Month: April 2020

Oh, hey y’all!

I am so excited to share this series of videos illustrating some important ideas about division, along with several methods.    

Oftentimes in Math education, we tend to focus quite a bit on constructing groups of numbers through multiplication, but we don’t spend as much time on unraveling those groups with division.  I would often fall into the trap of thinking that since multiplication and division are inverse operations, that if students understood multiplication, they would easily understand division just as well.  Unfortunately, that’s just not the case.  

Students need strong number sense, and they need a strong foundation in subtraction, place value, multiplication and division facts, divisibility rules, factors and multiples, and estimation to feel totally confident dividing larger whole numbers.  

The series is just under an hour and a half from start to finish, because it’s quite comprehensive (and let’s be honest, I have a lot to say! haha!).  I have broken it up into 6 different parts, so please take your time, and reach out with any questions along the way.

Part 1 explains what I feel are the three most common reasons that students struggle with division as well as some tips for overcoming them.  

Part 2 illustrates Ms. B’s Key to unlocking success with division.

Part 3 demonstrates how to divide using the Area Model (sometimes called the box method).

Part 4 demonstrates how to divide using the Big 7 method.

Part 5 demonstrates how to divide using Partial Quotients.

Part 6 demonstrates traditional long division and then reviews all four methods one last time as well as some closing thoughts.

While many of us who went to school back in the 80s and 90s will most likely be drawn to the traditional long division method, it’s really important that we understand, and allow our children to explore the more conceptually driven methods of area model, big 7, and partial quotients.  The best mathematicians, which is what we are trying to develop, are the ones who can flow seamlessly from one method to another.  They understand the WHY (concept) which in turn leads them to understand the HOW (procedure).

Happy Math-ing y’all! 

Oh, hey y’all!

My name is Karly Barksdale, but my students call me Ms. B.  I also have two very special little girls in my life that call me Mom.  This gives me a unique perspective that comes from being both a teacher and a mom that I truly feel has made me better at both of those invaluable roles.  

I have been teaching for twelve years, and it has been quite a ride.  Over the years, I have taught elementary, middle, and high school. I have taught electives like Spanish, College and Career Readiness, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, Geography, and Technology.  I have taught core subjects like Science, Social Studies, English Language Arts, and of course my true love, MATH! I thought that my inability to settle into a grade level or subject was an indicator that maybe I was in the wrong profession, but that wasn’t the case at all.  

Don’t get me wrong.  I LOVE teaching. I love the connections that I make with students, parents, siblings, and my coworkers.  

But.  

Y’all.  

Being an educator is so challenging.  I could write an entire blog post dedicated to just that, which I probably will one day.  However, even though the reward isn’t immediate, just like parenting, it is so very sweet.  I am still in contact with several of the high school students that I taught my very first year out of college. I’m not sure they remember much of the Spanish I taught them, but I hope they remember how much fun we had and how much I loved them.  I am watching them graduate from college and graduate school, embark on rewarding careers (some even in education), and start families of their own. Since switching to elementary school, I’ve have kids come back every once in a while to see me as middle schoolers to tell me that their teacher was impressed with how well they knew their fractions.  I even, just the other night, had a parent/friend text me how impressed she was with how well her 5th grader knew so many advanced concepts! Yes. I cried. Some of my very best friends are former students and parents of former students. My heart seems to grow more every year, even when I think it can’t anymore.  

I am so excited to begin this new chapter in my education career.  I’ll still be teaching full time, but I feel very driven to share the knowledge and love of Math that I have developed over the years.  I hear about and read about parents that are frustrated with “new math,” or that feel lost trying to help their kids. I often have girls in my class that think that Math is a boy’s subject.  I get students, boys and girls, every single year that “hate Math” because it’s “too hard.” I work hard to change that every year in my own classroom, and it must be working, because my students consistently show a tremendous amount of growth every single year.  

So, I want to widen my reach.  To accomplish that, I have created Ms. B’s Buzz, along with an Instagram, YouTube Channel, a Teachers Pay Teachers Store, and a Pinterest!  I did all of this to hopefully connect with and help as many people as I can.  I hope that this can be a resource for students, parents, and teachers.  

For students, I hope to be able to provide tips and methods to help you be more successful and to love Math a little more.  It’s possible that the way I teach concepts is a little bit different than your teachers, and that might be what you need.  

For parents, I hope that I can help you understand why we teach math the way that we do now.  I absolutely understand where so much of the frustration comes from. I teach math in a different way than I was taught, and it’s AMAZING!  Trust me.  

For teachers, I hope to be able to not only provide valuable resources for you to use in your classroom, but also help you understand your math curriculum just a little bit better.  It took me about four years of teaching Math to actually feel comfortable in the classroom each day, and I am still learning new things! 

My ultimate goal is for this to be a place of connection, collaboration, and growth as we tackle Math together.