Topic: Math

Teaching elementary school math can be unpredictable and challenging, but you're not alone. Here are a few tips and tricks that keep us going when the going gets tough!

To allow all learners to engage in argumentation, we as teachers need to develop our confidence in planning for the wide range of learners in our classrooms. How can argumentation be a goal and an expectation for all students?

At the beginning of the school year, one of the most important things we do as teachers is get to know our children. It is during this “get to know you” time that we can easily learn about our students’ confidence levels.

One of the most important factors in successful student-centered instruction and learning is perseverance. If we let our students give up after the first try or get overly frustrated when they make a mistake, we are doing them a great disservice.

We use mathematical notation because it strips away all the extraneous information and helps us communicate as directly as we can about mathematical ideas. We couldn’t live in a world where all quantities were represented with dots or hash marks. We need abstract representations of numbers.

In order for students to learn and understand mathematical concepts, they must live in classrooms that support cooperative learning and mathematical discourse. Students develop an understanding of mathematics when in an atmosphere where they feel safe to learn, take risks, make mistakes, and grow.

Teaching questioning skills is not an easy process. It involves patience, scaffolding, and focused instruction. Asking a question is not something that a lot of our students know how to do innately, especially at the primary level.

I recently received this question about coaching on my website: Is it the coach's responsibility to report the teachers' flaws to the principal?

Contexts for Learning Math: Hear Cathy Fosnot speak near you

But what really mattered was watching how these math visuals worked in my own classroom with my own students. So, don’t take my word for it . . .

Confronting Shame In The Math Classroom

Fostering Belongingness to Support Student Participation

Today on the podcast Ilana Seidel Horn talks about her new book Motivated

The 5 Features of a Motivated Classroom

How Do I Use Math In Practice With Other Math Programs?

What is Cognitively Guided Instruction?

What is Math in Practice?

What Does the Research Say about Lecture-Only Teaching?