Author: Geoff
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[NCTMNOLA Processing Session 5] Networks and Silos
This will be the fifth and final NCTMNOLA Processing Session. It’ll be short too, just a quick debrief. I vacillate between the poles of “math is different” and “math is just like other subjects.” Sometimes I wonder if math teachers use its alleged differentness as an excuse to teach it in an overly linear way.…
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[NCTMNOLA Processing Session 4] I may have missed my calling
Those most mathematical fun I had at NCTMNOLA was in sessions focused on Elementary School level math. Either by accident or by impulse I found myself drifting into sessions that one would associate with K-5. Well, if that’s the case, why did I have so much fun? David and Kathryn led us through a gallery…
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[NCTMNOLA Processing Session 3] Summer School is Dead, Long Live Summer School
In between the instant they opened the door to Jo Boaler’s talk on “Promoting Equity Through Teaching for a Growth Mindset” and when she began speaking, I, Eleanor, and a few others in my row banded together as Jo Boaler groupies. We were those people at rock festivals who get to the stage several acts…
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[NCTMNOLA Processing Session 2] What math teachers applaud
I realize now I’m recapping NCTM in order of sessions that force me to process things. Dan’s presentation definitely forces me to do just that. Dan’s talk focused on the lessons he learned while playing countless hours of Angry Birds, Portal, Flight Control, and Stickman Golf. I loved how he pointed out that the lessons…
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[NCTMNOLA Processing: Session 1] Classroom technology (and everything else): Start with the why
About that NCTM tech panel… I’ll be writing a fuller, NCTM recap (hopefully) sometime this week but I wanted to get some thoughts out there for my own sanity (yes, I write to process). There was a panel during NCTM entitled Teachers Leveraging Technology in the Classroom. Here was the description: “How can technology, from…
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My NCTM Slides and Resources: Designing Your Problem-Based Classroom
Here is the powerpoint and additional resources for my NCTM 2014 presentation: Setting the Scene: Designing Your Problem-Based Classroom NCTM – Setting the Scene [PPT] NCTM_Problem Based Learning one pager_Krall [PDF] The Source Texts NCTM Research Brief – “Why Is Teaching With Problem Solving Important to Student Learning?” Jo Boaler – “What’s Math Got To Do With…
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Students writing their own problems: a walkthrough
I imagine this is pretty high on whatever hierarchy of question you ascribe to, but it’s one that sure speaks to me. Malcolm Swan references Creating Problems (p.28) as a way of students demonstrating mastery. I’ve had mixed result with having students do just that. Below is an attempt at streamlining the process, using a sort…
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Thought experiment: combine Algebra 1 and Physical Education
(Part of the reason I started this blog is so I’d have a place to play around with ideas, no matter how non-field-tested they may be. Consider this one of my many half-baked ideas that I haven’t fully thought through.) One of the hallmarks of a New Tech Network school – the network of schools…
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Equalizing Practice and Assessment (Part 2): What You Value Should Be What You Assess
Have you told your students how much you value honest attempts at solutions to a problem? Even incorrect solutions? Then you have to assess this way. You can’t tell students that you value their incorrect attempts at solutions when you take off points when they get an answer wrong. Worse, you can’t say you value…
emergent math 