by Jennifer Van Blair | Oct 23, 2021 | Uncategorized
Academic rigor is an educational buzz word. No seriously, we could probably turn any staff meeting, professional development seminar, heck, even this post into a drinking game. For example: Never have I ever heard the phrase, “academic rigor” during staff meeting....
by Jennifer Van Blair | Jul 22, 2021 | Math, Uncategorized
Word problems are challenging. Most adults admit to struggling with word problems as kids, and many will tell you they still struggle. That’s why it is so tempting to reduce word problem instruction down to keyword strategies to solve. In math, we are looking for the...
by Jennifer Van Blair | Jul 14, 2021 | Math, Uncategorized
.This past year I had a student who always said, “Mrs. Van Blair, I am no good at math.” I am positive that you can relate. Why? Because every year I have a student who believes that math skills come naturally and are not developed. The danger with this thinking is...
by Jennifer Van Blair | Jul 9, 2021 | Math, Uncategorized
What do third to fifth grade teachers JUST LIKE YOU say they struggle with the most? Differentiated math instruction when the range of abilities in their classroom is so wide. They have students that need help and support with previous grade level content. At the same...
by Jennifer Van Blair | Nov 17, 2018 | Uncategorized
I had the opportunity to hear Carol Dweck, author of Mindset and developer of the power of YET speak a few years back. Most educators are familiar with her as mindset has become a popular term in the teaching community. Through her research, she revealed that there...
by Jennifer Van Blair | Nov 16, 2018 | Uncategorized
Some students just don’t talk and it seems like this year I have a class of learners that don’t want to participate. I wanted to find ways to increase participation in class, especially in math. This led me to make these math discussion prompts. To build...
