I meant to blog about this problem about 10 months ago, but better late than never. Highlight: We got student-supplied answers for 1-100. Lowlight: Those 100 answers did not come from 100 different students. In fact, one student was able to come up with about a third of them himself. We got some but not nearly … Continue reading 9. Four Fours
13. Thirteens
Source: NRICH Maths – Elevenses Why did we choose this problem? Good Play With Your Math problems: involve some sort of “play” before choosing a specific strategy. have a low floor (accessibility and entry point) have a high ceiling (need for more complex mathematics) have a succinct, accessible, intuitive wording and visualization This problem meets … Continue reading 13. Thirteens
12. Space Race
On Friday, we shared Play 12. Space Race with our students. Here is a sketch of how this problem developed. 1. Find a fun problem. We met Ben over the summer at a BU discussion workshop, showed him some of our Play problems, and talked about our approach to the project. Later, Ben sent us a problem that … Continue reading 12. Space Race
Video Game Design
Recently, Daniel Schneider posted this video of video game designer Edmund McMillen. In the video, McMillen talks through a few levels of a game, illustrating some of the design decisions that make the game intuitive, engaging, and challenging. I loved this video. I immediately watched it a second and a third time, thinking about the parallels … Continue reading Video Game Design
Strategy Showcase: Always/Sometimes/Never
For a department meeting at the beginning of the year (before I started running department meetings), I had the opportunity to showcase a instructional strategy. I chose Always/Sometimes/Never. Unfortunately, I was sick, and I was not at the meeting, but I'm a huge fan of this strategy, and I would like to talk about why. … Continue reading Strategy Showcase: Always/Sometimes/Never
New Role, New Website, and Being Sick
I haven't written a blog post in a long time. I've been some combination of sick and swamped for most of this school year. There are tons of lessons, activities, and challenges that I would love to talk about, and hopefully, I will find time to do some more writing soon with Thanksgiving and winter … Continue reading New Role, New Website, and Being Sick
Why do I blog? Why do I teach?
I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks. I guess I haven't really decided whether blogging is an integral part of my professional practice and growth or if it's more of a passion project for me to goof around with in my free time or when I'm procrastinating. The last two weeks I've chosen the latter. … Continue reading Why do I blog? Why do I teach?
Everyday
On the first day of school, I gave my students notecards with their table number. On that card, I asked for their name, 2 examples of everyday problems, and 2 examples of everyday creativity. I gave minimal guidance about what an "everyday problem" or "everyday creativity" is. I took the results and turned them into … Continue reading Everyday
Reflections on Math Teacher Training
A few weeks ago, I went to a workshop at BU focused on productive discussions in high school math classrooms. I learned some good stuff, but most importantly, discussions have gotten stuck in my head. I now value discussion – alongside engagement, rigor, and access – as I plan and execute my lessons. I also … Continue reading Reflections on Math Teacher Training
This Year, I’m Excited to Try …
1. Dan Meyer's 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... strategy to earn students' attention Getting students' attention in order to transition from group/individual work to whole-class discussion is a classroom management problem that's been bugging me for two years. I've seen and rejected several solutions to this problem because I didn't think I could pull them off; I fear … Continue reading This Year, I’m Excited to Try …
Mister, is this right? 