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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Math Mammoth in particular has really excellent supplemental texts: www.mathmammoth.com/blue-series and I've successfully used RightStart's fraction work for several years (excellent manipulatives): rightstartmath.com/shop/rightst...

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

enjoyed this post from @dylanpkane.bsky.social about the problem of insufficient practice. h/t to @michaelt1979.bsky.social 's server for alerting me to it. This is one reason why I like using tech, for that unlimited practice. Another option is to buy supplemental curriculum, which I do.

fivetwelvethirteen.substack.com

The Problem of Practice

Inadequate curriculum, supplementing, and generative AI

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

If you repeat this process out to four decimal digits, you can get all the way to the thousandths place, which is good enough for most purposes. After we learned this, I taught them how to use interpolation to find the roots of decimal numbers and larger numbers. Because why not?

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Let's take that average again, (5.2 + 5.19)/2 = 5.195 27 ÷ 5.195 = 5.197 This is good! We have the same digits to the hundredths place. Let's square 5.19, to test. We get 26.936, which rounds nicely to 27. We can say that the approximate square root of 27 to the hundredths place is 5.19.

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

27 ÷ 5.3 is 5.09 and change. We can round that to 5.1 Our answer was pretty bad! But it gives us a place to start. Let's average our prior estimate, 5.3, with our current quotient, 5.1. That gives us 5.2 Again, let's test this. 27 ÷ 5.2 is 5.19 Not exactly the same, but close. We can do better.

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Therefore, the first digit of our answer will be 5. What about the rest? We need an estimate of how far 27 is from 25 (2) and how far it is from 36 (9). 25 to 36 is 11. So, 2 steps out of 11 steps is about 1/4 of the way there. We can use .3 as a decimal equivalent. Let's test it!

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

First, learn your perfect squares. 1 x 1 = 1, 2 x 2 = 4, 3 x 3 = 9 Second, choose a square root. Let's say, for the sake of this, we choose the square root of 27. Now, we know that the perfect square 25 is the closest on the smaller side and the perfect square 36 is the closest on the larger side.

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

I'm having fun teaching my pre-algebra students how to calculate square roots by hand. Why are we doing this? It's good number sense! In case you don't know how, here are the steps:

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Mountain State Spotlight @mtnstspotlight.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

In Morgantown, Courtney Ostaff pays about $100 a month for cable-based internet service. But, she still worries about outages, impacting her remote job. mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/01/25/b...

mountainstatespotlight.org

These West Virginians are still waiting for high-speed internet

West Virginia is set to receive millions for broadband, but residents say reliable internet still hasn’t reached them.

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

I asked my oldest students to do a project of their choice to explore a concept from the semester as their final assessment. I got some thoughtful, amazing art and research in response! I have the best students!

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

One of the neat things about teaching is that I get to explain lots of things. For example, today I am explaining the CNO process in nuclear fusion in the heart of stars, how to create the three basic shapes through geometric construction, and the concept of scientific notation.

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

I have so much fun with my classes. This morning, my astro lab students calculated the mass of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. So cool!

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

Did the Unit 2 test (integers, exponents (pos, neg, etc)) and got 80% of students passing with an 80% or better, and that is DEEPLY satisfying.

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

I get to talk about the theory of special relativity this week and class and honestly it's my favorite topic all week!

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

One of the parts of teaching I most enjoy is a weekly selection of an example of the excellent work that my students are doing and asking parental permission to share it. Reminds me that my work matters, and that I can share that joy with my students and their parents.

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Pleased with this series I'm working on:

Screencaps of a series of videos I'm recording for my math classes I'm teaching.

Video 1: All About Al - Math in Society - 8:23
Video 2: All About Al - Math in Society - What are Neural Networks? - 14:14
Video 3: All About Al - Math in Society - Training Neural Networks - 14:08

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Enjoyed this from Michele Caracappa during my morning coffee: michelecaracappa.substack.com/p/a-new-scho...

Collins termed "the Stockdale Paradox." As Collins described, drawing upon Stockdale's experiences as a prisoner-of-war:
You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time, have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Thank you! And yes, I’d take that in a heartbeat 😂

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

First day of class! No matter how many times I’ve done this, I always get a few jitters!

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

I've got some space left. Take care of next school year's math now and enjoy your summer break without having to think about it. I say this every year, but it's true—I have the kindest, hardest working students. Have your student join them and get ready for Algebra!

DECIMALS TO THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM
MATH FUNDAMENTALS
formerly prep for pre-algebra
4 seats available
August 12, 2025 to May 16, 2026
Tuesday/Thursday 12 pm Eastern
suitable for students working at the 4th-6th grade level / Upper Key Stage 2
Mrs Courtney Ostaff instructor
registration open now
www.wtmacademy.com
homeschool afterschool private school public school students all welcome
WTMA is a an approved course vendor with many states

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Dan Willingham @dtwuva.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

If we leave the acquisition of morphological knowledge to children's reading, what information is there in books to be acquired? @kathyrastle.bsky.social has answers (open). www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Michael Pershan @mpershan.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Wrote about my problems with that World Bank "ai tutoring" study. pershmail.substack.com/p/ai-is-mayb...

pershmail.substack.com

AI is Maybe Sometimes Better than Nothing

Reporting on that World Bank Nigeria paper

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Running my end of year stats for my largest math class, and I'm feeling pretty good: - 80%+ made an 80% or above - 89% completion ratio - for the first time ever, every single student who stuck with it passed the class

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

WTMA is a WV HOPE Scholarship vendor! Have your student come learn with me: we go from decimals, fractions, and percents all the way to the Pythagorean theorem. Only five seats left for the August start.

Well-Trained Mind Academy Registration Open
Math Fundamentals (former Prep for Pre-Algebra)
5 seats available
August 12, 2025 - May 16, 2026
Tuesday/Thursday 12pm Eastern
suitable for students working at the 4th-6th grade level / Upper Key Stage 2
Mrs. Courtney Ostaff, Instructor
www.wtmacademy.com

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

Took my youngest to the Ramp and Rails festival (the indigenous allium and a tourist train ride in Elkins, WV), and snagged the last couple of seats on the train.

a picture of a 1950s era passenger train with West Virginia Central written on the side

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Got my students excited about uses for box and whisker plots today. #winning

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Just a few spots left in one of my all-time favorite courses! With a college-level textbook and other supplemental resources, we'll study astronomy ranging from the shape of the universe to magnetic fields! Add Monday to your schedule and make it a full-year lab course, as well!

Well-Trained Mind Academy Astronomy
6 openings available
August 12, 2025 - May 16, 2026
Tuesday/Thursday 11 am Eastern (New York) time
American style high school course
accompanying lab available on Mondays at 11 am
Mrs. Courtney Ostaff, Instructor
Registration Open Now
www.wtmacademy.com
suitable for homeschool students as well as independent study for school-enrolled students

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Kicking it old school today: teaching students to find square roots by hand. Does great things for conceptual understanding of roots.

Approximate the square root of 55 to the tenths' place
Step 1: first find the two integers between which the sq rt of 55 lies
Step 2: divide 55 by the estimate, 7.3
Step 3: average the divisor and quote
Step 4: repeat until the desired place value is identical for the divisor and quotient

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

@palan57.bsky.social ‘s latest includes a point I agree with wholeheartedly: “Content knowledge matters. This is so basic to education, and tech shortcuts do not change it. All aspects of learning rest on Knowing Stuff.” open.substack.com/pub/curmudgu...

open.substack.com

Content Knowledge Is Still Necessary

A couple of decades ago, we started hearing people say "You don't have to teach students that stuff.

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

My teen just got her SAT scores back—she earned a tuition and fee scholarship for undergraduate at our local university. A celebration day at our house!

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

I'm teaching math fundamentals next school year, and I have seats available! Come join me as we go from long division to the Pythagorean Theorem!

Registration Open: Math Fundamentals (formerly Prep for Pre-Algebra)
11 seats available
August 12, 2025 - May 16, 2026 Tuesday/Thursday 12pm Eastern
suitable for students working at the 4th-6th grade level / Upper Key Stage 2
Mrs. Courtney Ostaff, Instructor
Registration Open Now www.wtmacademy.com

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Carousel Learning @carousel-learning.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

We're hiring a Head of Professional Development. We've got BIG plans to help teachers to improve their practice - this is your chance to lead that work while working with a lovely and supportive team. Join us! uk.indeed.com/job/head-pro...

uk.indeed.com

Head of Professional Development - Remote - Indeed.com

Carousel Learning Ltd

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

I'm always trying to level up in my skills, and one of the things I'm most proud of recently is teaching students with no prior experience how to knit, online. It's really quite difficult! Our current Math in Fiber Arts unit is on knitting codes, and the projects they've chosen are so interesting!

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Blake Harvard @blakeharvard.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Really enjoyed my chat with @cultofpedagogy.bsky.social. Please check out the article and the podcast link. : )

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Dr. Althea Need Kaminske @drkaminske.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Taking a break from doom-scrolling to get some writing done. Delighted to realize the E.E. Abbott, as in Abbott (1909) the first to conduct experiments on what we now call retrieval practice, was Edwina Eunice Abbott. So many pioneers of memory research were women!

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

So lovely to reach out to a family to ask if I can use their student's work as an examplar in future years and have them be happy about it. Sometimes, as an instructor, just being able to say that a student is doing well brings joy.

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Time passes swiftly when you’re busy, I guess!!!

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

It doesn’t seem that long to me! She’s a junior in high school this year—high schoolers here get courses for $75/credit hour, so we’re taking advantage.

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

My eldest, taking her first university course, got her first graded assignment back, and it was a good score. Step by step!

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

One of my former students reached out to see if I'd tutor them 1:1 in a higher math class, and while I don't do tutoring, I'm so flattered that they asked!

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

still working on the distributive property!

$A screenshot of a whiteboard with an equation that requires the use of the distributive property on both sides, solved two ways (one with fractions, and one without). I color coded this heavily.$

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Stuck In the Middle @stuckinthemiddle.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

My cousin teaching down South asked me for explicit instruction curriculum recommendations for grammar, and it was like I’d been preparing for this for a decade. 😂

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Howie Hua @howiehua.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Did you know percentages are reversible? #Math #ITeachMath #EduSky

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