My Evaluation of Prodigy Math

Uncategorized | 3 comments

I get emails a lot from teachers asking me what I think of this program, or that app, etc.  Well, two times in one week I got asked about the math game Prodigy Math.  I hadn’t heard of it, so after the second question I decided to look in to it, especially...

Fact Fluency Part 1:  4 Types of Addition & Multiplication Facts

Building Number Sense | 1 comment

Fact Fluency Part 2         Fact Fluency Part 3 As I was looking over my presentation for this week at NCTM and getting sidetracked by checking Tweets about NCSM (which I didn’t get to attend this year), I saw a few tweets about Steven Leinwand and Patsy Kanter’s...

5 Math Games That Decrease Your Prep Time

Building Number Sense, TMWYK | 1 comment

Many of you know that I am a HUGE proponent of using math games to build your students’ mathematical minds.  However, the biggest complaint is that math games take so much time to prepare and then you have to teach the new game to the kids before they can go off...

How I Got My Daughter to Stop Writing 501 as 5001 in 10 Minutes

Add-Subtract-Place Value | 1 comment

Writing numbers correctly is often a struggle for young kids.  Most kids can say the numbers but when they go to write them down the way we write numbers doesn’t align with how we say them.  This causes confusion in our students and is one of the reasons...

Can Timed Tests Help Develop a Growth Mindset?

Uncategorized | 8 comments

Yesterday, during a PD session, I was asked my thoughts on timed tests.  With all the talk about growth versus fixed mindsets, the topic of timed tests for facts has become a popular topic.  My thoughts may not match up with the popular thought of the moment, but...

My #NCTMBoston Takeaways

Uncategorized | 0 comments

I had the great pleasure of presenting at the Annual NCTM Conference.   This year it was held in Boston and I got to take a tour of Fenway Park!!  I even got sucked into the excitement of game day and went to a game. But the best part of the trip wasn’t what I...

The Correct Way to Use the Area Model

Multiplication-Division | 14 comments

Is there a WRONG way to use the area model?  I think so, but you may disagree with me.  I don’t know where this started, but I am very tired of seeing area models being modeled incorrectly.  It is so prevalent that I even saw one of the keynote speakers at an...