T.J. Jemison

T.J. Jemison lives in the Burlington, Vermont region. He has over 20 years of experience in education. He is a dynamic math workshop presenter who has worked as a teacher, math coach, and curriculum developer. T.J. facilitates math professional development sessions across the United States and is a part-time consultant with Math Solutions. His sessions are filled with practical strategies and rich tasks that engage teachers in reflection about the teaching of mathematics.

For three years, T.J. has worked with over 100 K–5 teacher representatives from across the North Kansas City District. He believes the keys to the recent successes in North KC have been the collaboration between Math Solutions personnel (those who set up the professional learning, establish goals, and order the materials) and the North KC administrative personnel, along with the fact that through coaching, the HMH team has engaged teachers in their own learning.

His keys to successful coaching are:

• Developing relationships
• Following through with what you say you will do
• Honoring teachers as professionals
• Providing choice
• Engaging teachers in learning
• Adding a dash of humor
• Sharing his own teaching experiences
• Knowing your content well and also knowing other things about education: Formative Assessment, Intervention, Special Education, Universal Design, Curriculum Development