I do not have a math brain. In fact, I often joke that I have to take off a sock to count to 11. You chuckle, but it’s not really that far from the truth. I was in third grade when I realized that I was never going to be the queen of mathematics. My…
Math
No Prep? Yes, Please!
When I taught, I used to get bogged down with lesson planning and prep. I have a sneaking suspicion that you feel the same. I taught young fives and kindergarten, and I spent countless hours cutting out patterns, preparing visuals, and differentiating instruction for those who needed it. I did a lot of sitting on…
A Frosty “Mathcraft”
No time for arts and crafts? Then plan a “mathcraft”! For each student, cut a circle and a hexagon from white paper; then cut each circle in half and each hexagon into a rectangle and two triangles. Choose a Common Core skill from below to incorporate during the formation of Frosty. Look at Frosty now!…
Number Bonds
I’m not talkin’ finance, folks—I’m talking about a nifty math tool. If you’re unfamiliar with number bonds, they look like the one shown. A number bond shows a whole number and its parts. It can be used for composing and decomposing numbers, for adding, for multiplying, and more. Are number bonds a part of your…
History Without Standards
I went looking for a different kind of standard. We have the Common Core State Standards, which cover mathematics and language arts. We also have the Next Generation Science Standards, already adopted by six states. But what about history standards? (And the arts? And civics? And common sense?) What I found was the National Center…
A School Year in Review
Let’s review, shall we? During the last school year, I touched on a wide range of subjects, both serious and not-so-much. On a few of them, I received many comments. On many of them, I received none. Good or bad, I think some of them are worth revisiting. And the passage of time may mean…
Common Core Outcomes Giveaway
Your time at the end of the school year is valuable. So this will be a short and, hopefully, sweet blog post. Roughly 97 ideas crossed paths in my brain at one point this morning (not unusual, really), and I was left with the following questions that I want to ask you: Did you incorporate…
To Code or Not to Code
One of the most beautiful things in the world is the IBM Selectric typewriter. It looks like a work of Mondrian, sounds like a tango, smells like the future, and responds like a thoroughbred beneath one’s fingertips. (That covers four out of five senses. I’ve never tasted a Selectric.) When I was quite young, I…
Take the Tech Outside
It’s that time of year. Take your students outside for fresh air and supercharged STEM learning! Courtesy of the STEMblog, here are “5 Ways to Take Technology Outdoors.” 1. Mobile Devices – Smartphones and tablets, with their wide array of apps, a camera, and GPS abilities, are great tools for documenting outdoor observations. As a…
On the Verge of Wrapping It Up
Yes, unless you teach in a year-round school, that part of the academic year when you start looking at ways to wrap it up is here (or coming very soon). My three kids have already informed me of how few school days are actually left before summer vacation. I nearly had a heart attack! Mailbox…