Last week, I had a great time teaching & learning division of fractions with one of my teachers. I have not stopped thinking about how models really provide a visual representation of what dividing fractions really mean. Our students use concrete models to gain understanding of what fractions are, how to put them together, take … Continue reading How many fourths are in one half?
Let's explore a lesson using an upside-down approach to teach math. It is basically the opposite from the traditional I-do-you-do approach, where the teacher lectures the class with a specific way to solve a problem depending on the content, and students repeat the same steps the teacher just showed, but using different numbers. In this … Continue reading Using a Student-Centered-Approach in Your Math Lesson
As teachers, we continue to learn new approaches to explore mathematics and are faced with new opportunities to provide the best learning experiences for our students. We are constantly participating in different professional learning to keep our teaching practices in line with the most up-to-date research on how students best learn. We collaborate constantly with … Continue reading That Day We Added It All Up 那一天，我们聚在一起学数学
If you are introducing fractions in your class, allow students to use unifix cubes to make sense of what fractions really are and look like. You can start with fractions that have the same denominators so students understand that the whole is made of a number of parts. A fraction is part of a whole. … Continue reading Making Sense of Adding Fractions
I have been teaching for about 29 years. Most of those years in elementary. Math has always been my most favorite class to teach, but as most teachers did in the past, I used the I-do-you-do approach. I did my best at explaining how to solve problems using manipulatives and pictures, and quickly moved into … Continue reading What does re-grouping really mean?
Do you have students that solve ALL problems using only the traditional algorithm? Do they stop and think about the strategy that could make the most sense for that particular problem? Here are some strategies that support students in building understanding of what adding really means, before using "carry-on" as a set of rules to … Continue reading Making Sense of Adding
By inviting children to solve problems in their own ways, we are initiating them into the community of mathematicians who engage in structuring and modeling their “lived worlds” mathematically. Fosnot and Jacob, 2007 Teaching mathematics through problem solving requires you to think about the types of tasks you pose to students, how you facilitate discourse … Continue reading Teaching Mathematics through Problem Solving- An Upside-Down Approach
The look... I get it now! This is the look that makes my job worth it, when a student finally gets it! I have the fortune of working with very dedicated students at an international school in Asia. Most of them have been working on mathematics since the young age of two. They start counting … Continue reading When it makes sense!
Making Sense of Mathematics 