Dear {{custom.firstName}},

 

In my opinion, one of a teacher’s hardest tasks is to invite ideas. Lots of them, from every student. Those ideas are the bricks you and your students can assemble into bigger, more interesting ideas than any of you had at the start of the day. It’s hard to build without bricks!

 

So in this unit, I’d like to offer you some tips for inviting student brilliance.

 

For example, on this screen in Prob-bear-bilities, you can invite students to start with their senses.

 

Whether your students know how to calculate probability or not, they have been sensing probabilities their entire lives. The probability you’ll remember to assign homework. The probability their team will reach the playoffs. The probability it’ll be sunny for their birthday. 

On this screen, you’ll have students who can express their brilliance in numbers: “The answer is ¼.”

 

And you’ll have students who can express it through their senses: “It seems less than ½.”

 

I encourage you to extend an invitation to all your students, letting them know that you welcome both kinds of responses. Math is a language that lets your senses communicate with your brain, and many of your students will be grateful for your encouragement to start with their senses.

 

Dan & the Desmos Classroom Team

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