Spotlight on MN Math Bloggers

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Spotlight on MN Math Bloggers

 

Last month I wrote about the benefits of connecting with other math teachers on social media, specifically through Twitter. Since the article was posted @MCTM_MN has had 20 new followers on Twitter, which is great! For those of you who do not want to sign-up for yet another social media app, this month I am going to focus on learning through blog reading.

 

I have been a teacher for 17 years and to be quite honest my desire to learn more about instructional strategies, teaching best practices, implementing new technology in my classroom, and so much more has spiked within the last 3 – 4 years. The reason being is spending time reading blogs about what other people are doing in their classrooms and trying it out with different groups of students. The first math blog I ever read is written by Fawn Nguyen. Check back to the September’s Math Bits to find an article I wrote about learning with Fawn this summer at an MCTM/MDE opportunity, and get excited because Fawn Nguyen is coming back to MN to facilitate the Ross Taylor Symposium and Keynote the MCTM Spring Conference (more information will be posted soon). But, I digress, reading Fawn’s blog not only gave me new ideas for activities to use in my classroom, but it also pushed me to think more about student learning and how I was facilitating that learning in my classroom.

 

Here in Minnesota we have a number of Minnesota math teachers who blog about their experiences teaching all levels of math. Let’s jump in and meet some Minnesota Math Bloggers.

Sara Van Der Werf – https://saravanderwerf.com/

Favorite Blog Post Ever: Engaging Students in Seeing Structure & Follow-Up

Why: The way I was taught mathematics was by the well known, I do, we do, you do method. I spent a lot of time in my math experience trying to imitate a process shown to me by my teacher and judging my success based on if I got the correct answer. These two posts have pushed me to think more about how I can facilitate student thinking before showing them how to do something. Read the two posts if you are intrigued.

 

Bryan Anderson – https://banderson02.wordpress.com/

Favorite Blog Post Ever: Open Middle Problems in the Math Classroom

Why: Besides teaching mathematics, Bryan is also a creator of Open Middle Problems. If you have never seen them, you can find many on his site as well as the entire collection here. Open Middle Problems have been written for all grade levels and can be used in a variety of ways in a lesson. In this blog post Bryan not only describes how he plans for his lessons, but he also describes in depth how a person may incorporate Open Middle Problems into their classes. This blog post especially pushed me to consider another option for “practice problems”. Finally, it also should be noted that on Bryan’s blog he also shares many amazing teaching resources that he has created. If you are a middle school teacher be sure to check them out!

 

Christopher Danielson: https://talkingmathwithkids.com/

Favorite Blog Post Ever: Summer Project 1, 2, and 3

Why: What drew me to Christopher’s blog was how he engages in mathematical conversations with his children and probes their mathematical thinking all while using their curiosity. This is the type of thinking and playful mathematics that I hope to inspire in my students and in my own kids.

 

Do you have a favorite math teaching blog? Do you write a blog? If so, leave us a comment at the bottom of the page so we can highlight them and share them with others!

 

Jessica Breur

MCTM Social Media Editor

Middle School Math Coach

Mounds View Public Schools