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How to Edit Your Math Pessimism
Students and teacher often have beliefs are counter productive to learning. In this blog post, the author "edits" common statements about learning math that contribute to math anxiety, and re-frames them in ways that are encouraging and honest. Read More
If Graphing Linear Inequalities Is Aspirin, Then How Do You Create the Headache?
Brief blog post by Dan Meyer that addresses teaching students not just the procedure for how to graph linear inequalities, but providing the opportunity for them to consider why the conventional representation (graph) is an efficient way to go. Read More
Fluency Without Fear
Turns out memorization, timed tests and flash cards are not the most effective ways to learn math facts! This article from Jo Boaler addresses developing students' fluency with math facts (such as times tables), including confidence and how some common approaches to math facts can be related to anxiety and loss of perseverance. Read More
For Teachers: Please Don’t Teach Exponent Rules
A teacher writes about how he approaches operations with exponents so that the students make meaning and discover the rules for operations with exponents for themselves. Read More
Fraction Misconceptions – from Recovering Traditionalist blog
How does the language that teachers use to describe fractions affect students' understanding of fractions? In addition to exploring this question, the writer suggests some strategies for building number sense around fractions, as well as making sense of a Common Core/CCRS standard about fractions. Read More
Fraction Talk (and Pie)
Math teacher Chase Orton lays out the instruction he used, starting with pictures of pies, in order to get students to use benchmark fractions. Read More
ELL Math
This teacher, who teaches a math class for students who speak very limited English and a variety of primary languages, writes about strategies he is using "so students with a strong mathematical background in their own country can advance while the students with a weak background can get feedback and work on the problems they need." Read More
Conservation: The More Things Change The More They Stay the Same
This blog post from Graham Fletcher (Gfletchy) shares series of very short and very accessible videos for exploring the concept of conservation in weight, length, liquid, and number. Perfect for learners at many levels of math and language to discuss what they notice and wonder. Read More
Content Area Vocabulary
The authors suggest a set of questions to guide teachers decisions about what vocabulary to teach. They also suggest some effective strategies for vocabulary acquisition and integrating language and math. Read More
5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions
5 Practices for Orchestrating Mathematics Discussions describes how teachers can facilitate "mathematically productive discussions that are rooted in student thinking." In this posting, you can also find out about one teacher's experiences implementing the strategies in the book. Read More