Off The Hypotenuse

"A healthy attitude is contagious but don't wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier." ~ Unknown Retweet this button on every post blogger

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Question: What do you do when you have a question in class?

I ask my table-mates to explain what the problem is asking, and if I still don't get after I try or if we share answers and come up with different ones then I ask them how they got their answer. Yes its helps.


When I have a question about classwork, I usually ask one of my friends to help me. If no one is available I would ask Glenn to help me. It helps a lot to ask someone what is going on. Everyone is very understanding.


When I have a question about classwork I ask a math student at my table. But if that student doesn't understand, I try to figure out the question myself a little more. If I'm still not sure then I will go to Glenn and ask and this process works.


when i have a question about classwork i ask my friends. not go to glenn . i go to my friends because i think they know how to relate to me and really noticed my problems. when i asked half the class, then my friends get help and i listen to glenn. but i don't like going to glenn.


Question: If you could change something about math class that would help you participate better, what would that be?


I would probably make you go around more and ask people if they need help more instead of waiting for them to ask you, because some kids dont ask questions when they need help


If you didn't take a kid out of class everyday I could participate better. You are always taking J. or O. or someone out of class and I don't think it's productive. You have to pick your battles or else what you say will become meaningless to them.


(I am puzzled by this response as this has only happened twice this year)


If I could change something about math class, I would stop using the algebra tiles. The algebra tiles make things harder for me than just solving the problem, and so I don't participate as much.


If I could change something about math class that would help me participate in class better, it would be that if you don't want to, you don't have to write on the board. I sometimes get embarrassed when people correct my work.


(I am puzzled by this response as well as I never force anyone other than volunteers to go to the board)


Without a doubt, this current group of 8th graders challenge the status quo of class and rebel against much of it. They understand the class differently than I do. I have moved pretty far from the book, instead opting for short, quick algebra lessons based on manipulatives and SmartBoard interactions. I don't use a lot of games to date, which I would agree with them, in part because I feel an uneven participation and also because really useful algebra games that teach important concepts or (at least) reinforce them are few and far between from my perspective. I also feel there has to be a certain level of steady practice in class as a trade off for doing far less homework than I have had my students do in the past.


The best thing I got from these comments is that my students realize that I value their interactions with each other as the first, second and even third resource before coming to me for help.



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If you have students write, they will make great connections. I find this student's writing particularly clear and it is obvious to me that he "gets" the bigger picture of different ways to solve systems of equations:

I learned a lot in Chapter 6. We learned about all the different ways of solving a system of equations. We reviewed the equal values method, where you make each equation equal to the same thing, make them equal, and then solve for the variables. We learned about the substitution method, where, for instance, if you had one equation in a y=mx+b form, you replace y in the other equation with whatever mx+b is. Then, finally, we learned about the elimination method, where you try to get rid of one of the variables. For instance, if you have two equations: x+2y=1, and 3x+5y=8, you would want to multiply the first equation by 3 so you would have 2 "3x's" and then subtract the second equation from the first equation. This method is very useful because it is quick and easy. I think my favorite method is the substitution method. The substitution method can almost always be used and it is also very easy and pretty simple. I don't like he equal values method because it takes a really long time for me and it seems a little more complicated than the others. The elimination method isn't bad, it works pretty well but it is less useful than the substitution method in my opinion.



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Last night I learned how to make a Google Docs survey form. I loved the simplicity of it and the immediacy for my project of collecting more student feedback on how the class is going. I imbedded the form on a special math blog I keep for these types of forms, then had my students access the website and complete the survey. It took them about 15 minutes total to do this (we have student laptops available for each student at my school). The questions I used were the following:


1. What is going well for you in math?
2. What is difficult for you in math class?
3. Rate your participation in class (options: more, same or less than other students)
4. When you have a question in class, what do you do? Does it work?
5. When you have a question about homework, what do you do? Does it work?
6. When you have a question during a test/quiz, what do you do? Does it work?
7. If you could change one thing about class, what would it be?


The feedback was very positive: my students are hearing my earnest desire to maintain their homework life doable and meaningful ("not busy work" said one of them) and that I should be a resource of last resort after talking with peers and thinking about the math (I don't want to be the omnipresent, know-it-all teacher).

There was one particular comment that I wasn't expecting, but enjoyed reading and consider:


Everything is going well for me in math this year. 


I understand the concepts how you explain them and the homework seems like a good amount that helps me understand the classwork. 


The homework usually isn't busywork. :) 


We have math class as the last period on Friday and I like how you understand that we might get restless. 


Some teachers wouldn't realize that.



The reason I like this comment is that it tells me that this student hears my compassion for their school life complications and try to deal with them in positive ways. Even naming these frustrations seems to make some students feel more understood.


My ultimate goal is to be a compassionate, realistic math teacher with high academic standards. Sometimes it seems that these three adjectives are contradictory, especially when applied to the MATH TEACHER as a stereotype. At least with this group of students, I am winning the battle to receive the "benefit of doubt" that I wrote about earlier.



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From Seth Godin's blog:



It's almost impossible to communicate something clearly and succinctly to everyone, all the time.


So misunderstandings occur.
We misunderstand a comment or a gesture or a policy or a contract.


And then what happens?


Well, if we're engaged with someone we like or trust, we give them the benefit of the doubt. We either assume that what they actually meant was the thing we expected from someone like them, or we ask about it.


If we're engaged with a stranger or someone we don't trust, we assume the worst.


The challenge, then, is to earn the benefit of the doubt.



This seems to fit nicely into a professional exploration I am conducting. With me as the subject.


I personally know myself and I know myself well enough to know that my intentions are excellent, my compassion heartfelt and my attention to detail consistent.


In fact, consistent is the one word that best describes my professional conduct with my students.


But, I don't always have enough "benefit of the doubt" with some of my students and their families. I also don't have sufficient of this commodity with a certain administrator.


I currently have a very low account balance with a significant portion of one grade, but I have an abundance of it with another grade. Unfortunately, the administrator notices the lower account and overlooks the abundant one.


I believe I have less credence with the one group due to some misinterpreted messages that grew up and beyond me before I knew about them. I believe that I have greater credence with the other group because I have been explicit with praise for specific achievements and a little more laid back with my approach to the class.  


If I were to evaluate my standing in both groups, I would see that with the group with a higher opinion of me lies more effort to meet the academic standards I have set for them. There is less fighting, less resistance and more openess to suggestions.


I will continue this exploration, and in the mean time, I am considering how one goes about reacquring  the benefit of doubt without pandering to mistaken behaviors of entitlement that come with certain middle school minds. Retweet this button on every post blogger

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The Brain: Humanity's Other Basic Instinct: Math

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1. I am the ratio of the least 3-digit number to the greatest 3-digit number. Who am I?
2. I am the ratio of the number ‘100 less than 949’ to the number ‘100 more than 949’. Who am I?
3. I am the ratio of the only even prime number to the least odd prime number. Who am I?
4. I am the ratio of the difference between 19 and 34 and the sum of 19 and 34. Who am I?
5. I am the ratio of the 2nd power of 10 to the 3rd power of 10. Who am I?
6. I am the ratio of the greatest common factor of 4/6 to the least common multiple of 4/6. Who am I?
7. I am the ratio of the least factor of 36 to its greatest factor. Who am I?
8. There are 3 numbers – 0.5, 1.5 and 4. I am the ratio of their sum to their product. Who am I?
9. I am the ratio of the ‘right angle’ to the ‘sum total of all the angles’ in a right-angled triangle. What am I?
10. I am the ratio of the number of sides of a square to the number of sides of a hexagon. Who am I?

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Frantic parent email:

Dear Glenn,
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"What you scatter is more important than what you gather." Retweet this button on every post blogger

The title of this POW is Justin Needs Out.Justin has moved to W=====e Middle School from a school in New York.He does not like W======e much; it’s too low tech and boring.And he especially dislikes Mr. Bott.Mr. Bott is rude to Justin and the only way Justin can get out of his class is to prove to Mr. Bott that he is too advanced for remedial math.He must solve the math problem to impress Mr. Bott.The problem states that Mr. Bott will pay the student $1000 on the first day in the morning.In return, the student must pay a $100 commission to Mr. Bott at the end of the day.At the end of the day they will also determine the next days payment and commission.Mr. Bott will double the money the student has at the end of the day and double the amount the student has to pay him in commission.Can the student work for a month?The main math topic is logic. Retweet this button on every post blogger

I have been experiencing a lot of success using personal student blogs with my math students. Each student has their own blog where they are required to post their written work, which is most the Problem Of the Week essays every other week. In addition, students can leave me notes and post their evaluations. It has made my grading easier because all I have to do is pick up my computer anywhere that has an Internet connection. Via my RSS reader, I see how has posted the latest work. I open up an Acrobat Writeable pdf form I created, read the essay, evaluated it and place it in their drop boxes.

It has made my grading life easier and has required students to "own" their work more because others will read it. Retweet this button on every post blogger

Is there a link between the gestation period of an animal, and how long it lives?

This was the question inspired by the Connected Mathematics unit: Comparing and Scaling.

It is a problem hidden within the homework section, but which deserved more attention. I find it to be an excellent example of using real world information to practice and apply ratios. It also lent itself to a relatively easy set up on the Smartboard, so that we can stay away from doing math solely from a math book.

Based on the following table, my students created a list of ratios comparing life spans to gestation periods.

 We looked at our lists and discussed whether we saw any direct relationship between life span and gestation. Based on my initial observations, there may be some sort of relatively weak correlation between the two, but it is not as obvious.

I then showed my students how to reduce their ratios to unit rates, comparing days of gestation to one year of life by dividing both sides by life span. This is similar to fractions, but does not require both numbers to share factors. It is an occasion where ratios look like fractions but act under their own special rules.

When we calculated these unit rates, we found that the poor giraffe has a huge cost in gestation days when compared to life span, while humans get off fairly scott free in that category.

Still, this type of data begs to be graphed to "see" if there is a correlation.

Here is what my admittedly rushed graph looked like on the Smartboard.

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Tonight I brought activities that demonstrated partitive as well as subtractive meanings and algorithms for long division. Then we talked about the role of memorization of math facts. Most of the 30 California teachers felt that memorization had some role, but that conceptual knowledge should back it up. The question for each and every one of us is how we determine that "best balance."

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I teach a geometry/algebra course for middle school teachers at our local university. I did not develop the course, hence I use materials collected from other professors. I generally follow the homework schedule and assignments of other profs. I fielded a question from one of my students about a homework problem I felt comfortable dealing with, but for which I had not quite worked out all the details. There was a very obvious triangular number pattern, for which I know, on a good day, a general approach to identify the pattern based on consecutive digits. This problem's pattern had a (x-1)(x-2)÷2 pattern, which I saw, but could not quite identify and I was left staring at the board. After some time, I turned to the class and told them that while I could see the pattern, I could not name it.

I don't know why I drew such a terrible blank. I felt guilty not having the answer, but worse than that, I felt that I let them down with my lack of finesse in that moment.

I am a good teacher, sometimes a great one, and still there are times when I come a big ZERO, even on problems I should and often do know.

Has that ever happened to you? Retweet this button on every post blogger

Well, sort of, at least.

I've not been a fan of homework since my son entered 3rd grade.

Reading logs seem dictatorial.

Long sheets of math facts seem boring (although I do see the need for them, at times).

But this week, my son came home with a long questionaire about the origins of his name.

It is a long story. His name Emanuel comes from a favorite Mexican singer of mine. It is also the name that corresponds to my birthday, December 25th, on the catholic calendar. And I like the sound. (Just don't call him Manny). Emanuel also means "God be with you".

His middle name, Ridel, comes from his bio father in Cuba.

He has my last name, Kenyon, which I found out, doing a little internet research, means "blonde" from the nordic invaders into England many a century ago.

His second last name, Ortega, comes from his mother. We found out, in another internet search, that Ortega means "lucky one".

That is the end of his legal name, but he also adds on Verdeses for my husband, his great uncle, whom he calls Tieto. Verdeses comes from Verdes (greens), and has some royal significance.

My son was very excited to find out the meanings of all his names. He remembers when he used to have blonde hair, he feels lucky and he assumes he is a prince. The joy on his face was worth all the other times we've hated homework together.

It was a special time. That is what homework should be. Retweet this button on every post blogger

Textbooks are an important resource for teachers, but they are just a resource. 

Since textbook authors are typically not aware of specific needs in a school's curriculum, it doesn't make sense to base mathematics instruction entirely on the recommended scope and sequence of a particular textbook. 

The nature of a textbook suggests that only a very limited number of examples can be included, which leaves the classroom teacher as the primary resource for meaningful. 

This is an important point when considering that only the teacher, not the textbook, is capable of  assessing and addressing the needs of the individuals in the class.

However, a good textbook allows a teacher to base lessons on interesting and relevant problems without having to spend too much time inventing or searching them. In order for the teacher to be successful with the textbook, he/she needs a deep mathematical background as well as a clear vision of the scope and sequence not of the text, but of the grade level being taught.

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Typically it is the “lattice” method of multiplication that pushes parents over the edge. This method taught to elementary school students under the Everyday Mathematics program, one of several national programs collectively labeled “constructivist” math, is so jarring to those raised in a traditional math program that it ends up being the last straw. 


Is there really a problem? Is this a case of parents stuck in their ways, unable to see beyond their own childhood experience? Do constructivist math programs like Everyday Math offer innovative strategies for modern students, or do they simply confuse students with pointless computational methods removed from the real world? Is traditional math instruction any better? 


Lee Stiff, a past President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, rejects the label “constructivist” math. The term was coined because these programs aim to have students construct their own knowledge through their own process of reasoning. He prefers the term “standards” based mathematics, but whatever the term the program is the same. In a defense of these programs Mr. Stiff writes:


“Reform-minded teachers pose problems and encourage students to think deeply about possible solutions. They promote making connections to other ideas within mathematics and other disciplines. They ask students to furnish proof or explanations for their work. They use different representations of mathematical ideas to foster students' greater understanding. These teachers ask students to explain the mathematics.


Their students are expected to solve problems, apply mathematics to real-world situations, and expand on what they already know. Sometimes they work with other students. Sometimes they work alone. Sometimes they use calculators. Sometimes they use only paper and pencil.”


It is hard to argue with a statement like that. Who would disagree that students should not have a deeper understanding of math?


It might be that some of the roots of constructivist math are in the field of early childhood education where preschool and Kindergarten aged children have long been encouraged to understand mathematical concepts in multiple physical and intuitive ways. 


Maria Montessori pioneered the use of what modern teachers call “manipulatives.” These physical teaching aids, which might be a simple as blocks, help young minds grasp the nature of mathematical concepts through their senses. Just as two times six equals twelve on paper, two piles of six blocks equals twelve on the classroom floor. Such techniques are long recognized as useful and necessary to promote developmental growth. A variety of available physical outlets for understanding mathematical concepts means that young children will be able to develop a comfortable relationship with numbers on their own.




That same sort of philosophy is part of the constructivist math program. The idea that children could have different methods for reaching the same answer or those children should be allowed to find a method with which they are personally most comfortable is not inconsistent with established early childhood educational norms. 


Yet, there is one key difference with constructivist math programs: now we are much further along on the developmental scale. Everyday Math and similar national programs are used not in preschool but in elementary school and on up to sixth or even eighth grade. In writing curriculum, “invented” spelling is allowed in lower grades so as not to stifle creativity for the sake of accuracy. In later grades, though, spelling is examined and corrected and eventually accurate spelling is required. It is often said that this principle does not seem to have a corollary in constructivist math. The disparaging term “fuzzy” math is a reference to this fact. In fact, it is the teacher's emphasis on efficiency and proficiency that matters in this case, not the "program".  Retweet this button on every post blogger

I'm thinking of the 22 years I've spent as a teacher.

I bumped into a Facebook group of alumni from a dear, previous school I worked at. Spent my 30's and part of my 40's there. Well enough into my career to know what I was doing and what I wanted to make of it. Single, until I was not. Childless until I was not. I idealist until I was a little less (never quite lose the idealism of wanting each school year to be the best for my students).

On the Facebook page, the memories posted were of the big events. The field trips, the songs, the art projects, specific teachers.

It got me thinking of the overnight field trips: the BIG ones. We used to take our 5th graders to Mazatlan and El Recodo (yes, it was a public school, but a special one at that). I have so many fond memories of that trip. Spent so much time organizing and instituionalizing the trip. I was one of two teachers who organized the activites, particularly, the academic end. What did our students need to know, how would we teach it, and what would they do when in Mazatlán. It was a great, creative and exhausting time.

8 of the 9 years I went on the trip. By the last year, I no longer wanted to go. I had a young boy at home. The trip had changed. It was too predictable. Then it was moved to Cuernavaca and I couldn't relate to the need to go anymore, but was needed. I did not enjoy that trip. I don't enjoy being in the 'back seat' of anything. I love to collaborate. On that trip, I was merely a chaperone.

Fast forward to my new school. Our 8th graders go to a great place in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico. I've gone each of the 4 years. The second year, I even took over the organization of the trip. I have taken my son each of the years I've gone, except the first one. Since he is a rambunctious and bilingual kid, he loved the trip probably much more than the 8th graders did. These years will form a special time for me and him that I hope to conserve.

This year, I have made a decision that I don't want to go on the trip. I've told the Heads of school as well as the lead Spanish teacher (a friend of mine) that I would prefer not to go, in fact, that I don't want to go. It will be funny not to be on that end of the trip for once, but I think I have lost some steam and enthusiasm with traveling abroad with students, at least this year.

The question I grapple with is whether this is a sign of resignation and loss of enthusiasm. I still love teaching and I love doing things that truly do impact students' formation. While I like to think that the activities I do in class have an impact, what kids really, really remember are the trips, the songs, the silly games. I don't sing and I'm not known for silly games, but I do travel with kids to distant and interesting places. Am I giving up on that or is this just a temporary thing? Retweet this button on every post blogger

This evening I went with my 9 year old son to the "annual" LGBT family "picnic" for our School. I am not sure exactly how many LGBT (lesbian/gay/bi/transexual) families there are at the school, but there are usual 2-4 kids of such families in each class, so simple math would put us around 30.

Maybe 20 families showed up.

It was a great event.

My 9 yr old asked me where we were going. I said to a party. "Who's birthday?" Not a birthday, a party for gay and lesbian families.


No, A's families is not gay.


No, they aren't gay either.

"But he has two dads and a mom" (like our family).

No, I don't think his two dads are gay (step dad and divorced dad).


No,  K's family is not gay, but to be honest, I've never asked. Maybe there is some truth there or maybe my son is just trying to fit his best friends into this category his own family belongs in.

That's the thing about us gays, we are assumed straight until proven otherwise. Convenient when needed, uncomfortable and narrow otherwise.

It was great to be with other gay and lesbian families (don't think we have transgendered families yet, though I know of two in my other life). The stories of how we create our families and protect them even in this überliberal city are stuff of novels.

The love and attention devoted to these children is monumental. Retweet this button on every post blogger

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How can we show numbers using chip boards for positive and negative integers.
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If we reflect on what we have learned in a week, it can be pretty darn amazing.

This week I learned:

1.  That the SF Bay Bridge is nearly unpassable at this point in history when trying to cross @ 5:30. Now all the traffic reports make sense to me (My commute inside of SF is less than 5 minutes, no traffic).

2.  My student benefit from slightly reducing the homework load, giving them up to 20 minutes a night of math work, hopefully no more. I can't control the texting, IM'ing and FB life, though.

3.  I learned that 3/4 + of my students have a very positive impression of math class and my teaching style. The other 1/4 are not necessarily uncomfortable, just more cautious.

4.  It can be hard but illuminating to look at videos of the class. I was impressed by the calm nature of the class, the student focus and level of academic acumen is high, very high.

5.  I learned of a way of thinking of teaching as "marching into confusion, then marching out". I like this way of thinking of teaching: if everything is always crystal clear via teacher explanation, then the student doesn't experience what it really means to be a "life long learner". Retweet this button on every post blogger

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Is it the tie?

The expression?

The format?

Oh, dear....

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"You never find yourself until you face the truth." ~ Pearl Bailey Retweet this button on every post blogger

Nature is marvelous and in short supply in San Francisco. My school is bordered by a freeway to the east and many blocks of treeless streets in the other directions. However, as you pass through the front gate, you find a fascinating garden we call the Adventure Playground. I use this garden to consider the nature of school curriculum in general and math instruction more specifically.

David Perkins describes a continuum between tame and wild ideas in school curricula. Tame ideas are closed learning experiences (e.g. five paragraph essays, long division and textbook science) Wild ideas are unpredictable experiences. These can be harder to identify in most classrooms, though examples such as writers’ workshop, project based math and inquiry science certainly are alive and well in many schools.

There is a huge diversity of garden aesthetics around the world, but consider present day California. In irrigated lawn is a tame garden in arid California: little diversity and great predictability. It produces minimal benefit other than the satisfaction of having sculptured a landscape. At the other extreme, the very “wildest” of gardens would be nature left to its own resources. It produces some food which might be difficult to harvest and potentially dangerous to the harvester.

A garden designed to produce food as well as pleasing aesthetics would fall somewhere between these two extremes. This garden represents the sort of sweet spot between wild and tame that many educators aim for. Yet there a wide range of opinions of what appropriate curricula looks like.

Educators work to produce a rich bounty of ideas. They are charged with “taming the wild” so that students can make sense of things. The question that always needs to be asked is: have some ideas been tamed too much? Has the productive garden turned into the irrigated lawn?

Few subjects in schools inspire more “taming of the wild” than mathematics. While the field of mathematics is a vibrantly wild one, it has a long history of tameness in school. Take the classic rhyme to remember how to divide fractions: “Yours is not to question why, simply invert and multiply.” Critical thinking is often weeded from math, It feels neat, defined, and controlled. For many, it feels like the math we learned in school.

But there is a romantic notion about “real world” math that feels entirely wild. Students construct their own understandings and methodologies in math. Some are successful, while many struggle with this approach.

I have seen the effects of overly tame or unduly wild teaching. I have carefully parsed out equations for determining slope of a line without letting them muck around in the patterns. Later, I would observe students freeze when faced with similar problems out of context. They were starving on a flawless lawn.
At the other extreme, I would ask my 4th and 5th graders to “invent” different methods for multiplying multi-digit numbers. Some students did have inventive ways of doing this arithmetic work, but their successes rested more on their home experiences than on their inventive minds in class. These students were starving in a dark and lonely jungle.

We must tread thoughtfully in a zone between the excessively tame and the dangerously wild ideas. I have found a comfortable balance with Problems of the Week (POW’s). These problems are complex, messy, somewhat obscure but not impossible to solve if one persists. One of my favorite POW problems involves a camel crossing a desert:

Camila Camel's harvest consists of 3000 bananas. The market place is 1000 miles away. Camila must walk to the market and can only carry up to 1000 bananas at a time. Being a camel, Camila eats one banana during each and every mile she walks (so Camila can never walk anywhere without bananas).
How many bananas can Camila get to the market?

This problem is wild because it is not solvable by simple algorithms, yet it sufficiently tame so that many people have some entry point to start it. While the necessary math skills are not complex, their application often inspires creativity. It has a best answer but actually there are many good answers that are acceptable approximations.

If we succumb to breaking down math to its bare components, we teach how to take care of a lawn rather than promote diverse gardens. Let’s look at math from an organic gardening perspective. Let’s wild the tame corner! Retweet this button on every post blogger

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So, as I've said in earlier posts, this year I am involved in an inquiry project with teachers from my cohort of the Bay Area Writing Project.

My question: What is the nature of discourse in my middle school math class?

I have several sources of information.

The one I am focussing on using at this time is video. I want to see both how I present material (ideas, cues, vocal style and physical style), how my students react to what they hear from me, and how they contribute to the conversation: both constructively and not.

I will be posting two short videos: one where I present the latest Problem of the Week and another where students are working at their table groups with y=mx+b.

I notice in both videos a very relaxed environment. My voice is extremely understated. I sound nice, I respond to students clearly, but at the same time, I speak slowly and a little lilt is in there. I believe my intention is to cue when what I say is important to hear: but I wonder whether this is what my students are hearing from this.

It was interesting, though, that when they asked about the video came (FLIP), I told them I was examining how I spoke in class, in part due to some feedback that I have a monotonous voice. Several key players in the class emphasized that I shouldn't worry about this: that I shouldn't have to change my voice. I think I agreed with them superficially, but I also recognize that I can pick up the speed, be a little less meditative in tone, while still maintaining a comprehensible flow of information in the class. Retweet this button on every post blogger

Time to recycle that DVD, now I can find it on line. Why keep the physical copy around to collect dust!

Same thing is happening to my texts.

I LOVE IT!

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Today, October 30th, was my school's annual Halloween carnaval. This is my fifth year participating in this tradition. The middle schoolers organize activity booths around the playground, and the 8th graders put together a haunted house. The elementary kids go to the music room to perform Intery Mintery and then on the playground for a mini Halloween parade. Then it all breaks up and they head over to the booths.

I used to really love Halloween. Not quite so much any more.

25 years ago, as a kindergarten teacher, I would do intricate units based on "Where the Wild Things Are" (let's not forget it was a book long, long before it was a movie). As a 4th and 5th grade teacher I organized a mini carnaval, based on my own fond memories of my elementary years. I included a dunking for apples activity which always got out of hand, but that was ok, because it was Halloween.

When I came to the middle school in my current school, I was asked (appropriately) to participate in the existing traditions, such as the 8th grade haunted house (I was and am a 8th grade advisor). I try to find the joy in it, but the 13 year old mind is already onto other things and Halloween is a kitchy, campy event for them. They prefer the sardonic, sarcastic and sometimes disrespectful to the honest, fun going feeling of the younger kids. I find myself barking at them (or wanting to, at least, because as the video shows, I am rather soft spoken). The clean up is misery: what 13 year old in their right mind really wants to clean up? At least, I haven't met them yet, if indeed they exist.

So I have slowly been losing my enthusiasm for Halloween. That is a problem because I have a 9 year old son who is just coming up into these traditions with his own brand of enthusiasm and glee. I have to match the energy, at least in part.

I have been thinking a lot about traditions. Where do they come from and why are they maintained? What kinds of traditions stick and what others slowly sink to the wayside.

I have tried to create certain types of traditions myself. I tried for Talent Shows for the 5th graders in my former school and Math Fair in my current one. But there is no evidence that what I try to do actually sticks. And that is the same for nearly everyone I know.

So, traditions are mysterious things for me. I love the idea of them, and yet, they represent a certain aspect of conservative human nature that I wonder about. Retweet this button on every post blogger

as i watch the videos of my practice, my voice, my persona:

"Courage is fear that has said its prayers." — Dorothy Bernard Retweet this button on every post blogger

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I am on a constant search to be the best teacher I can be.

This year I presented my students with a teacher evaluation form. (I am publishing relevant results as time permits).

This is a video of how I presented the survey to  my 7th graders.

I look at this video both for the content of my presentation as well as the tone, voice control and communication style.

And yes, I am a rather low key speaker.

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This NY Times blog post speaks to nearly every parents I have spoken to about math for the past 15 years. It is hard and it is time we recognize this. But at the same time, most if not all of my students are getting along relatively well.

Math’s Too Hard for a Parent’s Help

By Lisa Belkin

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Words can be very uplifting, or they can tear you down. It was a tough week or two, and I was just not myself.  One student stopped by to say hello and check on me, it was that simple.  


At that moment everything changed for me just a little bit, just enough.


Words carry a lot of power and we need to be careful, whether we are using email, or face-to-face.


We all need to:   




If we think it may cause hurt, it probably will.  Sleep on it and try to reword what we need to say.Never shoot from the hip (or lips). Try to put yourself in their shoes. Remember that the written word can be misunderstood, say it in person. Most importantly find a kind word to say whenever possible. Retweet this button on every post blogger

"Good teachers are those who know how little they know. Bad teachers are those who think they know more than they don't know." - R. Verdi Retweet this button on every post blogger

Glenn tries to help you to speak up and be active in the class.


This is a particularly interesting question for me. The best gift I have received recently were two comments from parents of extremely shy and quiet students who say they feel very supported and comfortable in my class. Since I am a big, white man, I would say this is a great event.


Some comments:


I don't like to talk in class and Glenn wants to help me do this better


I think that Glenn does a very good job of encouraging kids to speak up and be active in class


Lately Glenn has been encouraging questions and saying not just myself but also other people.


But an interesting type of comments arose:


We don't have many class discussions, so it's hard.


We rarely do activities that involves the whole class and if we do he only picks people who are raising their hands. but if those people have gone already then he either picks them again if they want to go up or he'l just randomly pick sombody else


This is a truth: I don't have much whole group discussion. In fact, I try to limit the whole class discussion to less than 10 minutes out of the hour or so of class. Most of our class time is devoted to math work in groups, partners or individual.


A couple of other comments:


He calls on me when I have no idea what the answer is but not when I am raising my hand and I know the answer. I would like to be called on when I know the answer not just when I don't know and the whole class laughs.


You get kids back on task if they are being distracted :p


These last two comments encapsulate a typical day in middle school math classroom. I wish parents understood this better. Retweet this button on every post blogger

 Glenn knows math well and is prepared and organized when he teaches it.


Almost 90% of the students gave me credit for knowing my math and being organized in how I present it.


Typical student comments:


You are almost always prepared in class


Glenn does know math well but sometimes when he writes on the board it is not that neat and it can be hard to understand.


Glenn knows what he is teaching us and uses the SmartBoard effectively to teach us.


But I detect a little stress behind these numbers:


Glenn knows math really well but he doesnt teach us how to solve it the best way. he does the problem but he doesnt go into detail to show you how to do it.


He knows math well and has an organized way of teaching different concepts but a lot of the time we just have to learn things from the math book which is not always helpful.


I know that Glenn knows how to do math well but sometimes he won't explain his way of thinking so that we can get a better understanding of how to do a problem.


Sometimes he switches the schedule up and the original plan wasn't that organized either.


 These last comments reflect a very common tension in my math classes. I try to lead students to their own discoveries. I want them to wrestle with the problems we deal with. I avoid giving direct answers to problems until I feel my students are truly lost.


Nevertheless, it is a very common perception that math should be learned in an environment of direct instruction where methods are taught by the expert (teacher) and practiced by the student in carefully measured segments.


I resist telling my student "how" to do a problem, but I feel I could improve the way I explain my philosophy to my students and their families.

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I set up a survey on www.surveymonkey.com for my students to evaluate my performance as their math teacher. It seems fair that they get to have a say in explaining their experiences in school. The survey was entirely anonymous and only took about 10 minutes for the whole class to fill out. I included spaces for comments. Later on I will post some of the more salient comments, but this is the initial results of the class according to the rating system I gave them:


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"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." -- Abraham Lincoln Retweet this button on every post blogger

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A genius is just a talented person who does his homework. -Thomas A. Edison Retweet this button on every post blogger

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This morning I was reading a blog post by Donald Clark, Brighton, Sussex  I don't really know a lot about him from his blog, but his post dealt with 10 scientifically proven education precepts.  I tend to like listed items, so I started to read what he posted. I was very impressed by Donald's points, but I am more than a little uncomfortable with the "scientifically proven" title. Nevertheless, Iwrote this reflective response of my own teaching practice based on it:

10 facts about learning that are scientifically proven and interesting for teachers:       

1. Spaced practice

Perhaps the most significant fact we know about learning. Knowledge is easy to learn but hard to retain. We forget things quickly and that the most effective way to prevent this forgetting is to practice at spaced intervals over time. 

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Forgetfulness - Billy Collins Animated Poetry from smjwt on Vimeo. Retweet this button on every post blogger

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Chapter 6: Meeting

Jake tired of his aunt’s tree obsession, so he edged away from his group and followed the gravel road into a forest of humongous trees. He was curious to find out what Jesse and the others had discovered.

The forest was dense, overgrown and quite dark, but not cold. The gravel road cut a clean, straight path through the vegetation. The same butterflies they had seen on the way from the beach flew around. They flicked their wings effortlessly.

Jake heard rustling branches up ahead. He stopped in his tracks. Was it really a good idea for him to be alone in this unknown forest? While his father was alive, they had spent their summer vacations backpacking in forests all over the country. He felt confident in his abilities to take care of himself in the wilderness, but as his father’s mountaineering accident proved, not everything can be predicted or controlled. Jake suddenly regretted heading out so far into the forest. He called out to make sure that is wasn’t Jesse and his crew coming towards them. No answer. But there was an increased rustling in the bushes and it was coming closer. Jake turned to run back to his Aunt’s group. He saw the clearing up ahead just as some sort of fabric came down over his head and engulfing his entire body. He tumbled to the ground, scraping his knee and hitting his head on some rock. The blow knocked him unconscious. 

Back at the tree, Justin was the first to notice Jake’s absence. The Captain frowned a little, then she said “Oh, he must just have gone a little ahead. Why don’t we try to catch up to him?”

About 20 yards from the forest’s edge they heard some scuffling noises. The Captain took off in a sprint, with Justin and his mother just behind her. She yelled out Jake’s name. No answer. She disappeared into the forest. When they caught up, she hunched over the gravel road examining marks in the ground. Justin thought she might be crying, but when she looked up at them, her face was a mixture of anger and fear, but no tears.

“Something’s happened to Jake. I think he was attacked, but there’s no sign of major violence. No blood or anything. I would dare say he’s been dragged away in a sack or something. At least, that’s what this mark seems to be.” She pointed to a long, shallow trough leading away on the gravel road. “But there are so many strange marks here. Some three toed foot prints, for example. I don’t get it. I didn’t say anything before, but this whole place is creeping me out. Strange marks on the cliffs, funny grooves in the road and now this. But we need to move quickly. This just happened, let’s hurry up, they might be just ahead.” The Captain got up and started jogging down the gravel road.

Justin looked at his mother. They were both scared now, but started jogging behind the Captain. Justin looked into the vegetation. What if it were some animal doing this? What if Jake had been attacked by some fierce carnivore, say a tiger (are there tigers in the Caribbean?) or some other, yet unknown animal. He knew that the Captain was a woman of action, but he wanted to slow down, get out of this forest and think out their options. He knew his mother would agree with him, but they both felt they shouldn’t just abandon the Captain.

They continued down the road for about 10 minutes when they heard Jesse and Miguel yelling up ahead. “Maybe they have Justin with them?” he thought, but as he turned the corner, he saw the Captain stop in front them.  They shut up immediately.

“Look it, guys, something’s happened to Jake. He’s been taken away. Stop bickering and focus on what’s important, will you?” They two men nodded. Then Miguel said,

“Captain, we were just looking for you. We found a massive stone door with a secret code. We just saw it close, but we didn’t see who went in. Maybe they have Jake.”

Jesse led them to the door. It seemed to be protecting some cave in the side of a mountain. Marge was studying some markings etched into the stone.  “It’s some sort of code, like a key. I think that the first four drawings present some sort of pattern that has to continue to the next three. I bet if we get them right, the door opens. My only hope, “she added, “is that if we get them wrong, nothing bad happens” She looked at the Captain ominously.

Your task:  Break the code! If you continue the pattern, what will the next three figures look like? There might be several correct answers to this puzzle, so try to find them. Explain your thinking carefully.

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Fifty-three House Republicans who have signed a letter to the Obama administration asking for the ouster of Kevin Jennings, an official charged with promoting school safety" ignored that a key claim in the letter -- that Jennings has a "history of ignoring the sexual abuse of a child" -- is false.


The letter stated: 


“As the founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Mr. Jennings has played an integral role in promoting homosexuality and pushing a pro-homosexual agenda in America’s schools — an agenda that runs counter to the values that many parents desire to instill in their children.” 


The claim that Kevin Jennings counseled an underage youth to at least use a condom with another, older man, has been debunked. 


But that is not even the issue for me. 


The attempt to put the Obama administration off track by focussing attention on Mr. Jennings is really about the fact that he has been a tireless proponent of making schools safe places for gay and questioning youth. For some people, this seems to mean "promoting homosexuality" (alla: recruiting). It is a tired argument. Being gay is not a choice and making schools a safe place for those youth who figure out their orientation earlier than I did (congratulations to them!) is not forcing the other, straight students to question their own orientation. It is asking them to reconsider bias and prejudice. 


Somehow, gays + schools bring out the worst in already severely biased people, but also stirs hidden or suppressed biases in otherwise enlightened people. Let's not be "shocked" by what we see, as we are clearly reminded where the culture wars stand by cases like Kevin Jennings.


Check out GLSTN

Young people are coming out of a closet of denial and fear at younger
ages than ever before, due in large part to the support systems
developed for and by them over years. The coming out experience for many
young people involves an interactive process between the individual and
her or his environment, beginning often with a general awareness of
being somehow different, through denial, tolerance, acceptance, and, in
many cases, to identity integration.

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Being a private school, our 8th graders are hot and heavy into their "high school search". We, the teachers, hate this time, but we fail to recognize that for our private school educational environment, this is necessary. 


Our 8th graders are give a week to schedule high school stuff so as to not get quite as overwhelmed with homework, schoolwork and high school applications. It is not nearly enough time and it is too early in the year to have a reasonable impact on their lives.


Today the 8th graders and I tried to figure out what it means to be on campus during "High School" Week, (otherwise known as "dead week") and still have math class of sorts. It is not an easy thing to get your head around, especially when some of your peers are either at home or at high school shadow visits. I have them two math logic puzzles to work out, but a part from being exceedingly difficult, when one's mind is on other things, you are often not able to try hard stuff. I realized that I had overshot my goals and tried to gear back a little. Tomorrow we will see what reasonable task I can think of for them. Retweet this button on every post blogger

This slide show tells an awesome professional development story Retweet this button on every post blogger

Where the Wild Things has been my all-time favorite children's book since I began teaching in 1988. It formed the backbone of my kindergarten and first grade literacy program. We would have great, wild rumpusses in my class and create huge, fantastical jungles full of "Wild Things" made from cardboard, feathers, and long, terrible claws. I must have read this book 200 times as a kindergarten teacher, mostly in Spanish, and relished in the language and in the ending question: "Did Max REALLY go to where the wild things are?"

Later, with my son, I was able to revisit the book and talk about all the monsters and their body parts, which was always a wonderfully confusing part of the illustrations.

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