Kindergarten math instruction IS rocket science when one considers that in the 21st Century, educators must understand recent brain research and implications for learning in the early grades.
This presentation will include a brief discussion of brain function and how to help students internalize a growth mindset motto of "I CAN Hard Things; principles and strategies that the early childhood classroom environment can include to promote academic language in mathematics and science; and specific ideas for teaching STEM principles of perseverance, stamina, and resilience.
Edit: here is a link to some mini-lessons that I have compiled over the years, including:
Activity Before Concept - Concept Before Vocabulary. I came across that little zinger in a Computer Science curriculum training last summer, and it resonated with my own teaching philosophy in mathematics. This presentation is essentially designed to encourage math educators to allow students to build an understanding of a concept on their own terms (whenever possible), before formalizing it with vocabulary and formulas. The main idea is to show that introducing formulas or algorithms without demonstrating the underlying reasoning can be harmful to students, giving the impression that math class is a "magical" place and beyond the reach of the ordinary.
Do your students hate word problems? Do you often hear the question, "When am I ever going to use this?" Join us to discover a new way to engage and intrigue your middle or high school math students through reality-based problem solving. Mathematical Modeling in 3 Acts embodies the spirit of the Standards for Mathematical Practice as it sets up students for productive struggle that enables them to persevere with mathematics. The math modeling task is broken into 3 segments: The Hook, The Modeling, and The Solution. At the start of each task, an engaging multimedia hook draws students into the problem. Students become proficient problem solvers as they take an active role in defining the problem and then selecting appropriate strategies and tools to solve the problem. Learn how to facilitate these math modeling sessions with your students to ultimately build their conceptual understanding and ability to tackle rigorous problems.
Please join us in experiencing TI's new Building Concepts in Mathematics Learning Sequences. Attendees will have the opportunity for hands on engagement with the activities and will walk away with the content and software needed to deliver it at no cost. Building Concepts aligns with Math I Readiness and supports teachers with programs to enhance content knowledge and instruction, and improves students' understanding by engaging them in progressions of focused content delivered across a hands-on, highly interactive technology platform. Building Concepts covers Fractions, Ratios & Proportional Relationships, Statistics & Probability and Expressions & Equations.
Help teachers coach themselves and others to be better teachers.
Learn where Utah State resources for math are.
Learn the difference between coaching and mentoring.
Obtain guiding teacher questions to help focus lessons on student learning and growth.
Grab a list of open-ended student questions to increase student thinking and learning.
Please join us and experience what TI has to offer in STEM. Attendees will explore TI Codes, the new TI-Innovator and get an overview of the free lessons, activities which are available. Attendees will walk away with free software and content which can be used in the classroom right away. Recently, we have focused much of our effort on our STEM offerings such as The TI-Innovator, TI-Codes and our STEM Behind… (Hollywood, Health, Sports and NASA) series of free activities/lessons. These offerings have generated a lot of interest as of late so please come see what everyone has been talking about!
This ignite presentation will be filled with experiences I have had in the last 6 years of teaching. Everything from stories that will make you cry, laugh, and ponder education. I will share my experiences teaching abroad as well as my future goals and aspirations in education. I want to share inspirational moments in my career and the times I doubted myself. I want to inspire and motivate my peers at this conference to let them know they are not alone and we CAN and DO make a difference in our students’ lives.
The Core Standards in Mathematics mention various representations that can be used to build conceptual understanding of fractions in mathematics. These tools include physical objects, rectangular arrays, area models, fraction strips, and other visual models. One model or tool that can help students build conceptual understanding with fractions is repeated subtraction. In this Ignite session, the presenter will show how repeated subtraction can be used to build conceptual understanding for division with integers (3rd, 4th grade standards), decimals, fractions (5th, 6th grade standards) and even polynomials (i.e., rational expressions, Secondary Math III) prior to introducing standard algorithms for division.
Young children are evidence of the innate curiosity in all of us. But what happens? Where does it go? What can we do about it? Let's explore the importance of curiosity as an essential tool with the power to make both students and educators smarter.
Video games have a lot to teach us about how and why kids learn. They can teach problem solving in a way that flourishes creativity. They encourage people to persevere in a way that is lacking from most public education classrooms. This presentation will focus on what we have learned from the gaming industry and how we can utilize those lessons in public education.
My favorite personal math investigations over the years.
