Number Sense is the key to success in Math
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Is 1-on-1 Math tutoring much more effective than a group class?
For young children in Elementary and Middle School years, 1-on-1 tutoring is more effective. Here’s the reason why. Effective math instruction requires 3 essential rules of engagement that can only be done in an individualized setting. There are of course, other rules of engagement such as an encouraging instructor, consistent practice, visual math models to…
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3 Key Insights from Math Tutoring Center Director
Three particular insights stood out as Education Director of our Math learning centers. Our centers serve 2nd to 8th grades, and we are located in Newton, Needham, Wellesley, Brookline and Cambridge. I mention the locations because these communities have a very high education level and discretionary resources available to them compared to the rest of…
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Marbles in the Sink Disposal
When I changed the water for my flower vase, a marble escaped and fell into the sink disposal without my knowledge. Later, when I ran the disposal, it made the most loud, frightening, cocophonic, diusconcordant noise that turned everybody’s heads. Sounded like I was trying to grind the disposal itself. Carefully, I unplugged the unit,…
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Is Math really a “Language”?
In one of my early jobs after MBA, I worked in the Marketing department of a large corporation. Once a week, a group of us met to discuss how the prior week’s sales promotion performed and how to tweak them for the future. We talked about sales lift, break even, 15% or 20% discount? Do…
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Rote learning works if …
Rote learning is defined as the memorization of information based on repetition. It is not considered higher-level thought or critical thinking, the creativity in students is stunted and suppressed, and students do not learn how to think. So Rote Learning has gotten a bad rap in education circles. Rote learning can work if these 3…
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Rounding numbers – don’t teach it like this
Question: Round 478 to the nearest Hundred. Common way to teach it: Thee steps work, the but the student has not developed his number sense one bit. Worse, it turns math into memorizing one multi-step procedure after another. What fun is that? We do that over and over again and then wonder why our kids…
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Rocking the Sled Drag – think Geisha steps
The Sled Drag is new for me. Not my usual workout. When my trainer first added it to my workout routine, I struggled to drag the weights. Being the driven person that I am, I would not be defeated and took big strong steps to budge the weights. Now, I know that what works best…
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Wishing they’d argue more
I’ve taught hundreds of children 1st to 8th grade. And I wish they’d argue with me more. When I enthusiastically give them a tip that when they add 2 + 7, it’s easier to count up from the bigger number, or when I show them that 6 + 7 is the same as 6 doubled…
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First, do Harm
Hippocrates’s quote, “First, do no harm” is the tenet of the practice of medicine. When it comes to teaching math, sometimes, it’s more effective to “First, do harm”. Before I teach a child a new concept, I probe to see where the child’s understanding is. Sometimes, I learn a child has had a deep-seated misconception…
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The Most effective way to develop Number Sense in young children – Socratic Dialogue
From working one-on-one with thousands of young students the last 15 years, my team has found that the most effective way to develop number sense is using Socratic Dialogue in an intentional, methodical progression. Instead of one-way instructor->student lecture, the Socratic method of teaching is a style that uses conversation-prompting questions that makes the learning…
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