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Balancing Technology and Traditional Skills in the Classroom

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There is no question that technology has transformed math classrooms for every grade level. Elementary through college, this change has been prevalent. But where is the line to draw? How much do we need to learn if technology can just do it for us? As a future math educator, these are questions I have been asking myself. How can I balance the use of technology to enhance learning and teach traditional skills? In math, technology isn’t necessarily good or bad. It all depends on situational awareness and how it is being used. On the positive side, technology can deepen understanding, especially with graphing and visual aids. This can help students see what they are solving and grow deeper conceptual understanding. For example, students can explore the relationship between a quadratic equation and its graph. They can observe transformations and their equations in real time instead of memorizing the quadratic equation. This can be good for them because it prioritizes understanding instea...
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What does it mean to be a Math Teacher: Getting into the Profession

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I have not always been the biggest fan of math. One of my first negative experiences was in my first-grade classroom. We had been instructed to complete 100 multiplication problems and if we could not do it in the 50-minute timeframe, we would forfeit recess and PE class that day. That made me and quite a few peers feel awful about math. It got better in second grade though! We had been using Rocket Math, and that competition really amped me up to get better at my quick math facts. However, heading into third grade we had to learn how to use a calculator. I was not a fan. I spent so much time mastering my math facts that the idea of using a calculator seemed ridiculous. I moved past this quickly though as we started working with some numbers that were much larger or more complex. Finally, in the fourth grade, I finally met my match, long division. I was sent home with an assignment of 1-50 odds, all of them being long division practice problems. The next day, I showed up and turned in ...
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Learning Through Trial and Error

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       A lot of people grow up thinking that math and art skills are things you are either born with or you are bad at forever. Phrases like “I’m not a math person” or “I can’t draw” are said so often that they rarely get questioned. This kind of fixed mindset turns struggle into failure instead of seeing it as a normal part of learning, and it affects how students engage in classrooms that increasingly rely on digital tools to teach complex ideas.      In math, confusion is often treated as a sign that someone is just not smart enough rather than proof that the material is challenging. Once students decide they are bad at math, they tend to avoid it, participate less, or rely on shortcuts. Tools like calculators, equation solvers, and AI can be helpful, but when they are used only to get quick answers, students miss the reasoning behind the math. This can reinforce the belief that real understanding is reserved for certain people rather than something...
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Should it be Flipped?

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          Flipped classrooms are starting to become more popular and advancements in technology are playing a factor in helping these stats continue to grow. Flipped classrooms are based on the idea of reordering or “flipping” the in-class and out-of-class activities students complete. Effective flipped classrooms utilize some form of lecture for students to do outside of class to better prepare them for what will be covered or demonstrated in class. Teachers can choose to create videos, assign readings, or combine both, and create some sort of comprehension check. With new ideas of technology constantly being introduced, the concept of flipped classrooms can become very beneficial for students, if used effectively. When students complete short videos or readings outside of class, it can allow for more collaborative learning inside the classroom. Students can work in groups and discuss what they learned from the assignment, complete problems from the mate...
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Productive Struggle in the Digital Space

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     Productive struggle is often framed as something that happens away from technology, as if meaningful thinking only occurs when students are working with pencil and paper. In reality, struggle does not disappear in a technology-rich classroom. Instead, it changes shape. When digital tools are used thoughtfully, they can create conditions where students wrestle with ideas rather than bypass them.      Technology like Desmos, GeoGebra, and several others, have the potential to slow students down in productive ways. Instead of immediately confirming whether an answer is correct, dynamic visuals and interactive elements invite students to notice patterns, test assumptions, and reconsider their reasoning. They can help students work towards the correct answer on their own, rather than being only correct or incorrect. Students may adjust a slider, observe an unexpected change, and then pause to ask why the graph, shape, or simulation behaves the way it does. ...
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Trying something new: Gamifying the course

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I had thought about this since December, but didn't really work on it until the last minute. Yes, I am an extreme procrastinator. It helps me relate to my students! On January 7, as I was preparing the syllabus for the course management system, I decided to pull the trigger and gamify my course. It makes sense as the course is made up of projects that students need to complete, so having them earn a badge after each project is a good idea. I planned to give them digital badges, but the students were very excited about the idea of actual badges. Today I have been creating the badges in Canva, which really is a great program and easy to use. I got some advice from a friend who makes stickers and I just ordered them! They are supposed to arrive by Friday, and I am excited. While they have more than 6 projects, I decided to combine the first few assignments into one badge, called the Digital Citizen badge. Hopefully, you notice that the circle around the outside is two colors. This dar...
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Math Anxiety: Why it is Important

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It's the day of your exam. You're palms get sweaty and your heart is racing as you flip through your notes, hoping that reading over them one more time will make them stick to your memory. You know you've got time to slow down and truly comprehend the material, but you're too anxious to bring yourself to do just that. You're back in high school and have an algebra exam coming up next class period. You are so focused and worried about it that there is little to no hope for learning to occur in your current class. Finally, you get to the exam just to find your mind blank as you helplessly stare at the squiggly lines and operations symbols in front of you. But you studied for days; there's no way you could be this unprepared for the test. All that studying and worry, all just to leave that classroom feeling helpless and like a failure.  This is the sad reality for many students when it comes to math. The idea of having to understand and solve math problems leaves...
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