As a math coach one of the things I hear the most from upper elementary and middle school teachers is “What do I do with my students who don’t know their multiplication facts?” I hear this from third grade teachers fourth grade teachers fifth grade teachers all the way up to whatever grade level I […]
A collection of random problems that I love…
A long time ago I was given a shirt. It said, “You can’t scare me. I teach middle school.” The premise, clearly was middle school students are a difficult audience to work with. While this premise may be true, my last ten years as a mathematics instructional coach (technically I’m the Senior Math Coordinator…but I […]
We have all heard the claim that any big change a school district might want to make will require 3 to 5 years of concentrated effort. You want better scores? 3 to 5 years. You want to fundamentally change what instruction looks like in your classrooms? 3 to 5 years. You want to close achievement […]
About 18 months ago in March, 2024, two black teenage girls from a New Orleans high school announced they found a new proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. What makes their proof especially impressive is that out of more than 400 unique proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem, theirs is the FIRST proof that relies entirely on […]