Mathkins

Yesterday wrapped up a 4 day math conference filled with incredibly inspirational speakers and presenters. I now have a notebook full of ideas, lessons, and activities that I can use in my classroom for the upcoming year and enough enthusiasm to fill a football stadium. I was also able to have some amazing math content and practice conversations with other teachers from my district including elementary teachers. I get very little contact with them during the school year as a high school teacher. Overall, it was an amazing experience from top to bottom. But here is my question...I have so much information and so many great ideas, how do I share them without overwhelming the rest of the math department (11 other teachers) but also getting them to buy in to trying something new? All ideas welcome! On the last day, during a debriefing session, with the entire group that went to the conference, our math coordinator asked us to come up with an action plan. What will we do to share this i...

I gave a presentation at the Saint Louis Adding It Up conference on Monday on collaborative strategies that I use in my classroom. It was the first time I have ever presented outside of my school district, which I have only done twice, so I was pretty psyched for the opportunity. It was a small group but I think I everyone was able to take at least one thing away from it. I took a lot of time to share how I build community in my classroom because I feel that before I can ask my students to have deep meaningful discussions about math or collaborate with their peers, I need to establish a safe and supportive space to do that. Everyday, before we go over the warm up, I have my students talk with their partner by asking them a few of the following questions. "Hi, how are you today? How has your morning/afternoon been? What did you have for breakfast? What are you doing after school? Do you have any quizzes or tests today?" This daily check-in not only breaks the ice, it also he...

The math coordinator in my district convinced me late April that I should present at the Adding It Up conference in Saint Louis in July. Actually, it's next week July 17th - 20th. It is a 45 minute class demonstration style presentation on collaborative strategies. I definitely have plenty to talk about but I am worried that it will all be stuff they have heard before. Aren't professional development conferences usually populated by the teachers that are already trying the cool stuff? Will I really be able to bring something new and interesting to the table? I guess I should have the mindset I do with my students. If I can help just one person it's worth it, right?

I actually went to bed fairly early last night, 10 pm, that's my summer bed time. But as I lay there in the dark with my rain sounds guiding me toward a sweet slumber, my brain kicked into high gear. It started collecting and shaking loose all of the ideas that have been swirling around after reading some really great books (The Classroom Chef, What's Math Got to Do With It, and Teach Like a Pirate). As the clock ticked away, I started imagining my first few days of school. How I would attempt to connect and make them feel comfortable during that first awkward day? What can we do on that first day that will make them look forward to the second? Every question that I asked my brain came back with a engaging and inspired idea. I ran to get a notebook. I needed to jot these ideas down before sleep stole them away.

School is out, summer school is over, what now? I now have time to explore, create and crowd source new ideas for next years students! I have already been busy this summer reading and watching videos and have so many ideas churning. Today I am just going to use this space to put some of those ideas on paper so I can use it for inspiration all year long. I have said and heard other teachers in my department say that kids just can't do math without a calculator. We have talked about how we should incorporate more mental math into our classes. Sometimes we do, sometimes we start out strong, then give in. Why are students mental calculations so weak? Is it because they are taught to memorize? Are they taught strategies but once they are given a calculator they don't keep up the practice so their skills become weak or even non-existent? Besides mental math skills, what students really seem to lack is number sense. They seem to be so reliant on the calculator they don't even ...