There’s a bit of a stir about Natalie Munroe’s blog. (Sure, it’s been deleted, but the cache lives on). For all the handwringing about how a teacher could say that about a student, that’s not what concerns me. I’ve heard similar in every faculty lunchroom I’ve been in. I’ve heard the same sorts of justifications […]
Also tagged ReflectionI didn’t feel like a proper member of this school until just now: The woodshop class made me a sign:
Also tagged ReflectionI have a couple of kids who came into my class this year with a huge deficit. They had to make it up, and a large number of them did. (One of my students was failing horribly, about 20% on his tests or so, for the first month). A lot of them have put in […]
Also tagged GradesLike most math classrooms, I’ve got a number line. My kids use the hell out of it after we learn about negative numbers, some up to the end of the school year. We’ve got a week and a half left, and the kids are restless. I didn’t like the number line I bought this year, […]
Also tagged Negative, NegativesSamJShah posted about factoring up, and his concerns that it relies on some magic that hides deeper mathematical understanding. I share his concerns about that method. Fortunately, I’ve found a way to do it that builds on prior knowledge, rather than relying on legerdemain. It goes back to teaching binomial multiplication – I rely mostly […]
Also tagged FactoringThere’s this trope, mostly appearing in martial arts fiction, of a learning process where tasks that appear menial and pointless are actual lessons that impose the skills or knowledge needed without the student being aware that they’re learning anything. My favorite of these is in The Matador series by Steve Perry1. In it, neophytes try […]
Also tagged Question, ReflectionMy students sit at tables instead of individual desks. To reduce the incidence of cheating, I create two versions for each test. I’ve learned in the process that similar looking problems actually can vary quite a bit in their effectiveness. Here’s my first example: -4 – 9 = -9 – 4 = Similar problems, same […]
Also tagged Negatives, QuestionsHad a discussion with another math teacher here the other day. We were both in favor of increased observations in our classrooms, both by administrators, and by other teachers. We both think that having more feedback would allow us to focus our efforts at growth. Where we differed was in how we’d like to have […]
Also tagged Administration, BehaviorI teach two remedial prealgebra classes. One of the biggest hangups for these kids is that they never learned their basic multiplication tables. It’s hard to develop any sort of number sense if you can’t even make a quick guess at how many Xs are here: X X X X X X X X X […]
Also tagged Behavior, MultiplicationThere’s a different lesson here than I expected. This Tuesday, I had one of my former students return to my classroom. He had gone off to a charter school, and lasted less than 3 months. The post was going to be a rant about charter schools being able to pick and choose their students, compared […]
Also tagged Behavior
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