It turns out that the people who do well in math are those who make connections and see math as a connected subject. The people who don’t do well are people who see math as a lot of isolated methods.
— Jo Boaler
Math Connections
If you or your children struggle with math, Boaler’s non-profit YouCubed.org may help you recover your joy in learning.
Feature video by Stuart Jeckel via youtube.
And ask questions!
I’ve dipped my toes in Twitter lately (as part of the Explore #MTBoS program) and been swept up in a crashing tsunami of information. There’s no way to keep up with it all, but I’ll let the tide wash over me and enjoy the tidbits I happen to notice as they float by. For instance, yesterday I discovered a writer who offers tip on writing about injuries and was able to get some great advice for Kitten’s sequel to her first novel.
And then today, Steven Strogatz posted a link to Saramoira Shields, a new blogger I might never have discovered on my own. I think you’ll enjoy her video:
Gordon Hamilton of Math Pickle recently posted these videos on how to make algebra 1 puzzles on rectangles. As I was watching, Kitten came in and looked over my shoulder. She said, “Those look like fun!”
They look like fun to me, too, and I bet your beginning algebra students will enjoy them:
I love using rectangles as a model for multiplication. In this video, Mike & son offer a pithy demonstration of WHY a negative number times a negative number has to come out positive:
If we want to teach our children to think mathematically, we need to model and encourage asking questions. For instance:
What questions does the video inspire for you? I’d love to hear your comments!
What do you think math is all about? What do your children think? Here is the start of a promising new video series:
Vi Hart is back with some wintery fun!
Denise Gaskins' Let's Play Math 