Student learning is no accident!
Teaching Long Division. I can almost feel the pain just typing the words. I think I have some residual PTSD from erasing a hole through my paper in Ms. Donahue’s fourth grade class in the 80’s. Guessing wrong how many times 37 “go-zin-ta” 566… and not knowing until the end of a traumatic subtraction exercise complete with WAY too much… Read More
One of the most challenging aspects of teaching math is assessing each student’s level of understanding. It feels like it changes minute by minute- and there’s no neon ticker scrolling over their heads! I was shocked when I realized that the video math lessons I was already making, might actually help with assessment. My biggest fear, when teaching new concepts, is… Read More
It took me years to figure out how to teach multiplying fractions so that students could conceptualize a part of a part. I learned that the traditional algorithm had to take a back seat to drawing and color coding models. When teaching this unit, I’ve found that the most important tool for my students- is sharpened colored pencils. We draw… Read More
Every year, many of my students struggle to subtract mixed numbers when regrouping is needed. Flipping my instruction around subtracting mixed numbers has made a HUGE difference! Once I have initially launched the concept, students work through problems at their own pace. First, they attempt a problem independently. Next, they click on the problem within a digital worksheet and watch… Read More
A while back I took stock of what we were doing as a math department to improve kids’ math fluency. It seemed that every year we had a chunk of kids who came up to sixth grade with amazing fact fluency. We had another chunk who fought with basic addition and multiplication much like struggling readers fought with multisyllabic words…. Read More
In the next few posts, I’m going to focus on Differentiating Instruction in the Math Classroom. I will give you three strategies you can use immediately in the lessons you already have planned- to reach all of those kids! I promise not to ask you to do ANYTHING that wastes your time. I promise to only save you time.
