I recently received a wonderful email from a mathematical leader at a local junior high school. She had two great questions, so I thought I’d turn my response into this short blog post. I separated her questions with my responses. Read on… 1.) How do we connect the Concrete and Representational to the Abstract in […]
What grade do U.S. preschools deserve in math instruction? Math is nearly absent in American preschools and prekindergarten classes. One study calculated that at preschools where kids spend six hours a day, math gets an average of only 58 seconds per day. Not even a full minute. I thought this was interesting, so I thought […]
To prevent the rise of math anxiety in elementary students, teachers need confidence in their own conceptual understanding of the subject. For many students (and many adults), just hearing the word math can send a chill down their spine. I thought this was interesting, so I thought I would repost it here. Here is where I […]
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money’s newsletter. You can sign up here. According to the National Institute For Early Childhood Research, nearly half of all 3-year-olds and a third of all 4-year-olds in the United States were not enrolled in preschool in 2019. I thought this was interesting, so I thought I […]
“In this large, randomized study we found that when it comes to enhancing mathematical learning in young children, the type of cognitive training performed plays a significant role,” says corresponding author Torkel Klingberg, professor in the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet. I thought this was interesting, so I thought I would repost it here. Here […]
As we wrap up one of the most challenging and unique school years ever, I first want to commend ALL THE TEACHERS for their tireless efforts to educate students during this most difficult of times. Your willingness to learn new things (hello SeeSaw, Google Classroom, Zoom, Google Meet, Desmos, and a plethora of other tools!) […]
To assign math homework or NOT to assign math homework? That is the question. There is little evidence that assigning math homework in grades K-8 improves student outcomes. But there is plenty of evidence that assigning too much math homework is detrimental to student achievement. Alfie Kohn, shares some data research showing fourth graders who […]
Math is fun! But it is pretty common place for us teachers to reduce math to a collection of skills to learn, practice, and memorize…which is not terribly fun. Math For Love is a wonderful website that provides teachers with the resources for making math the joyous endeavor it is supposed to be. Games, rich […]
As we make the slow, but inexorable return to normalcy – whatever that may look like – we need to begin thinking about the details for returning to school. Within the teachers’ sphere of influence, the first two things to consider are What to Teach? And How to Teach It? Research shows that our students […]
Perhaps a few years ago (maybe 2018?) I first bumped into Mathigon. It was a beautifully designed website calling itself the “Textbook of the Future”. The books, games, and virtual manipulatives are so wonderfully created that they make math look joyful…which it is! Well…Mathigon continues to add to its website, making it one of the […]