Over the course of my career as a classroom teacher and throughout my journey as a mother, I have developed a LOVE of picture books. I love reading books to students, picture books and chapter books. What's even better is when I would read books during our math time. Some of my favorites are below:… Continue reading Math Picture Books
If you've taught for very long or investigated any text book series, you'll notice a variety of things, but one thing that I noticed is that geometry is usually taught towards the end of the school year. Often times teachers think to themselves or talk with their team members about how their students don't know… Continue reading Top 5 Manipulatives: Ang Legs
I am a HUGE advocate for using manipulatives in the classroom... at all grade levels. I have not always thought this. Early on in my career when I went from teaching Algebra I to 4th grade, I saw teachers in my elementary building using manipulatives as I would walk by and think, "Why are they… Continue reading Top 5 Manipulatives: Pattern Blocks
The start of a new year is a time where a lot of people take time to create “New Year’s Resolutions” as they reflect on how their prior year went and changes they want to make going into a new calendar year. That’s a BIG task for adults let along some of our young learners.… Continue reading Reflection Journals
I had a friend who teaches 5th grade recently reach out and ask how we can help students who struggle with dividing by a 2-digit divisor. I made a quick 9 minute video to help her make the connection between a 1-digit divisor. While we were going back and forth with our messages it was… Continue reading Division continued…
This may be an unpopular opinion, but the traditional algorithm for division is outdated and needs to go away. Let me explain. The traditional algorithm for any computation (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) is a procedure and when taught alone does not make math meaningful and make math make sense to students. We as adults… Continue reading Division with Multi-Digit Dividends
When I first started teaching back in 2005, I personally, did not have a conceptual understanding of fractions. To be honest, it wasn't until about 2010 ( I was 27 years old) and I attended a professional development in Columbus, Ohio that I started to really comprehend what a fraction truly was. I was never… Continue reading Mathematical Vocabulary (Fractions)- Part 3
Happy Monday friends!! I’m a planner at heart. I have way too many wheels moving to not have a color-coded calendar or to not meal plan. Like a lot of us, I am juggling a lot of different balls every moment of every day. I have to-do lists out the wazoo, which includes a written… Continue reading Student Ownership of Their Learning
Friends, it's the time of year that teachers are thinking about the return to school or you're already back and in the swing of things. First, I want to wish each and every one of you a great school year! I know that a lot of you that follow me here at Make Math Meaningful… Continue reading Creating a Math Community
Any one who knows me personally knows I love to cook and I love math. It’s even better when I combine the two! Maybe you’re like me and like to have a little bit of fun when you cut your brownies? My kids know what’s coming when I have one of them come over when… Continue reading Brownies with Fractions
