This is Ryan right before he left to go on his first interview for a busboy position at the local sandwich shop. He was nervous. Very nervous. I knew he would be, so a few days before the interview we began role-playing. I wanted him to feel comfortable and confident that he was qualified for the job. Although it’s always hard to know exactly what questions are going to be asked during an interview, there tend to be some standard…
It was 6:45 a.m. this morning when I heard the pitter-patter of little feet on the floor. It was my 7-year old niece who was visiting for a few days. I was shocked to see her peek into my office that early in the morning; I’ve seen her sleep til 10. But today was the last day of her short visit and I’m guessing she didn’t want to miss out on anything. Ryan was up and fixing himself breakfast, John…
If we take the time to notice our surroundings, I think we may be surprised at just how much math we have in our every day environment. Take the photo to the left. It’s something most kids are familiar with. But do they know that it represents the multiplication problem 4 x 6. If they count the number of rows (4) and then multiply by the number of columns (6), they can quickly discover how many total eggs there are….
I love starting the school year teaching geometry. I use it as a hook to get my students interested in math. Not that they aren’t. But often, kids come into class thinking that math is all about adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. I know this because it’s the first thing I ask during day 1 math. So I kick off the math school year in geometry. It’s visual, hands-on, and fun. All math is…as students will discover through the course…
Teachers often use the estimating jar as a way to promote good estimating skills in their students. Throw a little candy in that jar and now you’ve got students excited and motivated to do math! The following activities are a twist on the traditional estimating jar and have been done with second through fifth graders. I introduce the estimating jar, filled with Hersheys kisses, by asking students to give a reasonable estimate as to how many kisses they think are…