Math? Fun? What is wrong with YOUR left brain?!?

Those of us who thrive on numbers, calculations, and abstract concepts are left-brain dominant. Those who love art, music, and are good at facial recognition and spatial abilities are right-brain dominant. This can often be determined by which hand you write with; lefties are right-brained and righties are left-brained. (Strange, I know.) See this informational link to learn why. Try also the Split Brain interactive learning game (just for fun).

So, from a person who resides mostly in her right mind (*wink*), I can say that geometry is SO much easier than algebra. Math is a struggle for me because I am slightly dyslexic and very literal. Abstract things escape me unless I have a strong conceptual understanding and first hand knowledge. Don't get me wrong, I love math when I get it. It just takes me forever to get it. NCTM Illuminations sent me a link to this math game called neXtu and I think it is a great avenue into math for kids who function like I do; mostly artistically and emotively and concretely and not very numerically.

Read more for a link to the neXtu game, as well as some other math game links for number fun!

More Multiple Literacies resources... Rap, Baby!

One of the cohort in my bachelor's program used a graphing rap song to solidify graphing rules and concepts with her students as she worked with them on graphing. First she explicitly went through the lyrics with them and had them rap together once. Then, as they worked in groups or individually she has the song playing quietly in the background. There is a bit of rote memorization with this particular approach, but the brilliance is that students had a positive interaction with the material. The remembering was easy and therefore the reasons behind the concepts became the focus. She could say "remember when the song says ____? What they mean by that is ____________." The other approach to this could be to have students deconstruct the text (why does the song say that?). This last approach is inquiry based and is most successful.

Students who reside primarily in their right brain are governed by musicality (among other things artistic). Rap and rhythm tap into right-brain intelligence to strengthen comprehension. ESOL students often benefit from music and rhythm because it gives them a quickly retrieved association to attach learning to. below are some content rap resources to support classroom learning...