Mary Johnson

20+ years ago I was made proficient in math and fell in love with it because of my teacher, my dad. Now, I use math every day as a Paramedic, to save lives!

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

@phlndrws @Super70sSports @MrsFactFreaks Look, I was the kid stuck on the end—basically the human garnish. As your favorite sister (don't act like we need to debate this), I’m honestly just grateful she skipped the photo op to actually try and stop the chaos from unfolding.

[Steve Hare @sharemath]

Last night, my granddaughter got bored watching her favorite tv show and went upstairs - to do some math.

Earlier, she had picked up a copy of our new book, You Teach You, Book Five: Basic Geometry, and started leafing through it during commercials. So much for another episode!

It gets better.

Our younger granddaughter saw what her older sister was doing, and suddenly asked if she could have a pencil and the book “for my age.”

Shunning their tablets and tv shows, the two of them studied self-explanatory examples, solved related practice problems, and checked their solutions for a solid hour - starting at 9 o’clock at night!

What on earth made them want to do that?

B + CC = M.

Boredom plus Checkable Challenges equals Motivation.

It’s just like crossword puzzles and Sodoku: feeling smart beats boredom any day of the week - even during summer vacation!

Want to put this powerful formula to work for your child and make this the summer without “summer slide”? Visit You Teach You dot org today. (And yes, I mean today. If you purchase the Foundations Bundle before midnight tonight EST, you’ll get $5 off the Geometry book.)

Oh, and be sure to stock up on pencils!

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

@gregtangmath Have you checked out https://t.co/i110hKJdwy ?? My 7yo loves it, her teacher started using it in class too! It focuses on complete accuracy and stops at a wrong answer so you can’t just blow by the answer! #gamechanger

[rebelEducator @rebelEducator]

Government school creates inhospitable environments for kids, then gives them pharmaceutical prescriptions when they're too bored to sit still.

And somehow they try to make it out like the kid is the one at fault, not the system.

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

@davidwees A quick trick we learned in school is divide by 2 and subtract 10%. It gets people close to the dose, without going over, and quickly. Unfortunately, 10% is not a quick thing for many people to figure out. Basic math has fallen by the wayside with calculators at our fingertips.

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

I watched a coworker try to convert pounds to kilograms to figure out a dose of Ketamine for our patient. Our protocol is 2-4mg/kg for the diagnosis and we’re using the high end. If my patient is 210lbs, how are you quickly figuring this out? #MathSavesLives #EmergencyMedicine

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

@davidwees I’m confident you’d be able to accurately dose my patient! The problem is being able to do it quickly when time is of the essence. We all have calculators on our phones but when your gloved hands are covered in stuff you don’t want on your phone, you’re forced to rely on yourself

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

@rastokke @sharemath interesting video!

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

@pernilleripp Do you mind me asking what kind of math you’re teaching at the 1st grade level in Denmark? My daughter uses https://t.co/r70NFn3yzj and showed her teacher who started using it for math with the whole class and it’s awesome! But I’m always so curious about other countries!!

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

@pwharris @sharemath thoughts?

[Jason @anenglishteachr]

Kids and teens largely fail at being self-directed learners because traditional school has made them forget how to be self-directed learners

I believe its 50-50

We are obviously born curious with an insatiable desire to know and learn about the world around us

And as our interests get more involved, complex and intricate we require some help/direction to further our learning (teachers, research, etc.)

The problems arise when traditional school is added into the mix

Kids are forced into a one-size fits all system and so much of their natural curiosity and excitement to learn gets diminished by tests, standards, and the structure as a whole

As kids get older, they become more jaded and associate school with learning and thus come to hate all learning

Thus when kids are pulled out of the traditional school system or are introduced to self-directed learning

So many of them are unable to do it not because self-directed learning isn’t effective or a good approach

But rather they have no idea how to do it - they have lost touch with what we all naturally have

I have met so many kids/teens who are passionate and interested in things but have no idea how to explore them on their own

We’ll judge those kids’ experiences and conclude that self-directed learning is the problem and thus ineffective

But that misses the mark

Tons of successful self-directed kids exist - videos, articles and stories of these kids are all over social media

So why are they different than some other child who “failed” at self-directed learning?

Why do homeschoolers tend to be more successful at self-directed learning?

I believe it boils down to the fact that these kids haven’t let the traditional school system ruin it for them

Whether thats because they are in a special school that fosters a self-directed approach

Or have parents who do the same

Regardless, the circumstances of their environment help them not get jaded and lose touch with the beauty and magic that learning is

And this is by no means a knock or dig at direct instruction

Direct instruction is one of the best ways to learn

Having good direct instruction and time for self-directed learning is the winning combo

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

@TheMathGuru @YourMorning https://t.co/mzyAvNr50e

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

@nsachdeva2019 This!! You’re absolutely right. This is why I love https://t.co/r70NFn3yzj! I grew up on an OLD version and I couldn’t be more grateful for math fact fluency because in my field, in emergency medicine, math can literally be the difference between killing or saving a patient.

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

@LaurenMedlicott @neuroteachers I had my oldest at 18yo. What are you looking for?

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

@davidwees https://t.co/r70NFn3yzj

This is a simple, competition based math practice site. It differs from other because it insists you get it correct rather than get it wrong and blow by it to keep going.

[Mary Johnson @MsMaryMath]

Oof! Feeling rusty with my math facts but the kids want to compete for a reward! Let’s see those high scores!! #makemathfun

https://t.co/r70NFn3yzj

[Steve Hare @sharemath]

Too many kids fall behind during math lessons because they don't know their math facts. Don't let this happen to your child this year. Send them to FactFreaks, the website I created to get my students up to speed with all 400 basic facts. It only takes a minute to play, they can learn their facts from scratch with the new Basic Training feature, and best of all, it's 100% free, no ads. Start giving your kid an edge in math class right now!