A correspondent writes:I am planning to incorporate pentominoes into my art lesson on designing houses. Do you have comments or help on this concept.One possibility is pentomino-tiled floors. There's a lesson on tiling with polyominoes in my Geometry Labs book (Lab 7.1), but the basic idea is straightforward: find ways to tile with each of… Continue reading Pentomino art lesson
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Middle school job in SF
The San Francisco School has an opening for a math teacher for 2010-11 -- grades 7-8. See announcement below.--Henri---------------------------------------------------------------------The San Francisco SchoolJob AnnouncementMIDDLE SCHOOL MATH TEACHERSeventh-Eighth Grade Starts August 2010 (with summer prep time)Overview of PositionThe San Francisco School seeks a Middle School Math Teacher interested in strengthening mathematical reasoning and deepening conceptual understanding among… Continue reading Middle school job in SF
Teacher Perfectionism
Every teacher knows that teaching is an emotional roller coaster -- we are thrilled if a class goes well, depressed if it doesn't. But the reality, I'm afraid, is that every class we teach, even the good ones, is a failure in one respect or another: some students found it too difficult or too easy;… Continue reading Teacher Perfectionism
Student Perfectionism
Some years ago, we surveyed the students at Urban about how they experienced the math program. As I remember it, we tried to ask separate questions about what students enjoyed, and what helped them learn. These are of course not necessarily the same thing, and we wanted them to develop an awareness of that distinction… Continue reading Student Perfectionism
Astronomy!
I just posted a six-week naked-eye astronomy unit I developed as an elementary school teacher, decades ago. The documents are a little shabby, but the lessons should work in grades 4 and up. --Henri
I was the worst student in the class
I am back at school after a year away from teaching. During that time, I was a student three times. I took a painting class -- four hours a day, every weekday, for a whole month at the Arts Students League of New York -- wonderfully relaxing and energizing. I took a Web design class… Continue reading I was the worst student in the class
IWBs: PS
One thing I do with IWBs which I couldn't do without is annotate the board after the fact. When I have time after class, I go through the day's boards and type in clarifying comments, highlight important words, remove confusing items, and reorganize things so they are easier to decipher. Then I post the annotated… Continue reading IWBs: PS
Interactive White Boards (continued)
In response to my post on IWBs, Joy Wolfe writes:Thanks for blogging a response to Mr. Ferriter's seemingly ignorant bashingof the use of IWBs. Amen to what you wrote! When I first read the article,I was extremely frustrated. It saddened me that Mr. Ferriter seemed to havehad little training in the use of his interactive… Continue reading Interactive White Boards (continued)
Interactive White Boards
An expanded and illustrated version of this post was published in The Mathematics Teacher, November 2010. Read it here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------Teacher Magazine published "Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards", a passionate article by one Bill Ferriter. Hatred seems like a strong reaction to an inanimate object -- but as it turns out it is tied to frustration… Continue reading Interactive White Boards
Kinesthetic Radians
(Previous kinesthetic posts: Pascal's Triangle, Graphing, Distance.)If radians are introduced strictly with a formula, the meaning of the word is difficult to grasp for many students. Some years ago, I learned two tricks from a colleague, which I'll share here:- Tell students that "radian" is short for "radius angle".- A one-minute kinesthetic activity: ask students… Continue reading Kinesthetic Radians
Henri's Math Education Blog 