Productive Struggle: Fostering Deep Math Learning in Your Classroom with Discovery
Productive struggle is the process where students face challenging problems or concepts that they don't immediately know how to solve. However, they approach these challenges with hope and confidence, believing that with effort and perseverance, they can arrive at a solution. This is a mindset that takes time to develop.
Book Recommendations for Math Teachers
Have you ever read a book that significantly changed how you taught? I’ve picked out a few of my favorite books for math educators. I think these are must-reads for every math teacher.
Spring Math Activities
March means Pi Day, St. Patrick’s Day, the beginning of spring, basketball, and so much more! I’ve rounded up some of my favorite math activities, games, and lessons for middle and high school students for spring. These are sure to keep students engaged and challenge them to think mathematically!
Math Activities for Thanksgiving
Be ready for the days before Thanksgiving break and keep students engaged with these fun math activities and ideas! These are best suited for middle school math classes.
Should we teach students math shortcuts and tricks?
Shortcuts are a necessary part of math. If you are an efficient problem solver, you are likely using shortcuts that you have learned. The approach to shortcuts is what we must examine.
Are we showing students all the shortcuts without allowing time for them to understand why they work?
If we are showing students shortcuts, students are likely memorizing them in order to get an answer that day or pass a quiz that week. Memorization without understanding causes problems later. Without the conceptual understanding of what is happening, students forget. They apply the shortcuts at the wrong time, and they cannot extend them to other concepts. And it sends the message that math makes no sense, which may be the most worrisome outcome of all.
Read on for commonly misused shortcuts and what to do instead.
Adding Rigor in Math Class by Getting Students to Think Backward
Rigorous math lessons are important for pushing student thinking and understanding. Today I’m going to share one change that can make a problem more rigorous. This technique can be use to create a problem solving task that really makes your middle school or high school math students think!
When students can solve a problem and then think about how to work backward, we are preparing them for success in algebra. It’s also a great practice for adding rigor to a lesson.
I decided to brainstorm some ways to put this idea into practice in different grade levels. Read on for inspiration.
6th Grade Math Classroom Decorations and Back to School Ideas
Here are some of my favorite resources for the beginning of the year for sixth grade math. Included are ideas for classroom decorations, activities for the first day, and routines we can establish from the start.
Can we break the order of operations?
The order of operations, they are such a straight-forward math topic, right? Or are they?
Students are capable of thinking about math. What if we show them multiple paths to simplifying expressions and let them discuss if they agree or disagree? This practice will help them think flexibly when simplifying expressions.