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Wheeling Park High School math teacher Jack Kaniecki will get to share his methods with other teachers from across West Virginia -- and learn some of theirs as well -- as the winner of a statewide teaching fellowship.
Kaniecki is one of 16 teachers in West Virginia selected to participate in the Mountaineer Mathematics Master Teachers (M3T) Noyce Fellowships Program through the West Virginia Department of Education.
The M3T Fellowship award period is for five years, and takes place from June 2021 through May 2026. The main benefit is an annual stipend of $10,000 for Kaniecki for each of the five years he is in the program.
In addition, M3T Noyce Fellows will receive as part of their continued participation in the project basic materials related to participating in the project, such as books; travel expenses to participate in project activities and events over the duration of the fellowship period; and tuition at West Virginia University for graduate courses in mathematics, math education, teacher leadership, or other subjects.
Kaniecki said fellows will meet virtually each week to discuss how to improve teaching and outcomes in their classroom. A focus of the program is to help participants become leaders that "build and help other teachers" in their school buildings.
"I don't know what the meetings will look like, probably be a sharing of ideas and giving each other feedback," he explained.
Kaniecki teaches advanced math modeling at WPHS, where he has been a teacher for the past four years. He has also taught algebra in Stafford, Virginia, and in Cincinnati during his 17 years as a teacher.
Kaniecki learned about the fellowship program over the past year during the pandemic.
"When the schools shut down last March, we had a lot more time on our hands and I read about it in an email from the math coordinator for the State Department of Education," he said. "I have always been a believer you learn best from colleagues, and when you share ideas with each other. You shouldn't feel like you are out on an island."
He said as difficult as this year has been, the time teachers spent collaborating on how best to teach students during the pandemic was beneficial to them. He and other teachers have asked county administrators to build such time into upcoming years.
"We talked about what was working, and what was not working," he said. "We were flipping between in-person and virtual learning, and we talked about what was working and getting kids engaged. It was an ideal way to assess them in this situation."
Kaniecki said he is always looking for new ways and ideas to improve his own teaching.
"I never feel like I've created my classroom the way I like it," he said. "I'm still looking for a balance of having students collaborating and involved in group learning, while still being able to assess their individual learning," he said.