May 6, 2019

There is great joy when something you have been teaching all year suddenly clicks with students. I have been teaching all year that to check your work just do the opposite operation. Check an addition problem with a subtraction. Check a subtraction with an addition. ALL YEAR LONG! Well, today I was teaching a math fact strategy called "add to subtract" which just means you turn 13-6= into ? + 6 = 13. All of a sudden the light bulbs started flickering and then "I didn't know we could do that" and "that is so cool" and "its like magic" statements rang out. At first I was shocked. Why was this cool and all year long it hadn't been cool. Then I decided to embrace the joy and just go with it. Yep, it is cool. Finally after eight months, it is cool.

P.S. This is possibly my most favorite video I have ever seen on YouTube. I watch/show it every year. It seemed to apply to today's math moment. Most days I wonder if I am Mr. John.