Thinking about teaching, learning and math
Topic: Reading Algebra (CCRS: A.SSE.1a) Why: Half of the battle with algebra (well, some significant fraction of the battle anyways, because half is always anxiety and focus and grit and all the metacognitive things) is just reading algebra. The variables, the changes in notation and conventions, it looks so unfamiliar to new learners. And for …
Continue reading “Lesson Sketch: Reading Algebra (Card Sort + Critical Thinking)”
Comparison cards, my over-looked go to math activity. Build number sense, reason about value, practice mathematical language… without worksheets or a ton of prep
Challenge A couple of my favorite lessons, recently, have been basically amp’ed up task cards. I call them “challenges”, because it sounds more motivating than tasks, and make each challenge rather bigger than some of the (often-elementary-grades) card sets I see online. Last night, 7 cards took my fastest group about an hour. I …
As I’ve shared, I’m so grateful at this point in my career to have a set of flexible activities that I know work for me and my students, that I can swap new content in when I need to. And, in the past, I’ve been so grateful to learn from other teachers, I thought I’d …
Free Classroom Materials Brain Based Learning: Data Collection & Analysis Standards of Math Practice… Translated! Combining Like Terms: Mad TV Burger Video Inequality Cards Metacognition & Learning about Learning Homework/Study Planner for Adults Super Simple Class Evaluation/Feedback Form Metacognitive Check In – Student Reflection Reflective/Metacognitive Exit Tickets First Day of School Reflective Notes to Self, …
A Thanksgiving round up of math links, plus a new resource to teach percent proportion word problems
Teach the students, not the test. I am quite certain that what I care most about teaching is that you, yes, you the one who never got above a C in math class, can learn anything, even math. Teaching the students. Except that what my students care most about passing a test (HISET) that stands between …
Teaching goal: Students writing the problem. Implementation: 3 lessons in 2 weeks. Materials available
I was — decidedly, determinedly, exclamation marks in the out of office email — off for the summer. I worked hard in June, planned much, organized more. And then I was off. But, other people weren’t, or at least, came back from their decidedly off summer sooner than I did. And they had some cool/creative/helpful …
It’s May. There’s a month left of school. We just went through a round of testing. And we’re all a little fried. And so, I was sitting in my office a few classes ago, with a topic (functions), no particular lesson plan inspiration, and a textbook with a nice series of activities that checked all …