New Normal: Tips for At-Home Learning
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April 06th, 2020I’d like to talk to you about this paradigm that’s shifted in education. In the United States, we have found ourselves in a situation where the majority of students are being homeschooled. Caregivers, parents, grandparents, family members are taking care of and homeschooling kids, and for the most part, this was probably never anything you expected…
People Over Production: A Special Method to the Mathness Chat with Dr. Tyrone Howard
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March 31st, 2020In this special episode of Method to the Mathness, hosts Nikki LaLonde and Jennifer Lenhardt discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on our communities and our students with ICLE Senior Fellow Dr. Tyrone Howard. Dr. Howard shares his perspective on the connective role that teachers and schools play within communities, particularly amidst the new…
Real-World Mathematics at Home: 10 Investigations for Students
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March 16th, 2020Many students will be home these next several weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What might happen if children spend a portion of their time doing real-world mathematics? At a minimum, they could discover that mathematics is interesting and useful. Perhaps they will decide that they are indeed math people. Here are some investigations to…
Why We Celebrate Pi Day
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March 11th, 2020Also known as March 14th, Pi Day is when mathematicians and math lovers around the world celebrate pi, often approximated to 3.14, which is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. The circle is often the first shape many learn in childhood, and can be observed in nature in pinecones, apples, oranges, the cornea…
Measuring Circles
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March 08th, 2020Each year our middle school celebrates the circle and its mathematical relationships on “Pi Day,” March 14, using the date of 3/14 to honor the 3.14 approximation of pi. A local bakery donates pies and, in every math class, students measure round things and consume their pieces of pie. Amidst the Pi Day activities, students…
3 Ways to Implement Talking in Math Class
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February 26th, 2020When I began teaching almost 20 years ago, one of the veteran teachers made a quick visit to the classroom that we shared to pick up materials. She was very impressed with my students’ behavior and remarked, “Wow, they are so quiet!” The veteran teacher’s comment was kind of funny to me because my students…
Subitizing: Can You See How Many?
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February 13th, 2020Subitizing! This ability to instantly “see” how many is a critical component in young students developing number sense.
Exploring Fractions: Using Knowledge of 1/2 to find 1/6s
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February 05th, 2020In this clip from Beyond Pizzas & Pies, students describe how they found the rods that are 1/6 of the unit interval. What important fraction concept does Marcela’s reasoning support?
Fractions February: Exploring Problems Through Measurement
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February 01st, 2020My eight-year-old neighbor Zoe spent the day with me recently so we decided to do a little baking. The recipe we were using called for ½ cup of sugar and three cups of flour. After using the ½ cup measuring cup to add sugar to the batter, I suggested we use the same measuring cup…
Actionable Feedback as a Means of Promoting a Growth Mindset
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January 24th, 2020We know it’s important to encourage our students to adopt a growth mindset towards their mathematical abilities. But when we draw a smiley face on a student’s paper or say “good job,” are we building a growth or a fixed mindset? These types of feedback are meant to encourage but they fail to give students…