Research shows that students learn best when they are collaborating and talking about math. My 25+ years in the classroom tells me that this is, indeed, true--but I'll go a step farther and make the claim that math discourse can raise the level of engagement, motivation, and excitement as well. I thought I'd share some details about some recent area and perimeter work in my ... Read the Post
Project Based Learning Math Tasks: The Benefits of the Challenge
So many times I am asked questions about why many students seem so disengaged in math. I ask these teachers to flip through their resources and see how many of them truly help students see the real life application of math--and solve rigorous, engaging problems that students can relate to. PBL (project based learning) can help make the connections between the math skills and the real world, and ... Read the Post
Math Culture–It’s more than a right answer!
"Do I have the right answer?" One thing that I have noticed over the years as I have done more "kid watching" as I teach...is that we have most definitely conditioned our students to "fill in the blank". Whether we use workbooks, do worksheets with cute graphics, or encourage students to track their scores--we definitely convey to them that there is a "right way" to do things. Of course, in ... Read the Post
How We Spend Our Math Minutes–Using Open Ended Math Tasks
Organizing Math Class Minutes One thing that I really try to be mindful of when planning my math instruction is how I "spend" my minutes. There are some things I really try to minimize as I plan: Transition delays "correcting" things passing out/collecting materials filling out practice pages And I try to spend as many minutes as possible doing the following: high-level ... Read the Post
Critique the Reasoning of Others…In a 5 minute lesson!
So I just wanted to share a super quick lesson idea that you might want to try. It was NOT in my plans, but I saw that a ton of my students made errors on a decimal number line problem and I knew I needed to do something ASAP. Those Standards for Mathematical Practice are SO important, so I took this opportunity to really give my students some work on critiquing the reasoning of ... Read the Post
Partner Problem Solving: Earth Day
Looking for an easy math lesson idea to help you get some much-needed one-on-one time or small group time with students? See what you think... I always have a pocket chart or two on my wall where I keep word problems or other challenges at all times. I can change these out to be more seasonal, to be more review, or to match the topic we are studying. In this case, I ... Read the Post
Area and Perimeter Studies: Part 2–Math Talk, Guided Practice, and More!
I blogged a few days ago about some of the fun area and perimeter activities we had done in class (If you missed it, just CLICK HERE.) and I promised you a follow-up post! With "big" concepts, I tend to have a sequence of teaching that doesn't really follow a formula but does have a certain sequence. First of all, I want the students to explore and build their understanding. That's ... Read the Post
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