James Tanton Recaps Math Encounters Talk

James Tanton presented a talk, "Laundry Math: An Inside Out View of the World", based on two ideas in his book  Solve This,  at the Museum of Mathematics in New York. Below Tanton recaps the night and discusses future projects. "A few weeks ago I had the honor of giving a Math Encounters talk at the Museum of Mathematics in New York (momath.org). And the topic of my talk was... 'Laundry Math,' fun and mayhem inspired by chapters 5 and 17 of Solve This! I took my favorite ideas from those two chapters, melded them into one experience, and added new tidbits of surprise and delight. (Hang on! New stuff? So where then is Solve This Too?*) A video of that lecture is under edit right now and as soon as it is up and available I will let you know. I am delighted by the emails I still receive asking about Solve This! Folk really seem to like the elements of problem-solving it invites through questions and queries that don't at all have the feel of problems. After all, who wants problems? But with the Common Core State Standards and its over-arching Mathematical Practices, attending to teaching and learning problem-solving is now in most every educator's mind. (Look at MP.1) I am delighted to be working with the MAA on a new Curriculum Inspirations project – teaching how to teach problem-solving in the classroom, in joyful ways. It uses the fabulous and rich resources of the AMC and shows how to connect the material there to classroom content, and to do so in a way that doesn't interrupt the flow of the classroom experience. (I know what it is like being a high-school teacher: There is absolutely no room for anything extra in the class day!) If you are at the NCTM 2013 Annual Meeting this week, come to the presentation at 9:45 on Saturday morning in room 406/407. We'll talk about the delights of Solving This and that and more! It will be fun! (*Maybe the sequel to Solve This is the new book, Mathematics Galore!)" To purchase your copy of Solve This, visit the MAA eBooks Store.