Middle School Math Moments (now Cognitive Cardio Math)

Wow, it's hard to believe that it's the end of February!! I've been working hard to stay warm (among other things)! I have also been spending a lot of time working on my Partner Daily Language - it takes me quite a while to complete a week's worth:-) What have you been working on? An InLinkz Link-up

As mentioned in the first post about Chapter 1 , the author believes that students need to feel less stress and anxiety in order to be able to learn, so she suggests a few ways with which to reduce that stress. 1) "Retest to De-stress" Willis recommends offering the opportunity to retest, especially since math is based on foundational knowledge that must be mastered. She states that "mastery forms the basis from which students can extend their neural networks of patterns and concepts before they move to the next level." Retests provide the chance to reevaluate answers and make corrections. Willis states that she requires students to retest when they score under 85%. To address the concern that retesting permits students to be more irresponsible when preparing for a test (knowing they can retest), Willis states that there should be some accountability, such as requiring students to provide evidence that they have prepared for retests – like participating in t...

Chapter 1: Reversing Math Negativity with an Attitude Makeover Chapter 1 was a little hard for me to get through   - I don’t know yet if it’s the author’s style, my lack of time to read for an extended period and really get into it, or the fact that I’m reading it on a Kindle (I’m not a huge fan of the Kindle…I really like books with pages that I can turn, but I’m trying to use the Kindle). Anyway for whatever reason, it’s been slow-going for me so far :) Chapter 1 had a few points that I thought were very interesting, so I will highlights those as briefly as I can (the most interesting point to me is close to the end of the post, so I hope you read to the end...or skip to the end)!     In Chapter 1, Willis states that the first step to success in math is having a positive attitude, though many of our students don’t have one.   Willis discusses the idea that “being bad” at math, or disliking math, generally seems to be acceptable in our society. She c...

Humanities There are two things we know for sure... Math 1 - Teachers are busy! 2 - Teacher-Authors at Teachers Pay Teachers are working hard to make teachers’ lives easier! And here’s the proof... Brain Waves Instruction , Literary Sherri , Getting Nerdy with Mel and Gerdy , and Lindsay Perro have worked to compile 4 FREE ‘Can’t Live Without It’ eBooks filled with 120 instant print-and-teach resources for all you busy teachers out there! Science ELA The eBooks profile middle school and high school teacher-authors and include printable teaching resources from 30 TpT stores in each eBook. The eBooks are categorized for ELA, Math, Science, and Humanities (Social Studies, Art, Foreign Language, and more ELA). In them you’ll learn things that each TpT teacher-author can’t live without and you’ll receive a 1-page resource they think YOU can’t live without! They’re made especially for all of you and you can check them all out here: An InLin...

Welcome to this stop on our wonderful "Feeling the Love" blog hop! What do I love about teaching? 1) I truly love helping students to learn! This may seem like a very obvious statement from a teacher, but I'm thinking particularly about those students who may have a little more difficulty understanding a concept and need some extra time to work with me. When we spend that time and that student really "gets" what we've been working on, I can see it in his or her eyes, and I know that they are starting to really understand. Those moments make me so grateful that I have had unlimited opportunities to help children learn over the past 23 years. 2) I love to observe students' "written" thinking. Seeing the way they express their thinking in writing helps me to understand their thought processes. It also helps my brain generate ideas! 3) I love to listen to students' conversations when they are trying to solve problems. It's so interes...

Do your students love math? Do some of your students hate math? I know that I always start the year with at least a few students who say they hate math. When asked why, they can't always give a reason, they just "hate it." Why is this, and what can we do to change this for those students that are more difficult to reach? While browsing on Amazon, I came across the title Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results by Judy Willis, MD, so I decided to purchase it and see what the author has to offer. The book was published in 2010, but I hadn't seen it before...perhaps you have? In the introduction, Willis points out that the work force has an increasing need for people who have mathematical skills to solve problems (a higher-order thinking skill that is a function of the prefrontal cortex). The prefrontal cortex is also responsible for: personal responsibility, emotional response control, planning, prioritizing, g...