Robert Berkman has been involved in mathematics education for the past 30 years. In the span of his career, he has worked with students at every grade level, from pre-K through college, in both private and public schools, as well as at the undergraduate and graduate level in college.
During his time teaching mathematics, Robert has ventured into many different directions, including educational technology, cognitive science, neuroscience and the role that emotions play in learning mathematics.
For his first 15 years in education, Robert was a middle and high school classroom teacher at The Berkeley Carroll School, The Bank Street School for Children and The Peter Rouget School, in addition to teaching at the college level at Brooklyn College and NYU. For the past 16 years, his work has focused on students in pre-k through 8th grade. He conducts professional development for teachers, develops innovative curriculum for schools and performs evaluations on children for remediation and enrichment. He was the K – 4 math coordinator at Friends Seminary for 7 years, and most recently, on staff at the City & Country School. He is currently the math coordinator at the Manhattan Country School.
Robert is also the founder and the figurehead-in-chief of Better Living Through Mathematics, a Brooklyn-based mathematics educational consortium which conducts professional development, develops innovative curriculum materials, and organizes programs for children and families centered around mathematics. His family math exhibit, Mü-Math: The Mobile Unit to Promote Mathematical Thinking, travels to schools around NYC and is in residence each summer on Governor’s Island.
During his time away from work, Robert also enjoys endurance open water swimming, playing the Anglo-Irish concertina, memorizing poetry and puttering around in the kitchen. He has 2 grown daughters and a teenage son.
