Andrew is a former Math educator who has worked in both brick & mortar and online schools over the past decade. He currently works as a content editor for a math curriculum company, but stays connected to online teaching as an Instructional Coach for SYS. 

 

Andrew is passionate about decreasing “math anxiety” for students and figuring out ways to take math education to new heights in the virtual setting. In this episode, you’ll hear about the free open educational resources Andrew uses and his methods for moving beyond rote calculation to genuinely applying critical math thinking to problem solving. 

 

Timestamps:

What Andrew likes about teaching math online [2:54]

What changed when Andrew went online? [4:13]

Some of Andrew’s favorite online tools for math [4:56]

Couldn’t they just Google the answer? [6:12]

Andrew speaks to assessment goals [7:20]

What math assessments used to be [8:44]

What are performance tasks? [10:09]

How does Andrew use student choice as a way to verify authentic work? [11:36]

Discussion boards in math? [13:34]

Using open ended math questions [14:02]

What do the best math online educators keep within focus? [14:27]

Helpful ways to see students’ work and assess informally [14:45]

What about hands-on learning? [17:24]

Andrew’s tips for varying ways students can express their learning [19:16]

A plethora of resources [21:39]

The biggest advantage to being online [22:36]

How to change course mid-class based on students’ needs [23:39]

Utilizing student voices in class instruction [24:49]

Reaching struggling students with ease [25:38]

Twitter Giveaway! [28:22]

 

Resource Links:

 

Chromebook-friendly, free, open education math resources

Google Slides - free to use and share with peers and teachers

slides.google.com

Ck-12 Plix - interactive math activities and visuals

ck12.org

Desmos - calculators for graphing and calculating

desmos.com

Sketchtoy - records students writing their work, students can share the link with teachers

sketchtoy.com

Screencastify - free screen recorder for sharing work and thinking

screencastify.com

Whiteboard.fi - allows a teacher to see all kids’ digital whiteboards in real time

whiteboard.fi

GeoGebra - all the digital geometry tools you can think of!

geogebra.org

Nearpod and PearDeck - make Google Slides interactive 

nearpod.com

peardeck.com