Category Archives: K-12 Education

MATH ON THE BORDER: Working with unaccompanied migrant children in Federal custody

Posted on October 19, 2020 by msaul

The events recounted here happened in January 2020. The program described has been suspended during the COVID crisis.  Perhaps there will be no need for it when the crisis is over.  Nadia looked at me with big brown eyes and … Continue reading →

Posted in Active Learning in Mathematics Series 2015, Communication, Faculty Experiences, Influence of race and gender, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, Prison | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

THE ZOOM ROOM: Vignette and Reflections About Online Teaching

Posted on September 1, 2020 by msaul

Mark Saul A child’s insight “I know how to find out how many divisors a number has. You factor it into primes….” Alejandro was with a virtual group of four enthusiastic ten year olds, in the midst of exploring a … Continue reading →

Posted in Active Learning in Mathematics Series 2015, Classroom Practices, Communication, Faculty Experiences, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, Online Education, Outreach, Student Experiences | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Writing Good Questions for the Internet Era

Posted on August 4, 2020 by msaul

Jeff Suzuki CUNY Brooklyn The forced conversion to distance learning in Spring 2020 caught most of us off-guard. One of the biggest problems we face is the existence of free or freemium online calculators that show all steps required to … Continue reading →

Posted in Active Learning in Mathematics Series 2015, Communication, Curriculum, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, Online Education | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Future of Enrichment: Math Contests or Math Circles?

Posted on January 13, 2020 by msaul

by Doug O’Roark Executive Director, Math Circles of Chicago The New York Times recently published an article entitled “The Right Answer? 8,186,699,633,530,061 (An Abacus Makes It Look Almost Easy)”. Its lead photograph features over 100 children seated at desks, facing … Continue reading →

Posted in K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, Outreach, Student Experiences | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

What math professors and k-12 teachers think of each other

Posted on November 18, 2019 by Ben Blum-Smith

By Michael Pershan, St. Ann’s School I. What do primary/secondary math educators think of the teaching that happens in colleges? And — the other way around — what do mathematics professors think of primary and secondary math teaching? I’m nearing … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Graduate Education, K-12 Education | 5 Comments

Everyone Can Learn Mathematics to High Levels: The Evidence from Neuroscience that Should Change our Teaching

Posted on July 1, 2019 by msaul

By Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education, Stanford University, and co-founder of youcubed.org (This is the first of two of our most popular Blog posts that we repeat for the month of July. ) 2018 was an important year for … Continue reading →

Posted in Active Learning in Mathematics Series 2015, Classroom Practices, Communication, Education Policy, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, News, Research | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Two More Teaching Vignettes

Posted on June 16, 2019 by msaul

For this month’s blog post, I offer two more vignettes from my classroom experience.  My intention, as in the last column, is to communicate what I think of as the essence of teaching, which is the emotional—not just intellectual—bond between … Continue reading →

Posted in Active Learning in Mathematics Series 2015, Classroom Practices, Communication, Faculty Experiences, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Two Teaching Vignettes

Posted on June 3, 2019 by msaul

As the Spring term ends, I thought I’d share with readers two vignettes from my teaching career.  The intention is for us to remember how much of teaching is the emotional connection between student and teacher.  For me, this is … Continue reading →

Posted in Advising, Classroom Practices, Communication, Faculty Experiences, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research | Tagged | 1 Comment

MATHEMATICS: GATEKEEPER OR GATEWAY?

Posted on February 14, 2019 by msaul

Some recent writers on mathematics education have been talking about mathematics as a field enjoying ’unearned privilege’ as a ‘gatekeeper’ in our society.  The more I think about it, the less sense this makes. For some writers, the reference may … Continue reading →

Posted in Classroom Practices, Communication, Education Policy, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, testing | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

My “First” Mathematical Problem and What It Means

Posted on June 16, 2018 by msaul

I am inspired, by several previous blog entries, to write about my own mathematical awakening, and what I’ve learned from reflecting on it. I went to New York City Public Schools, in the Bronx.  I always enjoyed arithmetic and mastered … Continue reading →

Posted in Active Learning in Mathematics Series 2015, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, Student Experiences | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments