by natbanting 
The best thing about online communities (IMO), is the emergence of artefacts from the collected actions of many people. The online math education community (known as the MTBoS) has seen many of these collections throughout the years, most of which are aimed at supporting imaginative mathematics instruction in grade school. Personally, I have felt the …
by natbanting
Everyone knows that you can’t wish for more wishes, but no one says you can’t wish for more genies. According to the binding rules of genies (as published by Disney in the 1992 film, Aladdin), there are a few restrictions on what can and cannot be wished for. Probably the most famous restriction is that …
Continue reading “On Brilliance, Relevance, and Impotence: A Classroom Example”
by natbanting
A while ago I wrote a post on embedding atomic skills into tasks so that the basic skills are developed and used as tools of mathematics rather than the ultimate goal of mathematics. I try to develop tasks that follow this framework. I want the student to choose a pathway of thought that enables them …
by natbanting
Dice are familiar tools in most mathematics classrooms. Their use in primary school games allows students to build preliminary notions of number and autonomy. (see Kamii) As the grades progress, dice sums become too simple and the tool is pushed into the realm of probability and chance. There, alongside decks of cards and coloured spinners, …
by natbanting
The recent curriculum renewal has placed a (well-deserved) heightened emphasis on counting, set theory, and probability. Just under a half of a Grade 12 “Foundations of Mathematics” course now covers the three topics. This is a huge improvement from the token, disjointed topics strewn around the last courses. It allows teachers to set a different …
by natbanting
My involvement with a provincial math executive presented me with an interesting task recently. Like most tasks, I turned to get some input from the strong contingent of math teacher tweeps. I needed to develop an activity for 100-115 students in grades Seven to Eight. All I was told is that it should be about …
by natbanting
You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. This is naturally true, and although I don’t believe that you can build or destroy a successful semester in one class, it is definitely important to put your money where your mouth is on the first day. I have spent the past few days …