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Don't ask students to 'discover' math before they've learned fundamentals
Inquiry-first math teaching confuses students. Fluency comes first.

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 92 min read


Best-selling bunk: We want to believe the easy answer
The idea of a student being "Nature Intelligent" is so much more palatable than "Unable to Do Trigonometry Intelligent."

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 22, 20252 min read


Why Johnny can't calculate: Teachers follow the vibes, not the evidence
Math teachers should focus less on whether students can do math and more on "valuing the community," says leading professional group.

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 21, 20253 min read


Vibes-based, guide-on-the side teaching is 'soul destroying'
Ignoring how children learn in favor of letting teachers do what feels good is a "soul destroying" mistake.

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 18, 20253 min read


Teachers know little about how students learn
My teacher preparation program in the late '90s "never talked about how kids learn," writes M-J Mercanti-Anthony, the principal of a New...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 8, 20231 min read
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