by MathPickle | Apr 2, 2024 | Muse of Mathematics, Teaching Technique Discussion
Here are several pedagogic ideas that I use when working with young students Kindergarten to grade 2. I find these the most exhausting classrooms, so I admire teachers who spend their working life here! I could not do what you do. Experiment… If it works for...
by MathPickle | Aug 7, 2015 | Muse of Mathematics
I’ve already put up some magic tricks on MathPickle, but I’d like your input. What place does magic have in the classroom? Mathemagic is great. Some teachers use it to increase their coolness factor, but the primary reason to use mathemagic should be to generate...
by MathPickle | Aug 7, 2015 | Muse of Mathematics
What about the use of games in the classroom? The heart of mathematics education is problem solving. Thinking games pose one problem after another problem – a whole sequence of problems that end with victory or defeat. They fit naturally into a mathematics...
by MathPickle | Aug 7, 2015 | Muse of Mathematics
In your last post, you ended with a recommendation that teachers maintain a level of classroom chaos so that students didn’t know if they are slow or fast. Yes – I don’t emphasize speed in my assessment of a student, and I want to protect slow students from a...
by MathPickle | Aug 7, 2015 | Muse of Mathematics
Do you think we over-prompt our students? Prompting is useful to focus the classroom’s attention on one part of a problem. It also helps the teacher steer the class towards a new problem or resource. However, prompting does not provide a shortcut to student...
by MathPickle | Aug 7, 2015 | Muse of Mathematics
Can you give us another good problem – one that’s possible please. This is a problem I give to my grade 1 students. The Fairy-Tale-King invites you to sit down in front of him… “design for me, a magical castle with beautiful towers.” It turns out that he has enough...
by MathPickle | Aug 7, 2015 | Muse of Mathematics
The last time we talked you introduced us to cipher-breaking in World War I. I always mention war if I have the opportunity, because that engages the half of the class with excess testosterone ? The link to war also connects the problem to the real world. Do all good...
by MathPickle | Aug 7, 2015 | Muse of Mathematics |
You were going to give us an example of a good problem. Here is a good problem for students tackling percentages, and probability. The problem takes an hour or two… This is an example of some cipher-text created from a Polybius Square. The Germans used a variant of...
by MathPickle | Aug 7, 2015 | Muse of Mathematics
What should children learn in the mathematics classroom? How to think. Is that all? What do you mean; “Is that all?” That is everything! I would even be happy if we got rid of elementary school mathematics classrooms and replaced them with problem-tinkering...
by MathPickle | Aug 7, 2015 | Muse of Mathematics
What is the biggest problem teachers face? The wide spectrum of student ability. That’s the biggest thing that separates teaching from other learning structures like mentorship, apprenticeship, home-schooling, and self-motivated dabbling. The wide spectrum of student...
by MathPickle | May 16, 2015 | Muse of Mathematics
It is a privilege to interview the Muse of Mathematics! Not to everybody… Some dismiss me as dull, repetitive, awkwardly obtuse and disconnected from reality, but properly introduced, I promise to entertain and enthrall. How should I introduce you properly? It...
