Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

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!

Gotta admit - I love the line. I only hope it works . Shared sacrifice and debits equal credits.....math matters.

My blog yesterday regarding math curriculum being too abstract got a comment from Milo's Mama , who passed along an article on the racial wealth gap.  Her point was that there were more practical things we could be teaching in math, such as finance, taxes, etc. that might address this problem.  So we are back to the relevancy of what we teach.  And as I drove home from the gym this morning, I hear yet another story on NPR about the racial wealth gap (turns out it's a two parter!).  I took this as a sign that I should perhaps do a follow up! This second part of the story talked about breaking the cycle of poverty, and mentions several programs designed to help low-income families save money, invest and basically teach them about using money wisely.  One of these programs starts with kindergarten because, as the City Treasure Jose Cisnero's says  '"It's all about building aspirations in that child's mind." I am not going to go into details about th...

This article I read this morning by Audrey Watters titled " Is Math Education Too Abstract " hit home for me.  Yes...I think math education is too abstract.  I taught math at both middle and high school for over 17 years, and the majority of that time, with struggling students.  I have to admit, I couldn't see the point of teaching how to solve a quadratic equation to a senior in Algebra for the third time who's future plan was to work in his dad's auto shop. What this boy needed was to have math that was relevant - like how to balance a check book, determine what sale price really gives the best deal, or how to make investments - things he was going to actually do in his future.  With this age of testing and the push for 'algebra for all students', I think we have lost sight that not all students need it. I am NOT saying we shouldn't be aiming high and encouraging students to excel in mathematics, but what I think we should stop doing is forcing all...