The Evolution of Math Education: Understanding the Why Before the How
I had another post planned for today, but I decided to change the subject based on a conversation I had the other day. During my yearly physical earlier this week, I was wearing one of my many math shirts, which prompted my doctor to ask, “Why did we have to go and change math to this new math?” This is not the first time I’ve been asked this question. As a Response to Intervention teacher for 8 1/2 years, parents often asked me this at open houses, parent-teacher conferences, and any school event. Honestly, once anyone finds out that I…
Booktalking: Crowdsourcing Your Reading
Discover the power of peer recommendations with "Crowdsourcing Your Reading," a pandemic-inspired booktalk activity. Using Goodreads and collaborative tools, students share their favorite books, creating a vibrant reading community. This engaging method not only introduces teens to valuable reading resources but also fosters a love for literature through authentic peer endorsements.
Booktalking: Genre Bingo & Genrefication
Looking to breathe new life into your library booktalks? Let me introduce you to the game-changing Genre Bingo Booktalk – a dynamic activity that's transforming how students engage with literature in school libraries across K-12. In this post, I'll walk you through my journey of genrefying school libraries and how it led to the creation of this innovative booktalk method.
Play to Learn: Ticket to Ride
The first American Style board game we will look at in the Play to Learn series is Ticket to Ride. This is one of the easier strategy games to play when entering this genre of games. It is in the group of games I first learned how to play and one of the first games I teach and suggest to new groups of gamers! Ticket to Ride is a cross-country train adventure where players gather and play matching train cards to claim railway routes connecting cities across North America. Longer routes earn more points. Additional points are awarded to players who…
Turning Pages: Strategies for Creating a Reading Culture
Transform booktalks from passive to active experiences with engaging techniques that inspire a love for reading. Discover methods like interactive displays, book trailers, and speed dating to create a dynamic reading culture. These strategies help students explore and connect with books, fostering a lifelong passion for literature.
A Few of My Favorite Things- Non-Curricular Tasks
Within the past few years, Peter Liljedahl’s book, Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics for grades K-12, has blasted off in the mathematics education world! This popular book outlines 14 Teaching Practices for Enhancing Learning- all focusing on a math classroom. Over many years of research in a variety of schools and locations, he noticed that students were not thinking about math. Enter his 14 best practices to improve how we get students to think about math. The tasks we give during a math class, based on his research, are based off of years of institutional norms. The way our parents learned…
Fighting the Summer Slide with Gamified Reading Challenges
This summer, transform reading into an adventure! Ditch rigid booklists and embrace creativity. Students earn points by completing fun challenges like blackout poetry, character art, and creating music playlists. With varied tasks and exciting rewards, summer reading becomes a thrilling journey.
Play to Learn: Carcassonne
In the second blog post in the Play to Learn series, we will look at the game Carcassonne. This game is similar to Settlers of Catan, in that it is a Euro-style game. The game is based on mechanics versus story and theme. Carcassonne is a tile placement game. Players are looking to match tiles and place tiles to gain experience points (XP) . Tiles are picked at random and have illustrations of southern French landscape. Meeples represent people in the game and score points for the players. There are four types of tiles in the game. Farmland,…
EduProtocol: Fast and the Curious
The Fast and the Curious EduProtocol is ideal for teaching new information such as math facts or vocabulary words. Anything that with repetition would improve understanding and more to long term memeory. This protocol spans five class days, using just 15 minutes each day. It is perfect to start at the beginning of the school week.
Math on the Move: Exploring Algebra with TI Rovers
Just a few weeks ago, I was able to work with students in Algebra I classes using the TI-Innovator™ Rover. In New York State, we have end of the year Regents Examinations, which are achievement tests aligned with New York State’s learning standards. This year, the Algebra I Regents was early, which allowed for me to go into schools to use the TI-Innovator™ Rover. Students got to explore math content in a hands on way, while also learning how to code! One of the schools I went to had students compete in Rover Olympics! Each group picked a country to…
