Teachers that I meet at workshops and parents that talk to me frequently, ask me how I can remain so motivated about teaching and writing instructional math workbooks. The answer is simple. I am constantly looking for better ways to teach a concept or a faster way to solve a math...
During my career I have acquired a lot of knowledge about teaching in general and mathematics in particular. More than 30 years ago, I decided that I had an obligation to share the knowledge that I had acquired with teachers, parents, and students. I did this in a variety of ways...
In 1983 I wrote my first instructional mathematics workbook. It was called, “Number Sense: A Starter’s Kit.” It was written after numerous requests from teachers and parents. The two hundred-page workbook was written in twelve days. As the title implies, the workbook was in...
For most of my life I have been called a dreamer. The main reason is that I am always setting my sights on the future. Everything that I do is influenced by what I want for my future. I know that a lot of people focus on one day at a time. I respect those people, but what motivat...
Performing well under pressure is something that all of us want to do. When I was in college I was playing in the semi-finals of a badminton tournament. I had only scored 1 point and was 1 point from elimination. Incredibly, I scored 20 straight points to win and then proceeded t...
There are numerous instances in mathematics where common errors occur. In my opinion, the most frequent in my career occurred when 0 divided a number. Division by 0 occurs in elementary mathematics, coordinate geometry (finding slope) and calculus (finding limits). Explaining why...
I still remember a comment made to me by an English teacher, Mr. Hook, when I was attending Mission High School. Mr. Hook said, “Leo, you have an innate ability to get people to do what you want, but they believe that they made the decision to act.” Incredibly, this occurre...
During my career, I had to prepare my students for number sense, calculator applications and mathematics. Trying to find time for all three was difficult, but I managed to do it because of the way I organized my lesson content. This became evident several months ago, when I was a...
During my teaching and coaching career, I have been told by the students in my classroom and by those I prepare for competitive mathematics that they learn many more concepts from me than from their other teachers or coaches in the same amount of time. Since I self-analyze, I hav...
A characteristic that I admired in teachers, and that I tried to imitate, was being enthusiastic. Teachers that are enthusiastic about teaching will instill enthusiasm about learning in their students. Students need to see that their teachers love what they do. Enthusiastic teach...
