Math Coach’s Corner Blog
Making Math Accessible…for Teachers
I am just back from the NCTM Annual Meeting and Exposition in sunny San Diego, and what a phenomenal experience it was! There was a lot of buzz around equity and making math accessible to all students. I would like to suggest that in order to make that happen,...
Turn Worksheets into Workstations
I understand the allure of worksheets. Really I do. Students need practice with new concepts, and worksheets provide an easy vehicle for that practice. Worksheets are low maintenance. You just run them off, organize them neatly for each day or class period, hand them...
De-emphasizing Speed in Math
I recently spoke to the mother of a 1st grade student who told her mom that she was bad at math because everyone in the class could answer so much more quickly than her. Heartbreaking. Six years old and already feeling that she is a failure at math. It got me thinking...
The Formative 5: Chapter 5, Exit Tasks
"My tickets were trivial--just quick, mostly routine math computation. Now, my tasks focus on problem solving and reasoning." The Formative 5, page 108 This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a product, I receive a...
The Formative 5: Chapter 4, Hinge Questions
"...the success of a lesson actually hinges on responses to such questions as an indication of whether students understand enough to move on. " The Formative 5, page 85 This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a...
The Formative 5: Chapter 3, Show Me
"Show Me is interactive in that its use can provide an indication as to the extent to which what has been taught has been learned. " The Formative 5, page 63 This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a product, I...
Making Sense of Rounding
Have you ever thought that maybe people who think they are not good at math really have just never been taught math in a way that makes sense to them? Personally, I think that's behind a lot of our math problems. Take rounding for example. We teach kids a complicated...
The Formative 5: Chapter 2, Interviews
"A brief one-on-one or small group interview has the potential to yield cues regarding particular mathematical challenges, misconceptions, shallow understanding, and cues for next steps instructionally." The Formative 5, page 47 This post contains affiliate links,...
The Formative 5: Chapter 1, Observations
"...observation, while perhaps the most informal and readily used of the five formative assessment techniques presented, is both taken for granted and, at least to an extent, the least understood of the five techniques." The Formative 5, page 23 This post contains...
Easy 3- and 4-Digit Place Value Game
Looking for an easy, yet powerful, 3- and 4-digit place value game? Well, I've got something for you today! Build the Biggest is my version of a well-known place value game. Players roll a number cube and must decide where to place each digit in their number, or if...