Mathsational

Here is another better late than never #SundayFunday post :) At least this one is only 5 weeks late and I'm making up ground! Here is more info if you'd like to join in the fun. It's really no surprise that I ended up being a teacher. I had a very difficult childhood. I won't go into the gory details, but although my mother did the very best she could with the resources she had, she could not protect me from everything. My early life was filled with neglect, hunger, inadequate shelter & clothing and abuse. I was surrounded by illegal activities and poor role models. At school, no one knew what I was going through and no one treated me differently. That is exactly how I liked it. I did not have the means to develop skills in areas like music or athletics, but I could take advantage of my free appropriate education. I quickly learned that if I worked really hard, I would excel, and that is exactly what I did. I loved the feeling of control that I ha...

This is another very late (6ish weeks overdue) #SundayFunday Post.  I should actually be able to catch-up now that it seems there will be monthly prompts rather than weekly :)  Here is more info if you'd like to join in the fun. I've been meaning to write a long series of posts about my favorite math games.  In the past, I've written much about practice structures .  In my mind, practice structures are fun ways to practice recently learned skills while games would be more review of slightly older skills.  I'll start with posting my two favorite math review games.  Eventually, I'll follow-up this post with other game summaries. In general, my favorite review games focus on content, get every student involved, do not reward speed over deep thought, and involve some type of chance.  The first two items on this list are pretty obvious.  Jo Boaler has written much about the harm teachers and schools do to students when focusing on speed in mat...

This is a very late (6ish weeks overdue) #Sunday Funday Post.  I love to read education books and I always learn something new to use in my classroom.  It's hard for me to pick just a few books, so I'll share some of the most recent ones that I've read. First up: Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning by Jan Chappuis. This for a grad class that starts Monday. Getting a jump on the readings... at least I had a few hours of summer break :) @JanChappuis pic.twitter.com/3cqUUdzCKU — Jennifer Abel (@abel_jennifer) June 9, 2017 This was required reading for a grad class, but it was one of the best books that I've read on formative assessment.  I know that feedback is so important for student learning but often wondered about what it would look like in practice.  This book offers tons of concrete examples. I made it one of my professional goals for the year to give more formative feedback and fewer grades.  These pointers have helped so fa...