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 …
What Makes Math a Priority in a District?
I am going to be completely honest. I have been struggling with their vision and the direction my district has been heading. I have worked here since 2001 and never given much thought to where we’ve been headed. But ever since I jumped into the elementary world and been more invested in the math community (#MTBOS) and found like minded …
Northwest Math Conference – Tacoma
I was fortunate to travel to Tacoma, Washington to attend and present at the Northwest Math Conference. I loved the theme this year which was “You Are Invited.” It seemed to be a very inclusive type of theme which was welcomed. It was at NWMC that I got to see two incredible, dynamic math educators present about how math …
Tower of Coins
A new 3 act tasks that brought out so many possibilities….more than I planned for.
Should elementary math be taught by specialists?
Should elementary math be taught the same way or similar to how middle school math is taught? Would students benefit? Would teachers benefit?
Guess my number
With a simple string and cards, students play Guess My Number and build their vocabulary and number sense.
Adversity Teaches Life Lessons
This summer I attended CAMT as a featured speaker in San Antonio Texas. The CAMT board had asked me to do a passion piece in addition to my clothesline math sessions. Besides math, what else am I passionate about? An idea had dawned on me. How could I tell my story of breast cancer and all the lessons I learned? …
Dear Math
“Dear Math” is an insightful work about perceptions and student’s negative feelings toward math. Most importantly, how can teachers create positive learning environments in their math classes?