Strategies & Resources to Empower Middle-Level Mathematicians

Why can you never trust a math teacher holding graph paper? They must be plotting something! What did the triangle say to the circle? “You’re pointless.” Those math jokes may only make “sum” of your students laugh, but they might capture their attention. You can find 101 Silly Math Jokes and Puns to Make Students … read more »

Let’s Talk About: Feedback

Teachers know how important it is to give students feedback on their work. Feedback can help students improve their skills, learn from their mistakes, and achieve their goals. Many articles, books, and workshops can help you as a teacher to learn to give constructive, specific, actionable, and respectful feedback. Here at TeachersFirst, we’ve looked at … read more »

Maker Education Nurtures Ideas

March is International Ideas Month! Idea generation is an important skill for students. Maker education and design thinking (both aspects of making) nurture ideas in students! Students of any age can participate in making through short challenges, projects, or built-in maker opportunities—all of which allow students to generate ideas.  If you would like to introduce … read more »

Innovation Shines Bright

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison As teachers, we strive to invent and implement engaging classroom experiences only to feel compelled to change and tweak them the following year to meet the needs of our new cadre of students. It’s challenging to reinvent classroom experiences, … read more »