Scott Kim, the author of the excellent Inversions, is launching a crusade to bring more puzzles to math education. He gave a talk on this subject at the Gathering 4 Gardner. (See the slides.) Martin Gardner, of course, is the author of the long-running Mathematical Games column in Scientific American. He inspired who knows how… Continue reading Puzzles in math education
Tag: Manipulatives
Presentation at SF State, May 1
I was invited by the San Francisco Teachers' Math Circle to present some problems. Here's the basic info.When: Tuesday, May 1 at 6:00 PM Where: Trailer P (behind Thorton Hall) at San Francisco State University 3699 19th Avenue, San Francisco, CAAs far as I know, the event is free, and dinner is included!I will present a pattern… Continue reading Presentation at SF State, May 1
Early Bird Discount
About three months ago, I mentioned my summer workshops for teachers and summarized how they will differ from their previous incarnations.Brief recap:- Hands-On Geometry, June 18-21 in San Francisco- Visual Algebra, August 13-15 in New York City- Re-imagining High School Math, August 16-17 in New York CityThe workshops are sponsored by the Center for Innovative… Continue reading Early Bird Discount
The Quadratic Formula
In the period following the publication of Algebra: Themes, Tools, Concepts, we started asking our Math 1 students to write and illustrate a short report or poster, tying in four representations of a trinomial in the form x^2+bx+c. (Math 1 is Urban School's Math Department's version of Algebra 1, sort of.) I just posted a… Continue reading The Quadratic Formula
Playing Games
I attended an Escape from the Textbook! meeting last weekend. The first part of the meeting focused on the mathematics of the game of Set, and the second part launched a conversation about assessment, which will continue in future meetings. Avery Pickford took notes, and posted them on his excellent blog, "Without Geometry, Life Is… Continue reading Playing Games
Geometry Labs
My book Geometry Labs is now available for free download on my Web site.Whew! It was a bit of work to get it ready.--HenriPS: In addition to the book itself, I'll be adding links to revisions and extensions of the labs. So far, a revision of the rep-tile lab, and an extension of the soccer… Continue reading Geometry Labs
Escape! Meeting notes 3 — habits of mind
This is the third and final installment of my notes from the Bay Area fall meeting of Escape from the Textbook!(Part 1) (Part 2)We ended the meeting with a segment led by Avery Pickford. (See his notes about the meeting.)He presented this problem:(He didn't present it exactly like this -- this is how the problem… Continue reading Escape! Meeting notes 3 — habits of mind
Escape! meeting notes 2 — Miras
Notes from the Fall Bay Area meeting of Escape from the Textbook! (continued)back to Part 1 Carlos Cabana challenged us to think of uses for Miras, and for tangrams.Having done a lot with tangrams over the years, I chose to work on Miras. I have a class set of those at school but have not… Continue reading Escape! meeting notes 2 — Miras
Escape! meeting notes 1 — tools, backward design
Last Saturday, I attended an Escape from the Textbook! meeting. As always, it was stimulating. Here are some notes.Carlos Cabana talked about the special role of tools in a student-centered pedagogy. Used properly, they allow us to reverse questions and get at big ideas. This is in contrast to the shallow use of tools which… Continue reading Escape! meeting notes 1 — tools, backward design
Lab Gear availability
Apparently Lab Gear is gradually running out, and will soon be "out of print", or whatever the appropriate phrase is for plastic manipulatives. So if you want to get more blocks, now is the time. Go to the McGraw-Hill site.I'll be looking for another publisher, but who knows if I'll find one.--HenriPS: If you need… Continue reading Lab Gear availability
Henri's Math Education Blog 