Today's Topic: Math Teacher Created Products

Tangible Teaching Tools
Today's interview is with Dr. Cathy Campbell who has a PhD. in Educational Psychology, 12 years of math teaching, curriculum planning and teaching for 1st-12th grade, college tutoring experience and 4 years system -centered leadership training.
How has your PhD. in Educational Psychology helped you teach math?My degree has helped me to pay attention to what's going on with my students...to see where they are getting off track both emotionally and academically and to help them find methods to get themselves back on track.
Can you explain your process for creating tangible math teaching materials?
It starts in the classroom, when I see that students are struggling with the usual way a topic is being taught. The first thing I do is look at the concept being taught and break it down into micro steps. Then I look at the students to see how many of the micro steps they already know. I then go into a space inside of me that I consider my creative space and I concentrate on the concept and what it is about the concept that the students need to understand. In this space I can create a method that helps my students develop the new pieces they need for themselves. So, I create materials and environments for the students to explore and discover the next steps in the math that they need to learn.
Why did you create the Disguise The Unknown product?
When I was first teaching equations about eight years ago, I wanted to demonstrate to my students why equations need to stay balanced. I also wanted to be able to represent an "unknown" on a balance scale. I saved up small M & M containers in which to hide the "unknown" amount and use on the balance scale. I quickly discovered that the M & M containers had a weight of their own and distorted the balance of the equation. After that, I was on a quest to find something in which to hide the "unknown". I searched on line and found small, black, plastic ziplock bags which were lightweight enough so as not to distort the equation. At that point I was ready to write down all of my ideas which had been formulating over the years for demonstrating and solving equations on the balance scale. When using this product, the students can visualize the algebraic equation rather than just solving through steps.
To learn more about Cathy and her Tangible Teaching Tools (which contain lesson plans)
go to www.zeroinginonmath.com