As mentioned elsewhere, I like to play games in my math classes - and I find that, almost as fun as playing the games, is coming up with ideas for new ones. I came up with the idea for my current favorite game a couple months...
I met Dar a couple years ago. Vicky had scheduled me to spend an hour with a new student, just playing around with math. I didn’t know anything about him except that he was six. I brought along my number cards, which are pretty great...
I’ve been teaching with Vicky for about 15 years. Many years ago, I apparently mentioned to her that when I was in high school, I had been on the “In the Know" team. In the Know was a Columbus Ohio TV quiz game that pitted...
I think we learn more when we’re having fun. I don’t know whether or not we learn better through fun activities than through drudgery, but since we enjoy fun more than drudgery, I think we’re more inclined to spend our time doing the fun stuff...
In a previous post, I wrote a bit about a mental math method that I refer to as Xinwan’s trick. It involves multiplying two-digit numbers times eleven by splitting the digits and placing the sums between them. For instance, to multiply 62 x 11, you...
Mental math - or mental calculation - really has very little to do with math. Well, I suppose it depends on how you look at math, but to me, mental math is mostly just a fun way to practice analytical thinking and problem solving -...
I like to play games in my math classes. The other day, I was playing a game with my mental math class, when a student asked me about the design of my game cards. Most of the games I play in my math classes involve game...