#009 Dan Meyer – 3 Act Math, Desmos, TED Talk and more!

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsAnchorPodbeanStitcherPocketCasts

On this episode of the Mr Barton Maths Podcast I got to speak to one of my all-time maths heroes, Dan Meyer.

Dan is known for many things, including his dy/dan blog, TED Talk “Math Class needs a Makeover“, 3 Act Math, 101qs.com, Graphing Stories, and now Desmos. He has also probably been the most influential person on my teaching career.

I was lucky enough to speak to Dan for an hour, and during that time I asked him, among other things:

  • How does he plan lessons?
  • Can he describe a lesson that went badly, and what he learned from it?
  • When does technology enhance teaching and learning, and when does it hinder it?
  • What exciting stuff is in the Desmos pipeline
  • What is Dan’s take on the importance of real life mathematics?
  • Where did the idea for 3 Act Math come from, and what tips does he have for teachers delivering lessons using that structure?
  • What was the inspiration behind the Headache and Aspirin series of blog posts
  • And what tips does Dan have for teachers embarking upon their careers?
US listeners, to try out our free Diagnostic Questions quizzes aligned to the Common Core Standard, to help you and your students identify, understand and resolve key misconceptions, just head over to https://www.diagnosticquestions.com/Home/USALanding

Dan Meyer’s Work
Dan’s TED Talk “Math Class needs a Makeover
Desmos

Real World Maths
The two tasks I discussed are:
1. Choose 3 numbers
2. Andrew Stadel’s modelling task called Trashketball
Dan’s blog post on Real World v Real Work

Headache and Asprin blog post series

Dan’s Meyer’s Big 3
1. The Three Acts of a Mathematical Story, (my collection of my favourite 3 Act Math activities can be found here)

My usual plugs:

One thought on “#009 Dan Meyer – 3 Act Math, Desmos, TED Talk and more!

Leave a Reply