Teaching Keywords? Forget About it!

Cheese Mover, Intellectual Need, Making Math Accessible, Modeling, Planning, SMPs, Strategy Development, Teacher Content, Who Knows?

I received an email from a principal in my district last Tuesday: Please send me info on why teachers should be careful about teaching kids to pull out keywords from word problems as a key way to define what operation to use.  I went to my Virtual Math Buddies (VMB)...

A Call to Fluency: Speak Up and Be Heard

Who Knows?

Here’s a letter I sent to over 100 of my closest friends.  I just wanted to make sure I included YOU…because I know you care! Good Morning Dear Friends and Math Leaders, As many of you are aware the Revised Mathematics Standards have been posted for the...

Lipstick, Pit Bulls, and Common Core

Who Knows?

I’ll start by saying I’m not against textbooks.  I support what’s best for kids. I had the opportunity to speak at GACIS today and I shared a major concern of mine with a group of decision makers across Georgia.  Recently, I’ve been inundated...

Long Division Algorithm: No More “GUZINTA”

Who Knows?

First off…if you’re an elementary school teacher and you’re not reading Joe Schwartz’s blog, stop reading this, go subscribe and come back!  Great stuff!  It seems we are always diving into the same conversations with our teachers which is...

Why Do I Blog?

Who Knows?

“Why do you blog?” was the question that Dan Meyer recently asked and I thought it was a really good one. I’m relatively new to the #MTBoS although I have been a “blog creeper” for some time…I figure I’ll share my response: So...

Understanding Content Beyond Your Grade Level

Cheese Mover, Who Knows?

Imagine having a conference with your child’s 2nd grade teacher and the teacher says… “your child is doing really well in reading and a lot of her questions stretch my thinking”.  As a parent you’d become super stoked, proud of your...