A task format to elicit strategic thinking, emphasise understanding and encourage discussion.
A linear relationships ‘menu’
Do they really know what I think they know?
Does a correct answer mean that students understand?
Three looks at a WODB for numbers
Motivating an exploration of numbers with a 'Which One Doesn't Belong?' prompt.
#QuarterTheCross Card Sort
Another take on one of my favourite tasks.
If maths was an animal …
A playful prompt to discover how students feel about mathematics.
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 →
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 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 →
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 →
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 →
My maths autobiography
School maths I have always loved maths, but the reasons why have changed dramatically over time. This is my Year 1 work. It reminds me about what I thought it meant to be good at maths: lots of ticks on neat work, especially if it was done quickly. This attitude was reinforced by my report... Continue Reading →
#NoticeWonder with everyday concepts
I often joke that my blog should be called 'Notice and Wonder in Mathematics' because I blog about the 'Notice and Wonder' prompt often enough! In case you are not familiar with it, the ‘Notice and Wonder’ prompt involves asking two questions: ‘What do you notice?’ and ‘What do you wonder?’. These are powerful questions to engage students. ‘Notice and... Continue Reading →
Wonder in Mathematics 