Edible Math and Really Cool Math Modeling

I saw a tweet by Dan Meyer this morning that referenced mathcandy - i.e. modeling mathematics with candy. Naturally, had to check that out and it's pretty cool. Reminded me of how when I was teaching middle and high school, I used Skittles to model bar graphs, or 'tagged' Starbursts when doing random sampling, or used gum drops and tooth picks to model two and three dimensional objects.

MathCandy had another link to Vi Hart: Mathematical Food which has amazing math done with food, balloons, math doodling and so many other great 'tools' to model mathematics. Just wanted to share this as it is so interesting and if any of you teachers out there are struggling with how to motivate your students, these are some great sites with great ideas and pictures. And let's face it - if you can involve food with anything, students are in!

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Implementation Dip - It's Not Just Test Scores, It's Any Change

I read this article yesterday by Andrew Ujifusa entitled New Tests Put States on Hot Seat as Scores Plunge . Basically, states that have implemented new standardized tests to address revised academic standards, such as the Common Core State Standards, have seen a drop in student scores, so panic has ensued. What I want to know is: has no one ever heard about the implementation dip? Whenever you try to implement something new, there is going to be a period of adjustment, scores will go down if we are talking tests, classroom behaviors will change and achievement will go down if new teaching strategies are being implemented - in short, any time you try something new, it is NOT going to go exactly as planned! Mistakes will happen, things will be bad before they get better - it's part of the whole change process. Which is why we need to be implementing changes slowly, early, and over time so that things that go wrong can be adjusted. Image from images.google.com What is th

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Lecture, Direct-Instruction or Talk - There's the Confusion!

In yesterday's weekly #edchat Twitter collaboration the discussion focused on the flipped classroom, where, naturally, there was quite a bit of debate around the idea of video lectures. What became apparent was the many different interpretations of the term 'lecture'. This came to the forefront for me when I offered up the idea of TED Talks as one option for learning rather than a teacher's video lecture, and someone said "TED talks are just lectures, so how is that better?" This stumped me as I have never thought of a TED talk as a lecture, which is funny, because now, forced to think about it, I guess they could be construed as lectures, depending on your definition. Which of course has led me to this post! Obviously, my perception of a lecture is not the same as others. What is MY definition of a lecture? Perhaps it's my many years of being both a student and a teacher, but for me a 'lecture' has rather negative connotations, as I envisio

Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

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