math.blue

Mistakes are our friends!

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About me

I’m passionate about helping kids feel successful in math, and helping great teachers keep teaching!

My name is Helene (“Hel-een”) Poppleton and I believe that, whoever you are, you can do math!  I see students (and adults!) approach math with closed-mindedness and sometimes fear… but it doesn’t have to be that way. 

  • Mistakes are our friends– in fact, they are the very process of learning.  If you don’t make mistakes, you probably knew it already!  We never need to be ashamed of them- we should celebrate all the thinking that is happening because of our mistakes. 
  • Math is figure-out-able.  You have been learning math all your life, and you might just know everything you need to know to conquer a problem.  Discovering that it’s okay to take your time, try out different options (mistakes again!), and maybe talk it out with someone else takes the anxiety and despair away and replaces it with productive struggle- and, most importantly, the incredible joy that comes from finally getting the right answer! It feels awesome!  And that feeling is for everyone!

I have both Bachelor of Science and Master degrees in Mathematics from Utah State University and was selected as a Math for America Utah Fellow.  I am a certified teacher in both Utah and Connecticut and have taught 7th and 8th graders in large Middle School classes, as well as small K-8 ones. My students have run the gamut from co-taught SPED Inclusion classes to regular-ed and Honors.  In all of those settings, I have loved watching students light up as they realize that they can do math, too!

I am also a mother of 4 who loves to read and sing and bake cookies. Life balance can be really hard for teachers, so I strive to create meaningful practice activities that teachers can use immediately to help ease the burden of planning for tomorrow.  Thanks for visiting!

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