3 Tips to Motivate Students to Take Risks in Math

Are you looking for ways to motivate your students to take risks in math class? If you’re like me you want your students to be motivated and take risks in math class. I have three tips to help your students be motivated to take risks in math class! #1: Choose the Right Math Task to […]
Increase Engagement with Problem of the Day for Math

What is Problem of the Day? In my classroom Problem of the Day for math is an instructional routine that helps students achieve deeper learning through inquiry and exploration of mathematical ideas. Okay, so real talk– it’s a routine we use everyday so kids can THINK deeply about math. The routine is simple, but the […]
How Problem Solving Changed my Math Teaching

What can you honestly say has changed your teaching? I don’t say that lightly. Honestly, I will claim just 2 things have changed my teaching career– character education and problem solving. Problem Solving Definition Let’s form a common definition. My training and research comes from a book called Children’s Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction. This training […]
Virtual Math Discussion – 4 Ways to Make it Work!

Never Teach a Live Class to Crickets again! 4 Tips to Engage students in Virtual Math Discussions Anyone else feel like they are teaching a live virtual class to… no one? With student’s cameras off and hesitations to turn their mics on I often feel like talking to myself and my zoom screen. Believe me I get […]
I’m Obsessed with Circles

I’m obsessed with circles. It’s true. When I started having my students sit in a circle my teaching changed and learning increased. What? Just a circle on the rug? I’m literally talking about just changing from having students sit in rows to sitting in a circle. That being said, I’ve always had rectangular carpets in […]
Math Discourse- Sentence Stems

Student Led Discourse- Step 1: Sentence Stems Our discourse is student led. In my crew (that’s what I call my class), students do the heavy lifting in the discourse. What I mean is, they do the noticing, they ask the questions & they even call on one another. The number one question I get asked […]