Leading as a Diverse Community of Scholars Toward Strategic Collective Actions
Connections
An official AMTE publication for the mathematics teacher education community.
Spring 2026
Volume No.:
35
Issue No.:
3
As we move through the Spring semester, this issue of AMTE Connections highlights the many ways our community continues to learn from and support one another. In his presidential message, Farshid Safi reflects on the energy of the 2026 AMTE Annual Conference in Portland, OR and invites us to continue leading as a diverse community of scholars committed to strategic collective action. In this issue, you will find updates from several AMTE committees, opportunities for professional learning, and invitations to get involved—whether through contributing to the Tech Talk blog, attending upcoming webinars, or learning about new membership initiatives. We are also excited to feature articles that explore important aspects of mathematics teacher education, from helping preservice teachers interpret mathematical symbols, to designing meaningful mathematics tasks, to learning from program graduates to strengthen elementary mathematics teacher preparation. You will also find highlights from the Portland conference and the latest episodes from the Teaching Math Teaching podcast. Thank you to all who contributed to this issue and to the many members whose work continues to strengthen our AMTE community.
Eugenia Vomvoridi-Ivanovic, Connections Editor
P. Mark Taylor (Roane State Com. Col.)
This article explores an instructional activity designed to help preservice teachers examine the complexity of reading and interpreting mathematical symbols. Using the seemingly simple question “What is 3/5?”, the activity encourages teachers to explore multiple meanings—such as fraction, ratio, division, or slope—and represent them through different models and contexts. The discussion promotes metalinguistic awareness and helps future teachers better understand the challenges students face when reading and interpreting mathematical expressions.
Melissa P. Donham (Sam Houston State Univ.)
This article describes a collaborative project in which pre-service teachers design and develop Three-Act mathematical tasks for in-service teachers to implement in their classrooms. Through brainstorming, AI-assisted idea generation, and analysis of student work, pre-service teachers engage in authentic experiences designing rich mathematical tasks and interpreting students’ mathematical thinking. The project highlights how partnerships with practicing teachers and structured reflection can support teacher candidates in learning to create engaging, standards-aligned tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving.
Eric Partridge (The Univ. of Alabama), Jenna Menke (Ball State Univ.), Dana Olanoff (Widener Univ.), & Nicole Enzinger (George Fox Univ.)
This article describes an instructional approach designed to support preservice teachers in developing their capacity to design meaningful mathematical tasks that promote reasoning and student engagement. Through structured collaboration, reflection, and iterative refinement, teacher candidates learn to align tasks with mathematical goals while anticipating how students may think about and respond to the task. The project highlights how carefully scaffolded design experiences can help preservice teachers deepen both their pedagogical decision-making and their understanding of students’ mathematical thinking.
Events and photos from the Conference
Find important announcements focused on the new membership scholarship, community circles, and the benefits of membership in AMTE!
See what the Professional Development Committee has been up to and learn more about two upcoming webinars you don’t want to miss.
Call for Proposals for AMTE 2027 Annual Conference
The 31st Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators will be held February 11-13, 2027 in Baltimore, MD. The call for proposals will be open April 1, 2026 with a deadline of May 17, 2026. Please direct any questions about the process to Alesia Moldavan at avpprogram@amte.net.
Connections is a quarterly online publication of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. It offers a peer-reviewed opportunity for members to disseminate information to the mathematics teacher education community.
Editor
- Eugenia Vomvoridi-Ivanovic, University of South Florida, AVPConnections@amte.net (2025-2028)
Editorial Panel
-
Adam Fletcher, Bethany College (2026-2029)
- Gina Wilson, Knowles Teacher Initiative (2026-2029)
- Erin Edgington, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2025-2028)
- Linda Venenciano, Pacific University (2025-2028)
- Trena Wilkerson, Baylor University (2024-2027)
- Yi-Jung Lee, University of Arkansas (2024-2027)