With March (and spring!) right around the corner, many teachers are already thinking about celebrating Pi Day, or March 14. This is a great day to celebrate how much fun math can be. I was inspired all over again by this music video using Pi to make music. If you would like to make […]
How is it possible to assess a whole classroom in a moment? One great tool for this is pinch strips. To use these, the children are asked a question, for example, “How much is $1 minus 95¢?” The children then pinch the strips on the segment showing the correct answer – in this case, the […]
As an eager tech user as well as a teacher who likes to use any tools that are handy, I am always trying out new ways to engage students. I recently obtained an iPad and have been trying to fill it with the best educational tools possible. Imagine my delight when I found an interactive […]
Or, Why Baby Animals Have It Better Than Schoolchildren UPDATE: Pediatricians say not to cut recess! “In order to learn well, children need a period of concentrated academic activity followed by a break that allows them to process information…” Back in the mid-2000s, when I was a newly-minted teacher launching my career, I interviewed at […]
In the course of my teaching and tutoring experience, I’ve come across the fact that Americans often fall short of others in geometry1,2. Besides the fact of test scores, I see that in how difficult it is for bright high school students I tutor to grasp certain spatial concepts. In fact, I was recently tutoring […]
Like many teachers, I am always looking for ways to economize while giving my students the highest-quality educational experience possible. Math journals are part of this experience in my classes. Rather than buying commercial journals, though, I make my own quickly and inexpensively. If you’d like to learn how to do the same, please visit […]
When I saw this book at the library, I was drawn directly to it. Why? For one thing, my post on dyscalculia and teaching math is one of my most popular posts ever. For another, I am always seeking good children’s books with mathematics themes to enhance my teaching or recommend to students. Finally, given […]
As the fall gets into high gear, I will be getting on the road again. If you’re in New York, try to attend NYSCATE this year and register for my session on Singapore Math on Sunday, November 20. If you can come on Saturday, I will be giving a three-hour workshop on NaNoWriMo in the […]
Crystal Springs Books recently produced a new software program for number bonds practice. This concept is foundational to Singapore Math. Number bonds can be used for everything from addition and subtraction to understanding fractions, and Singapore Math makes great use of them in its teaching. The software, intended for grades K-2, is a simple Flash-based […]
This summer I gave a three-hour workshop on Singapore Math model drawing at the NCTM Illuminations Institute in Reston, VA. This was a fun workshop with a great group of people, and we accomplished a lot of model drawing practice and understanding. I was pleased to see recently that the workshop received a couple of […]