Working memory (sometimes referred to as “short-term memory”) helps math students as they hold information temporarily in their mind. It’s essential for mental math. With limited working memory, students may need tools or supports to successfully perform calculations or make sense of a mathematical task. When it comes to math text passages, teachers can adjust the passage to help students… Read more →
Desmos + New STAAR Item Types = Deeper Discourse STAAR has introduced new item types that go beyond multiple choice and griddable items. This session explored how to use Desmos to model these new items types, capture student thinking, and elicit more student discourse The goal of this session was to model new item types in Desmos, then show how… Read more →
IEPs and MTPs – Adapting the Math Teaching Practices for Diverse Learners NCTM’s Effective Math Teaching Practices help provide rich learning opportunities for all students. These practices benefit students who receive special education services as well. This session describes how teachers can adapt the MTPs to meet the needs of students with EIPs and invite all students to rich, student-centered… Read more →
NCTM Virtual Conference – Scaffolding Instruction for All Learners with Desmos Activity Builder Desmos provides free technology tools that build students’ math understanding through experimentation, discourse, and guided questioning. The Desmos Activity Builder allows teachers to modify tasks to support students with diverse needs. This session explores sample Desmos activities with specific strategies for differentiating interactive tasks. This session was… Read more →
This past weekend, I was honored to join 40 other new Desmos Fellows in San Francisco for a weekend to talk about access & equity, classroom practice, instructional coaching, math history, the future of math education, lesson study & we even squeezed in time to talk desmos.com and their online platform for visualizing math concepts! The welcoming crew at Desmos… Read more →
This session reviewed research and strategies addressing memory and problem solving among students with IEPs. Presentation Slide Deck Vocabulary Activity for spaced practice
This session provided a short introduction to the Desmos Activity Builder, then explored strategies for scaffolding activities to meet the needs of struggling learners. Session Slide Deck Desmos Activity Builder: Differentiation Demonstration Desmos Activity Builder: Scaffolded Questions
A store’s cash drawer has five slots for currency: $1 bills $5 bills $10 bills $20 bills $50 bills & $100 bills together A customer buys an item that costs $114, and she pays $120 (with a $100 bill and a $20 bill). She gets $6 in change (a $5 bill and a $1 bill). This transaction used four of… Read more →
A local nursery is discounting shrubs and bushes. A 1-foot diameter shrub is only $1. A ½-foot diameter shrub is $2. The ¼-foot diameter shrub is $4. (And so on… one-third foot diameter = $3, one-tenth foot diameter = $10.) What is the cheapest way to fill the greatest area of a flowerbed that is a 4-foot square? How much… Read more →
If my purchase at the store totals $4.97 and I pay with a $5 bill, I get 3 coins back. If I give the cashier a $5 bill plus two pennies, I get 1 coin back. How can I use this transaction to consolidate my change into the fewest coins possible? When should I give the cashier a few extra… Read more →