{"id":629,"date":"2014-03-31T11:32:13","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T16:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/?p=629"},"modified":"2014-03-31T11:38:59","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T16:38:59","slug":"awesome-k-12-math-teachers-exist-and-they-have-blogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/blogonmathblogs\/2014\/03\/31\/awesome-k-12-math-teachers-exist-and-they-have-blogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Awesome K-12 Math Teachers Exist! And they have blogs."},"content":{"rendered":"

I sometimes get tired of hearing about how \u201cteachers (meaning K-12 teachers) just don\u2019t understand this or that, or won\u2019t try doing something new,\u201d or are deficient in some way or another.\u00a0 We often advise teachers to let go of the “deficit model” and trade in for the “abundance model” when thinking about their students, so why not encourage society to do the same for teachers. \u00a0In a sea of people bemoaning the state of our education system, we should\u00a0consider these dedicated individuals are resources\u00a0to be celebrated.\u00a0 Disclaimer: I haven\u2019t had either of these teachers myself, but based on their blogs, I am guessing they are awesome.\u00a0 There are\u00a0many wonderful teaching blogs out there, but these are a few that have recently caught my eye.<\/p>\n

Fawn Nguyen\u2019s blog, Finding Ways to Nguyen Kids Over,<\/a> is full of ideas that could be used in both college and K-12 classrooms.<\/p>\n

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\"fawn<\/a><\/dt>\n
One students strategy for finding the equation that describes the pattern: ” I see the center column as (n+1). Then there are 4 identical groups around the center, each one is a Gauss addition. My equation is C = (n+1) + 4[(n2+n)\/2].”
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My favorite part of her website is her Visual Patterns catalog<\/a>, which is a whole bank of visual patterns that help middle schoolers connect algebraic expressions and geometric patterns.\u00a0 This was especially nice from my point of view because she includes her way of doing \u201cmath talks\u201d with these visual patterns, a simple but effective way of letting the kids think individually, share their ideas, and get feedback from classmates.In addition to sharing the mathematics that her class works on, Ms. Nguyen writes post like \u201cI can\u2019t a<\/a>fford not to\u201d<\/a> addressing the concern that there isn\u2019t enough time to devote to activities outside of the typical curriculum like she does.\u00a0 She shares some of the reflection of her students as evidence that Math Talks and other less conventional activities that she does in class are effective.\u00a0 My favorite quote from a kid was \u201cI thought it was clever because towards the end it wasn’t the rule, it was your rule.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n

\"mathmunchpyththeorem\"<\/a>

From a Math Munch post on paper representations of proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. This is taken from an 1847 manuscript by Oliver Bryne.<\/p><\/div>\n

The teachers at Math Munch:<\/a> Anna Weltman, Justin Lanier, and Paul Salomon, who all taught or teach at Saint Ann\u2019s School in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve liked this blog for a while and mentioned it before.\u00a0 Recently, it featured a game with which, I am a bit ashamed to say, I became somewhat obsessed..2048.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t already played this game, maybe it\u2019s best that you continue to avoid it.\u00a0 But if you are like me, you have not only played many times, but you play to win as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

\"justinlanierknots\"<\/a>

Justin’s preparations for his math circle workshop<\/p><\/div>\n

It seems that Justin Lanier is currently working at the Princeton Learning Cooperative and has his own blog \u201cI choose math\u201d<\/a> which features most recently his foray into Celtic knot drawings at a math circle.<\/p>\n

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\"mikesmathpage3dprint\"<\/a>

From Mike’s blog: “For example, from those two sources, and lots of trial and error, we were able to print out a hollowed out cube that illustrates the \u201cPrince Rupert Problem\u201d \u2013 a cube is actually able to pass through a second cube of the same size”<\/p><\/div>\n

We shouldn\u2019t forget that our parents are also our teachers, as is so obviously the case for kids who are homeschooled.\u00a0 Take for instance, Mike, curator of mikesmathpage.wordpress.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n