I have long been an advocate for constructivist learning. Experiences where students receive feedback from each other as well as the environment frees up the teacher to consolidate with others. I especially love finding the teachers with passions similar to mine.

Jeramie Oliveira is a math teacher at Simi Valley High School and someone I have become connected to online. When I say connected, I don’t just mean we follow each other. When I was in Hawaii recently, Jeramie offered a great spot for baked goods as well as a cool little town to visit and hang out in. But more than that, Jeramie is always reflecting, learning and sharing online. Recently he published a fantastic article that I am stoked to share with you here! I’ll try to summarize a bit, but the full article can be downloaded below!

“Teaching mathematics with code provides a unique learning experience for students. In this kind of class, students have multiple opportunities to ‘teach’ mathematics. Think about this for a minute. When a student writes code, the student is ‘teaching’ the computer how to complete a task and uses all of the Mathematical Practice Standards naturally while writing programs. Here is a brief description of how each Mathematical Practice Standard is used when teaching mathematics with code.”

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Attend to precision.
3. Model with mathematics.
4. Use appropriate tools strategically.
5. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
6. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
7. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

Check out the full article here and give Jeramie a follow on twitter!

The Power of teaching Math with Code (PDF)

“I am actively looking to get more people involved in teaching math with code. Everything I do is free to anyone that wants to try it out. I only ask that you e-mail me (jeramie.oliveira@simivalleyusd.org) with the location where you work. I am trying to keep track where the internet takes math with code. Then make it your own and share too. We are always stronger together,” Jeremie says. I could not agree more!