Teaching with Mathemagic
"Mathemagic" tricks are amazing feats of calculation. Teachers sometimes use them as gimmicks to try and engage students, but these math stunts also have serious educational value. As a math teacher and magician, I think that value has long been squandered.
Do "Motivating Problems" Really Motivate Students?
Many "motivating problems" in math are practical but are unlikely to garner investment from students. In this post, I instead propose that motivating problems should be stories written with minimal technical language and including tangible scenarios. These sorts of problems have potential to improve student engagement, investment, persistence, and understanding.