{"id":486,"date":"2018-10-23T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T16:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/education\/blog\/2018\/10\/23\/teaching-and-assessing-math-reimagined-with-microsoft-education\/"},"modified":"2024-05-30T13:45:45","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T20:45:45","slug":"teaching-and-assessing-math-reimagined-with-microsoft-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/education\/blog\/2018\/10\/teaching-and-assessing-math-reimagined-with-microsoft-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching and assessing math, reimagined with Microsoft Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From the earliest years, children begin building foundational skills that will help them solve complex math problems. They develop spatial reasoning as they play with blocks, understand concepts like \u201cmore\u201d and \u201cless\u201d at snack time or the dinner table, and begin to categorize by attributes as they group their stuffed animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But somewhere between the play-filled days of preschoolers and the jam-packed high school years, people begin to label themselves as \u201cgood at math\u201d or \u201cbad at math.\u201d How many times have you heard someone laugh at themselves and say, \u201cOh I\u2019m just terrible at math\u201d? As a teacher, however, you know the secret truth: math is a cultivated skill, not an innate ability. It requires a teaching and learning process just like any other academic focus area. And in today\u2019s world, with technology at your fingertips, you\u2019re leading the way in reimagining the teaching and assessing process: presenting math in relevant and engaging ways to ensure that your students build foundational knowledge, as well as a lifelong love of math.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft Education is here to support teachers and students in every step of this process. Take a look at how you can leverage current technology to support the growth of developing mathematicians\u2014regardless of age or ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Build concrete knowledge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A great mathematician is made through a multitude of rich learning experiences. Early experimentation with concrete materials builds the foundation for understanding abstract concepts later. Luckily, if there is one thing students love, it\u2019s hands-on learning! Our human desire to physically manipulate materials can be an amazing leverage point for teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft\u2019s Hacking STEM<\/a> enables you to conduct affordable inquiry and project-based activities to visualize data across science, technology, engineering, and math curriculum. Hacking STEM projects explore a relevant question and provide multiple experiences\u2014both physical and digital\u2014to investigate the topic. One math-focused lesson poses the question \u201cHow deep is the ocean?\u201d<\/a>, prompting students to explore remote terrains by modeling and graphing the ocean floor with an ultrasonic sensor to visualize organisms that live in different ocean layers. Teachers love that this lesson is an engaging exploration that not only facilitates math skill development, but interest in the natural world. And many teachers are surprised that Excel can be such a rich and engaging tool for students!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the many valuable aspects of educational technology is the ability to use digital versions of physical tools. Microsoft OneNote<\/a> <\/strong>leverages the functions of many essential physical tools in a digital notebook space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n