My sister gets nervous sometimes when we are at the store together. She is afraid (rightfully so) that she may have to witness me give a math lesson at the cash register. I can see why it might be embarrassing to her and I can also see why it infuriates people behind me in line, …
As I mentioned in a previous post, not all tasks are created equal. Different tasks provide different opportunities for students to learn. Deciding what task to use in a lesson or how to modify an existing task is a decision we make every day as teachers. Dan Meyer recently highlighted how we can begin to …
What amazes me about working in schools is that when I walk into one I am immediately transported back to being a student. The clothes may be different and the hairstyles may have changed, but in the over twenty-five years that has passed since I was a student in an elementary school the model for …
Whenever I tell people I research teaching and learning, they inevitably ask me about Finland. In the 1980’s, Finland transformed their education system. Student achievement scores increased. Teaching became a prestigious career choice among young people. Teacher preparation programs became one of the most competitive systems in the world. As a result of these changes …
Last week I had the opportunity to tag along as the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, visited Aviation High School in Long Island City. He was there to highlight the school as a model for preparing students to become both career and college ready. You can read about more about the visit in my post on the …
Do career and technical high schools improve math skills? Read More »
“Not all tasks are created equal, and different tasks will provoke different levels and kinds of student thinking.” -Stein, Smith, Henningsen, & Silver, 2000 What are we doing today? One of the biggest decisions we make as teachers is choosing the tasks our students will work on during class. We use tasks from textbooks and …
It’s hard to have a conversation with anyone in education these days without the two C’s coming up: Common Core. Now I know there are lots of opinions on whether we should abandon them, whether they create an increased focus on testing, and whether they are suitable for all students. I’m not going to weigh …
In a previous post, I talked about why it might be important to ask a student “How do you know?” when they give an answer to a problem. What I neglected to talk about was the research that supports this recommendation. Luckily, Education Week recently published an article about several research studies that claim asking …
Looking for some free professional development this summer? Jo Boaler, a professor of math education at Stanford University, is offering an online course for teachers and parents titled “How to Learn Math.” In an earlier post, I mentioned that I heard her speak at a conference this year. I admire the fact that she’s a …
Be a student this summer: Take a free online course on learning math Read More »
How many times have you asked your students that during a lesson? I know I asked my students that question too many times to count. But I never thought about what I meant by the word understand. Richard Skemp talked about two different types of understanding back in 1976. The distinction is still important today. …