Category: Five Minute Friday

  • The Opportunity to Learn

    The Opportunity to Learn

    This is part of the Five Minute Friday series.

    The Opportunity to Learn

    Transcript:

    This week I take the opportunity to hand write a post for MathFour.com. It’s part of Five Minute Friday — so I have to pen fast.

    What is “opportunity” to a math learner? Well — it’s really what they should be given. Learners are often asked to “take” what instructors hand them (or eat what we feed them). But if we, as teachers, parents & instructors would instead provide opportunities to learn — instead of forced algorithms — we might see more acceptance & even enjoyment in their math learning.

    So when you share some math with your child or students — remember (and I’ll try too) that we’re giving them the opportunity to see the wonderful uses and enjoyment of math!

    Share your thoughts in the comments or on twitter/x.

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  • Doing Math Quietly

    Doing Math Quietly

    This is part of the Five Minute Friday series.

    This week’s prompt is “Quiet.”

    And how pleasant is quietness when you’re totally focused, and in “flow,” working through a challenging but not too hard math problem?

    That’s how we’d like our students to be — just like Goldilocks in the house of the Bears. Not too much and not too little. But just right.

    Keeping it Quiet

    What does quiet mean, when doing school work? For some it is the literal meaning — no sound.

    But for some, it means keeping the brain from making other internal racket that others couldn’t possibly hear.

    That’s why you see some people listening to music while they study or work. That part of their brain must be kept busy while the other part focuses.

    What does your child need?

    Think about how you like to work on different things. What puts you in a state of real focus for that task?

    Then watch your kids. Talk to them about what it means for them to be focused. How they focus for a particular subject or task is their quiet.

    Do what you can to help them reach it.

    And share your thoughts in the comments or on twitter/x.

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  • Roots — Exponents and Culture

    Roots — Exponents and Culture

    This is part of the Five Minute Friday series.

    Really? Today’s prompt is “Roots.”

    You can’t get a better writing prompt for a math blog if you pushed really hard!

    So what is a root? And what does it mean to have many roots?

    A root is the opposite (the inverse) of a power or exponent. When you raise something to the power of 2 (or square it), you’re using the exponent 2. If you want to undo this, you take the square root.

    When we do this for roots of larger numbers, it gets much more entertaining. Like the 4th root.

    Raise 3 to the 4th power… you get 81 (which is 3*3*3*3). So when you take the 4th root of 81, you get back 3.

    That’s not the intent of the prompt, though…

    Indeed the FiveMintueFriday prompt wasn’t meant for math. So let’s consider the other “roots” in math. What are your math roots? What kind of math roots are you establishing for your children?

    Do you have positive math roots? Do you say happy and positive things about math when it’s mentioned. Do you make a point to point out where you do math daily (like setting your alarm clock)?

    If you do, you’re establishing some very good math roots for your children.

    Share your thoughts in the comments or on twitter/x.

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