Math: Write All About It
Some great questions for math classes are:
- How do you know?
- What would happen if?
- What strategies did you use and why?
Of course, you don't always have time in those busy math classes to have all students share their thinking, so journals may just be the right tool for you. To find out how to do math journal and the kinds of writing your students can do, read on.
Need Some Graph Paper?
The downside?
You need blank paper and a printer!
Any Value in Memorizing Math Formulas?
Some teachers require students to memorize the formulas and some don't. Some standardized testing allow formula sheets (referred to as cheat sheets by some) and some don't. It doesn't seem to matter who you ask, the answers always vary. I've gone both ways myself depending on the concept I'm addressing. For what's it's worth, I'm sitting on the fence with this one as I think there are certain formulas worth committing to memory and others that are always available at your fingertips.
Check out what our users say about the value of memorizing (or not) formulas.
Just to clarify: once upon a time, I would only use the word formulae when referring to the plural of formula. However, with the ever evolving and changing language, both are completely acceptable according to most dictionaries.
Problem of the Week
If not, here are a few to get you started:
Not sure about problem solving? Here are some strategies to help you get started.Multiplication Squares Worksheets: New This Week
Looking for a Career in Math?
Scientific Notation Worksheets
Not sure about Scientific Notation? It's really just a method of writing very large or very small numbers in a form of shorthand. Scientists developed this method many years ago to provide them with a method to save time by easily representing numbers by using less characters. See more.
What Can We Learn From Martin Gardner?
Many teachers use Gardner's puzzles as part of the problem solving in their math program. Making math fun should be the goal for all math teachers. Learn more about Gardner in the NYT article.
See also, some fun recreational math activities.
Singapore Math
Why is it that this tiny country scores so high in mathematics? Is it their curriculum? Is it their superior approach to teaching math? Do Singapore students actually have superior ability?
Something they're doing is working and it sure would be nice to know just what is working. Other countries could certainly learn from and benefit from whatever it is that is working there, I would think.
Note: The Singapore Math Curriculum and the actual core math curriculum/program used in Singapore are NOT the same. As a result of Singapore's success, the Singapore Math Curriculum is getting a great deal of attention. However, even if it is their curriculum, every curriculum has its drawbacks. Curriculum tends to be implemented differently, sequenced differently and taught by teachers who have varying levels of expertise with math. It's also known that many districts have tried Singapore Math, only to drop it later. Why didn't it work for them? Singapore Math is a curriculum/framework that was developed based on some of the findings about how math is taught in Singapore. And, as I mention earlier, Singapore is doing something right. Here are some of the research articles about Singapore Math:
Singapore Math Research
Research in PDF
Be sure to post your experiences and/or opinions about Singapore Math, it's a popular topic.
Order of Operations
Be sure to use manipulatives and basic questions when starting out with the order of operations. Here are some great basic worksheets to start with.
See also, how to solve the classic algebra age problem questions that tend to appear in most math text books.

