Teaching and Learning
The Multiplication FLAIR
A FLAIR is a highly interactive document that can be used flexibly to rapidly provide independent feedback to students. The video below will detail how to use the Multiplication FLAIR document. FLAIR is an acronym for Feedback for Learning at an Advanced Independent Rate. While I have hundreds of different kinds of FLAIR documents that…
Read MoreMy Version of the Talk a Mile a Minute Vocabulary Activity
Talk a Mile a Minute is a truly powerful classroom vocabulary activity which produces very high levels of engagement. I would like to challenge you to watch the video below, download the PowerPoint template, and use this activity in your classroom. This activity can be used in the math classroom, but can just as easily…
Read MoreMath in Motion (Video and PDFs)
Today I would like to share a classroom activity which I call Math in Motion. This activity provides a rich opportunity for formative assessment, differentiation, practice, and instruction. See the video below as well as the links to download the math in motion pages. I hope this idea will become a powerful practice in your…
Read More12 Ideas to Propel Your Growth Journey
Educators are learners, working in learning communities, with fellow learners. Our growth journeys are very important not only to ourselves, but to the many people with whom our lives intersect. Understanding and constantly activating our growth journeys is an important part of our personal and professional growth. Here are 12 ideas to prompt thinking about…
Read MoreThe Number Concept Map (Video and PDF)
Here is a new resource for you: The Number Concept Map. While there are many different ways this resource could be used in the classroom, I’ve provided a recording below to detail how you might gather representations in your classroom community, and also to show how you might use those representations to look for…
Read MoreMath Imposter Sets (with Video and PDF)
Over 15 years ago, I began using Imposter Sets in my math classroom. Imposter Sets frequently produce rich, insightful discussion about important math concepts. Students readily embrace the mystery of Imposter Sets. Classroom discussions are frequently characterized by investigation, exploration, and wonder. Those are powerful responses to a strategy that is actually very simple to use. …
Read MoreThe Quicksand of Learning
If you blog, this might sound familiar: Partway through a post, but not yet finished. That’s me, right now. I’m slugging it out, slogging through the middle. The “quicksand middle” is how I’ve come to think of it. The more I struggle, the more difficult it seems to be. Oddly, I have everything I…
Read MoreThe Green Light Hundreds Chart (Free Resource with Instructional Ideas)
I see that 3,700 visitors have viewed “The Animated Multiplication Table.” The combination of a ready-to-use resource coupled with instructional ideas drew some attention. That resource was downloaded by many educators, and I quickly heard the stories of how it was used in classrooms. Thank you for sharing! I have another downloadable resource to share as…
Read MoreExploring Multiplication (Animated)
As a rookie blogger, I was shocked to see that more than 3,000 visitors explored and downloaded the animated multiplication table. I wanted to spend a little more time exploring multiplication using PowerPoint animations. This is my exploration. The question at the end of the video will simply be, “Can you see 5/12 by…
Read MoreThe Power of the PLN
It is November, 2004. I have 22 fifth grade students, but I’m not standing in front of them. In fact, I’m not in my classroom. And I’m not even standing. I’m sitting in the front of a conference room that is filled with adults: The Oregon School Boards Association Annual Convention. The steps lead up…
Read MoreThe Parent’s Story of the Child
Your potential effectiveness as a teacher to each student will continually increase throughout the year. Why? Because you have the opportunity to better understand each child as the school year unfolds. You see opportunities to differentiate across the classroom, and you wonder how to make it happen – and you strive to find ways to…
Read MoreGive Students the Answer
What happens if we give students the answers to the questions we ask? Take a look…
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