Election 2021: Blake Peterson

Participation in AMTE and/or AMTE Affiliates(s)

I was a member AMTE Nominations committee 2005 and a member of the AMTE research Committee: 2017-2020. I have presented at the AMTE every year for the last 7 years and have presented at 12 different AMTE conferences starting in 2002. In 2015, I was the recipient of the AMTE’s Excellence in Teaching in Mathematics Teacher Education.

I was the founder of the Utah Association of Mathematics Education (UAMTE) in March of 2001 and have served as the president of UAMTE  three times. I have been the webmaster and treasurer of UAMTE since 2004.

Participation in Related Organizations

I have been a board member of the Utah Council of Teacher of Mathematics Board member and served as the chair of Utah State Mathematics Core Review Committee. 

I was a member of the NCTM Mathematics Teacher editorial panel for 4 years and was the chair of that panel from 2008-2009.

Qualifications for the Position

As a long-time AMTE member and regular conference attendee, I have a good understanding of the functioning of the organization. In addition, participating on the various statewide and national mathematics education committees has given me the opportunity to interact with mathematics teachers and mathematics teacher educators in ways that have helped me develop an appreciation for both the unique and common challenges of mathematics teachers and mathematics teacher educators. 

As a chair of a Department of Mathematics Education, I had many conversations both inside and outside of our department about the job description of a mathematics teacher educator both in terms of the nature of research we do and in terms of our view of teaching mathematics. These experiences position me as someone who understands many of the challenges that members of AMTE face and what AMTE may be able to do to support its members.

Three Goals AMTE should make a Priority

• I have found AMTE to be the community that best resonates with my needs as a mathematics teacher educator. Thus, I think an important goal of AMTE needs to be to continue to support that community and interactions among community members. While not a new idea I feel AMTE must maintain its focus on it.

• Mathematics teacher recruitment is a challenge that all mathematics teacher educators face. Although “Get the Facts Out” has provided information about the job of being a mathematics teacher. I think more could be done to support AMTE members to recruit mathematics teachers. For example, our has found that 15% of STEM majors considered being a mathematics teacher. What can be done to help that group consider being a mathematics teacher more seriously?

• In addition to supporting members in recruiting in general, provide support in ways to recruit from diverse populations.

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