Imperfect and Unfinished
Activity: Which Passion Describes You Best? Teaching is an expression of identity and a craft of passion. We teach who we are. Let’s take a few minutes and think more deeply about why we are passionate about the work we do. Read the “Passion Profiles” below. As you read, make notes and underline language … Continue Reading
I have a problem, and I need your help. I love teaching young students about data and statistics. And I enjoy finding ways to make data and statistics matter more to young students. I’m troubled by how we teach students to think about data and statistics, and I have some ideas on how we can … Continue Reading
A Question and a Confession Question: If someone asks you what “elicit” means, could you nail the definition? Try it. How’d you do? Confession: I was an English Literature major in college. I tutored college-level math and fell in love with teaching because of math. But back then, words and expression and theater were my jam. … Continue Reading
Welcome back math geeks! I want to share with you a video that shows the raw power of using Clothesline Math in your classroom to promote student to student discourse. I share this video because I want you to see how clothesline activities generate student to student discourse and promote student thinking and math development. And I … Continue Reading
Check out this video from Andrew Stadel. What do you notice? What do you wonder? http://101qs-media.s3.amazonaws.com/videos/1772-black-box2–act-1.mp4 (Click here if viewing on your phone) I conducted a lesson study about fractions with some 5th grade teachers. We used Andrew’s elegantly simple lesson called Black Box 2 to get students talking about adding fractions with unlike denominators. This … Continue Reading
Welcome back math geeks! I love teaching young students about data and statistics. And I enjoy finding ways to make data and statistics matter more to young students. But I’m troubled by two curriculum practices about how we teach students to think about data and statistics, especially at the K-6 level. This post is Part … Continue Reading
Hello math geeks! Welcome back! I’ve been an advocate for using dot images and visuals as problems for number talks in the elementary classroom. (You can find a great bank of visuals here.) I’ve also been an advocate for using Desmos as an instructional tool for letting student thinking drive the classroom discourse. Traditionally, Desmos … Continue Reading
I conducted a lesson study with some elementary teachers. We used Dan Meyer’s engaging lesson called Sugar Packets to get students talking about an interesting problem, sharing their thinking, showing what they know about division strategies. Dan has the lesson listed as 6th grade ratio and proportional reasoning activity, but we found this problem to be … Continue Reading
For the past few weeks, I’ve had the fun opportunity to write for the Global Math Department newsletter. Haven’t heard of the Global Math Department? It’s great tool to find out what’s going on in the online math world about math teaching and watch professional development webinars. Check the site out here and read about some … Continue Reading
Welcome back math geeks! I need your help making a 3-Act math lesson on probability better. I love Price is Right because many of the games require contestants to make predictions. This often involves estimating prices of products. But sometimes contestants have to make choices of a different nature, and these choices are ripe opportunities … Continue Reading
