The Math Squad is about creative ways that teachers can use art, writing, research, and Internet projects to make math more exciting for their students.
This web site describes the projects that I am using with great success. It is intended to be a resource for teachers and students.
The biggest problem that we encounter as math teachers is the pervasive attitude that math is both boring and
unusually difficult. Many students have the mistaken idea that only those gifted with special "math
abilities" can ever succeed in math. This is simply not true. It is our job as math teachers to show students
that math can be fun and that they do not need to be "math brains" to succeed in high school math.
Although math teachers often use art activities to reinforce specific math lessons and concepts e.g.,
geometric designs, tessellations, fractals, computer art, etc. (and art is valuable when used this way)
these kinds of art activities are not the focus of this web site.
Many of the Math Squad art projects are quite different, both in scope and content. First, several of my projects are year-long. Although I have created single lesson activities (CLICK to Visit my MATH
ADVENTURES Store!), many are designed as year-long adventure themes in which the math instruction is more easily facilatated. These adventure themes provide a tangible "thread" of continuity and cumulative reinforcement.
