Square Roots by Hand… A Lost Art?

Ever since I was 5 or 6 years old, I was fascinated by the use of a calculator. I clearly remember pacing around my backyard, punching in the keys from 1 through 100 and multiplying each number by itself. Over time I found myself memorizing them and I would ask members of my family to …

Managing the First Few Weeks of Math in School During Difficult Times

By the time you are reading this title, you are probably thinking, "Oh geez, not another article about this!" Or... maybe thinking the opposite? My intent here is not to sound redundant, trite, and redundant... all over again. My intent is to share my experiences with my first few weeks of school this year. This …

Making Math Accessible Using Universal Design for Learning

Nineteen years ago when I started teaching, looking at how accessible my mathematics lessons were for all students was not even on my radar.  My college training taught me to think about my goals, objectives, and ways I could differentiate my lessons for advanced and struggling learners.  In creating lessons in this manner, I was …

Jo Boaler’s New Release “Limitless Mind” – A Must Read for All

For those of you that have followed my posts over the course of the last year, you probably have figured out that I am a fan of Jo Boaler and all of her work around Mathematical Mindsets.  It is therefore no surprise that in this post I will talk about her most recent book “Limitless …

Math Escape Rooms Offer Both Engagement and Higher Order Thinking

The end of the year can be an extremely challenging time to keep students engaged in the mathematical material you are covering in class.  Normally, the hot weather and the thoughts of summer vacation have already taken root in a middle school student’s mind, making it almost impossible to complete any new material.  That, coupled …

Jo Boaler Releases Mindset Mathematics Grade 6

Attention all 6th Grade Mathematics teachers. Jo Boaler released her Mindset Mathematics Grade 6 Visualizing and Investigating Big Ideas book on January 17, 2019. Her book takes the teachings of her Mathematical Mindsets book and focuses on the big ideas from the 6th grade mathematics curriculum by presenting them through interesting and authentic problem-solving activities. …

Providing Authentic Problem-Solving Activities as a “Maine” Focus

By Daniel Pooler- Middle Levels Representative The most daunting challenge for most Middle School Mathematics Teachers is coming to an understanding of where their students’ math journeys have taken them so far in their academic careers.  For most of us, we are inheriting student feelings of mathematics that were forged years prior by an experience …