Math Drawings: Good Stuff for Teachers by Mary Smale

Mary originally created the Math Drawings to capture the imaginations of reluctant learners. It was a way to present an opportunity for those students -- who never seceded at anything academic -- to finally succeed at something. Since Mary believes that success builds on success, she surmised that this success could be the catalyst that ignites those students’ passion for the course. Going into to this project, she knew students loved to draw because she had been confiscating surreptitious art work -- created at inappropriate times in class -- for years. So, Math Drawings seemed to be a natural step boost enthusiasm for the course. The very first lesson, “Tin Cans,” proved her right. It was a smashing success. Quickly word spread until, all her students wanted to work with her Math Drawings. Soon Mary was forced to add a more advanced supplement to each drawing,-- which she called “Differentiation,”-- to challenge the older or more accomplished students.