#MathMind

[azfitment]

Math Time 👍

Answer give us in comment box 💬

[literallyjustafish]

LANCER is a tabletop game where the players pilot mecha, and an NHP is an eldritch mathmind shackled to human(esque) thinking.

play lancerrrrrrr :3

lancer is that silly guy from deltarune

[thesuperkidsworld]

Discover the Fun of Learning with Reusable Learning Kits for Kids!

Hey there, young explorers! Are you ready to dive into a world of fun and learning? Today, we’re going to talk about something cool—The Super Kids Learning Kits for Kids! These kits are like treasure chests full of exciting activities that you can use over and over again. Let’s find out why they’re so awesome!

Why Kids Love Reusable Learning Kits

Hands-On Learning: With The Super Kids reusable learning kits, you get to learn by doing. Instead of just reading about cool topics, you can actually perform them!

 Eco-Friendly Fun: Reusable kits are great for the environment because they reduce waste. You’re not throwing things away after one use. Plus, many kits use materials that are easy to clean and store, so you can keep your favourite activities for a long time.

Creativity Boost: These kits are designed to spark your kid’s imagination.

Educational and Engaging: Every kit is packed with activities that are both fun and educational. Whether you’re exploring the solar system or learning about different concepts, you’re gaining valuable knowledge while having a blast.

Popular Types of The Super Kids Learning Kits

All In One Learning Kit

Phonics learning pack

Hindi learning Kit

MathMinds Explorer Kit

Explore space,planets and earth

Workbooks for handwriting improvement

How to Choose the Best Learning Kit

1. Age-Appropriate

Make sure to pick a kit that’s right for your age. Kits are designed for different age groups, so choosing one that matches your level ensures you’ll have a great time.

2. Interest-Based

Think about what your kid love the most. Are you a budding explorer or a future artist? Picking a kit that matches your interests will make learning even more enjoyable.

3. Quality and Durability

Look for kits made with high-quality materials. This way, you know they’ll last through lots of use.

The Super Kids learning kits are a fantastic way to make learning exciting and fun. They’re packed with activities that you can do over and over, helping you explore new subjects and develop new skills. So, what are you waiting for? Grab a kit and start your adventure today

Remember, learning is a journey, and with these kits, every step is an exciting discovery. Happy exploring, young adventurers!

[alaska-photography]

I was amazed to find such parallels between the right edge of 27 Mile Glacier and this rock (on the right) as well as the curvature of the ridge to the bottom of the glacier. All a few miles/kilometers away. If life were a puzzle game I think I would have just unlocked something. #valdez #valdezalaska #parallel #puzzlesinnature #mathminded #glacier #nature #geometry #apline #wildernessculture (at Valdez, Alaska)

[the-blind-assassin-12]

I’m blind and cannot tell which pen emoji is correct but... 🖊

Thanks for asking Dani! Let’s talk about Miguel from Core Drive, shall we?

🖊Miguel was on the Varsity math team in high school. He’d kill me for telling you that, preferring people to know that he was also on the Varsity basketball team and straight up slaughtered anyone in his neighborhood in a pickup game. But he’s a mathmind and always has been. He was offered some scholarship money to go to college and he started school, but eventually tuition just became too much even with the partial scholarship and he had to put his education aside. His main goal in recovery is finishing his degree, so he and Logan have yet another thing in common as they’ll both be going back to school.

[mrjohnrowe]

RT @nomad_penguin: Like dot talks? How about half dots? And try just asking how many? More in this blog post:… https://t.co/Zny1toa2rZ

Like dot talks? How about half dots? And try just asking how many? More in this blog post: https://t.co/RxmSdQw7i2 HT @MathMinds http://pic.twitter.com/cwzNKNKvz1

— Amie Albrecht (@nomad_penguin) August 29, 2017

via Twitter https://twitter.com/MrJohnRowe August 30, 2017 at 09:38AM

[dnak1000]

Tch DIY: Fourth Grade Math Routines @mathminds

See on Scoop.it - Edtech

In these new videos, Tch Laureate Kristin Gray presents a series of fourth-grade math routines.

[mathematicianadda]

K-12 Game-a-thon Top Teams 2020 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The National K-12 Game-a-thon challenges students to design, build, and share a game that features creative and unusual solution­­s to mathematical problems.

Teams of one or more students, along with a teacher or parent in a coordinator role, invent card games, board games, apps, and outdoor games that address one or more mathematical topics. Throughout the process, students develop critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration skills, and more. The challenge is designed to help students engage in math outside of the traditional classroom environment, providing an avenue to promote creative thinking in mathematics.

Thank you to all of our 2020 participating students and their coaches. We had entries from eleven states across the country. Here's a fun fact: Pennsylvania was the state with the most participants!

Our Judges

This year, our judges came from the STEM, gaming, and nonprofit sectors. Thank you to our friends at SolarFlare Games, John Deere, Pitney Bowes, Unfiltered Gamer, American Heart Association, and Lockheed Martin who sat on our judges panel.

Judges reported that they truly enjoyed watching these student-created videos and were delighted by all participants’ love for math! 

Top Teams

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for—our 2020 top teams! The games highlighted below stood out for their exceptional abilities to:

Seamlessly integrate math into the gameplay,

Give players the opportunity to develop their own strategy for solving problems, and

Include content that ensures players can think deeply and use mathematical reasoning

These teams will receive printed certificates, MathMINDs specialty items, and Turtle Sums board games.

Haunted Manor Rush by Rory McBriar Warren Area Elementary Center in Warren, Pennsylvania

From the judges: "Wow! I loved this game. You made me want to bake some pumpkin cookies, sit down, and play! The game board looks professional—clean and visually pleasing. Great job incorporating word problems. I also really appreciated how you touched on play testing."

Western Geometry by Western Geometry Wylie Elementary in Dexter, Michigan

From the judges: “Excellent use of tokens, board space, and the actual western side of the country. It's got a bit of a geography lesson and geometry lesson all in one. It looks like you or someone in the family has played some modern board games!"

Number Frenzy by Math is Magic Cabin John Middle School in North Potomac, Maryland

From the judges: “This game looks like so much fun! It reminds me of word scrambler games, and I enjoyed the integration of math. I hope you continue fine-tuning this game. It seems exciting to play. Great delivery!"

Honorable Mentions

These teams will receive printed certificates and MathMINDs specialty items.

What a Water Math!! by Water Math Team Catherine Kolnaski Magnet School in Groton, Connecticut

From the judges: “This enthusiastic student did an excellent job explaining and showing how the game works. That includes the rules and playing an actual game with multiple players. The prototype of the game was well designed."

Magnet Squirm by Magnet Squirmers Marshall Elementary in Sewickley, Pennsylvania

From the judges: “It was easy to follow how the game works with this effective presentation by the student. The use of the magnets with the board was an innovative, unique approach. Nice job with the video showing the game!"

NHL Hockey Math by Hockey Wylie Elementary in Dexter, Michigan

From the judges: “As soon as I saw the board, I was intrigued. It felt inviting. I also liked the way you made the pieces. We also appreciated the way that you integrated math and sports to keep learning fun."

Congratulations to all of our 2020 Game-a-thon participants! Your coaches will be receiving prizes this month to distribute to team members. We look forward to seeing your creativity and mathematical problem-solving skills shine again next year.

Stay tuned for 2021 Game-a-thon updates! We may have some surprises in store for you. 😉

from MIND Research Institute Blog https://ift.tt/2Y0qxSy kskaggs@mindresearch.org (Kelsey Skaggs) from Blogger https://ift.tt/3fZ3u0x

[mathematicianadda]

Free Instructional Resources for Educators and Families https://ift.tt/3iN804Z

School is out for the summer and during this time of year, we like to share summer resources and discuss ways to combat summer slide. But the usual discussions of summer learning loss have the added weight of early school closures that occurred due to COVID-19. The learning landscape continues to change as we navigate the short term, and prepare for a very different upcoming school year.

Even before the research about the COVID-19 Slide suggested a huge impact on student learning, it was apparent to us at MIND Research Institute that there was space for us to step in and help. We started by providing no-cost access to ST Math for educators through June 30, 2020 and extending homeschool access for families through August 31, 2020.

Beyond that, educators and families spoke and we listened. There was a clear need for resources to keep learning happening from anywhere, whether in-person or via distance learning. More than that, there was a need for free and accessible resources in order to reach as many students and families as possible.

As part of MIND's mission to mathematically equip all students, we worked hard to fill this need. Free access to ST Math began on Pi Day. April saw the launch of our Coronavirus resources page, and an ST Math webinar series to support teachers and families. We also debuted our learning at home series, Developing Our MathMINDs in April.

In June, we launched our new instructional resources page on stmath.com. This new page pulls together a collection of free resources designed to support schools and families. This includes a brand new series of free ST Math workbooks, supplemental materials, MathMINDs conversations, and resources that deepen learning and inspire mathematical thinking.

Let's take a tour together of what you will find on our instructional resources page.

Teacher & Family Guidebooks

ST Math guidebooks are a brand new, free resource for teachers and families to support your students' math learning in the classroom and at home. Created by MIND's experts, who are also former teachers and curriculum specialists, the guidebooks are a collection of hands-on activities, games, and math stories to practice and explore math concepts.

These guidebooks are for grades Pre-K to fifth grade. The teacher's guidebook was designed to work with the parent guidebook, but can also be used as a standalone resource and vice versa.

Developing Our MathMINDs

Developing Our MathMINDs is a series of conversations and resources about math that are intended to be a journey of growth with families over several weeks. Each week, MIND's Lead Mathematician and Product Director Brandon Smith and Content Development Manager Nina Wu talked about the adjustments families are making to learning at home, and the opportunities this situation provided for changing our relationship with math.

Some of the MathMINDs content is tied to our ST Math program, but there are additional resources and math experiences that are program agnostic and are designed to support learning at home.

Some of my favorite MathMINDs conversations are the ones that get you up, moving and dancing, all in the name of mathematical exploration!

Additional Resources and Summer Activities

There are so many additional resources and summer activities to enjoy! Permanently on the page, you will find critical resources like the Facilitating Questions poster. There are also helpful learning resources like lists of STEM board games, worksheets on math and movement, JiJi sudoku puzzles, and even recipes that families can bake together.

The additional resources section will change as student needs evolve and as the school year progresses, featuring seasonal math activities, blog posts, and PDFs.

Join Our Community

One thing we know from experience is that we're str0nger together. On the instructional resources page, you can find links to join our ST Math communities. There are two options to choose from: our educator community and our family group.

Educators are our heroes, and they continue to amaze us every day. So many ST Math educators love to celebrate their JiJi spirit, and from that, our school community was born. Our educator community is perfect for teachers, administrators, and math coaches who want to ask questions, share resources, and connect with each other.

We also have a home community for the incredible families supporting their students' learning. Parents and guardians can connect, ask questions, and learn how to best support their learning from each other and ST Math experts.

That's it! You're all caught up and are now a resident expert of our instructional resources page. We hope that you find these free resources helpful.

We're here if you need us and we're rooting for you as we move forward together.

from MIND Research Institute Blog https://ift.tt/3gJlrRI jhaley@mindresearch.org (Jolene Haley) from Blogger https://ift.tt/2W90mYW

[mathematicianadda]

MIND Blog Rewind: June 2020 https://ift.tt/2VIYBSi

Each month on the MIND blog, we share stories of how our organization, our partners, and educators across the country are advancing the mission to mathematically equip all students to solve the world’s most challenging problems. We also share resources for educators and students, and cover some of the exciting events we take part in across the country.

Welcome to the MIND Blog Rewind! As July 4th approaches, we're celebrating the success of the school year. The year ended with incredible accomplishments from students, educators, and parents who adapted, persevered, and worked hard to overcome obstacles in order to keep learning happening.

June was a busy month at MIND in preparation for our launch. We put finishing touches on the new ST Math, launched the ST Math Academy, and we created many new free instructional resources for educators and families to share and use.

The Developing Our MathMINDs series on the blog continued into week 8, our final week of the first volume of the series. MIND's Lead Mathematician and Product Director, Brandon Smith, and Content Development Manager, Nina Wu, shared their top 10 suggestions for summer math activities. 

Developing Our MathMINDs is a series of conversations and resources about math that is intended to be a journey of growth with families over several weeks. Each week, we discussed the adjustments families are making to learning at home, and the opportunities this situation provided for changing our relationship with math. You can find the entire series here.

Have you ever wondered how ST Math adapts to the learning needs of students? Or how the program provides students opportunities they need to develop and grow as they engage in the learning process?

Twana Young, Director of Product, Instructional Resources shared how ST Math is adaptive, supportive, and meets the learning needs of students. The blog also included Scale Fractions, a free puzzle from the new version of ST Math.

How do more minutes on ST Math matter? A novel study released in June from Proving Ground, part of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, evaluated the effect of increased usage of ST Math - the PreK-8 visual instructional program - within a single school year. They found that increasing usage from fall to spring by more than ten minutes per week correlated to significant higher math gains on multiple state standardized math assessments. 

Read more about the Proving Ground study that found higher ST Math usage was associated with higher math gains. 

  Can a game change how you feel about math? The answer is yes, and the research proves it. The Journal of Research on Technology in Education (JRTE) recently published a rigorous study that found students who play ST Math have higher mathematics self-beliefs than non-ST Math students.

    Curious about the new ST Math? MIND's Director of Product, Twana Young, and Senior User Experience Researcher, Alesha Arp, shared how the new ST Math empowers students through individual goal accountability, thus giving them ownership over learning.

  This conversation includes a usage calendar for the new ST Math, discussion around how to empower students to set and achieve goals, and how individual goals support differentiation and inclusiveness.

    Have you ever wanted to create a game? Calli Wright, game expert and Education Engagement Manager at MIND, shared her expertise. Learn how to create a board game in four steps. From inspiration to publishing, Calli shared game design advice from five published designers at GameSchoolCon 2020.

  Maria Cervantes, Community Partnerships Director, said goodbye to MIND after 18 years with the organization. She took time from her busy schedule between work and school, to share life lessons and to reflect on her incredible journey. We wish you all the best, Maria! We're rooting for you.

JiJi and all of us at MIND are wishing you a safe and happy Fourth of July! 

And if you're looking for additional resources to keep learning happening all summer long, don't forget to stop by our instructional resources page. There you will find fun summer activities meant to get you moving, learning, and strengthening your mathematical knowledge.

Additional Highlights:

MIND Blog Rewind: May 2020

MIND Blog Rewind: April 2020

MIND Blog Rewind: March 2020

from MIND Research Institute Blog https://ift.tt/2Zrt2xg jhaley@mindresearch.org (Jolene Haley) from Blogger https://ift.tt/3glWStO

[mathematicianadda]

How to Create a Board Game: Advice from Game Designers https://ift.tt/3hXHsxt

“How many of you are working on your own game design?” I was surprised to see so many hands in the air. I was at GameSchoolCon last winter, a convention for homeschool families who use (or want to use) games in their curriculum, and I was speaking on one of the panels, “Table Talk with Game Designers."

Amongst the audience were students, parents, and family members. I anticipated more adults would be at this panel to learn how to support their students in game design and project-based learning. To my surprise, there were many adults in the room also interested in how to create a board game on their own. Anyone can be a game designer! Included on the board game designer panel: John D. Clair - Designer of Mystic Vale, Edge of Darkness, Custom Heroes, Space Base and Downfall. He is well known for creating a card crafting system as a new game mechanic. Johnathan Ying - Designer of Star Wars: Imperial Assault, DOOM: The Board Game, Game of Thrones the Trivia Game, Nickelodeon's Splat Attack, and Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid and Bargain Quest. De'Von Truvel - Created Black Wall Street The Board Game to increase financial literacy and Black history knowledge in a fun way. Victoria Cana - In addition to being a Producer at Wizards of the Coast, Victoria independently designed Gladius, a board game funded on Kickstarter this year. Calli Wright - In addition to helping create the MathMINDs Games series (South of the Sahara available now and more coming soon), I independently designed Moonshell: A Mermaid Game, coming to Kickstarter later this year.

.@GameSchoolCon was cool! I was on a game design panel with @JohnDClair, @Fancymancer, @CalliWrights, & @truehealth4evr. I met @RuelGaviola in person. Met a Laotian designer who’s a big Gladius fan! And I got to demo Gladius to kids and show them women can make great games too 😁 pic.twitter.com/EtEOFUKoc4

— Victoria Caña ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@victoriacana) February 3, 2020

As the host, John D. Clair led the session through what he considered the stages of board game design: inspiration/conception, prototyping and design, playtesting, and publishing. With the permission of GameSchoolCon, I am sharing some clips and highlights of the conversation below.

Where Do You Find Inspiration?

Problems you want to solve in the world or your community

What (non-game elements) interests you?

What about your favorite games interest you? Are there ways you can use that game mechanic in a different way?

What do you want to see in the world?

Prototyping Tips

Use what you have available to get a prototype to start testing your game right away.

What is the minimum viable product? The balance between getting a usable prototype together that gives a good experience of the game to your playtesters. Make sure the fundamentals work first.

Find free templates for creating games (here's some from K-21 Game-a-thon).

Later, if you want to get fancy, you can invest some money in prototypes with websites like Print and Play and The Game Crafter.

Prototype of Moonshell: A Mermaid Game, played at GameSchoolCon 2020.

Advice for Young Game Designers

Play lots of different types of games and talk about the mechanics in the game.

Deconstructing games - what happens when we change this one rule or component?

Narrow the scope, instead of just "make a game." Adding restrictions or parameters can inspire.

Make sure players are making choices and the best choice isn't obvious.

Game design helps students develop empathy. How do you create a good experience for your players?

Define your own "game pillars" as a rubric that you can refer to when collecting feedback and improving your game.

A lot more was covered in the panel, including more information on playtesting and publishing games, as well as other questions and answers. To listen to the full audio files from this panel and others at GameSchoolCon 2020, join the GameSchool community (it’s free!). If you are mentoring students in the board game design process, consider entering the K-12 Game-a-thon challenge. Students are challenged to include mathematical concepts in their game design and enter this national competition.

from MIND Research Institute Blog https://ift.tt/2zXsYwt cwright@mindresearch.org (Calli Wright) from Blogger https://ift.tt/2Vb8DuV

[mathematicianadda]

Developing Our MathMINDs-Week 8: Summer Math https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Developing Our MathMINDs is a series of conversations and resources about math that is intended to be a journey of growth with families over several weeks. Each week, MIND's Lead Mathematician and Product Director Brandon Smith and Content Development Manager Nina Wu will be talking about the adjustments families are making to learning at home, and the opportunities this situation provides for changing our relationship with math.

In the final week of our first Developing Our MathMINDs series, Nina and Brandon reflect on the themes that have guided this mathematical journey, and offer their top 10 suggestions for summer math activities.

10 Ways to Experience Math This Summer

As we've been discussing throughout the series, learning can happen outside the formalities of school. There are so many opportunities for informal, yet authentic learning to take place at home and in the community. And the summer months offer even more opportunities for organic, and fun math experiences. Some guiding ideas for having fun with summer math are: 1. Keep it informal - no worksheets or drills. 2. Have fun with it - no grades, no exams.  3. Work learning moments in to activities you are already doing.

Here are Brandon and Nina's top 10 ways to experience math this summer (and what time they appear in the video):

Math + Movement (3:55)

Math + Story (4:15)

Math + Games (4:55)

Math + Art (5:35)

Math + History (6:25)

Math at Museums (7:40)

Math Outside (8:10)

Math + Food (8:30)

Math in Other Media (9:00)

Build With Math (9:35)

In the resources below, you can find links to examples and discussions on this top 10 list.

We want to thank all of the families who have taken part in this journey along with us. We would love for you to share your summer math adventures with us! Comment on the blog or YouTube video, or join our Facebook group and discuss with the community!

Resources

Celebrating JiJi Culture at Home + Summer Math Activities

Celebrating Joyful Math with the Global Math Project

Families Can Bake and Learn Together With This Pi Day Recipe

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 7: Math All Around Us

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 6: Experience Math Through Story

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 5: Math Activities to Get You Moving

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 4: How to be a Rockstar Facilitator

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 3: Informative Feedback

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 2: A Glossary for New Math Teachers

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 1: Adjusting to Learning at Home

from MIND Research Institute Blog https://ift.tt/3hxfUPt bletendre@mindresearch.org (Brian LeTendre) from Blogger https://ift.tt/3dbVMPf

[mathematicianadda]

MIND Blog Rewind: May 2020

Each month on the MIND blog, we share stories of how our organization, our partners, and educators across the country are advancing the mission to mathematically equip all students to solve the world’s most challenging problems. We also share resources for educators and students, and cover some of the exciting events we take part in across the country.

Welcome to the MIND Blog Rewind! Each month brings new changes, new challenges, and a step towards the new normal. As the school year heads into June and students start their summer break, MIND continues our mission to ensure all students are mathematically equipped to solve the world's most challenging problems.

As I looked back on everything that happened in May, one theme revealed itself to me: togetherness. Teamwork. Or my personal favorite—unity—because it also has meaning in mathematics. It means a quantity regarded as one. So much was uncontrollable, but what inspired me was the way teachers uplifted each other, parents banded together, and a community came together as one to inspire learning.

Part of our goal to inspire learning was the continuation of the Developing Our MathMINDs series. We continued our journey of growth with families, holding new conversations and giving out free math resources like storybooks.

Each week, MIND's Lead Mathematician and Product Director, Brandon Smith, and Content Development Manager, Nina Wu, are talking about the adjustments families are making to learning at home, and the opportunities this situation provides for changing our relationship with math.

In week four, we shared how to be a rockstar facilitator. Nina discussed ways to elevate learning at home, gave tips to deepen math conversations, and revealed action items that will help you on your way to being a better facilitator of learning for your student.

Week five of MathMINDs was centered around math activities to get you moving! Nina and Brandon discussed making math an active learning activity and leveraging the connection between the mind and the body. This included hopscotch, body angles, art, and even acting! All of these activities can be done at school, at home, or anywhere learning needs to happen.

How many words are in a typical math lesson? Week six of MathMINDs examined how language can be used in positive and unexpected ways to support mathematical learning. We shared strategies to connect math with story, and even included free math storybooks.

Week seven of MathMINDs celebrated the math all around us. Nina took us on a math walk and provided engaging examples of mathematical experiences that we can have along the way. This included making your own mathematical newspaper, math and magic (inspired by Jay Flores from Rockwell Automation), and more free math storybooks.

Stay tuned as this series continues. We've got more to share, discuss, and learn about together!

Teachers continued to encourage us through the teamwork and unity we saw in homes and schools across the country. From that inspiration, we shared what we saw work well in distance learning directly from educators. This includes supporting families, the importance of staying connected, and the positive ways that teachers have been supporting each other.

A new episode of Inside Our MIND podcast was released. Brian LeTendre, Director of Content and Communications, welcomed Dr. Megan Kuhfeld to the program to discuss COVID-related school closures and the effects of learning loss on students. Megan is a research scientist at the not-for-profit organization NWEA and her work covers a range of topics, including longitudinal growth modeling, achievement gaps, and summer learning loss.

We also discussed meeting the educational challenges of COVID-19 together. There are short- and long-term education challenges due to COVID-19. MIND is working with schools, families, communities, and our partners to address them. There are a lot of unanswered questions, but also some great reference points to help guide us as we develop answers together, like the importance of social emotional support, digital divides, the experience gap, and the COVID slide.

Math is for everyone! Edith Esparza, Education Engagement Specialist, led the women in mathematics day celebration on May 12th. Edith shared the importance of representation from undeserved and underrepresented communities in STEM-related fields. She also highlighted accomplished women from MIND Research Institute that inspire her.

Teachers have always been the champions that create JiJi culture in the classroom, but how does one celebrate at home? As schools celebrated what was accomplished and learned through the school year, we listened and learned from educators across the nation. Edith compiled ways that ST Math teachers are promoting a love for math and celebrating JiJi culture outside of the typical classroom environment. She also shared fun summer math activities and five ways teachers or parents can celebrate JiJi culture at home.

What makes an effective remote digital learning program? What should educators, administrators, and families be looking for? Andrew Coulson, Chief Data Science Officer at MIND, shared insight as to what makes good instructional programs or resources. Andrew's insights includes eight factors of what to look for and how ST Math has been proven to positively impact student achievement across all student subgroups and in all types of schools with recommended usage.

I remain so grateful and in awe of every parent, teacher, math coach, and administrator who has stepped up and risen to new educational challenges. This community reminds me of the many reasons that I wanted to be a teacher growing up. This community is special, fierce, and full of heart. This community does not give up in the face of hardship or hurdles.

Malala Yousafzai, an incredible human rights activist, the youngest Novel Prize laureate, and voice for female education said it best when she said, "Let us remember: one book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world."

Thank you for being that change.

Additional Highlights:

MIND Blog Rewind: April 2020

MIND Blog Rewind: March 2020

MIND Blog Rewind: February 2020

from MIND Research Institute Blog https://ift.tt/2U14UQ0 from Blogger https://ift.tt/3dtDVEH

[mathematicianadda]

Developing Our MathMINDs-Week 7: Math All Around Us

Developing Our MathMINDs is a series of conversations and resources about math that is intended to be a journey of growth with families over several weeks. Each week, MIND's Lead Mathematician and Product Director Brandon Smith and Content Development Manager Nina Wu will be talking about the adjustments families are making to learning at home, and the opportunities this situation provides for changing our relationship with math.

In this week's Developing Our MathMINDs series, we have mutliple ways for families to celebrate math in the world around us.

Math Walk

First up, Nina takes us on a math walk and provides some great examples of mathematical experiences we can have along the way:

  Make Your Own Mathematical Newspaper

There are so many great stories to tell, and questions to ask, that involve the math in your everyday life. In fact, you could create your own newspaper, and report on what's happening around you, through the lens of math.

In this downloadable example of the "Family Times," intrepid reporter Nina Wu provides the scoop on the news everyone wants to know about. How much screen time are we having each day? How many different kinds of wildlife live in our neighborhood? How many secret ingredients are in grandma's banana bread recipe? 

What are some mathematical stories you could report on in your own family newspaper? Download Nina's edition for some great ideas right here!

Math and Magic

Our friend Jay Flores from Rockwell Automation is back this week as well. Jay's been doing a series called "It's Not Magic, It's Science" on his social channels, and this past week, he created an installment about math, featuring a cameo from our own JiJi!

In part one, Jay shows us a trick that seems like magic:

Ep 4: It’s Not #Magic It’s #Science! - JiJi Magic with @STMath! Can you guess how we did it? Check back in tomorrow for a video revealing the “magic.” #stmath #jijimath #MATHMINDs pic.twitter.com/zKoLcsmICE

— Jay Flores (@JayFlores2032) May 21, 2020

But in part two, he pulls the curtain back to explain the math behind it, and challenges families with a problem that builds on the original :

Ep 4.2: It’s Not #Magic It’s #Science! - JiJi Magic with @STMath! Can you figure out the answer when we roll 5 🎲? Try with your family #athome! #mathchallenge #jijimath pic.twitter.com/GVzQs2dQZM

— Jay Flores (@JayFlores2032) May 22, 2020

Free Math Storybooks

Last week, we talked about the relationship between stories and math that goes well beyond word problems.  We shared two of new storybook prototypes so families could experience the story of mathematics in a new way. This week, we're back with two more!

Each story uses real life or historical situations to explore a mathematical concept in a non-typical way. Feel free to pause the story to act out or complete the activity described in the story.

Disappearing Moon (Kindergarten-1st Grade)

Cubey Cake (2nd Grade+)

Technical notes: On mobile devices, you may need to turn to landscape to see two page view in full screen. On mobile devices, you may need to reload the story to view it properly.

When you finish a story, please consider taking the survey linked at the end. One of our core values at MIND is continuous improvement; so thank you for helping us make these stories even better for future families. Who knows, your feedback could be incorporated in a new iteration of the digital stories or even a full storybook board game like MathMINDs Games: South of the Sahara.

Resources

Math Cartoons in the Classroom

Re-imagining Storytelling to Connect Math, Games and History

Families Can Bake and Learn Together With This Pi Day Recipe

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 6: Experience Math Through Story

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 5: Math Activities to Get You Moving

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 4: How to be a Rockstar Facilitator

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 3: Informative Feedback

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 2: A Glossary for New Math Teachers

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 1: Adjusting to Learning at Home

from MIND Research Institute Blog https://ift.tt/3d9RSaw from Blogger https://ift.tt/2TMAz7W

[mathematicianadda]

What Makes an Effective Remote Digital Learning Program?

ST Math is currently free to access for districts, schools and families. But why is ST Math worth using during this time of remote learning? More generally, what should educators, administrators and families be looking for in any distance learning program or resource?

Current Challenges

With districts around the country having closed schools, educators have been dealing with the immediate challenges of salvaging the remainder of this academic year while planning for a dramatically different, unpredictable landscape when students eventually return to classrooms.    

In the short term, the shift to a distance instruction model is creating setbacks in student learning, with underserved students disproportionately affected. Looking ahead, more students will be behind overall when they return to schools, and the disparities between students will be greater. More is being asked of parents and caregivers at home, where the demands of remote learning facilitation are often competing with the need to work and ensure the basic needs of families are being met.

Many districts have just gotten remote learning up and running after spending the past several weeks trying to address equity issues as best they can. Yet access to devices and connectivity alone isn’t enough, it’s just the beginning. How the technology is being used, what software tools are provided, and how usable they are in a remote mode are additional challenges that must be navigated. 

As mentioned above, for a variety of reasons, the switch to schoolwork at home comes with time constraints. Current recommendations for the amount of time kids should be engaged in education activities per day varies, but some common guidelines are 1-3 hours per day for K-8 (60-90 minutes through grade 2, 120 for grades 3-5, and 180 for grades 6-8). That limited amount of time still needs to be highly productive for learning-per-hour, even in the remote setting.

8 Factors to Look For

If elementary schoolers are engaging in just 5-10 hours a week of instructional activities, how can we get the most positive impact per educational week using digital resources? By providing instructional tools that do the following:

Use tech to remove unnecessary barriers, making learning accessible to as many students as possible.

Allow students to self-pace through content.

Fully engage students, and challenge them enough to generate productive struggle.

Go beyond practice of existing knowledge to provide students with robust opportunities to build conceptual understanding they don’t already have.

Have an efficacy portfolio that demonstrates the research-based effectiveness of the program with a wide variety of students.

Personalize and differentiate learning to allow students to succeed on grade-level content, regardless of where they start.

Deliver program results with appropriate, lightweight levels of oversight by parents.

Offer training, support and community to parents and families.

ST Math: Time Well Spent

ST Math has been proven to positively impact student achievement across all student subgroups and in all types of schools, with all types of teachers, when used for 60 minutes per week in grades K-1, and 90 minutes per week in grades 2-8. That’s an average of 20-30 minutes per day, three times per week. When students solve their way through the puzzle-based games, they self-pace through their grade-level, standards-aligned math content, and master mathematical concepts.

Going back to the question at the top of this blog post, ST Math is worth using because it’s been proven effective, and by design, it’s just as powerful a learning tool outside the classroom as it is inside of it.

Looking at ST Math usage of more than 200,000 students (210,765, to be exact) since the program was made free on Pi Day (March 14th), we are seeing that students are still engaging in productive learning at home:

Quiz effect sizes are roughly the same as before Pi Day.

Post-quiz scores are an average of 3 points higher than they were prior to Pi Day.

Minutes per week are up from 54.7 to 74.6. 

That last number is really exciting because it speaks to student engagement, and is something we’ve seen proven time and again—when students can solve puzzles in ST Math as much as they want, they play more!

ST Math also provides opportunities for parents and caregivers to help foster learning, without requiring mathematical expertise. The game puzzles themselves provide all the math rigor needed, and parents can use skills like encouragement, facilitating questions, and getting their students to explain their thinking. With many parents themselves uncomfortable with math, it’s helpful to have a “low touch” way for students to learn without a heavy lift at home. But for parents who do feel more comfortable, ST Math provides plenty of ways for parents to get involved in facilitation and discussion. 

Ongoing Support and a Growing Community

Schools and families that make ST Math a part of their remote learning plan receive support from our amazing Ed Success team, as well as additional MIND resources. They also join a nationwide community of ST Math users who are facing the challenges of this unique time together.

In addition to the live and on-demand webinars running regularly, ST Math offers a powerful library of online training, downloadable resources and tools to extend ST Math activities in a variety of ways. 

On Facebook, we have both school and family support groups, where questions, challenges and success stories are shared daily.

Developing Our MathMINDs is a weekly series of conversations and resources about math that is intended to be a journey of growth with families. Each week, MIND's Lead Mathematician and Product Director Brandon Smith and Content Development Manager Nina Wu talk about the adjustments families are making to learning at home, and the opportunities this situation provides for changing our relationship with math.

Making a Difference in the Short and Long Term

There is an overwhelming amount of learning resources that are being offered to schools and families at this time. The needs of each student, school and district are different as well. As schools and families make choices about what their students are spending their education time on, it’s important to keep in mind the factors outlined above. 

ST Math can make a positive impact for students as we try to mitigate the loss of learning for this year, and regain ground in the new school year.  

Additional Resources:

Free Access to ST Math ST Math Webinar Page Developing Our MathMINDs: A Glossary For New Math Teachers Podcast: The COVID-19 Slide: Research on Learning Loss With Dr. Megan Kuhfeld from MIND Research Institute Blog https://ift.tt/36vziqM from Blogger https://ift.tt/2XBv0tU

[mathematicianadda]

Developing Our MathMINDs-Week 6: Experience Math Through Story

Developing Our MathMINDs is a series of conversations and resources about math that is intended to be a journey of growth with families over several weeks. Each week, MIND's Lead Mathematician and Product Director Brandon Smith and Content Development Manager Nina Wu will be talking about the adjustments families are making to learning at home, and the opportunities this situation provides for changing our relationship with math.

How many words are in a typical math lesson?

When Nina entered the math classroom, she was surprised to discover that a large part of the role was helping students with reading and language comprehension. 

Math doesn't exist in a vacuum, so when used effectively, language can help us more deeply understand the math and its relationship with the world around us.

In this week's Developing Our MathMINDs series, we'll examine how language can be used in positive and unexpected ways to support mathematical learning.

Watch the full conversation in the video below and read on for some key takeaways and free math storybooks you can read together as a family.

  The Story of Math

Most often when we think about the combination of math and stories, we think of word problems. But there's more to the relationship between stories and math than just through word problems or story problems. 

Stories we experience are more than words - they include actions, images, sites, smells, emotions, and more. If all these elements make up a story, can we also experience stories like this in math?

There's a lot more to the story of mathematics than just textbooks and word problems. Let's also share stories that include our rich human history, and our everyday interactions with the world around us. Even jokes or cartoons can be fun, short stories about math. Another idea is to research the history around a math concept your child is learning and discover the story together.

Strategies to connect math with story:

Use the simplest language possible.

Set a scenario.

Avoid key trigger words.

Leave it open enough that students decide which math to use.

Free Math Storybooks

So let's experience the story of mathematics in a new way this week. We've made available two of our new storybook prototypes in a digital format. Feel free to share them on a large screen, or a tablet device, and cozy up with your family for a math story-time. 

Each story uses real life or historical situations to explore a mathematical concept in a non-typical way. Feel free to pause the story to act out or complete the activity described in the story.

Scary Numbers (Ages 4+)

Slimey is Half (Grades 2nd+)

Technical notes: On mobile devices, you may need to turn to landscape to see two page view in full screen. On mobile devices, you may need to reload the story to view it properly.

When you finish a story, please consider taking the survey linked at the end. One of our core values at MIND is continuous improvement; so thank you for helping us make these stories even better for future families. Who knows, your feedback could be incorporated in a new iteration of the digital stories or even a full storybook board game like MathMINDs Games: South of the Sahara.

Resources

Video: Why Do We Ask Word Problems in Math?

Math Cartoons in the Classroom

Re-imagining Storytelling to Connect Math, Games and History

Families Can Bake and Learn Together With This Pi Day Recipe

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 5: Math Activities to Get You Moving

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 4: How to be a Rockstar Facilitator

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 3: Informative Feedback

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 2: A Glossary for New Math Teachers

Developing Our MathMINDs—Week 1: Adjusting to Learning at Home

from MIND Research Institute Blog https://ift.tt/2z7FlG1 from Blogger https://ift.tt/2XgHozn