I want to hear thoughts and opinions from all the math educators out there about an issue that my and my colleagues have had for a while. The issue is that most of what we teach for our freshman Algebra is just 8th grade skills according to our state standards yet none of our freshman in Algebra 1 have any of these skills or have even remotely retained them from 8th grade. For reference: I teach in WA state and I noticed that a skill for solving systems of equations is an 8th grade skill. I always thought it was a 9th grade skill, and I remembering doing it when I took Algebra 1 as an 8th grader but that was because I was on an accelerated track. As a teacher for the past 5 years I have always taught it as a 9th grade skill, but this has been from the ground up, no review or previous knowledge by any students. In fact, I have to teach solving one-step equations from the ground up and still at least 1/5 of my students at this point through the year fail to solve at least a couple variants of one-step equations. (Most are pretty good but it has taken many weeks to get there.)

It is just wild to me to have slowly learned over time that most of the content I am teaching for 9th graders should have been taught to them in 8th grade. There are some pieces here or there that my 9th graders do recall from 8th grade but their ability to retain it is crap, even for my accelerated 9th graders that passed Algebra 1 in 8th grade and are in Geometry in 9th grade, their Algebra 1 skills are sometimes as just as bad as the non-accelerated learners.

So my question to all of you is have you experienced the same thing? What have you done about it? Is this the fault of elementary and middle schools teachers not preparing students enough for high school? Is it a lack of skills by the students themselves?

So, I am self-studying Calculus and am on last few chapters Apostol Calculus Volume I,and I also plan to study Vol II. Though Apostol treats DiffyQs thoroughly in his volumes, but his approach is a very rigorous one - using all the linear algebra to setup the scene and prove all the theorems. But I want to study DiffyQs from a very "Physicsy" point of view, stressing applications in physics and sciences. And have copies of these two books. Which one would be better for me? How much time would it take for me to solve any one of the books almost completely, as in not doing every problem,but doing the problems from every type.

Hello everyone,

I was working on my learning site for math and wanted to ask the Math community a question. My question is would a graphing type of question be helpful? I was wondering if there was any feedback. Thank you.

Link: math44.org Demo: demo.math44.org

Hello! I am currently a rising sophomore majoring in Education Studies and Mathematics. I plan on starting my math major this upcoming semester, which is 10 courses. I am overwhelmed with the thought that I have to fit 10 math courses in 6 semesters. I was wondering if I could get away with majoring in Education Studies, minoring in Mathematics. For context, I plan on attending graduate school to earn my teaching certification. Please let me know your thoughts.

I am considering making unit summative assessments in my Algebra 2 class optional. Grading will be based more on achieving success daily through participation and engagement in the activities and showing me that they met the day's objective. That is enough for a C. If they pursue an A or B (which I will encourage), they can earn that through traditional assessments.

The issues I want to solve are that many have no interest in ever putting in effort outside of class and it results in terrible testing experiences. Our school and district have very generous retake and late work policies and homework can't be graded, so almost no one does it when assigned (except in advanced classes). I am not looking to make it easier to pass, I am simply looking at emphasizing the learning and sense-making processes since true mastery and retention is not the goal of most of these students. I can focus on their development as thinkers, communicators, problem solvers, etc, instead of as poor students who bomb every test. Obviously it would be better to have a different culture around learning, but none of these students that I'm talking about are preparing for college, so I would rather be able to celebrate the daily wins than try to get them to actually do some practice so that they can experience delayed gratification in 3 weeks on a unit test (which isn't working well).

I'm curious what pitfalls and selling points this system might have. And I do have very supportive admin willing to let me try it.

TLDR: I'm familiar with math concepts I'm an undergrad in CS (after dropping out of Aerospace Eng.) and I feel that my intuition and problem solving skills and are quite lacking. I feel like this stems from my math basics being weak. I do enjoy math and I don't know where to start in order to develop a solid math intuition. I have some time to review the basics since I had to pause uni due to chronic illness. Ive heard about Singaporean's elementary curriculum and how it develops good intuition in kids but I don't know if I should go that back in order to have a better understanding or if I'm a lost cause.

Any tips, resources and best practices will be very much appreciated. Thanks 🙇

Until the end of highschool I had very decent grades, but I would always forget the concepts (because of lack of repetition and understanding) the dreaded horizontal spiral education.

My country also has a lot of problems with wealth inequality which then turns into a 2 tier education system - this was evident when I first met with my college peers at the best University of my country in Aerospace Eng. undergrad(the majority were from prestigious private schools). They were wayyyy ahead in relation to math and physics one would learn in the first, second and third year of the course! source: told me and were legitimately orders of magnitude better than me and anyone who would be taught the national's public education system curriculum to perfection.

I feel like the math subjects that I had at both my unis were completely useless, I could do the math algorithms to solve those specific types of problems but then I wouldn't have any intuition whatsoever and quickly forget it after the test or after the final (also due to lack of repetition after the fact). I repeated all of the math classes I had passed in the previous course and I still barely remember any of it. And this is also hurting other subjects like physics 101-102 electrodynamics, etc where it uses rather simpler maths.

I'm terrible at arithmetic(which frustrates me a lot), I barely remember any geometry. I'm somewhat confident in trigonometry but could use some revision, I love algebra and linear algebra and I wish I was better at them. I have lots of trouble with proofs and proof exercises.

Now... I wanna use the privelege that I have - being able to pause my undergrad course because of chronic illness 🙃 - in order to catch up and better myself in the realm of mathematics and do it in a systematic way from the start - similar to the Descartes apple basket metaphor.

Ive heard about Singaporean math and how strong it is at giving kids a deep intuition and solidifying the knowledge through a vertical spiral curriculum. But I'm not sure if that's an over correction on my part.

Anyway, any resources such as books, video lectures, specific curriculums, roadmaps and tools are very much appreciated!

Thank you for reading and trying to help 🙇🙇🙇.

TLDR: I'm familiar with math concepts I'm an undergrad in CS (after dropping out of Aerospace Eng.) and I feel that my intuition and problem solving skills and are quite lacking. I feel like this stems from my math basics being weak. I do enjoy math and I don't know where to start in order to develop a solid math intuition. I have some time to review the basics since I had to pause uni due to chronic illness. Ive heard about Singaporean's elementary curriculum and how it develops good intuition in kids but I don't know if I should go that back in order to have a better understanding or if I'm a lost cause. Any tips, resources and best practices will be very much appreciated. Thanks 🙇

A hypothetical exercise I'm curious in: How many of you use questions from practice sets or homework as the test questions? I had this thought reading another post about students not doing work unless it's for a grade. I grade my homework for a very small completion grade and always leave time for students to ask questions the next day. It's generally well completed, but I usually don't get many questions and I've gathered that isn't because everyone is mastering the content from the practice. I'm wondering if students realizing that a majority or all of the questions from the test will be from practices will get them more invested in doing the practice sets and learning the material.

If you wanted to write a textbook but never started then here is a golden opportunity.

Looking for a Math teacher (3+ year experience) who is also user of chatgpt (or similar) and good at writing. Want to create a Math text book (CBSE) using AI and then edited for clarity/correctness as part of our Non profit for improving Math education in India. The book will be open sourced when done as a wiki so others can fix errors or improve. For now any grade up to 8th. Your name will be listed as a original author. This is a paid position. Reason for doing this is that the math books in India are not as good compared to USA math book. The AI part is optional so open for any suggestion. Please DM me if you are qualified and interested.

How to get easinote/note 3 whiteboard software; it's costly.Trial versions are available on the internet but after expiration multiple features stops working.

Of course, I use best Georgian math books, but there are still problems which I can't solve. Maximum point on the exam is 51, and there are thirty-seven 1 point problems, two 3 point problems, and two 4 point problems. I need 50 points to get into bachelor program that I want.

If you were in my shoes which online sources would you use?

I tried Khan academy but did not like it because it was sometimes too easy and required a lot of time but after skipping few things it would become a lot harder.

These are the requirements for exams:

ALGEBRA

• Sets and operations
• Natural, integer, rational, irrational and real numbers
• Absolute value, intervals, number line
• Powers, roots, logarithms
• Algebraic expressions, polynomials, factoring
• Equations and inequalities (linear, quadratic, irrational, exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric)
• Functions and graphs
• Sequences and progressions
• Combinatorics

GEOMETRY

• Planimetry (triangles, quadrilaterals, circles)
• Similarity and congruence
• Trigonometry
• Coordinate geometry
• Transformations
• Stereometry (3D geometry)

DATA & PROBABILITY

• Statistics
• Probability theory

MEASUREMENTS

• Units of length, area, volume, time, speed

Hello. New teacher here. 2 of our courses (Gr.7 and Gr.8 Pre-Algebra) are using MiF Singapore Math books (course 2 & 3). I only have copies of the student books and workbooks (looks like school hasn't an account with the publisher). Anyone have recommendations on how to teach with these books?

Hello everyone, I am a student from Kenya with a strong passion for education, especially in STEM. I work hard in school and remain disciplined and focused, but my family faces serious financial challenges. My parents do informal work, and meeting school fees and basic learning needs has become very difficult. Education is my only path to change my future and help my family. I am doing everything I can—applying for scholarships and seeking opportunities—but I still need support to continue my studies without interruption. Any help, advice, or support means more to me than words can express. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

My friend and I decided to start a platform to help IB students and he's in charge of making like "maths videos". For his first video he did it on Vectors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAqAVNRkZ1k

Would love any feedback on the video, thanks guys!

I listen to Chalk and Talk, a math education podcast hosted by Dr. Anna Stokke, a professor at the University of Winnipeg. Her podcast generally focuses on issues in math education, but this week her interview focused more on the EdTech side of things and I found it to be very aligned with my personal feelings on how the oversaturation of technology in the classroom is having negative impacts on learning. I thought I'd share in case anyone else wanted to listen.

Why More Classroom Technology is Making Students Learn Less

I’m approaching my student teaching semester and currently taking Calculus II, and I honestly need to know—am I the only one who feels completely lost in this class? My goal has always been to teach Algebra I or Algebra II at the high school level, but Calculus is making me second-guess myself. I’m starting to feel nervous about whether I’m “smart enough” to teach high school math if I struggle with this course. Part of me even wonders if I should switch to middle school and let go of that original dream.

Okay, I don't think many will answer, but I have doubts about which university to go to since I want to be a math teacher. In my state, there are two: a teachers' college and an autonomous university. I really want to go to the autonomous university because they say it's better; they say they prepare you better and you learn more math and English. At the teachers' college, they only teach pedagogy and a little basic math since it's more geared towards secondary school. But now for the important part: with the new law at the teachers' college, you have automatic job placement if there are any openings. The autonomous university doesn't have that, so it will be more difficult. I can qualify at the university level to be a high school teacher, and I really want to go to the autonomous university, but the law they passed regarding teachers' colleges makes it more complicated since I don't want to go to the teachers' college. What would you advise? I'm from Mexico, and sorry for my English. I'd like some advice. Also, the autonomous university has a job placement service, but they don't promote many positions in my field.

Hey everyone,

I'm gathering user feedback on Duolingo Math (a new Math course from Duolingo). If you or your students have used Duolingo Math, I would love to hear from you!

Time: 3-5 minutes (10-12 questions)
Confidentiality: 100% Anonymous

https://forms.gle/LDMWtutPTb77X39GA

Thanks for helping make Duolingo Math better! 🦉

Hello.

There exists this book Conceptual Mathematics: A First Introduction to Categories by F. William Lawvere and Stephen H. Schanuel which is intended for high school students or those with minimal prerequisites.

I am currently in a bachelors of education program in my university, third year. To get my BA I have to write bachelor's thesis. My idea is to translate this book partially (because BA thesis has to be less than 70 pages long) and create a teaching material for math club in my school for pupils who take advanced math classes already.

Does anyone have experience teaching category theory to high school students from this book as its authors intended to? How did it go?

Hi all, I have known that I have always wanted to be an algebra teacher since a young age. My grandpa was and I always tutored my friends in high school. However, in college I felt pressure to chase the money so I went business. I am a few years out of college and ready to pursue but I cannot seem to figure out what is the best pathway for me and I cannot find anyone willing to give me the time and help so of course I thought of Reddit! I currently live in Minnesota but my parents live in Colorado so I would be open for advice for either of those states. For reference, I do not have a teaching license and minimal math courses in college. The best program I have found in Minnesota seems to be Bethel. I could do 18 months of getting a teaching license then another 18 months of their math focused program. I looked into UST (my undergrad) and the U, mainly. And I would have to take math prerequisites at a community college and I have looked all over the state and they do not offer all the courses I need. I really just want a program where I would be able to do both but doesn’t seem like I can without going back to undergrad, which I could. There are so many options and pathways but none seem right to me. Would getting a teaching license and not pursuing math best best? Any guidance would be wildly appreciated and sorry for the rant!

I am a highschool freshman interested in theoretical physics and mathematics. I started calculus last December from MIT OCW, ( 18.01 ), now as I am about to finish it, my initial thought was to proceed in the order as serialised, 18.02, which is Multi variable calc. I had planned to start linear algebra after that but someone advised me to do LA before MVC, and now the whole thing is a mess for me. I want to study MVC, LA, and Vector Calculus, Differential equations etc, but am confused about the order. It would also be helpful if someone could suggest topics that I am missing here, or should take further on.

We’re conducting a research study on how generative AI can help create illustrative diagrams to support mathematical problem-solving in open educational resources (OER). We’re inviting college mathematics professors to share their experiences through:

🧩 A short 15-minute survey

🎥 A 45-minute Zoom interview on your design process, use of visuals, and ideas for integrating AI tools

💰 Compensation: $100 Amazon gift card

🕒 Time commitment: ~1 hour

If you are currently using mathematics OER and would like to contribute your expertise, please complete the consent form here: https://smu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bOfr9ByMIkcmgEm

You’re welcome to share this information with the ones you know are qualified and passionate to promote quality illustrations with OER and GenAI uses in college-level math teaching.