Jon Becker

Educator and Inspirational Speaker

Jon Becker is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Actuarial Science at Indiana University Northwest. He has served the university as the Director of Developmental Mathematics, the Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and as the Executive Director of Retention Initiatives.

Jon’s commitment to exemplary teaching and service has been recognized with a variety of teaching and service awards. Most notably, in 2014, Jon was awarded the Indiana University President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching—IU’s highest honor for teaching excellence.

Jon is also an author and speaker who is passionate about helping individuals and organizations to succeed and reach their maximum potential. His passion stems from his own academic experience as an ill-equipped and unmotivated young man who had no idea what to do with his life. Jon’s book, “The Flunked-Out Professor: Six Steps for Turning Your Big Failure into Bigger Success” helps people in all walks of life to overcome the limiting beliefs that keep them from achieving their dreams and living their best life.

Jon and his wife Kate live in Demotte, Indiana. They have been married for 32 years and have 8 children.

Session One: “The Flunked-Out Professor: Turning Big Failure into Bigger Success”

Everyone experiences failure. Often that failure is so devastating that it alters the course of our life. Jon Becker believes that these failures are just stepping stones on the path to success. The key is not to reject failure, but to recognize it, examine it, and use it as a catalyst for achievement. In this session, Jon relates his own story of being a 19-year-old college flunk-out who became an award-winning math teacher at the same university that kicked him out.  With transparency, passion, and a touch of humor, Jon reveals a 7-step model that everyone can use to turn their own catastrophic failure into spectacular success.

Session Two: “The Garden Path: Integrated Math Projects from Arithmetic to Algebra”

When a student has difficulty reading, parents are quick to jump into action—doing whatever is necessary to get their child the help that they need. But when a student struggles in math, those same parents often fail to react with the same sense of urgency. The idea of “math anxiety” is ubiquitous, but it is often simply a crutch—used to ignore the importance of mathematics in the world around us. In this session, Jon Becker demonstrates the practical use of multiple mathematical concepts in a project-based learning format. Each project is designed to demonstrate the practical use of mathematics in our daily lives. Topics in each project include arithmetic, geometry, consumer mathematics, unit conversion, and algebra. Additionally, each project is written to support reading comprehension for students from elementary school on up. Designed for both classroom teachers and homeschooling parents, each project will teach one specific algebraic idea while reinforcing multiple supporting mathematical concepts.