Karen C. Seddon’s DEN Blog

“I’ve never been any good at math.” How many times have parents and students been allowed to make that comment as if it is no big deal? We don’t allow them to say that they are no good at reading or writing, but somehow it’s acceptable to not be good at math.  Math phobia can be removed with time and opportunity.  As we get closer to standardized testing times across the country, why not give the students a 21^st century way to enjoy math?  Have you ever considered allowing them to compete with students across the globe?  The Internet makes it possible and so very authentic. 

A creative website

I am very excited to bring you a FUN and FREE math site whether you are a math teacher or not. World Maths Day is next week, March 5^th.  The goal is to challenge students around the world to compete against each other on a quest to set a world record in answering mental arithmetic questions.  Last year, more than 287,000 students from 98 countries correctly answered over 38 million questions!  This year they hope to break the 50 million mark!  Answering mental math questions is a lot harder than it looks.  This initiative is part of VMathLive where they are raising up Mathletes who compete in real time games of speed and skill.  Math can be VERY exciting.  Don’t let them tell you they are no good at math.  Practice makes perfect! 

An image to share

Microsoft Office Online

A proverb

“The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple.”  S. Gudder

An encouragement

I would really love to challenge ALL teachers, not just math teachers, to take some time on March 5^th, World Math Day and get all our students involved.  Do you know what a great message that sends to the students when the Social Studies teacher or the TV production teacher takes some time out of their busy schedule to give them the opportunity to practice mental math skills?  While you are on the World Math Day site, there is a very small link in the bottom right corner, (click here for country details).  An amazing teachable moment awaits you there as you try to identify where all these nations are.  (Don’t worry, they will show you!) Let us know if you get involved and what the impact was on the students by posting a comment on my blog.

How do you do that?

I know how pressed you are for time and how the FCAT or whatever standardized test you have is looming over you, but I believe that is the very reason you need to step back and try this very challenging and engaging math experiment. If you don’t have a lot of time, create one account and project the site on a screen and play it a few times with the whole class.  If you have no access to computers in your room, consider booking the computer lab for March 5^th.  If those are not possible, give the kids the information and a log-in and let them find a way.  It’s amazing how much access they have to My Space these days.  They will find a way.  Let us know if you found World Math Day a valuable math experience or not  and if you had any “Mathletes”  by going to our “tuesdays” Professional Learning Community.

What are teachers saying?

Tales from the Teachers in the Trenches

“We have assembled a “Pod Squad” of students who create podcasts for our school. They use reading vocabulary words as the basis of their messages. They are creating the podcasts with Picassa,  Audacity, PhotoStory and more. The part I liked the best is that they are telling me that they are downloading these programs at home and showing their families. It doesn’t get any better than that! .” John Patience, Boggy Creek Elementary School, Instructional Technology Specialist

As always, I am

Ubiquitously yours,

K