Creating a new Play With Your Math problem is a long, multi-step process. Here's a quick recap of how 16. Self-Aware came to be. Find and try the problem. I think I first saw this problem a few years ago in some puzzle book, but I haven't been able to figure out what book that … Continue reading 16. Self-Aware

With 180 days of class and 3 different courses to teach, I can’t come up with a brand new activity everyday. As often as possible, our activity is “Doing Math,” but often, we need a bit more structure. Fortunately, there are tons of awesome websites, blog posts, and books about structures that I can use … Continue reading Reusable Structures

Algebra 2 has been a hard course for me to teach for several reasons: My students’ understanding of linear and exponential functions has faded during Geometry, but these topics are a crucial foundation for Algebra 2. My students have not seen quadratics before, and the polynomials part of my unit becomes bloated. I’m supposed to … Continue reading Restructuring Algebra 2

I don’t start school for almost four weeks, but since other people are, here's my favorite way to start the year. On the first day of school, we play a game. I project the numbers 1 to 9 on the board. And I project the rules: Select a player to go first Take turns selecting … Continue reading Day 1 Activity: Name the Game

As I continue to reflect on my Twitter Math Camp (TMC) experience, I want to make a commitment for the next few months. https://twitter.com/joeykelly89/status/891652639892664321 Let me explain what I think being vulnerable means in each context. I’ll go in reverse order. By pushing send to the #mtbos I have been an active member of the … Continue reading My #1TMCthing – Vulnerability

Last week, I went to Atlanta for my first Twitter Math Camp (TMC). TMC is grassroots PD run by passionate teachers who talk about math ed via blogs and twitter. I expected TMC to be about pedagogy. I expected to hear about great lessons, great tasks, reusable structures, cultivating math mindsets, various manipulatives and representations, … Continue reading Mathematical Creations at #TMC17

I haven't blogged in a year. A lot has changed since then. In June, I finished my fourth and final year at Chelsea High School and in September, I started at Dearborn STEM Academy. As I reflect on my year as a teacher, the decision to leave the only teaching job I've ever had was … Continue reading 2016 – The Year I Switched Schools

I've fallen behind in the MTBoS blogging initiative, but my one day weekend turned into a four day weekend thanks to some well-timed snow, and it's time to catch up! This year, I have been preoccupied with how students forget so much, so quickly. This year, I am teaching AP Calculus, which means that I am … Continue reading What do you think when you see … ?

Grad School: Take 1 I essentially learned how to teach math by thinking about how to teach completing the square. In my high school methods class with Yolanda Rolle, I was paired up with two of my classmates (Mary Feeley and Amanda Miles) to prepare a lesson on completing the square which we would then … Continue reading My Favorite: Completing the Square

My school's new schedule splits eight periods into an A day and a B day with four periods each (plus advisory on Mondays and Tuesdays). My A days are very different from my B days; I teach two blocks on A days, and only one on B day. I decided to write about Thursday (which … Continue reading A Day In the Life