There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about making math relevant for students. Making math relevant really just means showing a student the practical purpose for math in a way that feels useful. The thinking is that kids will be more likely to take an interest in learning a particular math concept or skill if they have a…
Maybe you have already seen my post on the versatility of number cubes…aka dice…in the post titled “Dice Magic.” In it, I describe how to use dice to practice all sorts of math skills as your child grows in mathematical thinking. This post goes into detail about a great, commercially available game called Math Dice, Jr. In this fun and simple…
Featured Photo Credit: Atlas Green Have you ever noticed that when someone holds up a few fingers and asks you how many you see, you don’t have to count them? You just intuitively know that three fingers is three fingers and that five fingers is five fingers. Same kind of deal when you a playing a game with dice. Chances are that…
Dice (or number cubes) are one of my favorite things to use in math class. They are super versatile and can be used to teach and practice a ton of concepts. They also come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, which expands the possibilities, and playing games is a great way to teach children that math is fun! For…
Do you remember playing with blocks as a child? Wooden blocks, alphabet blocks, interlocking bricks, over-sized cardboard bricks. Building blocks come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. The simplicity of the idea is fascinating, and yet there are so many things you can do with blocks if you just let yourself dive into the world of imagination. Where you see…
Welcome to A Pocketful of Pi! This site is one math teacher’s effort to change the way the world views math. If you are looking to understand the math your child is learning in elementary school, searching for ways to bring joy to your budding mathematician, or looking for some research-based information about mathematics instruction and changing your mindset, you have come…
Most of us probably remember math class in elementary school (and beyond) as quiet work time. Traditional instruction included the teacher giving a few examples of how to complete a calculation, followed by students sitting in silence and working problem after problem on a worksheet. This might be one reason many of us say we don’t like math. Humans are naturally…
Photo credit: HLB Teachers; https://tinyurl.com/y4waowzy This idea of growth mindset is prevalent in education right now. Actually, I hear about it in other contexts, as well, including in the small business and network marketing realm. It is at the forefront of personal growth discussions, too. You may have seen or read about mindset in a magazine article or even heard your…
We all have that one memory, or a series of memories, that shapes the way we feel about school. Some of us loved everything about our grade school experience. We loved being with our friends every day. We loved having access to books and crayons and monkey bars. We loved our teachers. We loved learning new things every day. The only…
One of my favorite things to do on the first day of a math class is to get my students thinking about what math is and how they use it. I once had a student in a community college class who made it his mission to prove to me that it is possible to go an entire day without using math.…
If I asked you to define “mathematics,” what would you say? Is it solving problems? Is it memorizing number facts and rules? Is it fun or boring, easy or challenging? Is it a set of useful tools to help you through life or is it a bunch of irrelevant nonsense that you will never use? We each have our own ideas…