Asking Kids to Ask Their Own Questions
In my PreCalculus class this semester, I was excited to create opportunities for my kids to be mathematicians and pose their own questions, making their own conjectures and discoveries, and also be creatively frustrated. I speak about my problem of practice in...
Are We Normal? Learning About Ourselves Through Data
This past semester has been an emotionally grueling one. After my initial foray into this topic in my first blog post (exploring the balance of skilled practice with true mathematical inquiry, pursuing authenticity of the discipline), I began to see just what I...
What do mathematicians do?
Paul Lockhart's article "A Mathematician's Lament" speaks of a society where music is treated the way mathematics is currently treated within our school system. He pleads his case for math to be treated as an art form within society, but specifically within schools....
Balancing Curious Play with Skill Acquisition in Math Classes
This is my second year at ESA and my 7th year as a math teacher. Since my first year of teaching, I've always loved the sense of problem-solving at my feet. I love thinking about how to fit this magical puzzle of real student engagement, mixed with this sense of...
Protected: From Inquiry to Answers
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Without Geometry, Life is Pointless
Background: The first semester of Geometry focuses on formal two-column and paragraph proofs. Students tend to struggle understanding the importance and value of doing proofs in a Geometry class. They aren't able to answer the question, 'Why Proofs?' or make the...