• Math Education - Singapore Math - US Education

    Delaware School Achieves Success With Singapore Math Adoption

    An article published by the Rodel Foundation of Delaware describes how Kuumba Academy took a serious approach to remediating the problem of poor math achievement. They adopted a Singapore Math curriculum, and with it, they gave their teachers “intensive, on-going professional development to deepen teachers’ understanding of math instruction at the elementary level.” The school also implemented parent workshops and a “Bring Your Parent to School Day,” which would help parents and guardians understand the sometimes very different approaches Singapore Math takes. One minor incorrect point the article states is that Singapore Math uses math sprints to strengthen math skills.…

  • Math Education - Math Humor - Videos

    Math Joke Animation

    It snowed today – a lot – canceling all my plans and making it a perfect day to get things done at home. So I created the short movie below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it! This one was taken – and highly modified – from a joke told in Math Jokes 4 Mathy Folks.

  • Math Education - US Education

    Lateral surface area of a cylinder

    How do you explain the concept behind the formula for the lateral surface area of a cylinder, which is 2?rh? I ran into this question when tutoring a student to prepare for the New York State Integrated Algebra Regents exam. (For some reason, this exam contains a lot of geometry.) The lateral surface area is the area of the cylinder’s surface that does not include the circular ends. If you look at the cylinder, it resembles a can. If you imagine it is a can of something, the lateral surface area is what the label covers. So to show the…