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Here are seven easy-to-implement strategies that will integrate STEM into your middle school math lessons.

Teachers must vary their instructional methods to include online resources, videos, and make direct connections for ALL students to perform

Have you planned time for teachers and administrators to be informed and make necessary changes to prepare for these new requirements?

What have you done to prepare students, parents, and all other groups that might be involved?

Too many times we assume students know or have experienced things that they have either forgotten or never been exposed to. Every year in the classroom, instead of going over the traditional classroom rules and policies I would do two things.

So many times, in December and January, we tend to look back and reflect on a year that has been. Instead, I would like us to look ahead and project all that 2024 can and will be. We already know that the CollegeBoard has changed the PSAT and SAT to the new digital version which uses the BlueBook App. to administer. In Indiana, that means the digital SAT, which is the state’s accountability test, will be administered to all juniors either in the initial window March 4 – 15, 2

This is a time for transitions. We just transitioned from Thanksgiving toward Christmas. We will be transitioning from 2023 to 2024 very soon. We are transitioning from Fall to Winter. We seem to be in a state of flux for so many things right now. It is no different for educators.  Educational Changes Educators are transitioning from the old 2020 Indiana Academic Standards to the new 2023 Indiana Academic Standards. At the secondary level, we are transitioning from the old on

By William Reed I have been in education now, for over 40 years. Especially now, it is so very easy to get mired down in all the...

Lesson plans can be short and easy just the essentials that are required for the lesson to be successful. The lesson plans I created when I was a new teacher were much different from the lesson plans that I created in my 20th year in the classroom. My lesson plans in my 20th year were different from the lesson plans I created in my 30th year in the classroom. Lesson plans change and evolve throughout your teaching career, yet there are always the essential “must haves” that s

We all know that teaching is a profession that truly is a calling. Teachers who stay in the profession for a long-time care deeply about the students and the subject they are teaching. I know, I was in the classroom for over 33 years. We also know that the demands on teachers have increased greatly over recent years. Here in Indiana, this year is especially hard on teachers with a completely new set of academic standards that were adopted in June. There are new high-stake ass

By William Reed You probably have heard the PSAT and SAT are changing for the 2023-2024 school year. The New Digital SAT Suite of Assessments includes the SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT10, and the PSAT 8/9. The changes will start early this fall with the new Digital PSAT10 and Digital PSAT/NMSQT. It will continue in the Spring of 2024 when all Indiana juniors will take the new Digital SAT. Everyone needs to know about and understand the changes that will be taking place. If they do, t

As I have visited classrooms and observed teachers teaching their classes, I am noticing a very common trend. The learning their students are doing is very passive and somewhat compliant. In a quote attributed to many different sources from Confucius to Benjamin Franklin says, “Tell Me and I Forget; Teach Me and I May Remember; Involve Me and I Learn” and it has been proven many times and, in many ways, to be true.   It used to be the standard norm in a classroom in rows all

By William Reed I know it is hard to believe that Math can be entertaining, but believe it or not, it really can be! Students and the general population rarely see how mathematics fits into many of the ways we entertain ourselves. Math can be found in so many entertaining places, literature, music and songs, movies, and especially art! We really need to make sure we share how this subject, which creates so many fears and phobias, can be pleasant, pleasing, and yes, entertaini

By William Reed Early in my career, when I was in the classroom teaching, I was busy just preparing for my lesson I was teaching. I struggled to stay on top of everything going on in education. I used to think, “Let someone else worry about all that other stuff!” Was I ever wrong! Luckily, a very wise experienced teacher told me that I needed to pay attention to the peripheral developments that were going on in education. They told me it would make a difference someday in my

It is extremely important for Administrators, Teachers, Parents and especially Students to understand exactly what the SAT Assessment is and how it is written. Knowing how the test is written as well as strategies on how students can perform at their very best is essential to overall success for this assessment.   The SAT Assessment is a multiple-choice and student-produced (grid-in), pencil-and-paper and online test created and administered by the College Board .  The purpos

We all know that there are four seasons in nature. However, there are 5 seasons of education. Each one is filled with excitement and...

It is finally Spring. Spring Breaks are over, and we are in the home stretch to the end of the school year. As we all know it is a marathon and not a sprint! With that in mind, this is where we will begin. Like all great marathoners everyone must start with stretching and warming up. That is where I would suggest you all start. With a good stretch.   When is the last time you stretched yourself and your teaching? When, and what, was the last conference you attended to improve

What I am realizing now is they are asking this because, as math teachers, we are NOT doing enough to make sure that question is answered BE

When I was still in the classroom I would ask, what I thought was, a great question, only to have students answer the question I had...

Number sense is the ability to understand and use numbers in a variety of contexts. It involves being able to recognize patterns, recognize relationships between numbers, and use mental math and estimation strategies to solve problems. Number sense can also involve a knowledge of basic math facts and the ability to use them to solve problems. It is a key part of mathematical fluency, and an important skill for students to learn in order to be successful in math. Good Number S