Category: Success maybe

  • How another country teaches the Quadratic Formula

    One of the most enjoyable thing I have done over my career is work with teachers from other countries. The university is a host site for the Fulbright Teacher Excellence and Achievement program which brings teachers from other countries to the US, where they spend six weeks in classrooms and university classes. As a teacher,…

  • AP Stats learners using Plot.ly

    I pushed my AP Stats learners to use Plot.ly this year for their projects instead of JMP as I have in previous years. I am not sure if I like it better or worse, but I definitely have some frustrations. Let’s go through the good points first. 1. After the learners had their data in…

  • Made4Math – A new school year/classroom

    This is my first “Made 4 Math Monday” post of the year, and it is probably one that I would be most proud of and is my biggest achievement. It is my Classroom, ready to rock and roll for learner tomorrow, Monday, 11 August 2014! Here is what greets them as they walk in the…

  • #TMC Reflection – Alg2 Sessions

    At TMC14 (Twitter Math Camp 2014) this year I did not attend many sessions, because I was the co-lead or lead in several blocks of time. It was great, and the comments I received were very complementary. I think the teachers telling me that were just being nice a little bit, but I hope they…

  • Growth mindset in my classroom

    I have been thinking a lot about growth mindset lately (really, what teacher is not.) But I have really been trying to come up with positive, constructive ways to model and use it in the classroom as a way to change the learners beliefs. One way I came up with using it is to have…

  • Reflections after an AP workshop

    Today is the first official day of Spring Break (Monday) and so far I have had an eventful weekend. I started by flying to Los Angeles and attending the 5th of the series of AP Workshops they have had. These are the one day workshop where teachers can attend and get some additional tips, hints,…

  • AP Stats & Semester Review

    One thing that I have struggled with is to make review meaningful for AP Stats. I absolutely hate the “here is the review, the test will be similar” wink wink, where all you do is change some numbers and voila, there is the actual exam. That doesn’t seem honest to me, when I am supposed…

  • Exeter, WCYDWT and a project begins

    Where to start. I have been thinking and working with the Exeter materials quite a bit in the last 3 months. I have come to see the value in the methods and the questions, and the way the questions cycle from lower levels to higher levels. But I have to say I don’t see the…

  • Exeter, we have a problem

    I am planning several posts on this week’s time I spent with a math teacher from Phillips Exeter Academy. This first one, though, will be radically different from the others, and it is because I have to vent a little and lay out a difficulty I had today. Today was the last day of the…

  • Learners or Students?

    Back when I was in grad school working on my M.Ed., I had to do one of those philosophy papers on my personal teaching philosophy. All my classmates whined and groaned, but as someone with a philosophy degree, I take that kind of assignment very seriously. In the end, I decided one thing for sure…