Jon Ishii joined me for a chat about being a risk taker in the math field. Jon has a passion for making math equitable and accessible for all students, which he has leveraged to become an Educator Advisory Board member at NASA eClips.

"You may be the first, and at certain times, it may feel like you're the only one. But you will pave the way or inspire others. Lead with action, inspire, empower others, and be a great example. Continue to make mistakes because that just makes you a stronger individual."

Katherine Bazley: What do you do for work on a given day?

‍Jon Ishii: Let me rewind just a little bit to begin. I am originally from Los Angeles, and then I moved up to the Bay Area in 2016 to do my master's program. I'm the first in my family to go to college, so this was a big thing. Just going to college and figuring out how to navigate that  space was a big thing. In school, you're not really taught about FAFSA or what that means.

My undergrad degree is political science. For my graduate degree, I started working with all types of different subjects, but specifically what interested me was STEM. I started off as a teacher and then became a lead teacher. And I eventually made my way over to having a dual role, which led me to instructional design. I did trainings for faculty and other teachers from different schools on learning platforms, learning management systems, diversity and equity, and how to support students who are English language learners. I also did some cool things like conference presentations on how to make math exciting and engaging. Because of COVID, there was so much change within education.

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In grad school, I was really interested in the idea of Growth Mindset and what that looks like. I wanted to explore that more because as adults we're so perfect. Just kidding! But you know what I mean? We make mistakes as adults. We understand it’s ok to make mistakes, but as a kid, to make a mistake can feel like the end of the world, especially for teenagers.

I saw something on NASA, because I’m subscribed to an education newsletter. They were looking for educator advisory board members, and the application would be open to the 50 states and the US territories.

I thought I'm just going to go for it. What's holding you back? I always tell my students to not be afraid to try something new and there I was, needing to do just that.

I applied in the summer of 2020 and then got an email around November out of the blue. Congratulations, you have been selected to serve on the NASA eClips Educator Advisory Board. I was in shock. I told my support network, and I reached out to my immediate family.

It's been really exciting! I've been doing some really great work which is focused on making NASA eClips accessible for all students, no matter their socioeconomic status, no matter their zip code.

A lot of the documents for NASA education are in English, but there’s such a growing change in education being in the 21st century. It’s really important to look at students with diverse backgrounds, and make sure that the documents are accessible for students who are learning English. I've been working with another NASA board member and their NASA intern on translating documents from English to Spanish. It’s challenging because people speak different Spanish in California, in New York, in Latin America, and so on. It’s hard to find the best word for certain things. But I’m super excited because we’ve now translated a few documents.

Our next thing is to have students working on creating their own content. For students, from students. That's been really exciting. So instead of a professional NASA engineer creating the content, it’s been so inspiring for students to use their voice, and to be able to teach other students around the globe.‍

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KB: How do you get these materials out there? Making them accessible is one thing, but how do you get the word out about NASA eClips?‍

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JI: That's a great question. We've been working on how we can better do that, because we have some great resources and tools. The question is: Where do you find teachers to use them and how do you find them? We make it clear that we are not charging for our resources, and we will never charge. It should be free.

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We are always looking at our resources from a diversity perspective. It’s so important to have representation, as well. And what I like about the resources is that it’s not all advanced science topics, which you might expect from NASA. We make sure to have everything from kindergarten through high school. There's things for Pre-K we’re working on, too. There’s a range of topics and there are a lot of board members who have been in the field for longer than I have. I feel like I'm super comfortable with technology. So we have a great balance of resources and talents.

There’s a lot of topics we’ve been discussing. We have a lot of resources for engineering technology, and then of course things like space, the moon, and stars.

We're talking about Growth Mindset, so it’s important to look at where we are and how we can improve, continue to grow stronger, and support all our teachers and students.

I have some more exciting initiatives that I want to propose, too. I'm an ideas person. I’m always asking myself: Which one do I choose? How do I get it done? I love education because it can be siloed or it can be collaborative. You can have people guide you along the way.

I like having those moments where I can be independent, but also feel like I'm collaborative. We can talk about math and science, in such a creative way. When you're learning math and science in school, it's not always creative. There's one correct answer. Memorize it. This is the only way to do it.‍

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KB: How do you think about math? Is it truly creative?‍

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JI: I love that question. We have so many resources and platforms now, that we did not have back in elementary or middle school. I think that makes a big difference. Math anxiety is real. Do you remember having the multiplication fact tests and how many times we would have to fill out the facts on a worksheet? It was so boring.

Now with math, we can do creative things. We can add a little dash of social justice in there, or make it more fun and engaging and relevant. You have to help students know how they will use it in the future. That's what I've been doing since I started teaching, really engaging the learner and the student to be part of a team in order to have those learning experiences. I have the students make their own questions. They get to see their questions pop up in front of the class.

My favorite project to do during the year is doing a community map-based lesson. We’ve done this with decimals and fractions. I like to incorporate ways where math is culturally relevant for the students. For example, boba tea is really popular here. We have a few boba shops around our city so I thought I could make this an exciting math lesson.

I thought: Where do I see social justice and math connecting here? How can I incorporate that with my lesson?

I talked to one shop, and found out it was a woman running it, and they are very big on sustainability. So a lot of their containers and bottles are not plastic, but glass. I took a picture of their menu. The idea for the project was to figure out what you can order from the shop with just $8. What can you order including toppings? Students paired up with their friends and they talked about what they wanted to add in their boba and why. It was all relevant to them, so they were all excited.

Eventually, I used our class budget to order boba at the end of the project, after they presented their findings. It’s project based learning, and they were super into it. It's something that's cool to them. It's in their community and they get a great lesson besides math. They are also the ones presenting it to their peers. ‍

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KB: You've mentioned Growth Mindset a few times for both you and your students. How do you feel that plays into creativity?‍

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JI: Growth mindset is really something I wish we learned as young students. I think the message is not just learning to grow after making a mistake. It's really going deeper than that. It’s seeing what we can do differently.

I tell my students that I want them to make mistakes in math. Other teachers will ever say that. But I'm a little bit of a different teacher. That gets them excited because they realize my way is different.

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There’s a huge shift in education now, especially with adapting to COVID protocols. Not many teachers will say it’s ok to make mistakes. I'm very proud to say: make mistakes in the classroom, make mistakes together, because together we're learning.

As a teacher, as an adult, I'm a learner too, and I'm a student. Establishing Growth Mindset from the very beginning is so critical because that allows students to be comfortable making mistakes and learning from those mistakes.

We want to make sure that we amplify learning by being able to see that there are different ways to solve a math problem. There's not just one concrete way, like we were told. It's okay to continue to make mistakes, because that makes us a stronger learner. It's not just limited to a math class. Students use Growth Mindset in all aspects of their life, even sports. ‍

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KB: Learning Growth Mindset is just as important as learning math or science. You’ve been a risk taker in your life and career. How do you share this with your students? How do you explain to them that some risks are good and some risks are bad? What’s the difference and how can good ones pay off?‍

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JI: Sometimes risks can be scary because you never know! It’s not the destination, but the journey. For me, this really hits home. Big risk leads to big impact. You never know what the destination would be, but you'll have fun and learn on the journey. You'll make mistakes and there’s things you won’t get. That's okay. The world will not end.

There are so many opportunities out there. You may be the first, and at certain times, it may feel like you're the only one. But you will pave the way or inspire others. Lead with action, inspire, empower others, and be a great example. Continue to make mistakes because that just makes you a stronger individual.

I come from an immigrant family. My mom was born in Mexico. My dad is Japanese. Sometimes my mom would ask me to translate things for her, but I always encouraged her to try herself. It can be scary, but it’s ok to not be perfect. It’s ok to be uncomfortable, because that helps you become stronger.

As a student, I wish I had more teachers that pushed me to be the best person that I could be. I think students need to hear that they are loved and cared for, even when they have to face uncomfortable situations. School should be a safe space.

In risks come opportunities. There are moments of growth. If you plant a seed, it won’t grow fast, but it’s definitely growing. I tell my students it’s the same for them. They might get frustrated, but take risks because they make you stronger. ‍

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KB: Your outlook on life is so unique and infectious. A lot of what you said resonated with me. I’m a former teacher, and I taught during the pandemic. It has been pretty rough for teachers. To have a mentality like yours, to be a risk taker, and to show up for your students is so valuable now. ‍

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JI: I really love teaching. I love the kids. ‍

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Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Follow Jon on LinkedIn.‍

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About the Author

‍Katherine Bazley (@katherinebazley) is a K-12 EdTech teacher ambassador at Magma Math where she contributes Special Education expertise and 7 years of and classroom experience. Reach her on LinkedIn or at katherine@magmamath.com‍