I have been away from blogging for a while now. Actually, since I began a new job teaching math to middle school students back in August. I didn’t intend to step away from blogging, but with the 65 mile each way commute I have now, it’s been a process to find time to do all the things.
My new mobile office gives me the opportunity to listen to podcasts and audio books. Podcasts are something I thought I wanted in my life, but I never really took the time to build them into my schedule. Now that I have a couple of hours each day to myself, I’ve embraced this ever expanding world. One of the best math related podcasts I have found is Making Math Moments That Matter. This podcast is an outreach of the movement led by math teachers Jon Orr and Kyle Pearce. Of course, as soon as I found them I subscribed to the blog lists for the website and each of their individual sites, Tap Into Teen Minds and Mr. Orr is a Geek. Then I found Kyle’s other site, Make Math Visual, which houses a growing collection of visual representations to help students understand a variety of concepts.
Along with the websites and podcasts, Jon and Kyle offer some professional development opportunities. The Making Math Moments That Matter site hosts a free four part webinar that focuses on creating resilient math learners. I have to admit (sheepishly) that I haven’t watch this series yet. I did, however, convince my school to enroll me in the online workshop! This workshop consists of six modules to help anyone who wants to increase engagement in math and learn how to be a more effective teacher of mathematics. You’ve already read my opinions about traditional math classes. Making Math Moments That Matter is a validation of my beliefs and a resource for me to improve my teaching so that what I do in math class and what I provide here for you move closer in alignment to those beliefs.
This blog post series is a collection of my thoughts and reflections about each of the six modules in the online workshop. I hope to bring some of Jon & Kyle’s excitement to you and explore ways to keep moving forward in my own teaching!
