Hands-on math!

Notebooks

If you can afford it (or if your parents are willing to chip in), it's a good idea to provide each student with a 3-ring notebook to keep their papers in. They should be saving everything they do, including the handouts, the in-class exercises and the homework. Not only does this help the student recall concepts they may have forgotten, but it also helps the parents who want to help them do their homework. It also shows the parents what concepts their child is learning.

When you make copies of papers for class (handouts, in-class exercises and homework) use 3-hole punched paper so the students can easily add the material to their accumulating notebook.

It can give a student a sense of pride and accomplishment if the 3-ring binder has a cover that has your Math Team logo (if you have one) and the student's name! Here are some inexpensive 3-ring binders from Amazon, along with some 3-hole punch paper.

Here are some candidate Math Team logos that other teams have used before. Don't want a fancy logo? It can be as simple as:
(Your team name)
MATH TEAM

(Student's name)


Optional: Provide a tab with each lesson so lessons can be located quickly in the notebook.

Suggestions:

  • When handing out the materials for lesson 5 (for example), also hand out the answer sheet for lesson 4 for the parents to use to help their student.
  • Put the student's completed (or partially completed) Math Pak in as the first entry in the notebook. If the student has not turned in a Math Pak at all, put in a blank one and ask the student to work on it in their spare time. For a student that has not completed (or even started) his/her Math Pak, turn to the first unfinished problem and help them work just that one problem. This sometimes gets the student started.
  • Tape the multiplication table to the inside of the cover for easy reference.
  • DO NOT put the diagnostic quiz in the notebook. That is for the coach's use only!
  • When you correct homework, don't just mark an incorrect answer wrong; explain why it is wrong so the student can refer to your comments later (because they are saved in the notebook).