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Shout out to Andy McKiel and Zoe Bettess' grade 3 Math class in this post! "I love Instagram because it prompts me to take and share pictures of things that I might otherwise glance at then forget about. Before cell phones entered my life I rarely took pictures. Last week I took the picture that you see below. Almost as soon as it appeared in my Facebook feed via Instagram, my friend Kelly commented with, "shouldn't they be more concerned about weight than the number of people?" Kelly is a middle school math teacher so this picture was right in her wheelhouse of math prompts. (If you want to use the picture as a math prompt, you are welcome to download it)."

"In children with math anxiety, seeing numbers on a page stimulates the same part of the brain that would respond if they spotted a slithering snake or a creeping spider-math is that scary. Brain scans of these children also show that when they're in the grip of math anxiety, activity is reduced in the information-processing and reasoning areas of their brains-exactly the regions that should be working hard to figure out the problems in front of them. These new findings, published this month in the journal Psychological Science, demonstrate that math anxiety is real and can't simply be wished away. But there are specific exercises that have been shown to reduce students' nervousness and allow them to focus on their work without the powerful distraction of fear."

"Are you a math teacher looking for some super cool resources to engage students and assist them with mastering content? Then look no further than this collection of Digital Tools for Math to locate exactly what you need to tech up your next lesson or project. With dozens of suggestions in the areas of web tools, apps, formative assessment, QR codes, math glossaries, and recommendations for whom and what to follow on social media, there's sure to be a tip, trick or tool for any math teacher!"

"It might have been the banana piano. Or perhaps the bongos, made from lemons that students had plucked from the citrus tree at school. Elizabeth Little, who teaches middle school math and science, doesn't know exactly which of the hands-on projects she introduced to her remedial math class turned the class around. But by the end of the school year, all her math students, not just those needing extra support, were clamoring for more math. How did this happen?"

"I have been asked by math teachers how they can use Google Classroom. Google Classroom is great for any subject area, especially math! Earlier I had posted on 5 ways Students Can Use Google Docs in Math. This builds on those ideas with a list of 60 ways Google Classroom can be used by Math teachers."

"Throughout my 13 years of teaching, I heard this common theme time and time again from parents: How can I help? The troubles they professed were varied and numerous (e.g., concern, frustration, bewilderment). They often included the following: I don't remember algebra. I don't like math. The way math is taught now differs from when I was in school. All of these are certainly legitimate. Although people use math every day, even when they don't realize it, they are not necessarily using all the same concepts they learned in school. And as the saying goes, if you don't use it, you lose it. I'm sure some parents don't know how to solve quadratic equations or remember what it means for a relation to be a function. And yes, math teaching today may differ from when parents were in school. But the idea behind new techniques is to encourage students to become better problem-solvers, not to confuse parents or change the concepts. So, believe it or not, despite your fears and feelings of uncertainty, you can still help. Here are a few tips to get you started. "

"Math is at play in every sphere of our lives, from recipes to internet security to the electoral college. But that reality can be hard to convey through the drills, static numbers and strict rules that make up so much of K-12 math education. Educators have made strides to engage students through math. One way to bring the subject to life, according to a math research organization, is through literature."

"Recently in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook, the conversation turned to the best math websites for teaching and learning math. What a treasure trove! We've gathered all the links and included a short description of each math website, along with a grade level recommendation and the cost, if any. Our list covers grades K-12 and is full of resources, games, freebies, and innovative programs. Here are the best math websites, according to teachers. "

"It might have been the banana piano. Or perhaps the bongos, made from lemons that students had plucked from the citrus tree at school. Elizabeth Little, who teaches middle school math and science, doesn't know exactly which of the hands-on projects she introduced to her remedial math class turned the class around. But by the end of the school year, all her math students, not just those needing extra support, were clamoring for more math. How did this happen?"

"A math trail is an activity that gets students out of the classroom so they can (re)discover the math all around us. Whether out on a field trip or on school grounds, students on a math trail are asked to solve or create problems about objects and landmarks they see; name shapes and composite solids; calculate areas and volumes; recognize properties, similarity, congruence, and symmetry; use number sense and estimation to evaluate large quantities and assess assumptions; and so on. This is one of those creative, yet authentic activities that stimulate engagement and foster enthusiasm for mathematics-and so it can be particularly useful for students in middle and high school, when classroom math becomes more abstract."

"With Pi Day coming up, we wanted to shout out to all the amazing YouTube creators who are making math videos! (Of course, if it's Pi Day videos you want, check out our "Hooray for Pi Day" post.) Math may not seem like a natural fit for the visually-driven medium of video -- but you'd be amazed by the creativity of some of these creators who bring the complexities of all levels of math to life on the small screen. Math teachers, this one's for you!"

"Getting to teach economics lessons is one of my favorite things about being a social studies teacher. In economics lessons high school students start to see how many of the math concepts, logic concepts, and political theory they've learned can apply to them in the "real world" after high school. Econ Ed Link is a great resource for lesson plans, videos, and interactive activities for teaching economics concepts. They recently published an updated list of their Math In the Real World lesson plan library. Math In the Real World lesson plans include activities to teach students how to analyze business profit and loss, how the stock market works, and how distribution of income can influence government policies. The Math In the Real World lesson plans also include activities that have a more personal appeal to students. Those lesson plans include building credit, building a savings, and the dangers of payday loan schemes. The payday loan lesson plan is one that has previously been featured here on Free Technology for Teachers."

"Close your eyes and picture the most recent math class you taught. Who is doing the math? Who is doing the talking? Who is doing the thinking? Three years ago, my answer would have been "me"-the teacher. My students were doing math, but I was probably telling them how to think and what to do most of the time. My big aha moment was being introduced to the research of Peter Liljedahl, a professor at Simon Fraser University. Liljedahl proposes three strategies that you can implement in order to create what he calls the thinking classroom: Start with good problems, use visibly random groups, and work regularly on vertical nonpermanent surfaces. I started using these three strategies in my math classes, and they have been an absolute game-changer. I can confidently say that my students now do most of the thinking and talking in my classroom."

The same revision schedule I used to get an A* in GCSE maths a year early! It can be used by any GCSE/IGCSE maths student, regardless of the examining body. It covers the new UK GCSE Maths specification (9-1) released in September 2015. The fatal mistake thousands of students make in their maths revision and how YOU can avoid it. The most important area of your revision yet it goes widely unnoticed. This is where the A/A* grades are achieved. 3 unique memory retention techniques you can use to remember all you need to know for your exam. What process to follow a few days before your exam and why there is NO need to do any past papers at this point. A simple technique that will allow you to spend up to 50% of your time doing the things you enjoy! How to revise for all your other GCSE exams and achieve a top grade in each one. Tips on how to score up to 100% in your exam. A neat little trick to eliminate stress & anxiety on exam day. How to enter the exam if you're a private candidate with a tip on saving on the entry cost.

"Since the beginning of September we have been trying to maximise the use of 1:1 iPods in year 6 in all areas of curriculum. The potential of enhancing teaching and learning in mathematics through the use of this technology has been particularly interesting. We have been developing the creative use of a range of Apps to support progress, engage children and add relevance to maths teaching with positive outcomes (10 Practical ways to use Apps in Maths) We have also explored a wide range of maths specific Apps which have helped pupils mainly in the areas of number fact and tables recall. (Apps for Maths) Recently we have extended the use of the iPods to allow them to support independent learning, and play a central role in effective formative assessment."

"We pledge to stop saying "I'm not good at math" and approach math with a growth mindset. We will work hard to grow our math understanding, attitude, and outlook. We know that, With Math, We Can…do anything."

"At GeekDad we are big fans of apps that actually use mobile devices in innovative ways to support children's learning. Motion Math Games are one of those developers who have led the way in thinking about how they can design digital learning environments that provide ways for children to learn math with their hands and minds. Their first fraction/decimals app called Motion Math has become one of the benchmarks against which others should be comparing themselves."

"Mathspace is another great math resource we want to draw your attention to in this post. This award-winning platform combines three useful functionalities: an online maths textbook, workbook and mark book. Students can use Mathspace to get help with their math problems. It allows them to work on online math exercises and get instant feedback at each step in the process. Mathspace also provides 'a bank of over 15,000 interactive questions covering everything from addition to algebra, geometry to graphing, probability to statistics.'"

Ask Dr. Math is a question and answer service for math students and their teachers. A searchable archive is available by level and topic, as well as summaries of Frequently Asked Questions (the Dr. Math FAQ).

HeyMath! is the #1 E-Learning program for Math in Singapore - a country that has been ranked #1 for math proficiency globally in a recent study conducted by the American Institutes of Research, and consistently outperforms in TIMSS surveys. Over half the highest performing students in Singapore use HeyMath! as their core instructional technology resource for middle-high school math. We're also thrilled to announce that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (with the highest NAEP math scores in the US) recently funded a pilot study for a group of teachers in western Massachusetts to explore HeyMath! as a potential resource for MA teachers to strengthen their own mathematical content knowledge as well as to enhance classroom lessons and instruction.