The Math Learning Center Blog

Math opens the door to partnership with families of ELL students. One of my students recently said, “My daddy is real smart in math. He showed me how he does this problem. I showed him how I did it and he liked my way.” We have interpreters and we have translated materials, but even better, we have visual ways of doing the work. A picture is worth more than a thousand words for sure! For some of...

All students at my school learn the Spanish language all year long—the culture, how to speak, to understand, and so on. Another language they engage in all year long is the math language we use. It might seem intuitive or a part of everyday language, but math vocabulary can be very challenging. There are some steps you can take, however, to make this language more available to all of your students...

Andrew Bishop, a fourth grade teacher in Mount Vernon, Washington, educates families about Bridges through video presentations. We think you’ll agree that they are very educational…and entertaining! What Is Bridges? Bridges Math Lesson! How to Help Your Children with Math (Bridges) Teaching Math Vocabulary to Our Students Understanding the Ratio Table Model To view Andrew's latest videos, see his...

And this year the theme is “The Future of Predictability.” Students usually love the challenge of predicting a pattern, but the concept of predictability can extend into further explorations too. Try asking students to make predictions about future technologies or how mathematicians will help change our world. For more information, download the poster or visit www.mathaware.org. Want a simple way...

Here’s what I learned when a colleague video-recorded my class recently: we teachers miss a lot! In the video I could see myself responding in great detail to one group’s work, helping them see what they’d accomplished and leading them on to the next steps. As I walked away, the camera stayed focused on the students. Seconds went by. No more math work happened. They were lost. I think they all...

The other day I received this question from a fifth grade teacher, referring to a challenge problem in the Bridges Student Book: "I would say this is too close to call. Anything other than wading knee deep into the computation will simply yield a guess, not a prediction. What do you think?" I approached the problem myself. Sure enough, by the time I’d arrived at a sensible estimate, I basically...

After teaching the Constant Difference strategy for subtraction to at least six different groups of teachers and students in third and fourth grade over the past month, I think I finally hit on a winning tool: the Number Line app. Here’s what I did. First, I selected a plain number line, no ticks. Then, anticipating two sets of numbers, I added four blank boxes to the line. I told the class of...

This is the scene that plays out all too frequently in my house at homework time. Books, notebooks, and worksheets are spread all over the dining room table. My seventh-grade daughter is hunched over another math worksheet, pencil in hand, frustration building with each problem. I stand, whiteboard in hand, prepared to help her tackle the math she’s struggling with. Today we are engaged in ratios...

We’ve seen a ton of great activity on Twitter lately. Teachers are sharing pictures of their students having fun in Work Places, during Number Corner, and using MLC apps. I look forward to the time I set aside for Twitter each workday because I get to see students enjoying themselves while learning math. Here are some highlights from the past month. This is probably my favorite of the bunch. I...

In honor of Digital Learning Day, I want to share resources and digital tools that celebrate education innovation. I believe that when we choose the right technology we help develop active learners invested in their learning experience. When I look for digital resources, I seek out tools that offer personalized feedback in the learning moment. Since I can’t provide all students immediate feedback...