Reasoning and problem solving are both critical acts in mathematics learning. The author has met many teachers who tell her they would love to highlight them more but feel they cannot because of the pressures of content coverage, pacing guides, and district tests. In this article, she describes a teaching intervention that highlighted problem…

The authors teach a problem-solving course for preservice middle-grades education majors that includes concepts dealing with absolute-value computations, equations, and inequalities. Many of these students like mathematics and plan to teach it, so they are adept at symbolic manipulations. Getting them to think differently about a concept that they…

What if every middle school student learned to create a robot in math class? What if every middle school had a robotics team? Would students view mathematics differently? Would they have a different relationship with technology? Might they see science and engineering as fields driven by innovation rather than memorization? As students find…

While some students are enjoying days at the park or at the beach, forty middle school students are in a classroom solving challenging mathematics problems. The second Math Camp for middle school students was offered in 2013 at a western university for students from local school districts. For three days, these students met from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.…

Fostering algebraic thinking is an important goal for middle-grades mathematics teachers. Developing mathematical reasoning requires that teachers cultivate students' habits of mind. Teachers develop students' understanding of algebra by engaging them in tasks that involve modeling and representation. This study was designed to investigate how…

Recent research suggests that it is not simply experiencing anxiety that affects mathematics performance but also how one responds to and regulates that anxiety (Lyons and Beilock 2011). Most people have faced mathematics problems that have triggered their "run response." The issue is not whether one wants to run, but rather…

This article is reprinted from Mathematics Teacher, in honor of the 100th anniversary. It discusses the role of emotions in mathematics teaching and learning. (Contains 3 endnotes.)

Standard classroom tests tend to showcase what students know at that point in time and do not usually reflect real-life mathematics. They are not always accurate indicators of what students understand and how they understand it. Portfolios are tools that allow students a better opportunity to exhibit mathematical growth in understanding and…

This article illustrates how problem solving can be enhanced through careful planning and problem presentation. Often, students shut down or are turned off when presented with a problem to solve. The author describes how to motivate students to embrace a problem to be solved and provides helpful prompts to further the problem-solving process.…

Usiskin takes another look at fractions, years after writing the article "The Future of Fractions" for "Arithmetic Teacher".

This article describes geometry-oriented problem-solving tasks that can encourage students to develop a positive attitude toward mathematics. The tasks concern working with polyominoes, two-dimensional shapes that consist of squares joined fully at the edges. (Contains 7 figures.)

A mathematics teacher shares a family discussion about Pythagorean triples as her child discovers new ideas about generating a triple. This idea can be useful for introducing students to the Pythagorean theorem. Observes that middle school students tend not to share creative insights in spite of supportive families and teachers. Presents…