I don't ever remember being so excited to get back to school as I am this year. Today is the first official day back for teachers at my school. I am excited to get back in the classroom and make many changes. When I taught before I got married, I did a lot with group work. Since I returned three years ago, I have not. However, this summer I read Math-ish by Jo Boaler and everything has changed. I saw a recommendation to read it for math teachers on a post of one of the math influencers I follow. I don't remember which one. I got the books out of the library that were recommended and checked them out. I realized very quickly that I wanted to read this book and wanted to own it. Then it was on sale during Amazon Prime Days, so I got myself a copy. I have sticky notes marking pages all over it.
In this book, Stanford professor, Jo Boaler, shares the neuroscience behind a new way of looking at and teaching mathematics. She has examples of lessons she has observed and/or taught as well as so much inspiring information. She even has things downloadable on her websites. The one with the book is mathish.org. From this website she has links to her other websites including the big one youcubed. One of my goals is to take one of her teacher training courses this year or next summer! In this book she talks about many important topics including what she calls math-ish numbers. This book is for any teacher of mathematics (for any level kindergarten through college), parents, as well as people who want to learn math!
Math-ish numbers are the numbers we use every day that are not exact or precise. In math class most people think only of precise and exact numbers as being correct. However, in the real world we often are estimating or rounding numbers without doing the calculations. In the book Jo mentions someone telling her about Ish by Peter H. Reynolds. I wanted to check it out so I got it out of the library and realized this would be a great way to talk about math-ish numbers as well as other things in my classroom. And, a paperback version is being rereleased on September 2, 2025, from Candlewick Press. I was able to get a review copy to share with you and my classes! The book is recommended for age 5 to 9, but I will share how and why I'm sharing it with my classes.
About the Book:
Ramon loved to draw. Anytime. Anything. Anywhere.Drawing is what Ramon does. It’s what makes him happy. But in one split second, all that changes. A single reckless remark by Ramon’s older brother, Leon, turns Ramon’s carefree sketches into joyless struggles. Luckily for Ramon, though, his little sister, Marisol, sees the world differently. She opens his eyes to something a lot more valuable than getting things just “right.” Combining the spareness of fable with the potency of parable, Peter H. Reynolds shines a bright beam of light on the need to kindle and tend our creative flames with care.
From Me:
Now the book is part of the Creatilogy Series. Hazel and I enjoyed, The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, which is also part of this series when she was younger. The book shares that Ramon loves to draw. However, his older brother ruins it for him with a bad comment about Ramon's drawings. The need to draw perfectly becomes too much for Ramon. He is constantly crumpling up his papers and throwing away his drawings. His little sister however has been saving them. She eventually shows him her room full of his thrown away drawings hanging all over her room and tells him they are each like what he was trying to draw or vase-ish for a vase of flowers. He learned that there was beauty even when things are not perfect. What an important lesson for everyone to learn!! Now I have plenty of students who allow their perfectionism to almost shut them down and not complete work that they are very capable of doing. This book is for them, but it is also for everyone else who worries about getting the right answer in math class.
Now I am going to read this book like a story time to my high school classes the second day of school. The first day we usually have shortened classes, and I plan to show a video from the Youcubed website about the neuroscience and that everyone can learn math and go over some of the classroom basics.
On the second day I have a Google slideshow to present everything including when I'll read the book. My class will start with two more videos from Jo Boaler and Youcubed. You can see them on the slideshow. After the videos I will share a quick introduction to the book and read it and then we will discuss the book and math-ish numbers. I hope kids will see the book as a way to tell them there is not one correct way to do math. I hope it will inspire them to think outside the box and not worry about being right. And I hope Ish inspires them to lighten themselves and their thinking. It is important for everyone to have an idea of what a solution will be so we will know if we make a mistake like hitting a wrong button on the calculator.
After I have explained them, I will ask the students for ideas of math-ish numbers they use in everyday life. The slide where I hope they share ideas also has a few from Math-ish to help get the conversation started or keep it going. After talking about math-ish numbers we are going to talk about multiplying a two-digit number by a single digit. The hope of this example is to have students visualize math and show there are different ways to do it. Next, I an example of a math-ish problem using shopping with discounts. No matter the class I teach kids should learn how to find math-ish percentages of numbers for when they are shopping. I then have a worksheet of two math-ish problems for them to try in groups.
Each of these activities are going to include class discussions. This is key to my new plans for teaching. I want to get the students critically thinking and discussing math. Then for homework I am going have them reflect on math-ish numbers with this reflection writing prompt.
Day 3 and 4 we will be working on group work with some problems shared by Jo Boaler in her book and on Youcubed. The homework for each night will be a reflection on how the group work went that day and their role in the group.
I have also added some new decor to my room based on Math-ish ideas. The first used a template from Rise over Run. It is free!! I used her template for the words but cut the letters out with my Cricut. You will have to download the original for the words in white. I used glue dots on these words to give it some dimension. The entire project is on a black foam board I have. Unfortunately, it is a bit warped and was having trouble staying up. We will see how it is when I get back. Letters are cut from glitter scrapbook paper and glued on.
Another theme in Math-ish is to celebrate mistakes because our brain learns more with mistakes than getting something correct. So, I made this poster as well. This time I cut the letters out with vinyl. This was a mistake. I am still learning about my Cricut. The paper letters were so much easier!!
In the same Cricut file I cut the words for "Growth begins with Mistakes" and made a picture with it on a small paint canvas which I painted black. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it yet and hung it at school.
Are you ready for the new school year? Are you excited for it or dreading it?
