My educational philosophy
We have all been scientists and mathematicians since before we were born. Even as small children, we mathematize our world. We know immediately when quantities are not equal or when things don't seem fair.
From the outset, we are on a mission to taste, touch, feel, smell and observe our world. We strive for sense-making and sometimes we contrive theories that need to be challenged.
As a teacher, my role is to guide my students to increasingly more complex understandings by challenging their natural ability to make sense of the world. I teach them that observing, questioning and developing systems to explain what they observe are lifetime skills that need lots of practice.
Because math is often the language of science, we will intertwine the two - by turning gathered data into meaningful tables and graphs and by interpreting graphs to explain physical and life processes - movement, transfer of energy, cycles of matter, growth of individual organisms or populations, decrease in populations or birth and death rates, change in amount of material that sustains or limits life, etc... Always we are asking why it matters and how changing the variables affects the outcomes.
Parents are a student's first teachers and continuing support of math and science learning is essential. As a parent, myself, I know that when we think we don't understand the math, we want to throw our hands in the air and find a tutor. But it is the perfect time to ask your student "what do you think?" followed by "what do you know or have?", "what do you need to know? and "what strategies can we use to solve this?"
Students are always smarter than they think they are.
We are always smarter together than we are alone.
And we are all learning all the time.
Share your love for math with your child. And if you "don't" love math, please consider...
What does your child hear when you say "oh, I was never good at math"?
What message are you trying to send?
Intentionally? Unintentionally?
How do anti-math comments help children pursue excellence in mathematics?
Why don't we hear more parents say "oh, I was never much good at reading"?
You can learn anything, a video from khan academy
Gratitude
Humans helping humans
BRAIN TALK
TED Talks for Students
Birds Singing
This is your brain on nature: national Geographic talk
People can do amazing things