Summer Slide? Fall Falter? No Way!

It's been hard to tell where summer break began this school year (2019-2020 into 2020-2021). And with the strange end of the year leading into and uncertain new one, you and your child can be practicing math. Not with worksheets or computer programs, but in 5 or 10 minutes of conversation a day. I bet you'll find that all those connections your student was learning at school are still there. Fostering that learning at home will help ensure your child is safe from summer slide AND fall falter!

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It's about the learning not the grade.

I hope you (and the children/students in your life) had the chance to watch the Perseverance land on Mars recently. Or see the Dragon launch last year. Every single one of the astronauts, engineers, and technicians had years of schooling to prepare for THAT MOMENT. Every doctor or nurse has been trained through lectures, tests, and field experiences. Something that strikes me every year around this time, as our seniors are making college decisions and our juniors are taking the ACT and beginning the application process, is that not one person in any interview I've ever had has asked me about my grades or GPA. We have tied up so much time and energy into thinking that only the best survive, but we KNOW that can't be true. All that does is overstress our teens and lead them to believe that successful people never struggle. That is a damaging belief - especially when internalized by students who are struggling. Here's my take on grades:

The Power of Yet (and I Don't Know)

This one's for all the parents facing the "why...?" and "how...?" and "why not...?" and "do I have to...?" questions. And for the teachers (and parents) who are uncomfortable with admitting they aren't the omniscient geniuses we'd like our kids (and students) to believe we are. There is a LOT of power in the word YET. And even more power (in my opinion) in admitting you don't know. Students of all ages need to know that they don't have to know everything - and the people in their lives don't know everything either. Try it out. It's OK to not get it, yet. It's OK to not know. Let's find out together.

It's not new, it's meta

Metacognition: a buzz word that educators like to throw around Metacognition: thinking about thinking Yes, that's a real thing teachers are asked to do on a regular basis. We are expected to anticipate errors our students might make before they make them. We are constantly on the look out for students who have a different approach than their peers to a problem. And now we're seeing these "metacognition" problems showing up on standardized tests for all ages. The practice of explaining your thinking can be a tough one to wrap our heads around as adults. It feels easier to say "It just IS the answer." But we want to dig deeper into HOW or WHY you arrived at your answer because It's Not New, It's Meta

Demystifying Elementary Math (from a Secondary Perspective)

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