What Is Fluency & My Thoughts On TouchMath

Fact Fluency | 3 comments

Recently, I received an email from a follower asking me about my thoughts on TouchMath®. I hope you’ll stick around while I go off on a little rant about why I hate TouchMath® as I hope to build your math mind as we are on our quest to build the math minds of...

The Math Education Books I Highly Recommend

Teaching Mathematics | 0 comments

I’ve been asked what books I recommend to someone to learn more and develop their professional learning around mathematics. In today’s vlog I will talk about books that I highly recommend in our quest to build our math minds, so we can build the math minds of...

A Better Way To Help Kids Learn How To Multiply By 9

Multiplication-Division | 6 comments

My daughter is in the third grade and the other night she brought home the Finger Trick for learning “multiplying by 9.” It was not her teacher who taught her this, one of the students brought it into the classroom showing it to everybody and the teacher tried to help...

Subtraction On A Rekenrek

Add-Subtract-Place Value | 6 comments

I talk a lot about how to use the Rekenrek for number sense and for addition. However, I want to talk about how to use the Rekenrek to help your students develop the ideas around subtraction. In today’s vlog, we investigate how to use the Rekenrek to do subtraction...

Why Place Value Needs To Come First

Add-Subtract-Place Value | 10 comments

Recently, I did a video about, why we should not be teaching students subtraction strategies and instead focusing on three key concepts around subtraction that help kids develop the strategies for themselves. I received a response back that asked, “So, does this...

4 Mathy Things You Can Get Anyone This Christmas

Math Pedagogy | 11 comments

In my neck of the woods, it’s that time of year when we start pulling out the big, chunky sweaters. That always starts me thinking about the holidays, specifically Christmas, and what I’m going to get my kids. Every year, there’s this idea floating around...

The BEST Way To Teach Subtraction

Add-Subtract-Place Value | 0 comments

Recently I received an email asking me, “what is the BEST way to teach subtraction?”. My response was, “I’m kind of the wrong person to ask because I don’t think we should teach subtraction strategies.” In this vlog, I explain that statement and talk about...