Nat Banting wrote recently on his blog about a type of task he calls a 'menu': Given a list of features, the task for students is to build as few functions as possible to satisfy each requirement at least once. Nat's original post is about a quadratics functions menu. My attention was captured by Dylan … Continue reading A linear relationships ‘menu’
Category: teaching maths
Do they really know what I think they know?
Despite my fifteen years of teaching experience, I still feel slow1 to realise what I'm sure is obvious to others — just because students get the answer right, it doesn't mean that they understand. I was sharply reminded of this just now. This year I've been making a concerted effort in my Mathematics for Primary … Continue reading Do they really know what I think they know?
Three looks at a WODB for numbers
This semester I am redeveloping Mathematics for Primary Educators, the (ideally) first maths content course for our pre-service teachers who choose to specialise in maths. I have a notebook full of 'things I want to do right' this time, but it mostly boils down to giving students many opportunities to have mathematical conversations, and for … Continue reading Three looks at a WODB for numbers
#QuarterTheCross Card Sort
It is no secret that Quarter the Cross is one of my favourite tasks. I've written about it twice before: as a Day 1 activity and in connection with Fraction Talks. The original source is apparently T. Dekker & N. Querelle, 2002, Great Assessment Problems (www.fi.uu.nl/catch). It has proliferated in recent years, including with an active Twitter hashtag: #QuarterTheCross. … Continue reading #QuarterTheCross Card Sort
If maths was an animal …
'If maths was an animal it would be a _______ because _______ ' Responses from my #math1070 students: A koala because maths is interesting and unique. A spider because of the pattern organisation of their web. A cat because it has lots of layers. An ant because lots of small parts make up a big part. … Continue reading If maths was an animal …
Kindness and grace in our classrooms
It is the start of another academic year in Australian universities, and colleagues around the country are caught up in a flurry of organising unit outlines, wrangling webpages, writing lecture notes, setting tutorial activities, untangling enrolment issues, resolving timetable clashes, recruiting tutors, submitting staff contracts, ... GASP! I implore you to find a quiet moment … Continue reading Kindness and grace in our classrooms
A lesson plan (of sorts) for quadrilaterals
This tweet sums up today's class. We've had a two week break, culminating with a public holiday Monday. In our first class back, I wanted to add some supporting activities for the difficulties we were having in our last class. Let's just say that I'm not sure that what we did today helped! Luckily, I … Continue reading A lesson plan (of sorts) for quadrilaterals
A serendipitous Pythagorean #LessonStarter
#LessonStarter is a Twitter hashtag, used particularly by Matt Skoss, to collect together ideas that might start (or take over!) a lesson. A #LessonStarter is usually a provocative image, but could also be an intriguing mathematical prompt. For me, lesson starters are often spontaneous. Today, a few serendipitous moments meant that I had a lesson … Continue reading A serendipitous Pythagorean #LessonStarter
Skyscrapers
This is a quick post mainly for the benefit of my 'Developing Mathematical Thinking' (#math1070) students. Introducing the puzzle Skyscrapers are one of my favourite logic puzzles. They are a Japanese creation, introduced at the first World Puzzle Championship1 in 1992. Skyscrapers are a type of Latin Square puzzle. A Latin Square in an n × n … Continue reading Skyscrapers
Redux: #NoticeWonder and #PrimeClimb
Last year I wrote a post about using the two simple questions 'What do you notice?' and 'What do you wonder?' with my maths pre-service teachers to dig into the mathematically-rich image that accompanies Dan Finkel's game, Prime Climb. This year, I wanted to turn this into a student-driven rather than teacher-led activity. I also … Continue reading Redux: #NoticeWonder and #PrimeClimb
