• Vlog Ep #10: Involving Parents in Their Children’s Math Education

    How do you find the parents of your students? Are they helping their children to learn, or are they more of a hindrance? Some parents can be incredibly difficult to cope with, of course. And sometimes an assertive manner and explaining the boundaries between their opinions and your professional work is called for.

  • Vlog Ep #09: Fake Math and Pseudocontexts

    Fake Math and Pseudocontexts

    What are pseudocontexts, and should K-6 math teachers be concerned about them? I came across the term in Dan Meyer's excellent blog, in which he explores better ways of engaging students in learning math, and calls out "fake math" and poor teaching.

  • Vlog Ep #06: Look Around You for Real Life Contexts for K-6 Math

      In the busyness of classroom teaching, do you find math lessons becoming a bit stale? Are textbook lessons getting you and your students down a bit? I believe that students crave interesting, relevant lessons, especially in math. How can we provide such lessons?   It’s a simple idea: find real math going on in […]

  • Vlog Ep #04: Math-Anxious Parents Produce Anxious Kids Who Know Less Math (research report)

    Do you wonder about the wisdom of sending math homework home? Have you ever had a sneaky suspicion that parents may actually not be helping their kids learn math?

  • Math is Important, REALLY Important

    Math is important: student using laptop

    How important is it for our kids to grow up being good at math? Try this on for size: in 2016, terrorists are as likely to carry a laptop as a bomb. And they are probably in a basement somewhere, not risking being found out in the open. Want to try that line "We don't really need to be all that good at math, now we all have smartphones" again? I thought not.