Musing Mathematically – natbanting.com Blog
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Nat Banting is a mathematics teacher working in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He currently teaches grades nine through twelve at Marion M. Graham Collegiate.
Musing Mathematically Blog – natbanting.com
2M ago
When I was a first year teacher, the teachers in my province went on strike for two days. It was on the first of those two days that I signed up for Twitter in order to follow public opinion on the job action. It was only days later that–by accident–I found math teacher Twitter, and ..read more
Musing Mathematically Blog – natbanting.com
2M ago
I teach university courses in mathematical problem solving at St. Francis Xavier University during my Summer break. The classes involve initiating numerous problem solving episodes and then interrogating and filtering our collective experience through the lens of current theory in the field. This structure provides plenty of opportunity to workshop new ways to launch tasks ..read more
Musing Mathematically Blog – natbanting.com
2M ago
I love creating curious tasks for my students. I love anticipating their thinking, observing their milestones of thought, and then posing new, interesting wrinkles to sustain their problem solving. It really is what fuels my practice. Honestly, interacting with students keeps me coming back for more–day in and day out. It’s what I enjoy most ..read more
Musing Mathematically Blog – natbanting.com
2M ago
I was one of eight educators invited to give an Ignite! talk at the 2022 NCTM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. I want to thank the program committee (specifically, Aleda Klassen) for the invite, while, at the same time, express just how terrifying the entire experience was–in a good way. There was no official recording ..read more
Musing Mathematically Blog – natbanting.com
2M ago
Fractions, factors, and functions. A large portion of my career to date has been spent musing over how to engineer classroom environments that infuse meaning into these three mathematical structures. When it comes to polynomial factoring, the area model has provided the most success. After connecting 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication, the area model becomes a ..read more
Musing Mathematically Blog – natbanting.com
2M ago
Debating definitions has long been one of the favourite pastimes of math teacher Twitter. (see, for example, #sandwichchat or #vehiclechat). Recently, and in a move of pedagogical brilliance, the collegial tone of such debates was soured by an ongoing feud between Shelby Strong and Zak Champagne. The object under debate: The trapezoid. Both teams made ..read more
Musing Mathematically Blog – natbanting.com
2M ago
**My good friend Joce Dagenais has translated portions of this post into French here.** In 2018, I made the cross-country trip to attend and present at the OAME Annual conference in Toronto. The session was attended by a particularly boisterous group of math teachers–all of whom I adore. Emerging as the ringleader of this rag-tag ..read more
Musing Mathematically Blog – natbanting.com
2M ago
Quadratics feel important. This impression is no doubt influenced by the boated importance placed on calculus in secondary school. They represent the giant leap from linearity and pave the way for more elaborate functions; therefore, I often find myself musing on ways to have students meaningfully interact with the topic. Once the structure of the ..read more
Musing Mathematically Blog – natbanting.com
2M ago
In 2015, my students and I founded an annual math fair in my school division. Inspired by mathematical play, the fair grew from humble beginnings into a staple of my mathematical calendar. Like nearly everything about this school year, the fair was jeopardized by the pandemic; however, with a touch of innovation and the ongoing ..read more
Musing Mathematically Blog – natbanting.com
2M ago
Over the last year, Dr. Lisa Lunney Borden and I have been working on a model for integer operations that she introduced me to a while back. Our goal is to amplify her research for classroom mathematics teachers. Right now, the idea consists of three pieces, each at varying stages of development. A paper This ..read more