3-Act Tasks, 6-8, Intellectual Need, K-2, Making Math Accessible, Modeling, Patient Problem Solving, SMPs, Teacher Content, Teaching in a Context
Dan Meyer’s work on mathematical modeling has been instrumental in shaping my own understanding. I’m super thankful for Dan’s commitment to SMP #4 over the years. So when he recently posted that he was shifting gears, I was bummed. It was like the...
3-Act Tasks, Making Math Accessible, Math Tools, Modeling, Number Sense, Patient Problem Solving, Teacher Content, Teaching in a Context
First week back to school and I was chomping at the bit to begin working on my #1TMCthing. My quick backstory about Vertical-Non-Permanent-Surfaces (aka VNPS) I first found out about VNPS on Nathan Kraft’s blog which referred me to Alex Overwijk’s Blog who...
Making Math Accessible, Math Tools, Modeling, Patient Problem Solving, SMPs, Strategy Development, Teaching in a Context, Who Knows?
If you listen carefully you will hear them. They sit motionless in every classroom, on top of desks, waiting to tell a story. Without the story they are nothing. What’s most difficult is that you can’t speak for them because the manipulatives speak...
3-Act Tasks, Intellectual Need, Modeling, Patient Problem Solving, Planning
I think about the question mark every time I teach a lesson. I’ve been so carefully to get to this point. Yet sometimes my question mark comes from a path that looks like this. The opening part of the lesson is over and the work session is well underway....
Fractions, Making Math Accessible, Math Tools, Modeling, Patient Problem Solving, SMPs
I tried “the Big Pad” with a 4th grade class and my anticipation of possible solutions was way off!!! I mean, c’mon Graham, think outside the box. Our students attacked this problem in more ways than a charter bus filled with senior citizens attacks...
Making Math Accessible, Measurement and Data, Modeling, Patient Problem Solving, Teaching in a Context
I had the 2nd grade names and the information I needed, so I created this table and asked the students WDYN? Immediately students recognized the names of their 5 classmates and the perplexity session began! Lots of different ideas and “noticings” were...