Welcome to emergent math. Feel free to explore featured blog posts, Problem Based curriculum maps, or other professional development resources.
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Part 1: Identity: Who is a mathematician? (Good morning and welcome to Math Syllabus Bootcamp! This is Part One of a five part Emergent Math mini-series. Today’s topic is on how to incorporate and welcome diverse identities from the very outset of the school year. Be sure to check out the other parts of this … Continue reading Math Syllabus Bootcamp Part 1: Identity. Who is a Mathematician?
This blog post introduces a new mini-series from Emergent Math: your math syllabus bootcamp. Also, be sure to check out Geoff’s previous mini-series: Routines, Lessons, Problems and Projects. I often stumbled into the school year. August appeared and suddenly I was aware that I needed to get back into a proper working routine. Most of … Continue reading Your Math Syllabus Boot Camp
The Common Core Standards of Mathematical Practice (MPs) have been available for a while now. They lay out eight habits that mathematicians embody. They've been instructive in what to teach and how to teach. They've also been helpful in providing a comprehensive vision of what math classrooms can be. MP1. Make sense of problems and … Continue reading A DRAFT rubric to assess the Common Core State Standards of Mathematical Practice
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 … Continue reading Where does a letter occur in a word? A matching activity
I don't know jack shit about teaching remotely. There are many, many blog posts and articles that'll inform you of best practices, useful websites, fun apps, sample schedules and the like. The most helpful of which I find to be open and honest reflections on what it's like to teach entirely remotely, unexpectedly, and without … Continue reading Active caring: now more than ever
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 … Continue reading How a problem becomes a lesson
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 … Continue reading Transversals Lesson: Street Views
The following task is probably best suited for the a beginning unit on Geometric Constructions or use of a compass and straight edge. However, you may also wish to use it as a fun review as students reenter your classrooms in January, groggy from two weeks of sleeping late. The task is adapted from the … Continue reading Geometric Constructions Task: Pizza Delivery Regions
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 … Continue reading Why don’t students feel like they’re learning? (when they actually are)
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 … Continue reading Five steps to plan a problem based lesson
