In this post, I will outline my approach to this partition problem:How many ways can you write a positive integer n as a sum of three or fewer positive integers? Partitions are a standard topic in number theory, but I will limit myself to this specific question. I started trying to figure it out after… Continue reading Partitions
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Assessment Postscript
A few months ago, I wrote a series of posts on the subject of assessment. (It starts here.) Even though the series extended to eight posts, I didn't manage to include everything I had wanted to say. Here are a few thoughts that didn't make it into the series. 1. Obedience For some of us,… Continue reading Assessment Postscript
Big Dodecagon
A classic activity is to cover a 1-inch-side dodecagon with pattern blocks. This provides a great context to discuss symmetry (see Geometry Labs 5.6.) Here is one way to do it:See many others, found by Simon Gregg's students.In the past few days, I've had fun making a double-size, quadruple-area dodecagon: You too, and… Continue reading Big Dodecagon
Fads and Memes
My defense of eclecticism in teaching generated a strong positive response from teachers, perhaps because I articulated a widely held resentment about the fads that blow through the educational landscape. But interesting questions were raised about what I wrote. In my last post, I tried to clarify my views on math education research. Today, I… Continue reading Fads and Memes
Math Education Research
In my last post, I argued in favor of eclecticism in teaching. The response I got was unusually enthusiastic in terms of numbers of visitors, retweets, and comments on Twitter. Unusually enthusiastic compared to what I'm accustomed to: I'm far from being an Internet celebrity. Still, it felt like I said something that resonated.However there… Continue reading Math Education Research
Eclectic
In between June 27 and August 4, 2016, I presented seven to ten workshops (depending on how you count) ranging from a couple of hours to four days. I share most of the handouts, resources, and slides on my Summer Workshops site. (See below my signature for more details on what's there.)The site will remain… Continue reading Eclectic
Math in the Long Period
In this post, I will expand on some of the ideas from a previous article about Teaching in the Long Period. (Read that article first!) I will also add some thoughts that were missing in the original, and try to answer some specific concerns often expressed by math teachers whose schools are adopting block schedules.Do… Continue reading Math in the Long Period
Tiling, aka Tessellation
I'm at Twitter Math Camp, which is a teacher-created and teacher-led conference. I had hoped to present a three-part session on Advanced Transformations, but that turned out to be of interest to just one person, so I got to attend "Tessellation Nation", a three-session gathering of people who share an interest in tiling. The session… Continue reading Tiling, aka Tessellation
New(ish) on my Web site
I will probably blog much less during the summer months, given that I am leading many workshops, one after another, with little breathing time in between. I will also probably do little updating of my Web site, so this is a good time to let you know of some recent additions and tweaks.New: An excellent… Continue reading New(ish) on my Web site
Forward Design
Earlier posts in this series: Legitimate Uses of Assessment Problematic Uses of Assessment The Meaning of Grades De-emphasizing Grades Grades: the Research The Perils of Backward Design Assessment Tools and Strategies The Assessment Trap, Part 8: Forward Design It's time to wrap up this series. Here is a summary of the main points: - From… Continue reading Forward Design
Henri's Math Education Blog 