Years ago, a colleague of mine suggested that I present at a local math conference. She had been witnessing some of the work that I had been doing in classrooms. Apparently the math ideas, lessons, and strategies were worth sharing. And so, I applied, spent months preparing for the presentation, and went off to my local math conference. I was …
Why Do I Present?
Fawn Nguyen once wrote a blog post called “Be Brave or Be Desperate.” You can read it here. To summarize, she was asked the question “why do you present?” She considers herself a storyteller of her students’ successes and failures. Fawn stresses how important it is to get the story correct. Her friend in turn replies that Fawn is brave. …
What is your biggest “ick” with PD?
This question has been recently rattling around in my head. And I’m dreading what my district will come up with when we get our student-free day in January. A few days ago…I saw this question…”What’s your biggest *ICK* when it comes to PD?” Take a look…. One of my favorite PD horrors was last year. Grades 3-6 …
Lots of Learning…
Instead of writing 3 different blog posts for the 3 conferences I attended in recent weeks, I thought it would be much more efficient if I summarized a few sessions that I learned from. First was the Northwest Math Conference that took place in Portland, OR. Jen Hunt – Making the Learning Stick. Jen summarized that kids need to stretch, …
M&M Jar Answers Explained
One of the ways I engage students in math in the beginning of the school year is with 3 act tasks. I don’t do worksheets. I don’t do computer programs (that are not a directive from my principal). I don’t do fast facts. I do immersive math. I do engaging math. I do conversational math. I do active …
A Clothesline Math Mistake
It’s the beginning of a new school year and something magnificent happened during one of my beginning of the year activities. I usually play “Guess My Number” with my class, but decided to do a number talk with the class. I have done this number talk plenty of times during presentations! Or at least you would have think I’ve …
Success or Legacy?
As the first days of school are soon started…my mind has been pondering a thing. What makes a teacher successful? How do we measure our success? Let me back up a bit. At my district, seniors at the high schools are allowed to invite a special guest to their graduation. The special guests lead the graduates onto the football …
Testing is over….now what?
It’s that time of the year when the ugly monster called “CAASPP” comes lurking about. (That’s the test we take here in California). Teachers are fretting that they may not have covered as many standards as they had wanted. Meanwhile, it’s spring time for students. They are antsy, edgy, and see that summer is around the corner……….or maybe I’m describing …
An Ode to Math TShirts
An unusual occurrence happened during my session at the Virtual Math Summit (held by Build Math Minds). During my pre-recorded session, many participants were noticing my math shirts. They all wanted to know where they can get some of my math shirts. I’ve been collecting math shirts for my whole career. I don’t just collect any math shirt. They …
Discovering Humanity through Math with Francis Su
During the winter break, I like to catch up with all the good stuff that I didn’t have the time for during my teaching life. I finally had the chance to sit down and listen to a podcast that included Francis Su, a professor of math and writer (His book Mathematics for Human Flourishing is on my bookshelf waiting for me …