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Hooked on maths

February 28th, 2011

Challenge: Is it possible to find a student who would not be engaged by  Vi Hart’s brilliant  math doodling videos.?  These are about having fun while  discovering mathematical relationships.  Here’s a sample – there’s more on her site.

Doodling in Math: Sick examples


There’s plenty other mathematical stuff  on Vi Hart’s  blog.   Stuff with balloons,and how to make platonic solids out of fruit.  This is mathematics that meets Paul Lockhart’s1 description of the way mathematics needs to be taught – using playful “serendipitous exploration”  to discover that mathematics is about weaving ideas into patterns.

1. Paul Lockhart is author of  the book “A Mathematician’s Lament”   -  introduction is online

By Marg February 28th, 2011
Categories: Inspiration, Mathematics Tags: , 0 comments

Volunteer teaching in Uganda

February 23rd, 2011

The impulsive decision to make a trip to Africa was made shortly after an unsolicited  email arrived in my inbox about volunteering in Uganda.   I was already considering attending  an Open Learning Exchange conference in neighboring Rwanda, so  I decided to  “volunteer”  (by paying the prescribed fee to IFRE volunteers), and in no time at all a two week stay at a small and cheerful school was arranged for me, timed to follow on from the four day OLE conference in Kigali, Rwanda. It was an incredible experience. I found it amazing that the children learned as much as they did with almost no teaching resources (like reading books, or paper to draw on . . ), and (corny as it sounds),  how well-behaved and infectiously happy the children were, as you can see from the videos further down the page.


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By Marg February 23rd, 2011
Categories: Viewpoint Tags: 0 comments

Yes! yes!! yes!!! (I’ll have what she’s having)

February 14th, 2011

Maybe, just maybe, Ken Robinson’s education revolution is starting to happen.  Maybe the revolution is starting with classroom teaching time into homework time, and homework time into lesson viewing time. Sometimes it’s called flip-teaching, sometimes inverse-teaching, but whatever it’s called, the general idea is that teacher time is best spent interacting with students, and anything that makes more teacher time available for that interaction is going to improve the student learning experience.

Homework time and lesson time are flipped. By making a video of the lesson and making it available for students to watch as homework, everyone wins. With totally flexible viewing time, students are no longer penalized if classes are missed for whatever reason.   What would normally be “homework” – applying the knowledge gained from the lesson – is done during class time, when there are opportunities to clarify any areas of confusion.  Lesson time becomes quality teaching time as the teacher moves around the class, observing how students apply the knowledge and intervening or assisting as required.
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By Marg February 14th, 2011
Categories: Teaching styles Tags: , 0 comments

Learning to think

February 14th, 2011

In an era that emphasizes the need for “deep understanding” in learning, it’s alarming that most of the students I meet requiring tutoring are totally reliant two ineffective strategies to find an answer – 1) guess and hope, or 2) don’t even try – that way you can’t get it wrong. Until recently my typical strategy would be to identify areas of  misconceptions,  and make students aware of what they needed to know to correct their knowledge of basic mathematical concepts . I stressed the importance of reasoning over guessing, and provided students with opportunities to practice and apply their new-found knowledge.  I figured I was helping them acquire the “deep understanding”  they had previously missed out on, and that this newly acquired knowledge would improve both their self-confidence and their motivation.

The really exciting part was that these students started to catch on quite quickly – cognitive conflict would kick in and these students started thinking for themselves to find solutions to problems they themselves had discovered.

It didn’t work  very well.
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By Marg February 14th, 2011
Categories: Teaching styles Tags: 0 comments

Motivation beyond Maslow

February 14th, 2011

The need to for schools to create  life-long learners in order to meet the complex challenges they will encounter in an unforeseeable future is nowadays accepted as an obvious given.  While we’re at it, let’s make sure they are also creative and innovative thinkers.  After all, those creative and innovative ideas are the return on the investment in education.

Yet the reality is that there are many students who are anything but motivated learners.  For these students, the only good part about school is that it’s a place to meet their friends. The lessons – the education part of school – is endured.   How likely is it that these students will become lifelong learners?
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By Marg February 14th, 2011
Categories: Teaching styles Tags: 0 comments

Over 20 of the best online fraction teaching resources

August 15th, 2010

Attack fraction frustration with this hand-picked selection of the best  fraction resources on the web.   They have all passed the selection criteria of providing easily and clearly understandable accurate explanations of fraction operations, and/or providing effective practice opportunities.   The list includes interactive sites for visualizing fractions, and  games and worksheets.


Most of the games in this list do not involve timed activities, as time induced stress often often reduces performance  resulting in a frustrating and discouraging experience.  Game activities which do rely on timed activities should only be attempted by students who are already confident of their number skills.
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By Marg August 15th, 2010
Categories: Best-of Lists, Mathematics Tags: 4 comments
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