Become a problem solver! Resources and Videos

March 2020 Blog Entry: Fun with Fractions for Grades 3-5 from Scholastic

Hello students and families! This month I chose to share a resource from Scholastic about why we teach about fractions and ways that you can support students' understanding of fractions at home. Fractions help students to build numbersense and lead students to other key mathematical understandings. Fractions may seem elementary, but they lay the foundation for division, proportions, ratios, and decimals, among other skills that students will learn in later grades. Check out this resource for a brief overview of the importance of fractions and different games you can play that relate to fractions at home. I hope it is a helpful resource! Check it out at this link.

February 2020 Blog Entry: Help Your Kids Solve Multi-Step Word Problems from Scholastic

Hello students and families! This month I chose to share a resource from Scholastic. We are currently at a point in the year in which students have learned and practiced all four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) for whole numbers and decimals. Students will now be exposed to multi-step word problems at school in which they need to read carefully, identify a plan for solving, choose the operation(s) that they will need to use, find the answer and check their work. For this reason, I have chosen a resource from Scholastic that breaks down steps that parents can take to help their children solve these problems at home. I hope it is a helpful resource! Check it out at this link.

December 2019 Blog Entry: What is Mindset and Why is it Important to Learning Math? Video By Jo Boaler

Hello students and families! This month I chose to share a video by Jo Boaler that is helpful for students and parents to understand what mindset is, why it is important to have a growth mindset, and why having a growth mindset is important for someone learning math.

There is a lot of talk about mindsets in the classroom, but I feel that this video is especially valuable because it connects specifically to the math classroom. As the year goes on and we continue to learn more challenging concepts in math and encounter math problems that don't have clear solutions, students oftentimes feel that they want to "give up". It is important to remind students that challenges are actually important parts of one's journey to mastering mathematical concepts. Keep reminding students that mistakes and failures are important parts of the learning process and that they actually help your brain to grow stronger! Practice doesn't make perfect, but rather practice makes progress. Jo does a great job of explaining the science behind this in a kid friendly way.

Check out the video at this link to learn more!

November 2019 Blog Entry: 100% is Overrated Article by James Hamblin

Hello students and families! This month I chose an article from the Atlantic that has to do with how to encourage your children to be confident in math by praising their efforts, rather than their talent. Although this article is a couple of years old, I am so happy to have it now. It has reminded that all of the little words we say to children in math make a difference to students' educational experiences. In case you don't read through the article, here are a couple of my personal takeaways:

1: Praise children's effort, not their giftedness. Instead of saying "You're so smart!" try saying, "I see you put a lot of effort into your work!" Making this small switch will signal students that their successes have happened because of their hard work and will make them want to continue to work with effort.

2: Mistakes Help Us Grow. If your student makes a mistake or is having trouble at home, use this mantra to inform students that making mistakes is a part of life and that they are actually a good thing! Talk them through how you have learned through your mistakes to show them that it works!

3. There is no such thing as a math person. If your student mentions feeling that other people are "better at math" remind them that you aren't born "good" or "bad" at math. It takes time and effort to learn something new and to grow in a subject area.

These were my main takeaways. I hope you read and enjoy! I would love to hear what you think.

October 2019 Blog Entry: 6 Ways to Support your Child's Mathematical development

Hello students and families! As we round off our first month of math, I'm sure that some parents are wondering: how can I best support my child's mathematical development? This month I found this great resource for parents written by math guru Jo Boaler herself! Jo Boaler writes a great deal of rich, useful resources for parents, teachers, and students related to developing positive mindsets in math. I chose this particular resource because it provides six simple ways that caregivers can be working with their children at home that will help support their children's development in math. Boaler's fabulous suggestions are relatively easy to implement in your daily routine and don't necessarily feel like "more work" for you or your kids-- yet they are research proven! Check it out below! Feel free to send me an email with your feedback if you try any of these out. I would love to hear what you think, even if it isn't all positive!

May/June Blog: Twelve Steps to Increase Your Child's Math Achievement and Make Math Fun

Hello students and families! As we wrap up our year I want to first of all thank you for engaging with my Become a Problem Solver! Blog. I really appreciate all of the support I've gotten and look forward to continuing on with my blog next year. For my last post, I wanted to share an article by Jo Boaler titled "Twelve Steps to Increase Your Child's Math achievement and Make Math Fun!" Jo Boaler is math educator/guru that has a lot of creative tips for both teachers and parents to help their children improve their mathematical mindsets. Check it out at the link above.

April Blog: Visualizing Success on a Test Video

Hello students and families! This month's inspiration comes from our upcoming MCAS tests. This month and year students have been working diligently to get ready for state testing. But, no matter how prepared you are taking tests can be stressful at any age. That's why this week I am posting a video that leads students through a guided meditation that may be helpful to calm any anxiety that may arise and will reassure students that they are ready for whatever is on the assessment. Check it out at the link above.

March Blog: Word Problems Brainpop!

Hello students and families! This month's inspiration comes from a classroom favorite-- Brainpop! Students have been working on solving real world problems throughout this year. These multi-step problems are embedded in words and story contexts that can oftentimes confuse students. This Brainpop breaks down a multi-step word problem nicely and lends some strategies for how to tackle tricky story problems. Also you can find a quiz to brush up on your understanding of the video at this link. Don't have a Brainpop account? Don't worry! Ask your student how to log in using their Classlink account.

February Blog: Multiple Strategies to Solving Math Problems

Hello students and families! This month's inspiration comes from a blog post I read recently about some of the different strategies students can use to approach difficult problems on assessments. Oftentimes students (myself included) see difficult or multi-step problems and only apply one strategy to figuring out the answer. While the strategy or strategies that we teach in class can be helpful for many learners, it is great to have extra strategies in students' toolkits in case they get stuck. Check it out at the link above!

January Blog: How to help your kids love math- even if you didn't! From the parenting blog Sleeping Should be Easy

Hello students and families! This month's inspiration comes from a blog post I read recently. I read this article and thought that it offered some great, practical and easy to implement strategies for helping to cultivate a love of math in your students. Oftentimes we as adults don't realize that our own math phobia can have an impact on our students' willingness to try out challenging math problems. I think this blog post is a great read, particularly if you are someone who did not love math growing up yourself!

December Video: John Doerr Why the Secret to Success is Setting the Right Goals Ted 2018

Hello students and families! This month's inspiration comes from John Doerr's Ted Talk from Ted2018. I chose this talk because this month students have been working on reviewing their own mathematical writing and setting goals for how they can be continuously improving. I like this Ted Talk because it focuses in on Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) which are the what and how of the goals that you set for yourself. In math class, I want students to understand not only the content related to the mathematical writing prompt, but also what criteria I am using to give them a grade and how to achieve the grade that they desire. By having students set their own goals, they have a better understanding of the steps it takes for them to achieve the results that they want which, in turn, cultivates more intrinsic motivation in students. Check out this video to get a better understanding of why I am using goal setting in my classroom so that you can support your students in setting, working towards, and achieving their goals.

November Article/Podcast: Changing Your Math 'Mindset' Can Boost Your Math Performance - WBUR

Hello students and families! This month's inspiration comes from WBUR. I chose this article (you can also listen to it!) because I felt that it really captured how important it is to have a growth mindset in math. Many of my students often start the year feeling as though they are not good at math because they haven't been successful with it in previous grades or because it isn't something that comes naturally to them. I send students the message from the beginning of the year that there is no such thing as a "good" or "bad" math student. We are all growing in math at our own pace and in our own ways. This article really captures how adapting this mindset about math can help students to be more resilient problem solvers both in and out of the math classroom. I hope you all enjoy and continue to support your students' math mindset at home.

October Video: How we can help students develop a Passion for Math! -Teaching Channel

Hello students and families! I chose this video to kick off our year because I feel as though it is important to develop a passion to math so that we can be continuously training our brains to get better at mathematical problem solving. In this video, I love how this teacher allows students to develop their own strategies and work collaboratively with others to solve difficult multi-step problems. I try to do the same in my classroom through math talks, partner and group work, and the use of non-standard problems. I hope that by the end of this month you all start to feel a passion for math :) Check it out by clicking the link above!