Teaching Adding and Subtracting Integers with Real-World Context
Let’s talk about adding and subtracting integers, one of my favorite topics! I want to give you some ideas for making it engaging and helping students truly understand what they’re doing.
Talking Isn’t Teaching: Helping Students Truly Learn Math
One of the hardest shifts as a math teacher is stepping back and giving students space to think. We want to help. We want to explain, but often, our talking takes away the chance for them to wrestle with the math. Here are five practical ways to reduce teacher talk and increase student learning time.
Building Math Fluency in Middle School
No matter what the grade level, the one common issue I hear from math teachers is kids' lack of fluency. When students lack math fluency, it makes every concept more difficult, and it hurts their confidence. While most teachers see fluency as a problem, many teachers aren’t sure what to do to solve this problem in middle school or later. I’m going to share some resources and solutions that will help your students build math fluency.
Math Manipulatives for Elementary, Middle, and High School Students that You Can Print!
Manipulatives have the power to make math come to life! They make math concepts tangible and accessible to students. Whenever we have the chance to make math lessons hands-on, they instantly become more engaging and meaningful.
In middle and high school, manipulatives are less common than elementary school. However, they are appropriate for all grade levels and all abilities. A common misconception is that manipulatives are only needed in early grades or for students who struggle. Let’s bust that myth! Manipulatives encourage deeper thinking and sense-making. Instead of following procedures without thinking, we can use manipulatives to help students reason and make sense of the math.
Math Classroom Decoration Ideas with a Calm Pastel Theme
Knowing that many students have feelings of overwhelm and anxiety when they enter a math classroom, many teachers try to create a calm environment. One way to do that is with calm pastel colors. These classroom decoration ideas will help you reinforce the math concepts you teach while creating a calm, welcoming classroom for your elementary, middle, or high school students.
Free Math Bulletin Board Ideas for Middle School
Classroom decorations suitable for middle school math can be difficult to find, but I’ve gathered a few of my favorites. The best part is that each of these are free to download, print, and create in your classroom. These decorations are great for motivating middle school students. They are fun, colorful, and appropriate for older students.
Teaching Angle Relationships in 8th Grade Math
Angle relationships are one of the geometry topics 8th graders learn. Most students have been exposed to angle measures in previous grade levels, but they learn new concepts including interior angle sums and parallel lines cut by a transversal. Let’s discuss why angle relationships are an important concept to learn, and tips for teaching angles in a limited timeframe.
Math Instructional and Teaching Strategies
As math teachers, we are always looking for strategies that help our learners understand the concepts we’re teaching. I asked teachers on Instagram to tell me game-changing strategies that made their math lessons more effective. Several of the ideas were small changes that can have a big impact.