I had the opportunity of a lifetime to work in Barcelona, Spain where I taught 6th graders and presented to educators in Spanish about Open Middle. It was even covered in a newspaper! I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity.

Elementary math Ts, here's a tool for your file! 📁 Check out educator @robertkaplinsky.com's matrix illustrating how cognitive demand shifts within the same content: robertkaplinsky.com/depth-knowle...

How do you find the area covered by the Bermuda Triangle? This lesson is a great context for Geometry or Integrated II students looking to find the area of triangles on a coordinate plane. robertkaplinsky.com/work/be...

Did you know that many of the stores you shop at use mathematical modeling to make predictions about you? Read about how Target can predict which of its customers are pregnant and when the baby is due! robertkaplinsky.com/math-mo...

How deeply do your students understand parallel and perpendicular lines if they can't create sets of points to define the lines? Try out these two Open Middle problems from Nanette Johnson: www.openmiddle.com/perpendi... www.openmiddle.com/parallel...

Attention high school math teachers! How do you measure distance on a circular road? This lesson provides a context for students to develop conceptual understanding of arc length. robertkaplinsky.com/work/ho...

Are your students learning about parallel lines and transversals? Try out these two Open Middle problems from Shelli Foust: www.openmiddle.com/parallel... www.openmiddle.com/parallel...

Want to challenge your Geometry students to find the area of triangles? Try out this Open Middle problem from Dan Wulf. www.openmiddle.com/area-of-...

This lesson uses distances between freeway signs as a context for placing fractions on a number line and subtracting mixed numbers. Make sure to share it with any upper elementary teachers you know. robertkaplinsky.com/work/fr...

When Febreze was introduced, people loved it but hardly used it because they didn't realize they needed it. Here's the fascinating story of why we don't notice what we're familiar with. robertkaplinsky.com/febreze... #ObserveMe

Here's a challenging Open Middle problem to help students develop conceptual understanding of quadratics in standard form: www.openmiddle.com/maximum-...

This lesson will help students evaluate which factors affect profitability when making a lemonade stand. Can they earn enough money to make it worth the their time and effort? robertkaplinsky.com/work/le...

If your Geometry students are working on the midpoint formula, try out this Open Middle problem from Dane Ehlert with them. www.openmiddle.com/midpoint...

Here's an idea for how you can get an extra month of time to teach students during the regular school year based on ideas from Matt Vaudrey. robertkaplinsky.com/heres-c...

How can we figure out if we have enough paint for a handball wall? Use this problem with your students as a context for area. robertkaplinsky.com/work/do...

If you're a presenter and want to avoid people thinking that you always say the same things, then you need to read this blog post: robertkaplinsky.com/present...

If you teach K-5, check out these 3-act tasks from Catherine Castillos. They're fun and engaging ideas to get kids making sense of math: mscastillosmath.wordpress.c...

Want students to practice applying math to real life, but wish you had something more engaging and meaningful than word problems? Then you should check out my recorded webinar with elementary, middle, and high school versions. robertkaplinsky.com/webinar

Are your students working on parallel and perpendicular lines? Try out these two Open Middle problems from Bryan Anderson: www.openmiddle.com/equation... www.openmiddle.com/equation...

As a young math geek in high school, I figured out the best way to win the grand prize at Chuck E. Cheese's when playing Skee Ball. Use this lesson to help elementary students decompose numbers. Or secondary students can use systems of equations. robertkaplinsky.com/work/sk...

Wish your students would have more meaningful conversations when you asked them questions? Then check out this professional development activity you can use with your colleagues. robertkaplinsky.com/questio...

Can your high school students create a parallelogram, triangle, or rectangle by listing their points when given one? Find out using these three Open Middle problem from Bryan Anderson. www.openmiddle.com/creating... www.openmiddle.com/creating... www.openmiddle.com/creating...

Where else do you get to see a real-life example of "long-run" probability play out in 32 seconds? This poker-based lesson will help students discover the difference between theoretical and experimental probability. robertkaplinsky.com/work/vi...

Are your high school students working with complex numbers? Try these two Open Middle problems out to see what misconceptions they have: www.openmiddle.com/complex-... www.openmiddle.com/complex-...

Check out my Depth of Knowledge matrix for elementary math and download a PDF version to print or share with others. robertkaplinsky.com/depth-k...

Knowing when to take medicine two or three times a day is easy. It's much more challenging when it's five times a day! This lesson seems deceptively easy at first, but it's more challenging than students expect and really gets them thinking. robertkaplinsky.com/work/me...

Have you ever shared information you were excited about yet you didn't get the reaction you expected? Perhaps it was because of how it was framed. More here: robertkaplinsky.com/behavio...

I really enjoyed this breakdown of the most common types of data visualization from Datalabs Agency. Check out how they organize them here: www.datalabsagency.com/2024...

If you're a fan of Open Middle problems but want more support using them with your students, then you should check out my mini workshop on @grassrootsworkshops.com‬. grassrootsworkshops.com/wor...

Help your students think deeply about radicals with this Open Middle problem from Phillip Haislip-Hansberry. www.openmiddle.com/comparin...

These packages of chips are missing the quantities on them. Can students find a fair way to determine what they should be? robertkaplinsky.com/work/ho...

Here's the third #ObserveMe interview with Kelley Kaminsky (you'd think we're related!) where she shares her experiences. robertkaplinsky.com/observe...

If your students are learning about perpendicular lines, try out this Open Middle problem from Andy Schwen with them: www.openmiddle.com/perpendi...

How tall is Mini-Me? Is he really 1/8 Dr. Evil's size? This lesson uses Dr. Evil and Mini-Me to help students build deeper understanding of scale as well as fraction and decimal operations. robertkaplinsky.com/work/mi...

If your high school students are working on adding vectors, try out this Open Middle problem from Bryan Anderson. www.openmiddle.com/adding-v...

Are you a math educator in Texas? Do you wonder how the TEKS compare to the Common Core State Standards? Here's my take: robertkaplinsky.com/compari... SPOILER: they're veeeery similar

This lesson uses the Coinstar change counting machine as a context for decimal operations. Show elementary students the video to build context and have them figure out how much the coins are worth. robertkaplinsky.com/work/ho...

When we are too optimistic about our lessons, we become overconfident and fail to adequately prepare. Learn more here about why it happens and what we can do. robertkaplinsky.com/behavio...

Liesl McConchie has created a free 26-page e-book about how all students can learn math... as long as they can answer yes to seven questions first. It's available for download now at lieslmcconchie.com/ALL

I've heard lots of great ideas in presentations, but I often need more time to think about an idea, try it out, and learn more. That's why I made my six-week online workshop to help teach math through problem solving. Learn more at: https://robertkaplinsky.com/eps/

Here's a matrix multiplication problem from Bryan Anderson that will help you bring out their conceptual understanding. See hints and answers on Open Middle. www.openmiddle.com/matrix-m...

In 2010, an enormous sinkhole suddenly appeared in the middle of a Guatemalan neighborhood and swallowed a three-story building above it. How much material will they need to fill the sinkhole? robertkaplinsky.com/work/si...

If you've wanted to teach math using real-world and Open Middle problems but want support getting started, then this is the workshop for you. Learn more about Robert Kaplinsky's @robertkaplinsky.com Empowered Problem Solving online workshop at grassrootsworkshops.com/wor...

How do we find a balance between being in the classroom with students and our need to keep growing as professionals? Here's my take inspired by the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. robertkaplinsky.com/sharpen...

Algebra teachers, check out these three rational exponent problems from Bryan Anderson. See the hints and answers on Open Middle: www.openmiddle.com/rational... www.openmiddle.com/rational... www.openmiddle.com/rational...

How can you identify where 1/3 of a cup of butter is on a stick with some of the labels missing? This 3rd grade math problem is a real-life application of identifying a fraction on a number line and allows for maaaany problem solving strategies. robertkaplinsky.com/work/ho...

Are your students working on radical equations? This Open Middle problem from Jonathan Newman will challenge their understandings! www.openmiddle.com/radical-...

Here's my Depth of Knowledge Matrix for middle and high school math from 6th grade to Calculus. Download a PDF version of it to print/share. robertkaplinsky.com/depth-k...

This lesson is a real-life context for transformations including rotations, reflections, and translations. It lets your students initially describe the movements in their own words and then guide them towards a mathematically precise definition. robertkaplinsky.com/work/ms...

Heard about Open Middle problems but not sure how to get started? This workshop will get you confident and ready to use them with your students. Learn more about Robert Kaplinsky's @robertkaplinsky.com How To Use An Open Middle Problem online workshop at grassrootsworkshops.com/wor...