Today, another guest post, this time from a homeschooling mom. -- Henri Algebra and Geometry Greetings! I hope this email finds you well. I know you don’t know us, but I wanted to personally thank you for your math books. I cannot express how helpful your books have been, and the relief I have… Continue reading Letter from a Homeschooling Mom
Tag: Algebra
Mentoring and Coaching
Today, I share a guest post by Margot Schou, who I had the good fortune of mentoring at the start of her career. With her permission, I inserted footnotes with links to some relevant further reading on my blog, website, and in the book I co-authored with Professor Robin Pemantle (There is No One Way… Continue reading Mentoring and Coaching
Integrating Problem Solving Seamlessly
Frank Cassano and Anya Sturm are math teachers at Marin Academy, an independent high school in San Rafael. They presented on "Integrating Argumentation and Problem-Solving" at the California Math Council Northern Section meeting in Asilomar last December. I quite enjoyed their talk (which I reported on here) and asked them to summarize it as a… Continue reading Integrating Problem Solving Seamlessly
Function Diagrams
On BlueSky, Bryan Meyer asks: Henri, in your experience, what are the pros and cons of using function diagrams with kids (in addition to the more standard Cartesian representation)? My BlueSky reply: "Cartesian graphs are a life tool. Function diagrams are a learning tool, so less crucial, though I have found a few activities at… Continue reading Function Diagrams
NCTM on Data Science
The National Council of Teachers of Math issued an official statement about data science. It is a Joint Position of NCTM, the National Science Teachers Association, the American Statistical Association, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the Computer Science Teachers Association. It is a short document, and you should read the whole thing,… Continue reading NCTM on Data Science
Another Use for the Lab Gear
I am the creator of the Lab Gear, a manipulative environment for learning algebra. It is more expensive than the better-known algebra tiles, in their various versions, but it is much more effective in the classroom. At least that is the opinion of those teachers I know who have used both. As one of them… Continue reading Another Use for the Lab Gear
What belongs in Algebra 2
In early December, I attended the California Math Council Northern Section conference in Asilomar, as I’ve done almost every year since the mid-1980’s. In my last post, I discussed my session on fractions. For various reasons, I only attended two other sessions. The first was by Eric Muller, who works at the Exploratorium, San Francisco’s… Continue reading What belongs in Algebra 2
Functions from Tables
At some point, maybe thirty years ago, it became fashionable to emphasize functions and their multiple representations in secondary school math. This was in part driven by the newly available electronic graphing technology, and in part by the realization that important curricular ideas should be approached in more than one way. As is often the… Continue reading Functions from Tables
Factoring Trinomials
A recent online conversation got me thinking about the factoring of trinomials. To start with, I would like to step back, and think about why this topic is prominent in the teaching of algebra. In the age of computer algebra systems (CAS), factoring trinomials is not an important skill, except of course for the purposes… Continue reading Factoring Trinomials
Simplify?
We ask students to simplify expressions in various arenas: fractions, order of operations, radicals, and no doubt other topics I’m not recalling right now. What is the purpose of this? When is it appropriate? How much is too much? In my in-depth analysis of the Common Core Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM), I wrote approvingly of… Continue reading Simplify?
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