Struggle is a good thing. That cannot be true…can it? I don’t want to see my children struggle. I don’t want to see my students struggle. When someone struggling, I want to run over and help them. I want to Read more…
The Badger Boys State family lost a great one this past week. Fred Berns died on Wednesday, October 25, 2017. Badger Boys State is a week long program put on by the American Legion where rising seniors in high school Read more…
100 is a big deal In kindergarten they celebrate the 100th day of school like Christmas. It is a big deal to get to that third digit. Same goes for Dr. Sam Otten (@ottensam) releasing 100 episodes of the Math Read more…
I was worried. How would they handle the gravity of the task before them… As I gazed into the eyes of the 20 kindergarteners in front of me, I played for them the message on my phone. They grinned in Read more…
I saved the day. The math problem had a small detail in it that if my students were not paying attention, it would mess up their work. So I darted around the room and pointed out the detail at the Read more…
In a book seeking to give advice on leadership, I value honesty and practicality. How To Lead When You’re Not In Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority by Clay Scroggins @ClayScroggins is a book with both of these ingredients. Read more…
I wrote this post as a service to teachers headed back to school. My observations of the events of this past weekend (#Charlottesville) tell me we need as many ways as possible to build relationships and unity in our country. Read more…
It starts with the voice, the voice inside your head. The voice tells you “I can” or “I can’t” and often in the realm of learning math the latter often rules the day. The voice says “I can’t learn math” Read more…
Preparing elementary teachers to teach math can be daunting. Most noteworthy, is the vast amount of content and the little amount of time to teach. But does it matter what happens in a math methods classroom? In Episode 1707 of Read more…
Sometimes I am called an optimist, an idealist, or just disconnected with reality. Usually a comment like that emerges after I “confess” I have never given a test or quiz, yet I have been a teacher/teacher educator for 15 years. Read more…
