Category: math
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Math Syllabus Bootcamp Mini-Series Part 5: Putting it all together. Additional nuts & bolts and an example syllabus.
In this miniseries we’ve covered how to promote and incorporate diverse identities into your syllabus, ways to promote a myriad of types of mathematical thinking, how to establish and teach norms, and laying out the year in a Hilbertian “challenge problem” style. Now we’re going to put it all together. I’ll give some additional suggestions…
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Math Syllabus Bootcamp Part 3: Norms. What are expectations for quality collaborative work?
(This is Part 3 in a mini-series on constructing a math syllabus. I hope it challenges you to think about possible ways to vision your classroom, even if you don’t utilize all the ideas. Check out the previous entries via the links below.) Norms exist in every classroom, whether they are on a placard on…
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A rubric to assess the eight Common Core State Standards of Mathematical Practice
Update 8/2/21. After reviewing feedback from teachers who have implemented the rubric in its draft form, I feel confident in removing that modifier of “draft.” Consider the rubric below for the Standards of Mathematical Practice as Version 1.0. The Common Core Standards of Mathematical Practice (MPs) have been available for a while now. They lay…
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Where does a letter occur in a word? A matching activity
Whenever and however we come back together as math classes this Fall, we’re going to need to spend considerable time building up students’ mathematical identities. Chances are students are going to be entering your classroom with a wider array of math learning experiences over the prior six months than ever before. Therefore we need a…
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How a problem becomes a lesson
Sometimes we overthink it. We (*ahem*) create big curriculum maps full of dynamic problem based lessons created by the most intrepid teachers on the internets. As useful and helpful as these are, the most reliable-to-hit-the-content, easiest-to-plan problems come from stuff that already exists. Textbooks and online problem sets are the most robust source of quality…
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Transversals Lesson: Street Views
The following Problem Based math lesson covers the concept of transversals crossing parallel lines and their angle relationships. The scenario of the task predicated on needing to determine “safe” and “troublesome” intersections in town. Intersections that are closer to right angles are deemed “safe,” while intersections with extreme angles result in limited-vision turns. But that…
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Why don’t students feel like they’re learning? (when they actually are)
It’s something we’ve all experienced: we’ll lecture and feel like students got it. Maybe they’ll even do well on the practice problems we assign them. Then the next day or the next week we try something a bit more open ended – a problem based lesson, a 3-Act Task, an Open Middle task – and…
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Five steps to plan a problem based lesson
Far from a simple undertaking, incorporating more inquiry in your class is a challenging process. You and your students may have to unlearn some of the tendencies you’ve built up over the years. So I hope you don’t take this “five steps” post as a flippant, “it’s so easy” post. The opposite is true: problem…
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Math Mindset and Attitudes Survey
Update 5/17/2022: I created a URL that should allow you to make a copy of the google form directly, without having to reach out to me. Here is the link to the copy of the master google form, which you’ll then be able to edit and have ownership rights. Let me know if that doesn’t…
emergent math 