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Frozen Code and More Problems
It’s cold in Michigan. We’re expecting record-breaking low temperatures tonight and I just discovered a new gelato place a mile from my house. My husband and I love gelato, but I just can’t do it. So...
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The Median’s the Middle and Other Hit Songs
A friend recently shared this with me and I chuckled, thinking a few of the students in my graduate research courses might benefit from it. I considered sharing it with a middle school math teacher...
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Students as Questioners 8: Problem Posing in Math
If there is one discipline that is associated with the terms “question” or “problem,” it seems to be math. When preparing to write this I thought, “Well, I have some ideas, but let’s see what’s out...
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Math and Art: A Match Made for Schools
Theater and dance for teaching math? Math for teaching art? Arts integration is not only a great idea, but a great idea in the news. A recent story in the Education section of the Washington Post...
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It’s October: Time for Creative Spookiness!
Every year I tell myself I’m going to post spooky October suggestions in time for teachers to actually use them–and this year, finally, I’m going to do it. At least in the U.S., schools in October are...
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Hamilton, Schoolhouse Rock, What’s Next?
This week I saw two very different musicals. Well, to be honest, I saw all of one and parts of another. I was one of millions who have had the opportunity to see the PBS documentary on Hamilton, the...
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NRICH: Welcome to the Home of Rich Mathematics!
When I think of things that are rich, I’m more likely to think of hot chocolate or creamy cheese sauce than mathematics, but clearly I’ve been missing out. One of my students sent me the website for...
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Creative Math Meets Video
I was excited to receive the most recent edition of The Henry Ford Magazine, published by the newly renamed Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, because bold letters the cover declared it to be...
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Creative Math Meets the Simpsons
Who knew that The Simpsons animated TV show was full of mathematical moments? Read how British science writer Simon Singh learned that his impression of mathematically gags within the show was...
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Emoji Math!
Can you solve this problem? If you looked at it and thought, “Well, sure, that is easy,” you might be feeling the way some students do when first introduced to emoji math. Emoji math is exactly what it...
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Listening, Math, and Mathematical Questions
A friend of mine has been working to improve her middle school math students’ listening. They are focusing not just on “paying attention,” or listening to the teacher, but on listening to one another...
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How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow?
The biggest pumpkin ever grown in Michigan weighed in at over 2000 pounds. It must have been a pumpkin like that that inspired Wendell Minor’s How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? This is a story to...
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Halloween Math and Other Tricks and Treats
Halloween seems to get bigger every year. While I’m saddened to see the free-range trick-or-treating of my childhood wane, I still love the imagination with which so many young people (and their...
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Need a Shape? We’ve Got a Template for That!
Ever scratch your head wondering how to make a coffin shaped paper box? OK, I haven’t either, but now that I’ve thought about it, I’m curious. The thing that sparked my musings, about coffin-shaped...
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Planning a Garden, Creatively
Finally, finally, it is gardening time in Michigan. After the long cold winter, I love seeing things become green again. On one side of our back yard, too tree-covered for anything but shade-loving...
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French Toast Alerts
Apparently, in Boston, this week has been full of French Toast alerts. I’m not sure when the French Toast Alert system was created, but it surely must have been after my years living in New England,...
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Creativity in Math. Yes, We Can.
Recently I’ve been working on a chapter for a book on creativity in mathematics. I am, to say the least, an unlikely choice to be an author in such a book—a fact of which I‘ve reminded the editors...
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Charty Party Goes to School
When I visit with friends, we often play board games. I particularly enjoy games that include creativity, lots of laughter, and not too much competition (since stress-as-recreation doesn’t feel like...
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