Small Math Moment

All the things I haven't written about:
- the energy at the Olivia Rodrigo show in Chicago, which I attended with my beloved daughter, belting many songs while jumping, smiling & laughing together
- the joy of jumping (again! and again! and again!) in the warm Atlantic Ocean during a visit with my best friend, a new Florida resident escaping some family heartache festering in her midwest hometown
- the comfort of a long weekend with my best college friends, cooking and eating delicious meals together after days of laughter, bookstores, storytelling and catching up for hours and hours
- the adventures in Boston, NYC/CT/NJ and Philly on a weeklong road trip with my husband - including catching up with old friends and favorite young people, many delicious coffee shop stops, a beautiful, flower- and love-filled wedding, and emotional hours slowly taking in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum (which needs another visit)

I can't catch you up on the past month, but I can put my pen down today, and restart my Slicing life.

Today. A small math moment.

I'm coaching in a third grade classroom, at a table (in a too tiny chair) working with K, digging into a tough but foundational concept: multiplication is the result of repeated addition. 

He's gripping his pencil low, and tentatively looking up at me, then back at his paper, as we work the problem together. Six circles, representing plants. Three dots in each circle, representing daisies on those plants. I can tell he'd rather be drawing individual daisies, but he works through.

Dot dot dot.

Dot dot dot.

Dot dot dot.

"You've got this!" I encourage him.

The dots continue until he's done and he looks hopefully at me.

"K, you're an expert. Let's keep going. What should we do next?"

"Count?" he questions me. 

"Count. Let's try that."

Dot dot dot. 1-2-3.

Dot dot dot. 4-5-6.

Dot dot dot. 7-8-9.

He slowly but persistently makes his way across the "plants", touching dots with the tip of his pencil. He looks at me and I nod.

10-11-12.

13-14-15. He looks at me and I nod.

16-17-18.

"18?"

"Yes, you counted each dot, you touched each one, and now you know - 18 dots. 18 daises."

"Wait, I did it?"

"Yes, friend. You absolutely did it. Can we write an equation?"

K grips the pencil, low and slow, but this time, his eyes and energy are on the paper. 

6 x 3 = 18

"Can you read it to me?" 

"Six times three equals eighteen." (No question mark this time.)

"K, you're a mathematician. I love doing math with you."

I get a little tiny spark back. Not a glow, but my teacher radar picks up what he's sharing: a micro-boost of self-esteem, of doing work well, of getting it right.

I give him a quick elbow bump and a warm "Keep going, you've got this."

I jot down in my coaching notes "Let's brainstorm ways to help kids realize they can do this work. Let's build math joy."

And I move to the next learner.

Philly wedding with hubbie, Florida beach with bestie