2018-2020 Activity Report for Philip B. Yasskin

• Short Brief Vita
• Complete publication Publications & Presentations
• Current research Current Projects

Research

Publications and writings

Below, author names of students and postdocs I (co-)supervised are marked with an asterisk*.

Invited Conference Workshops

• Five 1-hour Sessions: "Euclidean Motions"
  MathPath, Advanced Summer Program for Middle School Students
  Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, July 16 - July 20, 2018
  Funding source: MathPath.
• Five 1-hour Sessions: "Subcollection Sum Divisibility Theorems"
  MathPath, Advanced Summer Program for Middle School Students
  Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, July 16 - July 20, 2018
  Funding source: MathPath.
• Five 1-hour Sessions: "Polygon Differencing Games"
  MathPath, Advanced Summer Program for Middle School Students
  Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, July 23 - July 27, 2018
  Funding source: MathPath.
• Five 1-hour Sessions: "Special Relativity"
  MathPath, Advanced Summer Program for Middle School Students
  Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, July 23 - July 27, 2018
  Funding source: MathPath.
• 2 hour session: "MY Math Apps Calculus",
  31st International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics
  Scottsdale, AZ, March 13 - July 16, 2019
  (with D. Meade)
  Funding source: University of South Carolina.

Invited Colloquium Talks

• "MY Math Apps Calculus: Past, Present and Future",
  Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, March 15, 2019
  (with D. Meade)
  Funding source: University of South Carolina and Arizona State University.

Invited Conference Talks

• "MYMathApps Calculus and Edfinity",
  AMS/MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings,
  Edfinity Booth
  Denver, CO, January 16-17, 2020
• "Maple at TAMU SEE-Math",
  Maple Ambassadors Conference, Video and Online via Zoom, Nov 6, 2020

Contributed Conference Talks

• "Interactive Animations in MYMathApps Calculus",
  AMS/MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings,
  MAA General Contributed Paper Session on Mathematics and Technology
  San Diego, CA, January 10-13, 2018
  Abstract 1135-VD-3054, (with A. Crenwelge, J. Martinsen, M. Weihing and M. Barry).
  Funding source: NSF Grant.
• "MYMathApps Tutorials",
  AMS/MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings,
  MAA General Contributed Paper Session on Mathematics and Technology
  Baltimore, MD, January 16-19, 2019
  Abstract 1145-VD-1617, (with M. Weihing).
  Funding source: Math Dept.
• "Textbook Problem Dependency Web",
  AMS/MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings,
  MAA General Contributed Paper Session on Mathematics and Technology
  Baltimore, MD, January 16-19, 2019
  Abstract 1145-VD-1989, (with J. Martinsen).
  Funding source: Math Dept.
• "Minimum Volume between a Surface and its Tangent Plane",
  AMS/MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings,
  MAA Contributed Paper Session on It's Circular: Conjecture, Compute, Iterate
  Baltimore, MD, January 16-19, 2019
  Abstract 1145-M5-1295.
  Funding source: Math Dept.
• "MYMathApps Calculus Tutorials",
  MAA MathFest, General Contributed Poster Session
  Cincinnati, OH, July 31-Aug 3, 2019.
  (with M. Weihing, J. Martinsen and A. Rao).
  Funding source: Math Dept.

Invited Poster Sessions

• "Collaborative Research: Maplets for Calculus, TAMU and U. of South Carolina",
  AMS/MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings,
  MAA Poster Session: Projects Supported by the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education,
  San Diego, CA, January 10-13, 2018
  Abstract 1135-00-2276, (with D. Meade, M. Barry, A. Crenwelge, J. Martinson and M. Weihing).
  Funding source: NSF Grant.
• "Collaborative Research: Maplets for Calculus, TAMU and U. of South Carolina",
  AMS/MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings,
  MAA Poster Session: Projects Supported by the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education,
  Baltimore, MD, January 16-19, 2019
  Abstract 1145-00-672, (with D. Meade, M. Barry, J. Martinson, M. Weihing and A Rao).
  Funding source: Math Dept.
• "TAMU Math Circle and Summer Educational Enrichment in Math (SEE-Math)",
  NSF Broader Impacts & Education Plan Seminar & Expo,
  TAMU Feb. 6, 2019
• "Building Better Books & Outreach Activities",
  NSF Broader Impacts & Education Plan Seminar & Expo,
  TAMU Feb. 5, 2020

Community Talks

• "Exploding Dots (Place Value Activity)"
  two 1 hour presentations, 3nd grade students,
  College Hills Elementary, College Station, Oct 11, 2018

Undergraduate Seminar Talks

• "Exploding Dots", TAMU Math Club/Pi Mu Epsilon talk, Oct 9, 2018.
• "Counting Diagonals", TAMU Math Club/Pi Mu Epsilon talk, Nov 12, 2019.
• "Math Club Game Night/Dropping Cell Phones", TAMU Math Club/Pi Mu Epsilon talk, Mar 3, 2020 (cancelled due to pandemic).

Invited Talks for Middle and/or High School, Students and/or Teachers

• "Cell Phone Dropping Problem",
  University of Texas, Saturday Morning Math Group,
  Univ of Texas, Austin, TX, Apr 28, 2018.
  Funding source: Dept of Math at UT Austin
• "Exploding Dots (Place Value Activity)",
  Katy Math Circle,
  Katy, TX, Oct 2, 2018.
• "Surprising Probabilities",
  East Texas Math Teachers' Circle,
  Steven F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX, Nov 6, 2018.
• "Counting Diagonals",
  A&M Consolidated High School, Math Club,
  College Station, TX, Sept. 18, 2019.
• "Counting Diagonals",
  College Station High School, Math Club,
  College Station, TX, Oct. 2, 2019.
• "Surprising Probabilities",
  Katy Math Circle,
  Katy, TX, Nov 5, 2019.

Other Conferences Attended

• TAMU "Mathematics Matters in Education" - 2018 Workshop on Mathematical Preparation for Elementary Teachers, April 6-8, 2018.
• TAMU "Academic Innovation", - Conference on using technology in the classroom, Feb 7, 2020.

Funding

• TAMU Academic Innovation Grant-Fall 2018 Cohort
  for development of the MY Math Apps Calculus textbook for Calculus 3, 2 and 1.
  Sept 2018 - Aug 2019, Award Amount: $10,000
  Former Students Supported:
  • Luke Hoffman, former SEE-Math and Math Circle participant and SEE-Math counselor, Summer 2019.
  • Carl Van Huyck, former SEE-Math participant and SEE-Math counselor, Fall 2019.
• "Strengthening Mathematics Instructions for Elementary & Middle Schools",
  NSF, Division of Undergraduate Education, Award Number 1852942
  Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program:
  June 1 , 2019 - May 31, 2024, Award Amount: $1,002,792. (expected additional $189,050 in FY2023)
  PIs: Y. Li, S. Nite
  Co-Is: L. Kelly, P. Yasskin, & R. Howe
  Program Officer: Steven Turley, (703) 292-2207.

Service

Reviewing of journal articles

2018

• A Celebration of the EDGE Program's Impact on the Mathematics Community and Beyond (1 paper).

National Activities

2018

• SIGMAA on Mathematics Instruction Using the WEB
  Business meeting, Joint Math Meeting, San Diego, CA, January 10-13, 2018.
  Business meeting, MathFest, Denver, CO, August 1-4, 2018.
• SIGMAA on Math Circles for Students and Teachers
  Re-elected as Program Director: Jan 2017 - Jan 2019.
  Replacement Interim Program Director: Jan 2020 - Jan 2021.
  Joint Math Meeting, San Diego, CA, January 10-13, 2018.
  • Program
  • Business meeting.
  • SIGMAA on Math Circles for Students and Teachers Special Presentation: Math Circle Demonstration
  • SIGMAA on Math Circles for Students and Teachers Special Presentation: Math Wrangle
    Co-organized with E. Keppelmann
  MathFest, Denver, CO, August 1-4, 2018.
  • Program
  • Business meeting.
  • SIGMAA Exihibition Booth
    Staffed the display, 3 hours
  • Themed Contributed Paper Session: Great Circles, Great Problems, sponsored by SIGMAA-MCST
  • SIGMAA on Math Circles for Students and Teachers Special Presentation: Math Teachers' Circle Demonstration
  • SIGMAA on Math Circles for Students and Teachers Special Presentation: MATH Rumble
    Co-organized with E. Keppelmann and P. Zeitz
• Pi Mu Epsilon, National Math Honor Society
  Advisors' Breakfast Business meeting, Joint Math Meeting, San Diego, CA, January 10-13, 2018.
  Advisors' Breakfast Business meeting, MathFest, MathFest, Denver, CO, August 1-4, 2018.

2019

• SIGMAA on Mathematics Instruction Using the WEB
  Business meeting, Joint Math Meeting, Baltimore, Md, January 16-19, 2019.
  Business meeting, MathFest, Cincinnati, OH, July 31-Aug 3, 2019.
• SIGMAA on Math Circles for Students and Teachers
  Re-elected as Program Director: Jan 2017 - Jan 2019.
  Joint Math Meeting, Baltimore, Md, January 16-19, 2019.
  • Program
  • Business meeting.
  • SIGMAA on Math Circles for Students and Teachers Special Presentation: Math Circle Demonstration
  • SIGMAA on Math Circles for Students and Teachers Special Presentation: Math Wrangle
    Co-organized with E. Keppelmann
  MathFest, Cincinnati, OH, July 31-Aug 3, 2019.
  • Program
  • Business meeting.
  • Contributed Paper Session on History of Mathematics in a Math Circle
    Sponsored by SIGMAA on Math Circles for Students and Teachers,
    Sponsored by SIGMAA on The History of Mathematics,
    Co-organized with A. Shell-Gellasch
  • SIGMAA Exihibition Booth
    Staffed the display, 3 hours
  • Julia Robinson Math Festival - 2 hour Activity Session for the General Public
    Co-organized with M. Saul and Hector Rosario
• Pi Mu Epsilon, National Math Honor Society
  Advisors' Breakfast Business meeting, Joint Math Meeting, Baltimore, MD, January 16-19, 2019.
  Advisors' Breakfast Business meeting, MathFest, MathFest, Cincinnati, OH, July 31-Aug 3, 2019.

2020

• SIGMAA on Mathematics Instruction Using the WEB
  Business meeting, Joint Math Meeting, Denver, CO, January 17, 2020.
• SIGMAA on Math Circles for Students and Teachers
  Replacement Interim Program Director: Jan 2020 - Jan 2021.
  Joint Math Meeting, Denver, CO, January 15-19, 2020.
  • Program
  • Business meeting, January 15, 2020.
  • SIGMAA on Math Circles for Students and Teachers Special Presentation: Math Wrangle
    Organizer with E. Keppelmann
  • Julia Robinson Math Festival:
    Organizer with T. Clark, M. Saul, H. Rosario
    Facilitator at a table.
• Pi Mu Epsilon, National Math Honor Society
  Advisors' Breakfast Business meeting, Joint Math Meeting, Denver, CO, January 17, 2020.

State Activities

2019

• "TAMU Math Enrichment Activity Display",
  Round Rock ISD, Department of Gifted and Advanced Academic Services, Sixteenth Annual Summer Enrichment Fair
  Round Rock, TX, Feb. 2, 2019

College Activities

2018

• Physics Festival, April 7, 2018.
  Supervised displays on "Conway's Rational Tangles", "Platonic Solids, Can You Build Them?", "Topology Puzzles" and "Two Person Games"
  Presented half hour talk to Davidson Young Scholars

2019

• Physics Festival, April 6, 2019.
  Supervised displays on "Conway's Rational Tangles", "Platonic Solids, Can You Build Them?", "Topology Puzzles" and "Two Person Games"

Departmental Activities

Multi Year

• Faculty Advisor, Math Club, 1986-1995, 1999-present 2020
• Faculty Advisor, Pi Mu Epsilon, National Honor Society, 1986-1995, 1999-present 2020
• Faculty Advisor, Mathematical Association of America, Student Chapter, 199?-present 2020

2018

• Helped organize Math/Stat Fair (under T. Carter), Feb 24, 2018.
• Assisted at 12th Annual Integral Bee, Mar 5, 2018.
• Assisted at 7th Annual Derivative Bee, Oct 18, 2018.
• High School Math Contest, Oct 20, 2018.
  Helped grade the power team exam.
• Department Teaching Committee, Member 2018-19.
• Letters of Recommendation:
  Faculty: 1
  Former Students: 1
  Graduate Students: 6
  Undergrad Students: 8
  High School Students: 4

2019

• Helped organize Math/Stat Fair (under T. Carter), Feb 23, 2019.
• Assisted at 13th Annual Integral Bee, Mar 26, 2019.
• High School Math Contest, Nov 9, 2019.
  Helped grade the power team exam.
• Accompanied 6 students to the Joint Mathematics Meeting, Baltimore, MD, January 16-19, 2019, with B. Aurispa.
• Accompanied 6 students to MathFest, Cincinnati, OH, July 31-Aug 3, 2019.
• Letters of Recommendation:
  Faculty: 5
  Undergrad Students: 8
  High School Students: 4

2020

• Helped organize Math/Stat Fair (under T. Carter), Feb 22, 2020.
• Assisted at 14th Annual Integral Bee, Mar 4, 2020.
• Accompanied 4 students to the Joint Mathematics Meeting, Denver, Co, January 15-19, 2020, with M. Papanikolas
• Letters of Recommendation:
  Faculty: 1
  Former Students: 2
  Graduate Students: 2
  Undergrad Students: 8
  High School Students: 2
  Elementary School Students: 1

Departmental Outreach to the Community Activities

2018

• Summer Educational Enrichment in Math (SEE-Math)
  • Co-Director with David Manuel of SEE-Math, Aug 6 - Aug 17, 2018
  • 2 week program for 52 gifted middle school students
  • with 8 faculty, 6 grad students, 2 undergrad student and 6 high school students
  • Funding source: Registration Fees $5140, Diversity Fund $1000
• TAMU Math Circle
  • Spring Co-Organizer with Alex Sprintson, Frank Sottile, Guoliang Yu and Ola Sobieska
    Saturday meetings 2:00-5:00 of gifted 5th - 12th grade math students from surrounding area
    Meetings: Jan 20,27, Feb 3,10,17, Mar 3,24, Apr 14,21,28, May 5,12, 2018
    Presented talks: Jan 27, Feb 3, Mar 24, Apr 14, 2018
  • Fall Co-Organizer with Junehyuk Jung, Guoliang Yu, Alex Sprinston, Kristopher Watkins, John Weeks and Vibhor Srivastava
    Saturday meetings 2:00-5:00 of gifted 5th - 12th grade math students from surrounding area
    Meetings: Sept 8, 15,22,29, Oct 6,13, Nov 3,10,17, Dec 1,8 2018.
    Presented talks: Sept 8, Oct 22, Nov 3, 2018.
• Boonville Days, , Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History, Oct 13, 2018.
  Supervised displays on "Conway's Rational Tangles", "Platonic Solids, Can You Build Them?", "Topology Puzzles" and "Two Person Games"

2019

• Summer Educational Enrichment in Math (SEE-Math)
  • Co-Director with David Manuel of SEE-Math, July 15 - 26, 2019
  • 2 week program for 51 gifted middle school students
  • with 7 faculty, 8 grad students, 2 undergrad student and 6 high school students
  • Funding source: Registration Fees $4030, Diversity Fund $1000
• TAMU Math Circle
  • Spring Co-Organizer with Guoliang Yu, Junehyuk Jung and Kristopher Watkins
    Saturday meetings 2:00-5:00 of gifted 5th - 12th grade math students from surrounding area
    Meetings: Jan 26, Feb 2,9,16, Mar 2,23,30, Apr 13,27, May 4, 2019.
    Presented talks: Feb 9, Mar 2,30, Apr 13, May 4, 2019.
  • Fall Co-Organizer with Junehyuk Jung, Guoliang Yu, Wencai Liu, Kristopher Watkins, and John Weeks.
    Saturday meetings 2:00-5:00 of gifted 5th - 12th grade math students from surrounding area
    Meetings: Sept 28, Oct 5,26, Nov 2,16,23, Dec 7,14 2019.
    Presented talks: Sept 28, 2019.
• Boonville Days, Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History, Oct 5, 2019.
  Facilitated at displays on "Conway's Rational Tangles", "Platonic Solids, Can You Build Them?", "Topology Puzzles" and "Two Person Games"

2020

• Summer Educational Enrichment in Math (SEE-Math)
  • Co-Director with David Manuel of SEE-Math, July 13 - 23 & 25, 2020
    Online Zoom Meetings due to pandemic.
  • 2 week program for 49 gifted middle school students
    15 College Station
    17 Texas outside College Station & Bryan
    17 US outside Texas
    20 Davidson Scholars or near equivalent
  • with 14 Instructors, 16 Senior Counselorts, 19 Junior Counselors
  • Funding source: Registration Fees about $4000, Diversity Fund $1000
• TAMU Math Circle
  • Spring Co-Organizer with Junehyuk Jung, Guoliang Yu, Wencai Liu, Kristopher Watkins, and John Weeks.
    Saturday meetings 2:00-5:00 of gifted 5th - 12th grade math students from surrounding area
    Meetings cancelled after Feb 29, 2020 due to pandemic.
    Meetings: Jan 25, Feb 1,8,15,29, 2020.
    Presented talks: Feb 1,15,29, 2020.
  • Fall Co-Organizer with Guoliang Yu, Wencai Liu, Joshua Goldstein.
    Saturday meetings 12:00-5:00 of gifted 5th - 12th grade math students from surrounding area
    Online Zoom Meetings due to pandemic.
    Meetings: Oct 3,10,17,24,31, Nov 7,14,21, Dec 5,12 2020.
    Presented talks: Oct 3(3 sessions),10(2 sessions),31(helped with Buzz Contest), Nov 14,21, 2020.
• River Bend Elementary School STEAM Night, College Station, TX, Feb 11, 2020.
  TAMU Math Club hosts a displays of fun Math activities.

Teaching

Classes taught

2018

• Spring 2018 Math 172, 501-502, Math/Science Calculus II
  66 students
• Fall 2018 Math 251, 504, Engineering Mathematics III (Calculus 3)
  85 students
• Fall 2018 Math 251, 505, Engineering Mathematics III (Calculus 3)
  96 students
• Fall 2018 Math 253 Honors, 200/202, Engineering Mathematics III Honors (Calculus 3)
  14 students

2019

• Spring 2019 Math 172, 501, Math/Science Mathematics II (Calculus 2)
  31 students
• Spring 2019 Math 172H, 200, Math/Science Mathematics II Honors (Calculus 2)
  20 students
• Fall 2019 Math 221, 504, Math/Science Mathematics III (Calculus 3)
  15 students
• Fall 2019 Math 221, 505, Math/Science Mathematics III (Calculus 3)
  34 students
• Fall 2019 Math 221H, 204, Math/Science Mathematics III Honors (Calculus 3)
  21 students
• Fall 2019 Math 172H, 202, Math/Science Mathematics II Honors (Calculus 2)
  19 students (Teaching Continued for Dr. Sivakumar)

2020

• Spring 2020 Math 172, 501, Math/Science Mathematics II (Calculus 2)
  32 students (Completed Online)
• Spring 2020 Math 172H, 200, Math/Science Mathematics II Honors (Calculus 2)
  20 students (Completed Online)
• Fall 2020 Math 251, 517, Engineering Mathematics III (Calculus 3)
  103 students (Online)
• Fall 2020 Math 251, 519, Engineering Mathematics III (Calculus 3)
  103 students (Online)

Courses & Electronic Textbooks under Development

• "MYMathApps Calculus 1" online calculus text for
  Math 151/171, Engineering Calculus I, Math/Science Mathematics I
  https://www.math.tamu.edu/maple/maplets/MYMACalc/MYMACalc1/MContents.html, (with D. Meade, M. Barry*, A. Crenwelge*, S. Mahato*, J. Martinsen*, A. Rao*, J. Schmidt*, C. Van Huyck*, D. Banerjee*, M. Cahill*, A. Dongol*, L. Hoffman*, C. Johnson*, T. Johnson*, B. Lin*, P. Miracle*, L. Solitare*, B. Wang*, S. Whitman* & B. Yan*), 2018-present 2020
  Web-based, fully hyperlinked with animations and randomized activities
  Pilot testing by Yasskin to begin in Fall 2021
• "MYMathApps Calculus 2" online calculus text for
  Math 152/172, Engineering Calculus II, Math/Science Mathematics II
  https://www.math.tamu.edu/maple/maplets/MYMACalc/MYMACalc2/MContents.html, (with D. Meade, G. Keiffer, M. Barry*, A. Crenwelge*,S. Mahato*, J. Martinsen*, A. Rao*, J. Schmidt*, C. Van Huyck*, M. Weihing*, D. Banerjee*, M. Cahill*, E. Corpus*, D. DeHaven*, A. Dongol*, L. Hoffman*, C. Johnson*, T. Johnson*, L. Knudsen*, B. Lin*, P. Miracle*, S. Mohon*, V. Musser*, N. Pochareddy*, S. Saravanan*, B. Wang*, S. Whitman*, B. Yan* & S. Yang*), 2014-present 2020.
  Web-based, fully hyperlinked with animations and randomized activities
  Pilot tested by Yasskin in Math 152/152H/172, Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020
  Pilot tested by Dr. Michael Anshelevich in Math 172H, Fall 2020
• "MYMathApps Calculus 3" online calculus text for
  Math 251/221, Engineering Calculus III, Math/Science Mathematics III
  https://www.math.tamu.edu/maple/maplets/MYMACalc/MYMACalc3/MContents.html, (with D. Meade, M. Barry*, A. Crenwelge*,S. Mahato*, J. Martinsen*, D. Migl*, A. Rao*, J. Schmidt*, C. Van Huyck*, M. Weihing*, M. Atanas*, W. Frendreiss*, L. Hoffman*, C. Johnson*, W. L. Lowery*, J. Parker*, E. Sharma*, A. Shung*, M. Sprintson* & B. Wang*), 2014-present 2020.
  Web-based, fully hyperlinked with animations and randomized activities
  Pilot tested by Yasskin in Math 251/251H/253H/221/221H, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020
  Pilot tested by Dr. Rob Rham in Math 221, Spring 2020 with WebWork homework from Edfinity.com

Undergraduate Research Scholars Thesis Supervised

• Joseph Martinsen, "Textbook Dependency Web", May 2019, employed at Adobe
• Matthew Weihing, "Interactive Web-Based Calculus Tutorials", May 2019

Supervised Undergraduate Research

• 2018 - 6 students: Martinsen (Writing Thesis), Weihing (Writing Thesis), Rao, DeHaven, Shung, Yang
• 2019 - 13 students: Martinsen (Writing Thesis), Weihing (Writing Thesis), Rao, DeHaven, Pochareddy, Shung, Yang, Mahato, Mohon, Johnson, Frendreiss, Schmidt, Hoffman (from U. Texas),
• 2020 - 12 students: Rao, Mahato, Johnson, Frendreiss, Schmidt, Knudsen, Mohon, Atanas, Lin, Lowery, Hoffman (from U. Texas), Cahill (from U. Texas),

Supervised Middle and High School Students

• 2018 - 1 student: Daniel Sprintson (7th)
• 2019 - 2 students: Bill Wang (11th), Bryan Yan (11th)
• 2020 - 3 students: Devkumar (Krishno) Banerjee (8th), Bryan Yan (12th), Leo Solitaire (8th)

Supervised Elementary School Students doing Calculus

• 2020 - 5 students: Phoenix Miracle (5th), Trevor Johnson (6th), Avek Dongol (5th), Scott Whitman (5th), Jameson Parker (6th)

Honors and Awards

• TAMU Sigma Xi Outstanding Science Communicator Award, 2018

Impact of Covid-19

There were ways in which everyone in the department was affected by the pandemic, especially in the research and teaching missions. Then there were ways in which I and a few others were affected differently. I'll only comment on those which affected me differently.

• SEE-Math:
  SEE-Math ( http://see-math.math.tamu.edu/ ) is our annual Summer Educational Enrichment in Math program for gifted middle school kids organized by David Manuel and myself. In a normal year, we have about 48 kids broken up into 3 groups of 16 kids (roughly 6th, 7th and 8th graders). The program runs for 2 weeks (10 days) for 4 hours a day broken up into 3 periods with the 3 groups of kids meeting in parallel. Each class has an Instructor and 2 or 3 Counselors. In total, we have about 12 Instructors, 8 Senior Counselors and 8 Junior Counselors for the whole program. In a classroom, the kids sit with 3-5 kids and a Counselor around each table and the Instructor can circulate to help the kids with the activity. In a computer lab, the kids sit in rows with a Counselor for each row and the Instructor circulating through all the rows. For the classroom activities, there are lots of hand-on manipulatives, such as a construction set to build Platonic and other solids and for counting Euler numbers, geoboards for Picks Theorem, also cards, dice, stones, poker chips and strings for games and activities involving probability, etc. For the computer activities, students could use Maple on the computers in the University's Open Access Labs and access the computers at night via the University's Virtual Open Access Labs.
  
  This year, due to the pandemic, we had to take the program online. We wanted to keep the program as close to normal as possible. We still had about 48 kids, split into 3 groups with 3 periods a day. Instead of having small groups sitting around tables, we sent the small groups into Zoom breakout rooms. There was a Counselor in each breakout room and the Instructor could visit the various breakout rooms. For the computer activities, the students installed Maple on their individual computers. If they needed help debugging their code, they could share their screen in Zoom.
  
  There were several difficulties that arose from the online sessions.
  > First, we could not use many manipulatives. We had to find activities that would work online. Platonic solids, Euler numbers and Pick's theorem were out. Toothpick puzzles, abacus computations, Pascal's triangle, logic problems, mathematical games and linear programming were in.
  > Second, the University imposed the safety requirement that there must be 2 staff in each Zoom room including breakout rooms, with at least one being an adult. With 48 kids and 4 kids in each breakout room, there were frequently 12 simultaneous breakout rooms needing 24 staff. We recruited lots of undergraduate and high school students and parents to be Counselors. We split the Counselors into Facilitators (who knew the math) and Observers (who served as a second person in the room). Each breakout room ahd 1 Facilitator and 1 Observer. In total, we had about 14 Instructors, 16 Senior Counselors (adult) and 19 Junior Counselors (minors, many of whome were former SEE-Math participants) for the whole program. The Facilitators were both Senior and Junior Counselors while the Observers were among the Senior Counselors. This was an enormous increase in the staff and the resulting communication and training.
  > Third, the Facilitators had to be much more knowledgable about the math than in the in-person format. With tables in a room, a student or the Counselor could raise a hand and the Instructor could immediately come over to answer a question. With Zoom breakout rooms, it was much more difficult for the Instructor to know that there was a question in some room that the Facilitator could not answer. We did not find a solution to this problem, but maybe next year we will try to have a GroupMe discussion going at the same time.
  
  There were also a few benefits that arose from the online sessions.
  > First, a major activity has always been to make computer animations using Maple. Since students were unable to come into the University computer lab, we needed to find some way for the students to be able to access Maple. We could have had them log into the University's Virtual Open Access Lab, but that would have been very complex for the students. I contacted Maplesoft and they graciously agreed to give each student, instructor and counselor a free copy of Maple to use for 6 weeks surrounding SEE-Math. After camp, they provided an extremely cheap price to purchase Maple, cheaper than A&M students need to pay. Now that students had Maple on their machines, we could do some additional activities using Maple, namely cryptography using matrices and 2D graphical linear programming.
  > Second, because students were no longer coming in person to the campus, we were no longer restricted to local students in driving distance. We advertised across the state through the TPPG (Texas Parents of Profoundly Gifted) and nationally through the Davidson Young Scholars program. Of the 108 applicants, 48 were super gifted. Of the 49 campers, 20 were super gifted. We wanted to still provide a service to the local community. So we did not make it all super gifted students. We regard this as long range recruitment for Texas A&M and the Math Department.
  > Third, because we were no longer teaching in person on campus, we were no longer restricted to local instructors. We had 3 instructors located at remote parts of the country who were experts at Math Circle type activities.
• Math Circle:
  The TAMU Math Circle ( http://mathcircle.tamu.edu/ ) is nearly weekly academic year enrichment program for gifted middle and high school students currently organized by Guoliang Yu, Wencai Liu and myself with the help of a grad student. The last two years, the grad studnet was Kris Watkins. This year it is Joshua Goldstein. In a normal year, we had about 75 students split into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced groups. Each student could attend a Discovery Learning Session and/or a Problem Solving Session. I was primarily in charge of the Discovery Learning while Guoliang was primarily in charge of the Problem Solving. Wencai joined us with the primary goal of having our students participate in national competitions. The meetings started with a half-hour of Mathematical Games (2:00-2:30) followed by the 3 Discovery Sessions (2:30-4:00) and the 3 Problem Sessions (4:00-5:00). For the Discovery Sessions, there was usually a different Instructor for each of the 3 sessions each week while for the Problem Sessions, there was a single Instructor for each group who taught the whole semester. Consequently, Kris Watkins and I tended to be there from 1:30 to 4:30 each Saturday -- a 3 hour commitment. The Discovery Sessions also had 2-4 Counselors while the Problem Sessions usually had a second Instructor. In Discovery, the student sat around tables with 3-5 kids and a Counselor while the Instructor would circulate and help the students with the activity. The younger the students, the more manupulatives. There were essentially no computers. In Problem Solving the Instructor basically gave a lecture and the students solved problems.
  
  When the pandemic started in the spring, we cancelled the Math Circle for the rest of the semester. In the fall, we reorganized on-line. We were fortunate to find a new grad student organizer, Joshua Goldstein, who has been very commited and has become an expert on Zoom. We realized that it would be very difficult to supervise the 3 Discovery Sessions simultaneously and likewise the 3 Problem Sessions. So we decided to switch to have 3 timeslots (12:00-1:30, 1:45-3:15 and 3:30-5:00) with one Discovery Session and one Problem Session at each time. Since Discovery has different Instructors each week, I need to be there for overall supervision. Since each Problem Solving has a single Instructor we don't need an overall supervisor. Unfortunately, this means that Josh and I are there from 11:30 to 5:30 each Saturday -- a 6 hour commitment. As with SEE-Math, the small groups sitting around tables have been replaced by small groups in breakout rooms.
  
  The difficulties that arose were similar to those for SEE-Math with the addition of the following:
  > Fourth, I have had very little success getting A&M Math faculty to volunteer to teach at the Discovery Sessions. Everyone is so busy with teaching and trying to keep up their research. They don't feel they have time to spend on outreach. I have sent out an email to the Math faculty and gotten zero responses. Only when I buttonhole someone might I get a volunteer. This year, so far, there have been only 5 faculty and 1 grad student who have taught at the Circle, plus 1 faculty from another University.
  
  The benefits were also similar to those for SEE-Math with the addition of the following:
  > Fourth, since we have been unable to recruit many A&M Math faculty, I have turned to Math undergrads who have been involved as Facilitators. They have done a great job as Instructors and this has given them a great opportunity to learn to teach.
• Math Club and Pi Mu Epsilon:
  The pandemic started just before the Math Club held its semi-annual induction of new members of Pi Mu Epsilon and the annual election of new officers some of whom must be members of Pi Mu Epsilon. Further, all of the existing officers were graduating. Consequently, although we found a student who volunteered to be President, we did not have a new Vice President, Treasurer or Communications Officer. The University requires a President and Treasurer. So the Club lost its recognized status. It took a good fraction of the fall semester to find new officers and get re-recognized. This was compounded by the retirement of Donna Hoffman. The bookkeeping of new members and their payments of registration fees to the national organization became disorganized. We are just now getting that straightened out.
• Textbook Writing:
  As you know, I am writing an online Calculus textbook. I have several undergraduate and high school students writing up solutions to exercises, creating exercises and creating plots and animated plots to include in the book. Before the pandemic I used to meet with students in person to check their work and incorporate it into the book. Now that is done online in Zoom and that is somewhat slower. One of the benefits of the pandemic was that I met (through SEE-Math and the Math Circle) quite a few high school or younger students who had already taken some calculus and were anxious to help with the book. I find it hard to say no. Consequently, the number of students I meet with weekly has grown from 6 to 15. They benefit by getting practice with calculus and learning HTML, LaTex, JavaScript, Git and Node. They also benefit from talking to me about calculus and other math topics that they would have not gotten in a regular course.