Natural Math Adventures with Global Math Department

Edited By Brian Bushart @bstockus

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Online Professional Development Sessions

Avoid Hard Work: Natural Math Adventures
Presented by Maria Droujkova (@NaturalMath) & Yelena McNaman

Avoid Hard Work is the new book for teachers, math circle leaders, and parents. The book explores adventurous, unusual, and off-the-beaten-path mathematics via problem-solving. In the spirit of Natural Math, we took the ten powerful problem-solving techniques originally published by Mathematical Association of America for advanced high school students, and adapted them for children ages three to ten. That means the content is accessible and friendly, not only for children, but also for math-anxious adults or those who want a casual encounter with the subject. During the event, the participants will make powerful math ideas their own in hands-on and minds-on play, as they prepare to share the joy with their students.

To join the meeting when it starts at 9pm Eastern (or RSVP if it’s before 9pm), click here.

Did you miss last week’s session? Never fear! Click here to listen to Lisa Floyd share her session on integrating computational thinking into the math classroom.

The #MTBoS Never Sleeps

Nasty Math

I was at the Women’s March in Montreal on Jan 21, and I’ve been floating on that uplifting experience ever since. Nothing nasty about it, unless by nasty you mean wonderful, kind, and accepting. How many nasty people were there? Here’s a timely article on that very subject shared by Evan Weinberg (@emwdx) on Twitter. I love it when mathematicians debunk “alternate facts.”

Speaking of empathy, this article, shared by Brian Bennett (@bennettscience), is about how Sphero, a robot that teaches children how to program, actually ended up teaching about empathy. What a lovely overlap of curricula!

Finally, the New York Times used what looks suspiciously like a Desmos graph in this article about, again, getting actual facts out there. Readers can draw on a graph to guess the answer to questions that compare the Obama administration to the Bush ones, and find out how close they came.

Keeping nasty and mathy,

Written by Audrey McLaren (@a_mcsquared)

Coming to a Crossroad

In my district around this time teachers are always asked about their preferences for the following school year. For some, it’s an easy decision, remain in their current position. For others like myself, it means a crossroad, a decision that has huge implications for the rest of my career. I’ve been a math coach for a total of 8 non-consecutive years. After being a middle school coach for 2 years, I’m feeling the pull to go back into the classroom full time. Some may scream, “Why?! I can’t wait to get out!” Well I say, it has a lot to do with educators who are not like these growth mindset people.

Every teacher gets the feeling of burn out from time to time. Some succumb to its negativity, while others reflect, find a solution, and push pass the burn out. @LBrookePowers is one of the others. In her recent post she explained how she was overcome by the feeling of burnout and what she did to come out of it.

@Kelley_Kaminsky was interviewed by Robert Kaplinsky about why she created a #Observeme sign. Her level of vulnerability and desire for others to feel safe to be vulnerable is the type of personality I would love to work with as a coach.

Written by Jenise Sexton (@MrsJeniseSexton)

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