Okay- are you still with me? Are you beginning to write love letters to the number 10? I hope that even if you are a mathematician, you enjoy the brain exercises of trying to see things in a different way. It’s what teachers need to do all day, every day- brain calisthenics to try to…
Whether you’re actually loving math or not, it’s a really good statement to put in your back pocket: I LOVE MATH/S. Take it out, and say it in front of yourself, then in front of your friends. It’ll start to feel normal- and we can start a movement. I love math, and I am good…
Take yourself back to that feeling of finding a seat in the school cafeteria. I remember walking out, holding my tray, looking up and looking down at the same time- really hoping I’d have a place to sit- someone who wanted to sit next to me or at least allow me to sit peacefully. It’s…
Really good questions are treasures. When you ask a question that brings a quizzical look, a question that rouses reflection- that is the stuff of life. We focus on the art of listening- as we well should. But with curiosity and potent questions, listening becomes completely natural. When we want to know people, we ask…
I found the idea of creating classroom rules a conundrum. Knowing that kids are so attached to the concepts of fairness and boundaries, how can we possibly create a comprehensive list? Through many years in the classroom, I never found a reason for more than one rule: Be respectful, of yourself, of your class, of…
Think about WHO you are teaching before you think about WHAT you are teaching. In graduate school, we learned to build the most beautiful lessons, designed to take the kids right to the spot. We would plan to work out their background knowledge, have them discover, be completely wowed, then implement this incredible new understanding….
You, the teacher, are the most important asset.