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  • Modified Multiplication Table – Area Model Included

    Modified Multiplication Table – Area Model Included

    The idea is that the student will have to count squares and eventually skip count by how many rows. By doing so the student is more engaged (or less passive) in determining the product byy engaging the visual representation. I am interested in feedback and will revise if this could be useful. Here is a…

  • Information Processing Analogy – Big Picture

    Effective instruction is effective because it addresses the key elements of how the brain processes information. I share an analogy to help adults (parents and educators) fully appreciate this. Information Processing Model Below is a model of information processing first introduced to me in a master’s course at UCONN. Here is a summary of what…

  • Visuals Aid Memory

    This research has major implications for math for students with special needs…but some of us already knew this!

  • Snow Math

    Here’s a common word problem used for linear functions and equations (y=mx+b): There are 6 inches of snow on the ground. Snow is falling at a rate of 2 inches per hour. Write a linear equation showing total snow as a function of time (in hours). The equation would be y=2x + 6. Often the…

  • Interpreting Slope Intercept

    Slope is one of the most important topics covered in high school algebra yet it is one of the least understood concepts. I have two observations about this. First, slope is often introduced with the formula and not as a rate of change. Second, students intuitively understand slope as rate of change conceptually when presented…

  • Cat Chasing Mouse as System of Equations

              This is a screen shot from explorelearning’s Gizmos. This site has various simulations related to science and math. This one shows multiple reprsentations for a system of equations. The site has 5 minute test trials which can be used to present a topic in class. I used the one for…

  • Memory

    One model for memory is called the Information Processing Model or Dual Storage Model. Here’s the suggested process in this model in a class instruction context: Our senses receive stimuli. In the classroom students hear the teacher or a classmate talking, see the teacher’s notes or the note being passed to them, smell various things…