A Teacher's Guide To Explaining the CONUNDRUM OF MATHEMATICAL WORD PROBLEMS

CAMT 2025 Session Resources

7/8/2025

Hello Educators!

Below are the links to my session resources. Here is my email if you have questions or comments: [email protected]

•How Math Bulletin Boards Can Build a Sense of Community in Your School https://www.edutopia.org/article/math-bulletin-boards-can-create-community-school

•https://www.canva.com/design/DAGqNN6HLzY/DHFkYnyX5b9udhj8aUK0PA/edit

•Why Students Should Write in All Subjects https://www.edutopia.org/article/why-students-should-write-all-subjects

•Solved: A Teacher’s Guid e to Making Word Problems Comprehensibl e

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Our Experiences Impact How We Teach

2/21/2025

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In my trainings on problem solving, I have begun citing Math Autobiographies: A Window into Teachers' Identities as Mathematics Learners as well as this snippet from the article for teachers to reflect upon (McCulloch, A, Marshall, P, DeCuir-Gunby, J, and Caldwell, T, 2013):

How we teach mathematics is intertwined with our own experiences. As a "smooth track" teacher, I did struggle my first year when I had a student who could not intuitively understand a concept. I had to broaden how I taught (and still do). Contrast that with my frustration with my high school teacher who always told the class something like, It's okay if you don't get it, this is hard when I was already ready to move on.

So how do we neutralize our experiences so we can teach our students who also come with differing perspectives?

We embrace pedagogy.

This is the purpose of my book--placing pedagogy before quick-fix strategies for problem-solving. And just like when we see those "aha" moments in the class, I savor the epiphanic moments on educators' faces (who have not had a positive experience with math) when they light up and feel lightened and ready to teach with a new lens.

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My blue sky social

1/10/2025

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Questioning for reasoning instead of for answer-finding

12/1/2024

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My latest blog post for Seidlitz Education.

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Sharing the Passion

11/15/2024

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I recently worked with some math teachers in Tennessee who have a love for concerts. This teacher in particular had just seen Seventeen in concert and brought her passion into the classroom.

Passion is contagious. Be the mood contagion in your classroom!

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The revised edition of my book is now available!

Author

Thank you for visiting! My name is Diane. When I was a teacher, I was puzzled with why word problems were so hard for my students. I tried many new approaches to try to crack this mystery and when I left the classroom I had more time to research it. I hope that what I have been able to discover helps you. I will be posting blogs of my failures and successes so be sure to revisit to see what's new. Please feel free to share what you have learned as we build a community of invested professionals together.

CAMT 2025 Session Resources

Our Experiences Impact How We Teach

My blue sky social

Questioning for reasoning instead of for answer-finding

Sharing the Passion

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