Do we have to do math?
It wouldn’t be much of a math class without math, would it? However, you might be surprised by what counts as “doing math,” such as drawing, layering, animating, programming a spreadsheet to do math for you…the list can go on and on. Try it out!
We’re not homeschooling. Are your classes for us too?
Absolutely! If you can get to a computer that can access the classes during the school day you\’re welcome to join us from there. Otherwise you can participate after school, on the weekends, on school holidays, and so on, from home or your local library.
Some of my classes have live video meetings during the usual school day, but you can always use the replay to follow along. I want to include anyone who wants to learn!
Why do you need to archive my contributions to beta classes?
Beta test classes are free but not cheap. You pay for them in the form of your participation, by asking questions, contributing your strategies in live classes, letting me know what\’s clear and what isn\’t, typo-hunting, and so on.
You have a basic intellectual property right to decide how your ideas are used, so I have to ask for your permission to include them in my archive. (Getting your permission is especially important because I plan to sell these classes and selling anything of someone else\’s without their permission is basically stealing.)
If there’s anything you would rather not be publicly available:
- Don’t share it in a live session. These are being recorded for future use.
- If you share it with me by email/etc., let me know that you prefer to remain anonymous if I use your question/example/etc. in discussions for other students. I can refer to you by a nickname or pseudonym or just as “a student.”
What curriculum do you use/what textbook should I buy?
I somewhat loosely use the OpenStax math books from Rice University, and recommend them as a reference. You can view them online, download them, or order a physical copy for approximately the cost of printing. These books are written for developmental and credit-level college students. The more I expect that my students will differ from the books\’ intended audience, the more I adjust, up to sometimes only using the book as an outline and problem source. I always use my own judgment as to pacing, which semester-based college classes are often not able to do because of time limitations — the books are written according to typical usage, so I might split one of their lessons across lessons meant to take several days.
I also use Khan Academy as a problem source and students can use it as an additional information source.
Gullberg’s Mathematics From the Birth of Numbers is another good math reference book which I consult in planning classes.
Are your classes Common Core?
In some ways yes and in some ways no. I try to extract what’s useful from the standards as a list of things students should be able to do while sidestepping the justified criticisms.
Because my classes are multi-age, I don’t follow the Common Core year-by-year progression; rather, I look at topics across the years to see what students in schools using Common Core are expected to learn about math, because I certainly don’t want my students to be less capable. As a result, the criticism that Common Core is too rigorous in the early years and not rigorous enough in high school would not apply to my classes: younger students who are struggling can “push the pause button,” do other math, and come back and learn the topic later, and for older students who have already mastered the usual topics, I go into college-level work.
I do use visual and mental-math methods. Good math teachers have been doing this since long before the Common Core standards were invented. I want students to have options in how they do math, so I also teach the standard algorithms and how the visual and standard methods connect, and am happy to talk this over with parents.
I would never mark down or otherwise scold a student for using a method that is mathematically accurate and that they understand but that is different from the method I’ve been teaching. If the extent of their understanding, however, is knowing how to do the steps, I would ask them to do several problems by both their method and a visual method, to give them a chance to learn why their method is true.
Why do you charge for your classes instead of them being free like at my local school? Are you for rich students only?
Your local school, if it’s free, receives some combination of federal, state, and local funding, and possibly private donations, to cover its expenses and pay its teachers so they can pay their bills. I don’t have any of those funding sources. My expenses are lower because I don\’t have to have a separate building for you to come to, but there are still bills I need to pay to keep offering these classes and expanding the class list.
However, my classes are definitely not for rich students only! I did’t have a lot growing up, so I understand how hard it can be to find opportunities, and I would never want to exclude anyone. If you need a scholarship, just let me know. There are lots of little tasks that I can have you do to pay for a class with time instead of money.
The platforms you use (Teachable and Facebook) are for ages 13 and up. How can younger students participate?
One method is for their parents to sign up for the class (or join the beta group) and provide whatever level of supervision makes them comfortable with letting the student who is 12 or younger use their account.
Why do you start so many posts and lessons with “Hello mathematicians, puzzlers, and other curious people!”?
In a word, inclusiveness. But let me explain what that has to do with that.
My original idea was to include everyone by just saying “Hello mathematicians!” However, though I mean that to include everyone, it occurred to me that some people reading it might think that the word “mathematicians” didn’t apply to them. While I’d like to convince them otherwise, I’ve got to have them stick around to have a chance to do that.
So then I thought, mathematicians are people who work on puzzles — usually puzzles involving numbers, shapes, sets, and so on. A less culturally-loaded synonym for “mathematicians,” then, could be “puzzle-solvers,” or just “puzzlers.” So then I had “Hello, mathematicians and puzzlers!”
But then I thought, what if some people reading this have also had less than ideal experiences with puzzles? I still needed some kind of catch-all group as a backup. Finally, I settled on “other curious people,” because it seemed likely to me that people who aren\’t curious wouldn\’t even be reading the kinds of things I write.
Then I put it all together into “Hello mathematicians, puzzlers, and other curious people!” But, if you know of a fourth group I should include, I\’ll hear you out on that too.
I have a different question.
Please ask me!