At PCMI this summer, I gave an Ignite talk that I called "Beyond High Quality Math Instruction" that was about how/why I do restorative circles in my math classroom. Some teachers wanted to know more, and this is my attempt to elaborate.  I am a math teacher who loves math and loves teaching. Being a … Continue reading Restorative Circles in My Math Class

 This summer, I spent three weeks in Park City, Utah as part of the Park City Math Institute (PCMI) Teacher Leader Program. PCMI is a teacher math camp of sorts, and is sort of like if PROMYS for Teachers and Twitter Math Camp had a baby. PCMI captures the intense but thrilling mathematical experience of PROMYS with the … Continue reading PCMI Part 2: Pedagogy and Socializing

This summer, I spent three weeks in Park City, Utah as part of the Park City Math Institute (PCMI) Teacher Leader Program. PCMI is a teacher math camp of sorts, and is sort of like if PROMYS for Teachers and Twitter Math Camp had a baby. PCMI captures the intense but thrilling mathematical experience of PROMYS with the … Continue reading PCMI Part 1: Morning Math

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