield, CA
  
• Andrew Knauft. Pleasanton, CA
  
• Angela Reilly-Harden. USD 497, Lawrence Public Schools. Lawrence, KS
  
• Carl Oliver. New York City, NY
  
• Cindy Whitehead. Arlington School District. Stanwood, WA
  
• Daniel Luevanos. San Marcos Unified School District. San Diego, CA
  
• Dylan Kane. High Mountain Institute. Leadville, CO
  
• Elizabeth Statmore. San Francisco Unified School District. San Francisco, CA
  
• Ivy Kong. Pacific Grove Unified School District. Marina, CA
  
• Jarrod Huntimer. Brookings School District. Brookings, SD
  
• Jay Chow. Keaau Middle School. Keaau, HI
  
• Jennifer Fairbanks. Hopkinton High School. Hopkinton, MA
  
• Jessica Breur. Mounds View Public Schools. Vadnais Heights, MN
  
• Jocelyn Dagenais. College St-Hilaire. Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada
  
• John Berray. Grossmont Union High School District. San Diego, CA
  
• Jon Orr. Lambton Kent District School Board. Tilbury, Ontario, Canada
  
• Jonathan Claydon. Spring Branch Independent School District. Houston, TX
  
• Joshua Link. Maret School. North Bethesda, MD
  
• Julia Finneyfrock. Cannon School. Charlotte, NC
  
• Kathy Henderson. Seven Hills School. Kensington, CA
  
• Kevin Ji. Oakland Unified School District. Berkeley, CA
  
• Kristen Fouss. Forest Hills School District. New Richmond, OH
  
• Kristen Smith. Summit Public Schools Atlas. Seattle, WA
  
• Madison Knowe. Christ Presbyterian Academy. Nashville, TN
  
• Mark Kreie. Brookings High School. Brookings, SD
  
• Martin Smith. Roselle Public Schools. Franklin Park, NJ
  
• Mary Bourassa. Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. Kinburn, Ontario, Canada
  
• Matthew Baker. New York City Schools (District 14). Brooklyn, NY
  
• Meghan McGovern-Garcia. Granada Hills Charter High School. Woodland Hills, CA
  
• Michele Torres. Community High School District 94. Westmont, IL
  
• Neel Chugh. Great Neck South High School. Brooklyn, NY
  
• Nikki Chiba. Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School. Lihue, HI
  
• S. Leigh Nataro. Moravian Academy. Easton, PA
  
• Sameer Shah. Packer Collegiate Institute. Brooklyn, NY
  
• Sarah York. Tustin Unified School District. Lake Forest, CA
  
• Scott Leverentz. Township High School District 113. Gurnee, IL
  
• Sherryl Proctor. Vantage Career Center. Haviland, OH
  
• Tawana Stiff. Evanston-Skokie School District 65. Chicago, IL
  
• Thach-Thao Phan. Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  
• Veronica Enriquez. Merced Union High School District. Atwater, CA
  
• Zachary Patterson. Columbus City Schools. Columbus, OH
  

Keep an eye out for their awesome work online and in person.