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Spring 2005 Departments
Exchange
Prerequisite
Foundation News
Extended Family
Alumni Connections
Class Notes
ZIP 01003
Inbox
Books Received
Alumni Photos
Features
There Goes the Neighborhood
Fab Four
The Gravest Danger
The Wonderful World of Disney
Cooking Lessons
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Class Notes
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Math Maven
Portia Elliott ’74 EdD
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FOR PORTIA ELLIOT ’74 EdD, a renowned professor in the UMass Amherst School of Education, mathematics is a family business. Her maternal grandfather and mother taught college and middle school mathematics respectively. Elliott credits these two influential educators with instilling in her a love for the discipline of mathematics and, more precisely, a passion for helping children ask “Why?”
The pivotal moment in her long career was when she finally understood that engaging a student’s will to learn is the first order of teaching. “This engagement is much more than mere motivation,” says Elliott. “It is engaging a learner’s zest for learning, a learner’s quest for knowledge. It is engaging a learner’s belief in their capacity to make sense of the world and express that sense using mathematical symbols.”
Elliott is a sought-after speaker and workshop leader and is widely known for her work with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She currently serves as general editor for the 2005-2007 Yearbooks of the Council, which focus on technology, statistics, and mathematics learning, respectively.
When pressed for a personal and professional motto, Elliott says the lesson learned by Saint Exupéry’s main character in The Little Prince during his adventures on earth sums it up best: “What is essential is invisible to the eye.” |
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