Steven Schulman's Squares On A Checkerboard

In the article “Squares on a Checkerboard”, author Steven Schulman discusses how to incorporate worthwhile mathematical tasks into a classroom. Schulman begins the article by discussing the virtue of diligence and how he reminds each of his students to be diligent every day. Diligence is extremely important in a classroom setting because it teaches students how to pay more attention to the work that they are completing and to take pride in their work. Diligence is especially important when completing math problems because it is so easy to make simple mistakes while completing a problem with multiple steps involved. Back when I was in school, I struggled to be diligent when completing my work and often did poorly on math tests because I often

One of the first steps on this list is “Write the problem on the board before the children enter the room. You hope they will take the bait” (Schulman 88). I liked this strategy because it immediately gives students something to think about and discuss with another classmate as they get ready for class to begin. This strategy can also help the students relax and get ready to learn if they are coming into the classroom for the first time that morning or right after a special. Writing a question on the board helps the students to adjust back to the classroom routine. These questions can also help determine the prior knowledge of the students in a class regarding a topic. For example, if a teacher writes an open ended question on the board, some students who are confident may respond to the question by raising their hand or by writing down their answer. A student who is less confident about the topic may stare blankly at the question and may not make an effort to even write the question down. Teachers can watch their students’ reactions to the questions to see if the students understand the topic or are confident about the