Mathematical Problem Solving: Mindsets Matter

Do you love math? Or are you convinced that the math train left the station without you long ago? No matter how you feel about it, if you're an elementary educator, you'll probably have to teach math at some point. Fortunately, growth mindset research and new findings about how the brain works are leading to some amazing insights about the best way to teach math. Furthermore, these insights are making it possible to foster a love of math in ALL students!

Last year I discovered Dr. Jo Boaler's book, Mathematical Mindsets, and I was fascinated by the research findings she shared. I also loved Dr. Boaler's strategies for using those research findings to improve math instruction. I know that problem solving is essential in mathematics, and most of the strategies I was using are supported by the new research. However, I did discover that a few of my teaching methods are not actually best practices, so I've been reworking those strategies to incorporate what I've learned.

A few years ago I presented a webinar called Math Problem Solving: Once a Day, the Easy Way, but after reading Mathematical Mindsets, I knew it was time to update that presentation with these new research-based practices. I asked Dr. Boaler for permission to include information and strategies from her book in my webinar, and she graciously agreed.

My new webinar is titled Math Problem Solving: Mindsets Matter to reflect the emphasis on growth mindset research and its implications for math instruction. To learn more, download the webinar note-taking handouts and take a look. The live webinar has ended, but you can sign up for the replay below. The replay of the August 31st webinar is free through September 10th.

Math Problem Solving - Mindsets Matter 

Click for the replay details.

Best Practices in Math Instruction: Agree or Disagree? 
At the beginning of the webinar, I'll ask you to evaluate 6 commonly-held beliefs about math instruction, and then I'll share what the research tells us about them. What do you think about each statement below? Do you agree or disagree with these beliefs about math instruction?

1. Problem solving strategies should be taught before giving students problems to solve. 
2. Drawing solutions and counting on fingers should only be encouraged for young children and struggling students. 
3. Students should only use calculators in math after they can perform the computations by hand.
4. Mistakes are only beneficial when we learn from them.  
5. Some people were born with a gift for math, and others weren’t. 
6. The best way to meet the needs of all students is through ability grouping and differentiation. 

If you want to know what the research says about these beliefs, watch the webinar replay! I dug into the best practices related to each of those statements about math instruction.

From Word Problems to Rich Math Tasks
One research finding about how to foster a mathematical mindset is pretty clear. Instead of overloading kids with traditional "word problems," we need to engage them in more in rich math tasks. In the webinar, I went into detail about what that means, but basically a rich math task encourages students to think about math in new ways, finding multiple ways to solve problems, and to discuss their findings with others. Fortunately, it's quite easy to find rich math tasks if you know where to look, and you can also turn traditional word problems into rich math task. Check out the webinar replay for tips about how find or create rich math tasks that are appropriate for your students.

Join Me for a Math Mindsets Webinar Journey!
I'm still learning about how to foster a mathematical mindset, so I consider this webinar to be more of a journey we'll take together. You can board the Math Problem Solving: Mindsets Matter webinar train here; tickets are FREE through September 10th, so hop on and take a seat now!

I'll be your conductor if you decide to take this journey with me, and I'll share what I've learned about growth mindset and math instruction. We'll wrap up our adventure by exploring painless problem solving strategies you can implement right away that will motivate your students to love math, even if you don’t! Who knows? By the end of our journey, you might be a math lover, too!

Discover MrOwl, a Free New Tech Tool Teachers Will Love!

Have you discovered MrOwl? It's a free, new tech tool you can use to create a personalized Internet experience based on the topics that are important to you. You can easily build, organize, and customize topic “branches” that you share with friends and family. It's completely free of advertising, too. These features make MrOwl the perfect tool for educators who can use it in the classroom with students and on their own for organizing lesson resources.  You can even use MrOwl to create a free class website!

Using the MrOwl Chrome extension, you can easily save your favorite website links so you know where to find them later. Furthermore, you can upload your own documents and photos to your branches, making it easy to create comprehensive collections of searchable information.

A unique feature of this platform is that MrOwl gets wiser as more people use it. The branches that you build help to shape the MrOwl community “tree,” an ever-growing, searchable collection of web links and resources. These branches are curated by real people in the MrOwl community, not a computer, so they're free of inappropriate content and organized in a way that makes sense. MrOwl is free of advertising, too, so you aren't distracted by annoying pop-ups or sidebar ads.

But MrOwl is more than a safe search engine or a handy bookmarking tool; it's also a unique social media platform that makes it easy to interact with others who share your interests. MrOwl community members can follow other users, message their own followers, and even invite people to collaborate with them on their branches. It truly couldn't be any simpler! Members can also grab, "heart," and share branches created by others.

Discover MrOwl in a Free Live Webinar 

To help teachers get started with MrOwl, I developed a webinar called Discover MrOwl: A Free Tech Tool for Organizing, Sharing, and Collaborating. The next live presentation will be on January 24th at 8 pm Eastern Time.  MrOwl is brand new, so if you like exploring new tech tools, you'll love this webinar! MrOwl is a really powerful tool with a lot of cool features for teachers and even more on the way. During the webinar, I'll explain exactly how to get started setting up a profile, creating topic branches, organizing your content, and collaborating with others. I'll even explain how to use it to set up a free class website!  You'll also meet Becky and Arvind Raichur, the founders of MrOwl!

Click here to register for this free live webinar!

Explore MrOwl on Your Own
If you can't wait for the webinar, register for a free account on MrOwl and start exploring the platform on your own! To see how it works, click over to my profile page, @laura_candler, and check out some of the branches I've created. It's easy to create a free MrOwl account, but be sure to choose a user name that you don't mind being public and visible to others. I recommend using your real name if it's available, which is why I signed up with @laura_candler. After you log in, return to my profile page and follow me! Then grab any branches that you like to save them for later and explore MrOwl to find new interests and get inspired!

The MrOwl Backstory

MrOwl is the brainchild of Becky and Arvind Raichur, and their vision dates back almost 20 years to 1999, a time before Google and Pinterest when it was nearly impossible to search the web. Becky and Arvind envisioned making the Internet a better experience for everyone, where it's easy to organize and curate collections of searchable links, documents and more in one convenient place. Their ultimate goal was to create a connected community curated by real people like you, not a computer. The word "crowdsourcing" wasn't coined until 2005, but the concept describes their early vision perfectly!

It wasn't until 2013 that they were able to put together a team to bring MrOwl to life, and it's taken the team several years to build and test the site. During that time, they've added new features that make MrOwl more interactive and easier to personalize. MrOwl began as a web-based platform, but a convenient mobile app was just released so that you can access MrOwl right from your phone or tablet.

Reaching Out to Educators

Now that MrOwl is available to the public, Becky and Arvind are eager to spread the word so that others can benefit from this free tool. They're especially excited about MrOwl's potential for classroom use, which is why they reached out to me. They initially just asked me to review the site and offer feedback about how to make it even more useful for teachers. After I spent time on MrOwl, I realized that it's far more powerful than it appears at first glance, and I knew that I had to share it with others! I was also impressed with Becky and Arvind's sincere desire to make MrOwl even more useful for teachers and more approriate for students. They've already started working on some new features, such as templates teachers can use to create free class websites, and they're open to your feedback and suggestions as well.

Join the MrOwl Educators Facebook Group

I've also created a Facebook group called MrOwl Educators where teachers can learn about new features and get early access to them. Group members can also ask questions and share their ideas for using MrOwl in the classroom. A third function of the Facebook group will be to seek feedback about how to make MrOwl even better for educators, and this information will be shared with Becky and Arvind. If you'd like to join the MrOwl Educators Facebook group, fill out this Google Doc form and follow the directions on that page to request access.

Can't Wait to Get Started?

If you can't wait to get started with MrOwl, jump in right now and register for your free account. It's easy! Remember that your user name will be public and visible on your profile, so you may want to choose your real name to make it easier for others to find you. Set up your profile by uploading a photo, writing a short bio, and adding links to your social media platforms. Then have fun exploring the site and starting to create your own branches. I hope you enjoy using MrOwl in your classroom!

Totality Awesome Solar Eclipse: Are you ready?

Are you ready for the upcoming solar eclipse? If not, take a few minutes now to learn about this "totality" awesome event so you can prepare for it properly and enjoy it safely.

On Monday, August 21st, the moon's shadow will pass over the US in a sweeping arc, from Oregon to SC, and if you're lucky enough to be directly in that path, you'll see a total solar eclipse. As the moon passes between the earth and the sun, blocking the sun's light, the sky will darken and temperatures will drop, right in the middle of the day. Eventually, the moon will completely block the sun for 2 or 3 minutes, and all you'll see is the sun's corona, which appears as a faint glow around the edges of the moon.

Sounds amazing, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the path of totality will only be about 70 miles wide, so very few viewers will experience the solar eclipse as dramatically as the picture on the right. Everyone else in the US will see a partial eclipse, even those who are just a few miles away from the path of totality. The farther away you are from that path, the less the moon will block the sun, and the less dramatic the event will be.  From what I've learned, if you're even a few miles outside of that path, the eclipse won't be nearly as spectacular as if you were directly in the path.

But what if you learned that you're less than an hour's drive from the path of totality? Would you make plans to go experience the real deal, or would you be content to see a partial eclipse? How far would you travel to see a total eclipse?

Locate the Closest Place to View a Total Eclipse
Before you answer,  take a minute to find out how far you live from totality. It's really easy when you download the free Totality app from Big Kids Science.

After you open the app and enter your location, you can see the closest place to view a total eclipse, and you'll even be able to get directions to it! You can also learn what the partial eclipse will look like at its peak in your location, how to get to the closest place to see the total eclipse, when the eclipse will begin and end, and much more. The app also includes links to lesson ideas and activities for teaching about the solar eclipse.

Order Your Protective Eye Wear Now 

No matter where you live in the US, if the sky is clear on August 21st,  you'll be able to see a partial eclipse, if not a complete, total eclipse. It's never safe to look at the sun, except for the 2 or 3 minutes of totality when the sun's rays are completely blocked, and only for those who are in the path of the total eclipse. So if you plan to watch the eclipse at all, you'll need protective sunglasses. They are readily available and not very expensive right now, but I guarantee they are going to be much harder to find and more expensive if you wait until the last minute to get them.

I ordered mine from Big Kids Science, the creator of the free Totality app, because I like to support organizations that offer free educational resources like the app. I purchased mine from within the app, but you can also purchase them directly from the Big Kids Science website.

Solar Eclipse 2017 or Bust!
The last total solar eclipse that was visible in the United States happened back in 1970, and it passed right over North Carolina where I live now. Unfortunately, I didn't move to NC until 1973 so I missed it! :-( I lived in New Hampshire at the time and I remember seeing a partial eclipse, but the experience wasn't all that memorable.

That's why I was excited to discover that the path of the 2017 solar eclipse will go through South Carolina which is just a few hours south of where I live now. I learned from the Totality app that even if I stay right where I am, I'll see a very distinct partial eclipse with 96% coverage of the sun. I guess I could be satisfied with 96% totality, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this will be my last chance to see a total eclipse, so driving a few hours to see it will be "totally" worth it! I've heard the traffic that day will be insane anywhere within the path of totality, so I booked a hotel room in Orangeburg, SC, which is in the direct path of the moon's shadow. Now my only concern is the weather, and I'm praying for clear skies on August 21st.

How close are you to the line of totality for the 2017 solar eclipse? Are you planning to travel to see it? If so, take plenty of food and water with you, and be sure to start your trip with a full tank of gas. Scope out your viewing location in advance and arrive well before the partial eclipse begins. Finally, remember to bring your totality awesome protective sunglasses!