Don't judge a book by its cover - preview it!

I love a challenge ... and here it is: Explore the MTBoS 2017 Blogging Initiative!  I invite YOU to blog as well!  Share what is happening in your classroom!

This week the topic is your favorite!

I love to read.  And I love to read books about education! While typically I wouldn't care who published the book, my favorite happens to be Stenhouse!  Stenhouse Publishers are my favorite because they offer free previews of whole books online.  An account is required but the account is free! Most of the books are written for K - 8; a few books are written K - 12.  In my career I've worked in elementary, middle and high schools so I still read books from all levels!  I use free previews to scan a variety of books - helps me determine what books to purchase! 

Currently I'm previewing three books ... 

Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had: Ideas and Strategies from Vibrant Classrooms by Tracy Johnston Zager has been mentioned quite a bit on Twitter.  I'm intrigued to read the book because Zager's purpose is to connect math classrooms to what "real" mathematicians do!

The Four Roles of the Numerate Learner: Effective Teaching and Assessment Strategies to Help Students Think Differently About Mathematics by Fiore and Lebar looks interesting.  The authors include examples even for secondary math - something I wish more books did.  It appears from the brief preview that the authors make a connection between literacy and math - something Pearse did in her book on numeracy (Teaching Numeracy: 9 Critical Habits to Ignite Mathematical Thinking). I'm curious what connections overlap in the two books!

Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning by Roberts and Neebe catches my attention about using technology in the classroom.  Roberts and Neebe are English teachers - so many of their examples are from English classes.  That's OK with me since many times ideas can cross over disciplines.

Don't judge a book by its cover ... preview it!

#MTBoSBlaugust Read to your Math Students ... Favorite Picture Books

When I was an elementary principal, I started a collection of picture books. I LOVE them! Even as a high school math teacher I used a picture book or two to highlight a concept. So last week I saw a tweet about math picture books that caught my eye. I decided it was time for a trip to the local library!

There are so many gems ... but these 12 belong in your secondary math class!  Check them out, read them, and link them to your curriculum!  Your students will love "story time!"

You have to read On a Beam of Light!  It's a great short biography of Einstein!  Combine that book with What Do You Do with an Idea and you have a great motivational set for challenging students to pursue "ideas!"  Add to that two other biographies ... you could easily spend 15 minutes each week (or every 2 weeks or once a month) ... fun easy reads ... The Librarian Who Measured the Earth (Eratosthenes) and The Boy who Loved Math (Erdos) would be excellent choices!

 Last week I was so inspired by the book, Infinity and Me, I put together an enrichment activity on infinity.  If you missed it, you can find it here.  Each of these books are special ...
If: A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers for studying very large numbers and ratios, One Grain of Rice for exponential functions, Anno's Magic Seeds for collecting data.  Each one could be the basis of enrichment activities.  

Patterns are the foundational concept in math!  These picture books relate to Fibonacci sequence and fractals.  Add Blockhead: the Life of Fibonacci to your list of biographies to read!  Use The Rabbit Problem and/or Growing Patterns to illustrate the Fibonacci sequence.  And then explore fractals with Mysterious Patterns ... a great introduction to the topic!

What picture books do you  readwith your secondary math students?  Share the titles in the comments!  I'm looking for more :)

BTW ... if you are an elementary or middle grades teacher reading this post, there are many, many books for your math picture book library.  Here is a link to a list for you!

#70 Days Intro to Teaching Numeracy

So, this first week off has been both a whirlwind of activity and a period of rest.

My husband and I went out to a movie, went to hear live music at one of the local Austin scenes, and took in a day trip to a nearby town celebrating the lavender farms.  We've had fun in this mini-staycation!

I took the grandsons one morning to a local park that features a splash pad, a play ground, a sand box, and more.  They ran from one activity to the next while I soaked up the sun and enjoyed their antics.

I finished reading one novel and started another.  If you like sentimental stories, with interesting characters, stories of relationships, love, and redemption, then I can recommend novels by Charles Martin.  I just finished Unwritten and I loved it!  The author wrote this teaser on his blog before Unwritten was published:

-- Of the six million species on the planet, only man makes language. Words. What’s more—in evidence of the Divine—we string these symbols together and then write them down where they take on a life of their own and breathe outside of us. Story is the bandage of the broken. Sutures of the shattered. The tapestry upon which we write our lives. ...  Critics cry foul, claiming the tongue is a bloody butcher that blasphemes, slices, slanders, and damns—leaving scars, carnage, the broken and the beaten. Admittedly, story is a double-edged scimitar, but the fault lies not in the word but in the hand that wields the pen. 

I've been reading blogs, lurking on Twitter, and reading bits and pieces from the books I've selected for summer PD.  

I started delving into Teaching Numeracy: 9 Critical Habits to Ignite Mathematical Thinking this week.  The introduction caught my attention because I spent a chunk of my career in elementary school.  There, much attention is given to teaching reading strategies to students like fix up strategies, thinking strategies, making connections and more.  Authors Pearse and Walton take those ideas and apply them to math.

Yes, the book is written primarily for K-8 teachers.  But strategies can often be applied to a wide range of audiences and I want to make connections from the book to my high school class!

The authors share an idea from Richard Allington, well known for his work in reading comprehension, saying "we need to teach students to read beyond their math textbooks and start thinking like mathematicians.  Students must have inner conversations with the text and listen to that voice in their heads speaking as they [work]; it allows them to construct meaning."  Yes! and Yes!