Imperfect and Unfinished
My Dilemma I had an experience last week that has me in a professional dilemma, and I’m looking for your input. My dilemma may be emotionally charged to you; it is to me, but I assure you that I want to seek a positive outcome for everyone involved (the student, teacher, parent, and me) in … Continue Reading
Last week, I wrote about Pair Drawings, one of my favorite ways to establish classroom norms at the beginning of the school year. Starting on the first day of school, I want my students to know these two fundamental norms: Learning mathematics is a collaborative effort. It’s something we do together; it’s not something that … Continue Reading
Welcome back math nerds! The beginning of the year is one of my favorite times of year. Clean slate, clean classrooms, fresh ideas, and refreshing optimism. I also love this time of year because I love building classroom norms and setting the tone for the classroom culture that is necessary for productive and rich mathematical … Continue Reading
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
A Story A friend and I were reflecting over a beer one evening at Twitter Math Camp in July about how to get more elementary teachers to attend this amazing conference. (Click here to know more!) He’s an inspirational colleague with a background in special education at the elementary and middle school level. We were talking … Continue Reading
Welcome back Math Geeks! I’ve been thinking a lot about the objectives of lesson objectives, and I’m committing to writing a series posts to spark a conversation. I’m curious about how you frame lesson objectives to maximize student joy, and I invite you to tell me. If you missed my first post about ways to make … Continue Reading
Dan Meyer has written extensively about the importance of creating intellectual need in the mathematics classroom. If we are going to ask students to use mathematics to solve problems, we need to let students internalize problems through inquiry and exploration BEFORE we teach them the mathematics. As Dan suggests, if math is the aspirin, then how do we create the headache?
Why we teach must align with how we teach. In other words, our professional identity (the reasons why we became teachers in the first place) must be congruent with our choices and our practices in the classroom. When purpose and practice are not aligned, both teachers and students waste energy fighting needless friction in the classroom and learning suffers.
