“The journey for an education starts with a childhood question.” – David L. Finn
As I played “Conversion Concentration” with a small group of students at the Games Station, one student asked the inevitable question about conversions,
“Why do we have to learn this stuff?”…
Exponents are useful, applicable, mathematical, and sometimes downright annoying! I like the way BetterExplained.Com explains it.
Numbers aren’t just a count; a better viewpoint is a position on a line. This position can be negative (-1), between other numbers (sqrt(2)), or in another dimension (i).
What does 3^10 mean to you?…
I received an email this morning from a Geometry Instructor/Assistant Athletic Director who has been using the Tabor Rotation Framework at the Secondary Level for the past two years. Attached to it was a real-world assessment of the geometrical concept of transformations. I was engaged just by reading it!…
Fun isn’t always educational and education isn’t always fun, but when the two come together – it just doesn’t get any better. -Tom Jackson
I strongly believe that you can make any math concept fun if you’ll just take some problems, add a little competition, a little challenge, an obstacle or two, and maybe a game board.…
How do we plan for math with precision?
As the graphic below shows, when planning for math, we need accuracy and precision!
Let’s look at a real-world example of precision. March Madness is just around the corner. If teams want to make it to the finals, they must focus on precision.…
What makes a powerful, rigorous, and relevant math station activity?
1. Identify the content standard.
One of the activities that uses building blocks to concretely explore a concept is the Math Common Core State Standard from fourth grade, MCC4.OA.1a: Use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems.…
What is expanded form and how do we make the practice of expanded form hands on and engaging?
Let’s start with the first question.
Expanded Form is…
…the writing of a number to show the value of each digit.
…the sum of each digit multiplied by its place value.…
“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist or to accept the responsibility for changing them.” -Denis Waitley
The first challenge of differentiated Readiness Groups, based on your students’ level of understanding of skills and concepts, is realizing that all students deserve the opportunity to move further ahead in their depth of understanding.…
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” -Michael Jordan
That’s why teams working together at math stations are a vital component of the Tabor Rotation Framework. Effectively equipping teams for their work is imperative—especially in a math classroom at a math station!
When teachers begin to sophisticate their use of students working in math stations in a classroom, many questions arise.…