Information for Teachers


If you are reading this page, you must be a dedicated teacher who is deeply concerned about his or her students. And you have some spare time! Exactly the person that we want! The SFMC is the perfect program for you if
  • you have one or more students who love math and are very keen on learning more;
  • you are able to spare a few hours a week to take these students to SFSU;
  • you would like to expand your own mathematical knowledge with some non-standard material.

Here's how the SFMC program works:


1   You select one or more students (in grades 6--10) to attend the program. These students should be your very best mathematicians. We invite you to use whatever criteria you wish. Test scores may be a good indicator, or they may not. It is quite possible that the best students may be the ones who do poorly on exams, because they "waste" time thinking about the hardest problems. Perhaps your best kid is the one who asks the best questions. Just make sure that your student(s) are strivers, not strugglers. This is an enrichment program, not a remedial program.

Don't worry too much about how much your student knows. Our program is designed to require very little formal knowledge. And our instructors are very good at working with varieties of students. The academic program is designed to be flexible. Our starting point is determined by the students' knowledge and interests.

2   The student(s) you select decide to participate. Consent of a parent or guardian, of course is required. All students will need to sign a waiver form and bring it to the SFMC. Parents or guardians may want to consult the calendar to make sure that the student will be able to attend most classes.

3   The SFMC SFSU classes take place Mondays from 4:30-5:30PM, with snacks served from 4:15 to 3:30, at San Francisco State University (SFSU). For directions and parking information, click here. Many students will need an adult to take them from school or home to SFSU and back. If you, the teacher, are able to shepherd them (by car or public transportation), you will be compensated , and you will have the opportunity to take a tuition-free math course for credit (from SFSU), while your students are in class. Click for more information about this class. And of course, you don't have to take the course if you don't wish to.

The SFMC program is divided into 4 blocks. There will be two blocks in Fall 2009 and two blocks in Spring 2010. See academic program and calendar for more information.

The circle is quite informal, especially in its first weeks, so it isn't crucial if a student misses a few weeks. Ideally, the student should commit to an entire session or multiple sessions, and try not to miss any classes. After all, the student will only get as much out of the program as he or she puts into it.

As a teacher, especially if you work with children from disadvantaged backgrounds, you may be worried that professional mathematicians will have trouble relating to young kids who don't know much math (even if they are very bright and love math). In general, this fear is warranted, but the instructors of the SFMC are exceptions. None of them have your teaching expertise, but all are seasoned teachers who have worked with pre-college students, and many have worked with kids in camps and other residential programs. Our instructors are experts in getting kids completely enticed by mathematics. Professional mathematicians who have taught high school or middle school are quite rare. Mathematicians who have taught kids well are even rarer. And mathematicians who enjoy teaching kids well are rarer still. Luckily, the Bay Area is tremendously rich in mathematicians. We have found those rare birds who have both profound knowledge of their subject and a gift for sharing it with children. ( Click Here for More Information about the instructors.)