The Math Academy

Brendan Kelly has taught mathematics in all grades of high school and served as Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education at the University of Toronto. He served as K–12 Mathematics Consultant and later as Coordinator of Mathematics for the Halton School Board (west of Toronto). He was Senior Author for Addison-Wesley's Secondary School Mathematics Program and for Addison-Wesley's K–8 Elementary Mathematics Program. Dr. Kelly is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto.

Professor Kelly believes that teaching is the art of igniting passion in the learner. In the elementary grades, we can use our capacities for humor, storytelling, dramatization and human interest, to engage children's interest. By taking them through a learning sequence from concrete manipulations to pictorial and abstract activities we can help them discover and internalize the underlying concepts of arithmetic and geometry. In the secondary grades, we need to address relentlessly the question, "Why do we need to learn this mathematics?" As teachers, we achieve this through copious examples of real-world applications that tap into the student's world. For some mathematical topics, simple examples of applications are difficult to find. According to students and teachers, the main factor that elevates, beyond the norm, the math resources offered by the Math Academy is their rich collection of real-world applications in which the mathematics is embedded. These applications have been gleaned from thousands of hours of research because teachers do not have the luxury of unlimited time.

Professor Kelly has received various awards including Teacher of the Year in 1995-96 at the University of Toronto/OISE. He served on the NCTM's Research Advisory Committee from 1990 through 1992. Dr. Kelly has spoken at more than one hundred Conferences and in-service sessions, and was closing speaker at the NCTM Conference in Chicago in 1988. His most recent presentation was at the T^3 Annual Conference in Orlando in March 2016.

Professor Kelly earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in mathematics and physics from the University of Toronto. He has a Ph.D. in pure mathematics from the University of Toronto and an Ed.D. doctorate in computer applications from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Professor Kelly has published a variety of mathematics books for the Texas Instruments graphing calculators, including: • Calculus with the TI-89 • Advanced Algebra with the TI-89 • Statistics & Probability with the TI-89 • Algebra 1 with TI-nspire • Algebra 2 with TI-nspire