As I've been in schools the last few weeks, I've heard teachers talk about the most dreaded part of the school year, State Testing Season. As a teacher of 17 years in testing grade levels, I know the stress of testing season. I know the weight you feel to plow through the content. I understand… Continue reading Fraction Flowers
It's that time of year again! My friend Kristin, of Hilty Consulting, and I are hosting the 4th Annual Digital Number Sense Summit June 13-14. Every year this is one of our favorite things to do, put together a conference to fit the needs of what we are seeing in classrooms and what teachers are… Continue reading Digital Number Sense SUMmit 2023
Happy Friday friends! It has been a cold, snowy week here in Ohio. School delays, snow days, and today was a dress up day in many schools to support the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC championship game vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. During these types of hit or miss weeks, I like to scrap any… Continue reading Multiplication Tic-Tac-Toe
How is math learning showcased in your building? Does each teacher put up their own displays? Do you have building-wide displays for visitors to view? I love walking into buildings where you can see the learning taking place before you ever enter the classroom. Throughout my career I worked hard to improve what I put… Continue reading Math Picture Puzzles
Who doesn't love a good mug of hot chocolate in the cold winter months? When I was teaching in the classroom still, I was always trying to tie in real-world experiences into my math lessons and what's better than combining math and hot chocolate? Do you have that one bulletin board in your building that… Continue reading Mathematicians Love Hot Cocoa
I am the first to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of worksheets. Too often when students are working independently on worksheets they are not fully engaged in their learning. They are going through the motions or mimicking what the teacher just did in the lesson. The assignment is not memorable. The worksheets are normally… Continue reading First to 5
Throughout my career I enjoyed doing activities and projects with my students that got them thinking and problem solving. I knew they were learning when there was progressive struggle. The students enjoyed this activity by the end of our time allotted for it, but there were moments of frustrations for sure. In many of my… Continue reading Puzzling Tree
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 get asked the question, "What is one, quick activity I can do with my students to build number sense?" my response just about every time is Steve Wyborney's Esti-Mystery. The Esti-Mystery activity is a FREE download from Steve's website that is leveled to reach all of your mathematicians. You can sign up for… Continue reading Esti-Mystery….
Decorating classrooms is either a perk of being a teacher or just something else on our never-ending to do list. Some teachers love going into their classrooms over the summer months and creating some of the most magical spaces for student learning. Some teachers would rather not decorate their classrooms to look Pinterest worthy, and… Continue reading Mathematical Vocabulary (Anchor Charts)- Part 4
