balance Archives ⋆ R.E.A.L.-World Learners https://realworldlearners.com/tag/balance/ Engaging, authentic learning resources for students of all ages Thu, 14 Mar 2019 00:23:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://realworldlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/cropped-8516c9f3047b5127c72aba019d664e56-32x32.jpeg balance Archives ⋆ R.E.A.L.-World Learners https://realworldlearners.com/tag/balance/ 32 32 Digital Marketing OVERWHELM … and my “No More Tears for Math” mission https://realworldlearners.com/digital-marketing-overwhelm-and-my-no-more-tears-for-math-mission/ https://realworldlearners.com/digital-marketing-overwhelm-and-my-no-more-tears-for-math-mission/#respond Thu, 14 Sep 2017 05:01:18 +0000 https://realworldlearners.com/?p=309 Whenever I hear people talk about how much they hate math or how they just aren't good at it or how their kids are crying every night doing math homework and the whole system of Mathematics is tearing kids down and families apart, it makes me terribly sad. I wish I could jump into every one of those homes and show them how math is really not so scary and even quite lovely if you look at it the right way; I want to help students build a solid framework of understanding by working through authentic, relevant, and interesting learning activities so that they truly own the knowledge they gain. I believe students should be given the opportunity to work through concepts to the point of mastery (not to the point of complete and utter boredom because they're swallowing a one-size-fits-all prescription) and see math not as some painful adolescent ritual but as the language of the universe -- the description of all the patterns and phenomena we see at play in nature and in art and architecture and engineering ... and computer coding and aviation and seafaring and gambling ... to name only a very few aspects of a universe written in the beautifully patterned and predictable* language of math.
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]]> https://realworldlearners.com/digital-marketing-overwhelm-and-my-no-more-tears-for-math-mission/feed/ 0 Math Monday: Cotton Ball Algebra https://realworldlearners.com/math-monday-cotton-ball-algebra/ https://realworldlearners.com/math-monday-cotton-ball-algebra/#comments Thu, 14 Sep 2017 04:12:01 +0000 https://realworldlearners.com/?p=270 Things (numbers, variables, expressions) on either side of an equal sign are the same. If kids can really understand this idea, they won't stumble when they get to Algebra and have to start solving for x. If they can grasp the big ideas behind simple concepts like Equality, they'll be much more fluent with higher level math concepts.

I wanted to practice introducing these ideas to my (then) 3 year old. I found some things we had at home and made up a very simplistic balance beam. Using egg carton pieces, a paper clip flattened out, and a toilet paper tube shaped into a triangular prism, I asked N to try to make it balance (stay level) using different amounts of cotton balls on each side. Read more...

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