Don S. Balka

Don S. Balka is a mathematics educator and Professor Emeritus in the Mathematics Department at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. A former middle school and high school mathematics teacher, he has presented more than 2,000 workshops on the use of mathematics manipulatives with PK–12 students across the United States and in multiple countries, and has taught classes in locations including Ireland, Scotland, England, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Greece, Japan, and the Mariana Islands.

Balka holds a Ph.D. and is the author or co-author of numerous resources for K–12 mathematics teachers, including books such as Visible Thinking in the K–8 Mathematics Classroom, A Guide to Mathematics Leadership: Sequencing Instructional Change, Developing Algebraic Thinking with Number Tiles, Hands-On Math and Literature with Math Start, Exploring Geometry with Geofix, Working with Algebra Tiles, and the Mathematics with Unifix Cubes series. He is also a co-author of the Macmillan K–5 elementary mathematics series Math Connects and has served in leadership roles with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, as well as president of TODOS: Mathematics for All and the School Science and Mathematics Association.