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  • Speeding Up and Slowing Down on a Graph looking at Velocity and Acceleration

    Speeding Up and Slowing Down on a Graph looking at Velocity and Acceleration

    We all understand speed intuitively. Velocity and acceleration are more mathy and harder for many students to comprehend, especially on a graph. Even harder is the idea of when an object is slowing down or speeding up. In this post I attempt to unpack both. Velocity is speed with a direction. Negative in this case…

  • Algebra 1: Concepts and Skills

    Algebra 1: Concepts and Skills

    I had an interesting discussion through a Facebook post recently regarding concepts vs skills. I want to share some information I have gathered regarding this topic. I do so, because there were a substantial number of teachers advocating for skill based learning. I hope to initiate some meaningful discussion. Below left is a photo of…

  • Randy on Dana Jonson’s Podcast: Lots of Information about Math

    I was a guest on special ed attorney Dana Jonson‘s podcast. Below are links to items I cited in the discussion. There is a contact information form in this post. Strategy to individualize instruction Tandem of Online Resources: IXL.com and Google Classroom Online Worksheets I recommend Concepts vs Skills

  • Velocity, Acceleration, Speeding Up and Slowing Down

    Velocity, Acceleration, Speeding Up and Slowing Down

    DISCLAIMER: This is a very mathy, math geek post but it also has value in demonstrating instructional strategies and multiple representations. We all understand speed intuitively. Velocity is speed with a direction. Negative in this case does not indicate a lower value but simply which way an object is traveling. Both cars below are traveling…

  • Concepts vs Skills – Need Both

    Concepts vs Skills – Need Both

    In general math is taught by focusing on the steps. Conduct a Google search for solving equations and you will see the steps presented (below). You need a video to help your student understand solving and you typically get a presenter standing at the board talking through the examples. (I’ve posted on my approach to…

  • Documents for Task Analysis Presentation – DADD 2017 Conference

    Here is a link to a Dropbox folder with the documents I will address in my presentation. (Note: documents will not be uploaded until Jan 19, 2017.)

  • A Meaning Making Approach to Word Problems

    A Meaning Making Approach to Word Problems

    Here is a typical story or word problem. Dakota helped her father bake cookies. They baked 9 sugar cookies and 3 chocolate chip cookies. How many cookies did they bake total? When solving word problem the focus is often on following steps, e.g. read the problem and identify important information. There is also a focus…

  • Math is a Uniquely Challenging Subject

    Imagine being asked to explain the climate in Spain and the photo above is the resource you had to use. If you didn’t speak Spanish this would be a challenging task for two reasons. First, you may not know the climate so this is new learning. Second, you don’t know the language used to explain the…