Beg, Borrow, and Share

by, Jessica Breur
Mounds View Public Schools

A new school year is upon us and for some, it feels like year 1 all over again.  As teachers around the country are finding new ways of connecting with students and sharing the joys of mathematics, I wanted to reach out and share the goodness that I have been collecting since the pandemic started.  These are resources that I have begged for links to, borrowed when I saw posted, or shared with others. You could call it hoarding – except I am going to share it with you, or maybe it is an obsession, but I love collecting resources to encourage math discourse, community building, and collaborative problem solving. Activities that hit all 3 of these aspects are favorites of mine to use with students. 

The saying in my school district for the start of this school year was “connections over content.”  Then, I was following a recent thread on Twitter and came across Fawn Nguyen having a conversation about how connections and content could be intertwined.

I started reflecting on what I had been collecting and decided that it is worth sharing with others.  Furthermore, it is worth asking others to contribute their ideas.  So, please take a look at what I have collected and see if it fits your needs for class or if you have other ideas to share with us all.  The one regret I have is that I have not paid tribute to all of the amazing educators who produced these ideas.  So, if you use something, please give gratitude to the #mtbos – which is the Math Twitter Blog-O-Sphere on Twitter or let others know by posting about an activity in our MN Math Teachers Closed Facebook Group. 

 I know I am better because of the partnership with other teachers and the sharing that we all do!  In community and partnership we will find success this 2020-2021 school year!