Middle and High School … from a Montessori Point of View
We had a really nice, thoughtful seminar discussion in Algebra II, with the simple question: What is real? I did this as a lead into the topic of imaginary numbers (). The distinction between tangible and intangible objects came up pretty early in the discussion. That morphed pretty quickly with the realization that there were … Continue reading “What is Real? A Math Seminar (Prelude to Imaginary Numbers)”
To help students track their progress in math we’ve started requiring them to map what they’re doing on flowcharts. Right now, they’re doing it on paper, but we’re working on getting it to be all electronic. Tracking with the charts helps them see how what they’ve done fits into the bigger picture. It allows them … Continue reading “Math Flowcharts”
A couple middle-schoolers decided to build a gaga ball pit for their interim project. Since they’d already had their plan improved and I’d picked up the wood over the weekend, they figured they could get it done in a day or two and then move on to other things for the rest of the week. … Continue reading “Gaga Ball Pit”
Gary Rubinstein argues that we teach too many subjects in math, so we should reduce the number of topics in the curriculum and make math beyond eight grade into electives. The biggest problem with math education is that there are way too many topics that teachers are required to teach. … When teachers have to … Continue reading “How much Math do Students Need”
One of the jobs my class helped with at the Heifer Ranch was planting garlic in the Heifer CSA garden. The gardeners had laid rows and rows of this black plastic mulch to keep down the weeds, protect the soil, and help keep the ground warm over the winter. We then used an improvised puncher … Continue reading “The Math of Planting Garlic”
This year I’m trying teaching pre-Calculus (and it should work for some parts of algebra as well) based on this concept map to use as a general way of looking at functions. Each different type of function can by analyzed by adapting the map. So linear functions should look like this: You’ll note the bringing … Continue reading “A Concept Map for Mathematical Functions”
Having just had the chance to teach the entire upper (secondary) school math curriculum, I’ve been doing a little bit of necessary reflection on how to help students get interested. One of the key things we learned in the Montessori training was just how much more students learn when they’re self-motivated about a topic. The … Continue reading “Teaching Math Backwards”
Jonathan Wai wonders, “Why Is It Socially Acceptable To Be Bad At Math?” After all, it’s not socially acceptable to be illiterate. The cultural norm that it’s okay to be bad at math has deleterious effects on student motivation. I’ve seen it myself. One parent of an excellent, hard-working student confessed that it was probably … Continue reading “Expectations of Math”