The Steep Part of the Learning Curve
I'm still coming down from the high of the awesome NCTM Regional conference in Nashville. So many good things were happening, especially in the coming together of NCTM and the MTBoS (Math Twitter Blog-o-Sphere). I've been thinking about my thinking and learning, and I find myself working over a few meta-observations ...
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Which Mistake to Pursue?
Yesterday, I was the lucky duck working with a team of three teachers who each teach multi-age 3rd/4th grade. We were all in one class together in the morning, and then got to meet during their common planning time later that day. The kids have been working on perimeter, mostly of ...
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Comparisons: A Little Bit More Older
Ask any elementary school teacher, and she or he will tell you that comparison problems are much harder for most kids than operations with other actions. For example, fourth-grade-teacher Jennifer Clerkin Muhammad asked her students to draw a picture of this problem from Investigations: Darlene picked 7 apples. Juan picked ...
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Shadow Con
Back in April, I had the honor of speaking at Shadow Con, a teacher-led mini conference held after hours at NCTM in Boston. The three organizers, Zak Champagne, Dan Meyer, and Mike Flynn, spent quite a bit of time re-imagining conferences, thinking about how they could have bigger, more lasting ...
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Number Lines, Addendum
Given the ridiculous length of my last blog post, I can't believe I forgot something, but I did! (To begin at the beginning of my wonderings about number lines, start here.) When the K-2 teachers were discussing contexts for equally spaced intervals, Becky Wright, a truly amazing kindergarten teacher, thought ...
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Number Lines, part 2
Between NCSM/NCTM, spring break in New York, and then a big surgery, I've been off this space for a while. The teachers with whom I collaborate--the amazing staff at Rollinsford Grade School in New Hampshire--have been going full steam ahead, though, and they've taught me so much more about young kids ...
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NCTM Boston
Hi folks, If you're here in Boston, check me out at: Developing Risk Takers: Teaching Students to Give it a Go, #nctmgiveitago 12:30 - 1:30, Room 253B Here are the handouts Here are the slides And... At Shadow Conference, along with Dan Meyer, Zak Champagne, Mike Flynn, Elham Kazemi, Kristin ...
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Further thoughts on the New York Times piece
It's always fun to talk with Jessica Lahey, and I was honored she included me in the company of Steven Strogatz and Christopher Danielson for her last piece, "The Problem with Math Problems: We're Solving Them Wrong." I have been reading some of the comments and twitter chatter, and I'm so glad people ...
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Building Number Lines in Kindergarten
I'm so stinking lucky. I'm working with an amazing staff at a lovely school over weeks, months, and years, and I learn so much every day we have together. Yesterday, I spent my afternoon with the K-2 teachers, and we continued our ongoing discussion about number lines. The kindergarten teacher ...
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