TMC: Nix the Tricks

I got to give a presentation on Nix the Tricks for the first time at Twitter Math Camp. I was pleased how well attended the session was and feel the need to apologize to all those people for being my "first period class." Thank you for your enthusiasm, patience, understanding and feedback. Second period is going to go much better but I'm hopeful that the guinea pigs still gained something from the experience.

We started the session with groups discussing the following problems:

They didn't know it at the time, but these were all problems that I chose from Math Mistakes with Michael's assistance because we felt the mistakes students made were a consequence of tricks they had learned. Here's a place where I need your help - I would love to have lots of examples of how students solve these problems. Having a single mistake to hold up and say, "I hypothesize this kid made this mistake for this reason." and then conclude, "Therefore no one should use tricks ever." is not good logic. But having a pile of mistakes that correlate to a variety of tricks? That would be more convincing. (I should also read those articles that I saved on research about understanding, as that's even better logic. Time has been at a real premium the past few months...) Feel free to check out the slides which match problem to mistake to trick. (Next time I plan to include more info on how to nix the tricks, not just why tricks are bad.)

We then got into some great conversations about long division, the multiple methods for teaching it and the necessity for teaching the standard algorithm in preparation for polynomial division. I love listening to people talk about areas of math I don't teach and seeing how it relates to what I know. I guess I'm not the only one:

  

These conversations are the aspect of Nix the Tricks that I've loved the most. People coming together to think deeply about how to teach something students find challenging. Because people don't invent tricks for things kids can do easily; tricks are in place because someone thought the understanding was too hard (for the kids or to teach). I'm wondering how to get that conversation going in a room full of teachers who don't know each other and who teach different things. There were many participants interested in this conversation but not everyone. To differentiate I could have each group pick one of the 8 problems from the beginning and decide how they would teach a lesson around that problem for understanding? But I'll have already talked about the related mistakes and tricks and how to avoid them. Although that sounds ambitious for an hour, perhaps I'll only have skimmed how to avoid them and it would make sense for people to dig deeper...

I leave you with some questions:
1) Can you give one, some or all of the 8 questions above to one, some or all of your kids (at home or in school) and then share their mistakes with me? I'll even give you a form to make it easy to share out. Also, if you know of anyone who already has this type of data I'd love to see it!

2) I don't want a Nix the Tricks presentation to be about me telling people how to teach, but instead to get people thinking and interested in engaging on the site. How can I get teachers to talk to each other in small groups about nixing tricks? Is this the best way to get people interested in having continued conversation on the topic?

Things That Make Me Happy - Nix the Tricks

Today I've been working on a few things for Nix the Tricks.

I updated the reviews page of the website. Talk about ways to make yourself feel good, spend some time reading and compiling quotes from people who like the project you've been working on.

I'm not so awesome at marketing myself, I think this project is really important and am happy to talk to anyone who asks me about it, but I don't often start the conversation. Recently we had a meeting with some middle school teachers and I talked to the middle school curriculum guy running the meeting about Nix afterward. Turns out he doesn't work specifically with the math teachers, but he was still interested. So interested he wrote the title on his hand in sharpie! (On purpose! I tried to stop him by telling him it was a permanent marker but he went ahead and did it anyway.) He also shared that he had asked some kids what division meant the other day and they started showing him how to divide. He stopped them and said, "No, what does it mean?" and they replied, "Hm, no one has ever asked that." I love that our non-math guy is asking students such thought provoking questions!

Finally, there have been some great stories of people nixing tricks lately. I decided to share those stories with everyone by adding another chapter to the book. It's obviously not chapter one but LaTeX auto-numbers and the only way I could get just this chapter into a pdf all on its own was to make a new document. I would really appreciate some feedback! What other questions did you have after reading the book? What would make a more convincing call to action? Are there typos? Equally important questions.

Conclusion

Nix the Tricks Session

I am totally humbled by how many people attended our NCTM session on Nix the Tricks this morning. We had a packed room of awesome people - two of the three tweeps mentioned in the presentation were there, people interested in learning (one so much so that they came up to ask a clarifying question about a slide we had to breeze through - 30 minutes is short!) and people already pushing the importance of conceptual understanding who wanted resources to share with colleagues.

I promised to share slides here so people wouldn't have to take photos/notes. Check them out, ask clarifying questions, continue the conversation on twitter and the website!

Nix the Tricks NCTM

Global Math: Understanding by Design

Last night Daniel, Elizabeth and I presented Understanding by Design on Global Math.  The full recording is now available for your viewing pleasure.

People were excited about this page, so here it is in all it's glory!  We talked about the importance of knowing exactly what we want students to take with them beyond our classes (enduring understandings) before we start teaching.  I also shared how this document is a great way to think about differentiation (either within a class or between Honors and standard courses).

(written by UbD PD providers, all rights to them)

We had hoped to give you time to brainstorm essential questions by course, but got too excited talking about our experiences for that to happen.  However, google docs don't disappear after presentations!  So, I have created a folder with all the categories we created.  I would love to see these documents filled with Enduring Understandings (the big ideas we want students to leave our class with) and Essential Questions (the discussion questions or prompts we will use to get our students learning).  Feel free to reformat the documents as you see fit, and I think you even have the option to add new documents (so, for example, elementary and middle school teachers can create grade or topic based documents as you see fit!).  Check those out and start adding: Essential Question Google Docs

At the end of the evening I talked a bit about Attend to Precision/Nix the Tricks and asked for feedback on where we should go from here.  Since it's difficult to have a conversation when only one person is talking, I created a survey!  If you don't see it below, head here: Nix the Tricks Next Steps

Nix the Tricks - Website and more!

We have been making some progress on the Nix the Tricks project. It's by no means done, but steps have been taken in the forward direction. The google doc was getting too overwhelming for me, and I knew everything that was in there and how to use the table of contents, it must have been seriously overwhelming for the rest of the people trying to navigate it! So, I split the sections into separate documents and launched a website - NixTheTricks.com. It introduces the project and helps a bit with navigating between the documents.

The section on tricks has been updated so that each trick is written up in the same format. The basics (name of the trick, why it's bad, the better replacements) are all there, so now it's time to start going into more depth. I wrote up one example of what I'd like to see happen for every trick:

Cross Multiply for Proportions

(Some of the formatting got lost going from google doc to pdf, I'm not so excited about trying to figure that out when we make a printable version, but that's a long way off.)

Do you have a trick that you feel particularly passionate about? Would you be interested in working on just that one trick? Michael spent many hours matching mistakes with tricks, so there are examples of student work for most of the tricks that I can share with anyone interesting in writing.

We also need a volunteer to tag each trick with CCSS standards and grade level.

To help with either of those tasks or volunteer to do something else you'd like to see happen with this project, fill out the survey!

NCTM Proposal

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is having their national conference in Boston next year. I live just 30 minutes from Boston so I couldn't be more excited about this. Plus, by next April I will be well versed in presenting Nix the Tricks, so if our proposal is accepted it's ideal timing. Ashli and I just submitted our proposal (deadline is tomorrow) and now ideas of what we can include our running through my brain. I've been thinking about session ideas since I was first asked to run PD, but since I don't have anything scheduled before July this was the first time I wrote anything formal down. Two questions: What would you expect to see based on this description? What would you want to get from PD on Nix the Tricks?

Description: (aka the blurb)
Being a mathematics student is about critical thinking, justification and using tools of past experiences to solve new problems. Students who approach every topic as a series of steps to memorize are not learning math. In this session we will explore how to replace some popular tricks with teaching for understanding.

Objective
Increase participant understanding of the detrimental nature of teaching tricks. Help participants to differentiate between tricks that shortcut understanding and mnemonic devices that help us remember definitions. Examine popular tricks to show how they limit students’ ability to problem solve and provide alternatives for teaching topics so students don’t revert to tricks. Provide ideas for engaging students in conversations to assess their understanding of tricks that they rely on.

Focus on Math
When students reference a trick as the reason or explanation for their work they are not precisely stating the mathematics (SMP6). This becomes a more serious problem when students need to take the inverse of their operation; how does one un-FOIL? The alternative to tricks is getting students to solve a number of similar problems, then generalize the procedures and shortcuts they notice (SMP8). When students discover their own shortcuts, and prove them, they demonstrate understanding.

Nix the Tricks: The Book

It is the last day of November. My self-imposed deadline for typesetting Nix the Tricks. And I've done it!

In the beginning, there was a calculus teacher complaining about students' lack of a good definition for slope. Then there was a conversation among my department members on tricks we hate seeing kids show up to our classes with. I expanded the conversation to members of my online math community. We brainstormed and debated what constituted a trick and which were the worst offenders. I organized. More people joined in on the conversation and shared better methods to emphasize understanding over memorization. I organized some more. Contributions started to slow down. The end result was 17 pages. I had grand dreams of a beautifully formatted resource that we could share with teachers everywhere. A few people shared my dream. We discussed formatting and organization and themes. Then the end of the school year craze happened, and suddenly it was August! School started, life got busy, and then I started hearing about NaNoWriMo. I decided that in November I would typeset the whole thing. If someone could write 50,000 words in a month, I could code something that was already mostly written. It was difficult, I had never paid attention to all the types of pages in a book, but the internet was there for me, and today, the last day of the month, I can say:

Hey, I just wrote it,
And this is crazy,
But here's the download,
So read it, maybe!

Check out the website: NixTheTricks.com

And now that I've gotten that song stuck in your head, listen to Tweet Me Maybe from TMC12 while you browse.

Thank you so much to everyone that helped, not just this month, but since the beginning of this project. I am so thankful for this community and all that we offer to each other.

I do ask one more thing of you. As anyone who has coded anything knows, you eventually go cross-eyed and as many times as you re-read something, you are bound to miss an error that is glaring to anyone with fresh eyes. I've been typesetting the document and editing the website all weekend. I tried to check the links, to look for typos and to test several devices. I got an error on my phone once, but I can't replicate it to know how to fix it. So, if you see any issues at all, no matter how small they seem, please let me know. Leave a comment here, send a note via twitter or use the submission form.

Enjoy, share widely and know that I'm rooting for all the teachers who explain and all the students who still ask why.

[Edited 12/3/2013 to add background for newcomers to the blog, like those who are here via the Math Forum Newsletter. Welcome!]

Nix the Tricks: More Chapters

This week I decided that front matter was more fun than writing regular chapters. So now I have a cover, title page, colophon, epigraph and preface. Then an introduction. Finally, a new chapter of tricks. It's up to 26 pages! Of course, by NaNoWriMo standards I've accomplished very little, that dotted line is where I'm supposed to be to hit the 50,000 word goal.

They don't know that this isn't a novel and 50,000 words was never a goal. I remind myself I have at least an extra thousand 'words' when you include the code. Whatever that means. But I appreciate the email reminders to write, so I stay connected with that organization. The time I spend formatting and making images and researching the parts of a book aren't represented in this graph though, I have been working a lot! The only remaining productive procrastination option would be to figure out how an index works in LaTeX, but mostly all I have left is the regular writing so I'm hoping things move quicker the second half of the month.

I think this week I convinced the linked text to stay active. It definitely works on scribd, maybe while embedded as well. [Update: the links to sections of the document work, but not the ones to the world wide web. Intriguing.]

Nix the Tricks

Two things:

Michael did an amazing job of matching up math mistakes with tricks, but he didn't have one to match every trick. For the new chapter I'm seeking: 1) messing up order of operations by multiplying before dividing 2) cancelling a square and a square root

Editors. Doesn't appear that I'm going to get much feedback by posting here. You want to be an editor? I'll put your name on the verso! (Check out that lingo I learned.)

NWMC Day 1 Recap

I attended the Northwest Mathematics Conference in Portland, OR last weekend and it was amazing. I got to hang out with so many awesome people! It was a crazy mix of tweeps and PCMI reunion and people I've never spoken to who have heard of Nix the Tricks (something that never fails to astonish me). I had so much fun that it was totally worth the stress of prepping two days of sub plans and being exhausted and (super) behind for nearly a week.

 

Friday I finally felt a normal amount of behind, so I started going through my notes and writing them up. Portland State is very generous and they are offering two grad credits to anyone who attended all three days of the conference and writes about it. There were some specific prompts to write to and I learned that my writing voice for papers is different from my blogging voice. At least it feels different. NWMC was great but not so life changing that I sound different, apparently I just write differently when typing into Word than when I compose in Blogger.

On Thursday I attended two workshops:

What makes algebra hard to learn?

Steve Rhine

This session was full of resources and links to even more resources! I look forward to thoroughly exploring the AlgebraicThinking.org website, especially their database of problems used in research. Upon return to my classroom I was pleased to discover some of the apps loaded on our school iPads are from Steve Rhine. Hearing him discuss the intentionality behind these programs makes me much more likely to use them with my students. One in particular is Point Plotter. I never would have understood the goal of this app if I just tried it – a common misconception students hold is that there are a limited number of points between two points on a line (ex: only lattice points count) – this app pushes students to find as many points as they can between two points. This addresses a misconception while simultaneously encouraging students to use the equation of the line and/or definition of slope to calculate points.

I am teaching Algebra 1 for the first time in five years and it’s been an eye (re)opening experience. I had forgotten how challenging it is to explain the basics; I wish I’d attended this session (as well as many others) during the summer so I wouldn’t have made some of the mistakes I already have with my students. Luckily it is still early in the year so I have time to address their misconceptions. One of those is the difference between an expression and an equation. As a mathematically proficient adult, it is quite obvious to me that equations and expressions are very different objects, but when I asked my students about it this week they struggled to differentiate between the two. We have all seen the mistakes where students try to ‘solve’ an expression using inverse operations – Steve Rhine shared that this can be due to students feeling “lack of closure” when their answer is an expression rather than a number as it has been for the rest of their mathematical experience.

Another place where students struggle is in understanding variables. The idea that a variable changes with different contexts but is constant within a context isn’t one I’d wrestled with, let alone helped students wrestle with. The x in problem three has no relation to the x in problem four, however, if problem five is 4x + 4 = 5x students must realize that the two x’s in that equation are the same. As a group we decided that a variable is an unknown quantity because that definition encompasses x=5 as well as x=y+3. Steve emphasized the importance of a variable representing a quantity and not an object. H can represent the height of Harry, but H doesn’t equal Harry. Instead we should refer to variables as containers. It worked out nicely that I had started equations with this pennies lesson because now I can refer to variables as cups of pennies – a mystery quantity.

Our final topic of the morning was graphing. Students struggle to understand the difference between discrete and continuous graphs. One suggestion was to ask students who connect discrete data points what the midpoint represents. For example, if they connect Sally’s height to Ted’s height, is the midpoint meaningful on that graph? Lastly, lines having constant slope is a big idea, but one that students don’t often wrestle with. If we only give students tables where the patterns jump out at them (ex: x values always increase by one) then they don’t get the opportunity to engage with the concept. We need to make sure to give students that challenge them to think and that bring out misconceptions so we can address them!

Fostering Algebraic Thinking and the CC Math Practices

Irving Lubliner

I thought the last session was full of resources, and then I got to this one – we received a bound notebook of activities! I have yet to go through the entire thing and I can’t wait to have a chance to do so. Irving Lubliner mixed teaching practices with content throughout the workshop. He made his teaching moves explicit so we could reflect on those as much as the activities. When someone gives a wrong answer he finds the question that their response correctly answers, in other words, he finds something right about their solution. We practiced for a few responses and it was a fun challenge that reminded me of My Favorite No, an activity I’ve used weekly. It would be great to infuse that spirit throughout the course. He used tickets as rewards for participation and great ideas. I am generally hesitant to give students extrinsic rewards but my school is using the PBIS model so I need to consider it. I appreciate that he rewarded bravery rather than only correct answers.

Just like my morning session, we spent time talking about expressions vs. equations. My notes say *Spend time on this!* so I had better do just that. One example in this session was about language precision – you can’t double an equation, you double each expression. When evaluating expressions he gave a great tip for getting students to remember to use the order of operations – look at the expression in chunks. This process will help students think about terms which is helpful for expressions with variables as well. Underline the expression until you see a + or -, then write “later.” Repeat until you reach the end. 200*2 + (3+4)*5 – 3*6. Next evaluate each term (in whatever order makes you happy). Then rewrite each subtraction as adding the opposite. Finally, evaluate the expression (in whatever order makes you happy). This method pushes students to think about the structure of the expression, and also allows them to use their number sense – if the expression has 15 and -15 use those opposites instead of going from left to right.

We played with a great model for solving equations. I’ve never seen the utility of a function machine model until this one: 

 

Earlier this year I tried to use a representation where we evaluated at a specific value of x to show the ‘forward’ steps, then worked back up to determine the ‘backward’ steps. This diagram is much more intuitive and shows the ‘socks and shoes principle’ clearly. During the session he showed an example with 7 or 8 steps, I wish that example had made it into the book – it made a very complicated equation seem easy. I will have to search for or recreate it since my students still need more practice solving equations.

Update 10/20/2014: The internet is awesome. Someone from NWMC saw this post and sent it to Irv and he responded with the image I was wishing for!

Nix: Ratios and Proportional Reasoning Chapter

I've realized that while I'm pretending to do NaNoWriMo, it's a week in and I have 2,426 "words" typeset (let's not talk about how many of those are numbers or symbols). Anyone who manages to write 50,000 words in a month is seriously impressive! Still, I have made progress that I want to share. I started with Chapter 2, because I can (and I have a soft spot for proportional reasoning). It has taken a lot of tinkering to figure out how I want to format this thing, but I have something I think I like. Right now I'm working in full page mode, which is good for printing but not a whole lot else. The back of my mind is swirling with eBook and tablet friendly formats, but I'm trying to focus on getting the whole thing typed first. So, without further ado, Chapter 2:

Ratio Chapter.pdf

Things I'm excited about: 
Clickable links! (referring back to previous sections, the table of contents - not pictured - and linking to math mistakes)
Words wrapping around images (magic!)

Things I'm wondering about: 
Does it read smoothly?
Are the reasons convincing and the alternatives do-able?
I accidentally made an image set for multiplying fractions when I meant to do addition, so I added in the rectangular array method even though there isn't a trick for that (that I know of). Worth including?

Things I changed:
I didn't feel that Least Common Denominator qualified as a trick, I still included a passage about it which uses all the language we had previously, but it doesn't get a title anymore.
I created illustrations for each trick (with colors! yay keynote!) because there are so many names for tricks that I wanted it to be completely clear what we were talking about.

Up next: 
Michael Fenton is the awesomest! He typed Chapter 1: Operations and Algebraic Thinking into LaTeX so I will be elaborating on and formatting that one next.

I thought you would be able to leave comments on a pdf in google drive like you can any other google doc, but apparently not. Feel free to comment here or tweet me with thoughts. I really want this to be as peer edited as possible. So grammar to content, I'd love your feedback on all of it.

NCTM Annual, San Diego

I recently read Dare to Lead with #ClearTheAir and one part of the process was to identify your values. Mine are community and making a difference. I've found it really helpful to remind myself of my values regularly as I navigate choices, and that was definitely true at NCTM last week.

I wore many different hats throughout the week. I moved fluidly between Tina the IM employee, @crstn85, Tina the Publishing Committee Chair, friend, parent, and author of Nix the Tricks. During my time in San Diego I alternated between catching up with people and attending sessions, because I was alternating between community (building and maintaining relationships) and making a difference (sharing my expertise or learning things that would help build my expertise for when I implement later). I chose what sessions I attended strategically and often attended with others. There's something to be said for the divide and conquer model, but my values don't include conquering, so sometimes I got to build community and learn simultaneously! No matter what part of the conference I was navigating, I was conscious of how to maximize my precious time to live my values to the best of my ability. Maximizing my time doesn't mean doing as many things as possible, sometimes it means sitting on the floor playing shape sort with a toddler. Because I want that toddler to be part of my community (her parents are spectacular people).

The hat that was hardest to wear is the one that's replaced the hat that is no longer mine to wear, my new identity as former TMC organizer. It's been a difficult transition. In January I was fully involved, knew exactly what was going on, and felt confident that I was both building community and making a difference. Even if it felt like a lot of effort, it was effort that clearly aligned to my values. Now I'm disconnected and have no idea if anything is even going on. The silence is deafening. Did anything that I was building toward survive? It was entirely unclear. But then I went to NCTM and heard some whispers. People who read what happened and said they were moving from talk to action in their organization. I'd love people to move from whispers to shouts. The Southeast Math Summit is finding their voice, who else will join in?

Since I no longer have TMC organizing to do, I am shifting my focus toward NCTM as a community where I could make a difference. Let's be like Dr. Robert Berry and ask NCTM how it's doing. NCTM is truly wonderful and getting better, of course!

Truly wonderful:

• the conference is a physical space where all of my math ed friends gather, since it's so large friends from several circles (and countries!) end up in the same space
• a large organization can invite high profile speakers, we had 3 fantastic keynote speakers this year
• there were many important ideas being shared in the space, I mostly stuck to the equity sessions but even when I ventured outside of that strand people were incorporating equity into their other sessions

Getting better:

• the conference feels like a 3 day event where I see people from other circles, as opposed to a community in and of itself
• there was nothing at this conference to encourage me to be an active member of the organization outside of "come to Chicago" which is an entire year away
• I happen to be an active member, this is my 3rd year on a committee, but I'm still trying to figure out how the inner workings of the organization function
• I spent a lot of time explaining what I do know of those inner workings, without a clear way to help others learn more or get involved

As always, people who have rejuvenated their connections are engaging in conversation on twitter. I invite you to join us as we brainstorm how the NCTM of the future could be even more truly wonderful. If you have any examples from your other communities about how to address issues, especially issues of equity, please share!

Nix the Tricks: An Update

I have a slew of posts I need to get written, but I got some motivation to prioritize this post via a tweet:

The tweet he was referring to:

I've written about this document before but, as is wont to happen, school got in the way and it fell off people's radar.  

In the beginning, there was a calculus teacher complaining about students' lack of a definition of slope.  Then there was a conversation among my department members on tricks we hate seeing kids show up to our classes with.  I expanded the conversation to members of my online math community.  We brainstormed and debated what constituted a trick and which were the worst offenders.  I organized.  More people joined in on the conversation and shared better methods to emphasize understanding over memorization.  I organized some more.  Contributions started to slow down.  Ashli created an awesome table of contents with links.  The end result was 17 pages.  I had grand dreams of a beautifully formatted resource that we could share with teachers everywhere.  A few people shared my dream.  We discussed formatting and organization and themes.  Then the end of the school year craze happened, and suddenly it was August!

Before we got distracted by life, we decided on this format as the most flexible:

At this point I would like to create a document that is accessible in a variety of formats (eBook, PDF, printable), searchable (grade band, CCSS) and easy to read.  

I need help on several fronts:

• Rewriting each trick in the format above
• Tagging
• Illustrating (butterfly method anyone?)
• Writing an introduction that allows someone to send the text to a colleague without offending them (without an introduction it says: Your method is wrong. Full stop.)
• Formatting- I'm good in google docs but have no idea how eBooks work
• The things that haven't even occurred to me because I have no idea what I'm getting into

I know you are busy, but if you think this project is important could you help with just one part?  Together we can make this happen.  Imagine how awesome it would be if students could use precise mathematical terms to describe all of the math they've learned.

Sign up to help out: 

Update August 7, 2013:
We're gaining momentum! This post and project are being featured in The Math Forum Newsletter.

Planning PD

While procrastinating designing a workshop I ran in the end of July I asked twitter about their professional development pet peeves and favorites. They had a lot to say! Check out the full story here: https://storify.com/crstn85/planning-pd

Using the ideas from the discussion I created a structure for the three hour workshop:
 I started the session with participants making name tents and introducing themselves to their table mates. No games and no gimmicks because I don't like them (and neither did some other people who responded). There was a handout for people to work on as they came in (yay task for introverts to avoid small talk without being awkward!). Then after some brief intro material we jumped into a task (card sorting) and gallery walk (get up and move!). Each time we completed an activity that I also run in my classroom I shared some "Teacher Tactics" (they aren't tricks!) about how I make the activity run well with kids. I did some talking and then an hour into the session we took a break. I used Dan Meyer's suggestion to tell people to make a note or talk to your neighbor at this point. I offered a parking lot for questions but didn't get many (1-2 each session). Any questions I did receive we discussed after each break. Then people finished working on the handout they had started earlier (provided time for the on time arrivals and encouraged more conversation). Half way through the session I had people shuffle tables, but they grumbled about it a bit so I'm not sure it was worth it. The goal was to get them to change partners and work with a new group for the next handout. Another handout, an opportunity for people to come up and share, and then we were into the wrap up! Time flew, conversations were great and we didn't get to spend any time developing lessons for their classrooms. However, I didn't skip the close! I had each participant record one thing they wanted to change in their classroom the upcoming year before they left.

At the end, one of the participants came up to me and thanked me for not reading the long slides to them. It was the afternoon session and I was thankful to reach a slide with a long quote because I got to rest my voice and have some water! I forget that I don't talk so much in the summer and especially not in my teacher voice required to project to a large room. I love when things I need (a break) work out well for the participants (a chance to read). I also appreciated that I planned some breaks that lead right into work time because I could sneak out to the bathroom. Basic things

Even though the session was about Nix the Tricks I couldn't possibly do a presentation without introducing people to all the resources of our awesome community. I included an active link on any slide that referenced someone, as well as their photo in the corner. Personalizing the resources helped emphasize that we're a community plus I loved having pictures of my friends in my presentation! To share the presentation and other resources with participants I created a google drive folder and put a bit.ly link to it on chart paper in the front of the room. Then I could add photos to the folder as I took them on my phone and created a google doc of additional resources that I mentioned in conversation as well as resources that participants shared.

Overall I had a great time running these workshops. I found them a lot more fun than presenting at a conference. I'm not sure if it was because I had more time or because it was summer, but I would love to continue running workshops. Especially ones during my summer so I don't have to balance missing school and travel time!

Please Nix the Tricks: Grad School Edition

I am taking a grad class on students with ADHD. I'm not loving the book (Nowhere to Hide) because it's rather chatty and there aren't many strategies that I can use so I was interested to read the articles which are supposed to supplement the book. I was excited to see one specifically about math until I started reading and was appalled it studied this book of tricks! Here's what I wrote as part of my larger essay, I hope it doesn't impact my grade to express dismay!

I was dismayed to see a study on “Memorize in Minutes” included in the articles. I appreciated that the article stated up front “we were not trying to build conceptual knowledge... we were solely concerned with the act of memorization” (Mahler, 2011, p. 5). However, I think this is a poor choice of skills to prioritize. The article did address this concern as well “some have suggested that students be given calculators or multiplication charts instead of asking them to memorize the facts. However, students with insufficient working memory already have a tendency to lose track of what they are doing, forgetting one part of a task while working on another; thus it is even more important that these particular students attain automaticity with multiplication facts” (Mahler, 2011, p. 6). I will allow this as a possibility but I am far from convinced that spending time teaching stories is more effective than any other option. In fact, “needing to translate a story made his retrieval slower than if he had memorized the numerical answers” which sounds just as bad if not worse than the distraction of picking up a calculator (Mahler, 2011, p. 7). In discussing the growth from the post test to the delayed post test the author states, “it is speculated that participants were finally using the facts in their everyday classrooms, and were now engaged in the natural practice in which they previously could not participate“ (Mahler, 2011, p. 20). This ‘natural practice’ could have been occurring from the start if these students were allowed a calculator. With no control in this study there is no way to tell if the stories are more or less effective than any other intervention strategy. I believe the intervention time would have been much better spent on teaching mathematical strategies for how to calculate new facts from ones students have memorized. To practice such strategies students could play games or solve problems that included multiplication facts to get the ‘natural practice’ that was so effective. Even focusing the intervention time on practice using a calculator or reading a multiplication chart would have been much more applicable in the long term than learning stories that do not apply to any other area of mathematics.

Mahler, J. (2011). When multiplication facts won't stick: Could a language/story approach curriculum. The Education Therapist, 32(1), 5-8, 20-21. ERIC doc. no. ED527570.
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED527570.pdf