I'll be offering four workshops for math teachers this summer. At the Head-Royce School in Oakland, CA:June 27-30: Visual Algebra (grades 7-11)July 1: Seeking Depth in Algebra 2At the Principia School in Saint Louis, MO:July 25-27: Visual Algebra (grades 6-9)July 28-29: No Limits! (Algebra 2-Precalculus)The grades 6-9 version of Visual Algebra is a subset of… Continue reading Summer Workshop Dates 2016
Blog
Hints! The topic that will not die
In a post about hints, last June, I wrote: "Any time we can ask kids to make something instead of consuming something, we should jump on it." My point was that merely asking students "what do you notice?" is not likely to yield the desired insight, because what students notice is constrained by what they… Continue reading Hints! The topic that will not die
12th grade math options
I just posted Isometries of the Plane on my Web site. It is a transformational geometry unit aimed at high school teachers, and/or students in grades 11-12. It does go beyond the Common Core State Standards for Math (CCSSM), and thus might make sense as part of a precalculus course or a 12th grade elective.In… Continue reading 12th grade math options
Once again: heterogeneous classes
All classes are heterogeneous, some more than others. In other words, some of our students don't pick up new ideas as quickly as their peers. Can something be done about it?This is part of a multifaceted strategy to teach heterogeneous classes. Read about it in this article: Reaching the Full Range. The answer depends on… Continue reading Once again: heterogeneous classes
New Lab Gear Books
As I announced in the November issue of my newsletter, the new Lab Gear books are out, and can be ordered from Didax: Algebra Lab Gear: Basic Algebra, and Algebra Lab Gear: Algebra 1.The Lab Gear is a comprehensive manipulative environment I created for the teaching and learning of algebra. I devote a fair amount… Continue reading New Lab Gear Books
Northern California December Events
I suspect that some readers of this blog do not subscribe to my newsletter, so I will use this post and the next to let you know about some news in my math education life. If you did get the November issue of the newsletter, you might read on anyway, as I will be going… Continue reading Northern California December Events
Programming and Math Education
Some responses on Twitter made me realize I was probably not clear in yesterday's post where I argued that computer programming is a kind of literacy. Some people say that students should be exposed to computer science because that's where the jobs will be in the future. There may be some validity to that, but… Continue reading Programming and Math Education
Literacies
I've been known to argue that computer programming (a.k.a. "coding") is a new literacy. In this post, I'll try to clarify why, and discuss some implications. First, let's define our terms. On what grounds can school subjects be classified as a kind of literacy? I can think of two criteria. * The first criterion is… Continue reading Literacies
How To
I am often asked "what is the best way to teach equation solving?" (or graphing, or factoring, etc.) Conversely, teachers often want to share with me what they deem the best way to teach students how to do certain things. These conversations are based on a widely-held belief that our job as math teachers is… Continue reading How To
Embracing Opposites
A couple of years ago on this blog, I summarized "Embracing Contraries in the Teaching Process", an important article by English professor Peter Elbow. His key point was that there is a tension between our obligation to our students, on the one hand, and our obligation to our discipline, on the other. In many ways,… Continue reading Embracing Opposites
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