Lisa Winer

Brainstormer, Educator/Teacher, Explorer, Idea generator, Parent, World traveler

Lisa is in her 35th year of teaching high school mathematics and is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator (TIE), Cohort 3. She has written four riddles for TED-Ed: The Virus Riddle has over 12 million views. She organized and curated TEDxSaintAndrewsSchool for the last seven years and created a TED-Ed course open to all high school students at her school as well as a TED-Ed enrichment program for grades 4 - 8. She loves working with students and colleagues and helping them to achieve things they never thought possible. She has been married for 31 years and has a 26-year-old son, both of whom are the light of her life. She loves working out, playing pickleball, reading, traveling, and is addicted to NYT puzzles and Mah Jong.

I want to invoke curiosity. I have wanted to be a math teacher from a young age, as math always excited me. I want to make math fun for students and I want them to enjoy math as I did when I was a child. I try to make math playful for students and encourage all to love it, not just those who are naturally good at it. Often, students tell me that they did not like math nor know it was fun until they had my class. I love to see the light in my students’ eyes when they make a connection and understand how to solve a problem. I have been teaching high school math for 35 years, and each year it gets better and better. I am never tired of it, and I am always looking for new and innovative ways to get my students to love and enjoy math. I am intrigued with technology and love to incorporate it into my lessons. For the last seven years, I have been excited to teach TED-Ed to high school students and get them to share their greatest ideas to our community.

My TIE idea is #StudentsTeachingStudents, whether it be how to solve a quadratic equation or how to change a tire, kids all over the world can be one click away from learning how to do anything as taught from a peer.

creative solutions, Mathematics, problem-solving, puzzles, TED-Ed, TEDx

I was inspired by a teacher who skyped with my problem-solving students and taught us all how to solve a Rubik's Cube. He wrote a Ted-Ed riddle and encouraged me to do the same. I did and then wrote 3 more! This is how I was drawn to TED-Ed. Then, I applied to be a TED-Ed Innovator for cohort 3 and got it. I have created a TIE project, #StudentsTeachingStudents, and have since taught a TED-Ed Club class at my school. I organized and curated 7 TEDxSaintAndrewsSchool events. A student, Esha Alwani, was chosen from our first TEDx to go to TED-Ed Weekend, where she rocked it! She was then the first (currently the only) student from that group to be featured on TED. Go ESHA! A second student, Avery, was chosen for TED-Ed Weekend the following year. I am TED-Ed's biggest cheerleader and love to introduce my students to anything TED!

Writing upside down, crosswords