My name is Julie Reulbach and I love to teach! I am currently teaching 6th and 7th grade math at an amazing, project-based private school in North Carolina. I spend every spare moment planning, researching new ways to teach math, and reading blogs.
I have a BS in mathematics from Marshall University in WV and a MaEd from Wake Forest University in NC. I have taught at community college, public, private, and charter schools. I also worked as a Research Director for Time Warner Cable’s advertising division and an a Research Analyst for American Express.
I am married and have three crazy, fun boys aged 6, 8, and 10. They all play soccer and study music so life is quite hectic these days. I love it though and wouldn’t have it any other way!
I left teaching to be home with my boys. They are all in school now so I am back! I am excited to learn all that I have missed in my time away from teaching. I hope that this blog will help me focus, stay organized and maybe even help out other teachers! You can also follow me on Twitter as @jreulbach.
Twitter - Follow @jreulbach
Hi Julie
I love the fact that you decided to call your blog “I Speak Math”, although I would change that to “I Speak Maths”, being British! I’d love to know why you chose that as your title, because I firmly believe that mathematics is a language, and that many of the problems that everyone has with mathematics is down to the fact that it is not taught as though it were a language. Anyway, that is my theory! My main research interest is the effect that the language used to teach mathematics has on the actual learning… Welcome to the world of blogging, and Twitter. I’ll look forward to seeing you on #mathchat sometime!
Colin
P.S. You might enjoy my post: http://colintgraham.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/mathematics-for-speakers-of-other-languages/
Colin,
Thanks for the comment. I chose that name because so many students can do the math, but cannot talk the math. If I say, “you cannot reduce that because it is part of a term” I get blank stares. If I SHOW them what I mean they get it. I believe that many math teachers teach the math but then rely on the shortcuts. These shortcuts eliminate the “language” of math. What I would like to do is to bring the language of mathematics back to students. I am with you. It will be vocabulary intensive and like learning a different language. But, I believe that imprecise language can cause much confusion. My favorite example is “reducing” a fraction instead of “simplifying”. The value is NOT reduced, it is the same. The numbers are just smaller (simpler).
You have a very interesting theory and I would love to hear how it turns out!
HI Julie,
When did you write your first blog? It appears to be recently…
I have 3 girls 8, 6, and 3 and am 7 months pregnant. I taught algebra as an adjunct at community college for the last 12 months and feel I have found my calling! I cannot believe how much I enjoy it! But more about me and my issues later… =-)
I perused a few of your homework posts and I, too, have struggled with this. I refuse to grade or give any points towards it on the basis that I teach at college and adults are paying money to be there. (Similarly, I do not feel it is appropriate to give points for attendance, but again this is another discussion entirely.) However, if it is not graded, students don’t bother to do it. I agree with your assigning the odds philosophy, but it is still hard to know how many problems are enough to know the students get it.
One (seemingly obvious?) solution is to use some software that allows students to do “randomly generated” problems where each student has different numbers, but the same type and difficulty of problem. The software immediately “grades” the problem for you and the student. I require 80% off the hmwk to be correct to get credit for the hmwk — trying to get mastery.
Students can practice as much (or little) as they choose since the numbers are randomly generated. If a student gets 50%, they can review and practice and then try again until the 80% is achieved.
Of course, I do not know if your school has the funds, etc. to support this. Also, it can be hard to “go over homework” when everyone has different numbers for the same problem.
Just curious if you have ever looked into homework software such as this before and your thoughts.
So nice to find your blog!
-Joanne
PS Do you teach high school level?
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Hi Julie/Mrs. Reulbach! This is one of your former students at FCD
I have great memories of your math class, and it’s amazing to find your blog. After high school, I got my undergrad. and masters degree from Virginia Tech. I taught elem. special ed. for 3 years. Then for 4 years, I helped teachers integrate technology into their curriculum through projects in the classroom, workshops, and lab lessons. After switching counties to be closer to home, I just took a position as a special ed./math teacher in a public middle school near Richmond, VA. I was searching for ideas for my new role, and came across this blog with a profile picture that looked very familiar! Sounds like you’re doing very well. Thank you so much for being an inspiration to your students and other teachers!
Carrie (Danforth) S.
Carrie,
It is so wonderful to hear from you! I am so glad that you are a teacher. I remember how sweet you were and your amazing smile – I am sure that your students love you! I am new to all of this technology and just finished my first year at a project based school. I bet that you have fabulous ideas and projects and would love to talk to you more and share ideas. Are you on Twitter or Google+ yet? There are many math educators (and technology educators) on both and we are always sharing ideas and brainstorming. I am jreulbach on Twitter and will send you a G+ invite. Please come on over and I will introduce you to everyone. : )
Julie
Great! I just accepted your Google+ invite. I have a login for twitter, so I’ll try that as well. My e-mail is carriedanforth@gmail.com. Looking forward to catching up!
Hi Julie,
I am a retired university math professor and I have had many, many students who were ill-prepared for college mathematics (in one incoming freshman class, 60% placed in High School Remedial Math).
Most of those students had a bad attitude towards math and lacked confidence with it. According to my analysis, in general, their problems could be traced all the way back to elementary school.
I am now dedicated to developing a website where parents and teachers can send their students to make sure they have mastered the basics at their grade level. This will give them confidence, which will generate a good attitude towards math.
The student goal is simply to color a grid and the parent/teacher involvement is simply to encourage that and to enjoy watching the grid fill with the proper colors.
Students get caught up in the grid-coloring process and they enjoy the celebration animations that follow each improvement. Parents and teachers love the simple colorized on-screen progress reports.
The site is evolving at http://www.arithmequick.com . If you would like to evaluate it, I would be happy to give you a free account to check it out.
Sincerely . . . Chuck
Hello! I am currently teaching 2nd grade and will be looping up to 3rd grade next year. It is my 2nd year teaching and I love everyday and every adventure. I really enjoy reading your blog and getting ideas… It’s such a unique profession that we can all share and grow with each other. I’m nervous about the stress of high stakes testing next year. If you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know. I am going to a Singapore math workshop this summer as well. Thanks for sharing your blog and experience!
I’m a 4th grade math teacher in Texas! I just came across your blog and LOVE what I see so far (and the title, as I strive every day to get my students to SPEAK math!). I look forward to reading more!!
My brother lives in Texas! I love it there! Thanks for reading my blog – I’m so glad you are enjoying it.
Hello!I’m a 6th,7th and 8th grade math and science teacher in Italy. I was very impressed by the passion you put in your job. I love my profession too and I’d like to Know something about your way of teaching. If anyone want to share some experiences with me , my e-mail is baloccosara@gmail.com .
Sorry for my bad use of your language.
Sincerely,
Sara
Hi Julie:
I just found your site and it warmed my heart to see my blog on your list. THANK YOU!
I talked about differentiating algebra today… I hope you’ll stop by and visit again someday.
Thanks again for including me.
Kim
Finding JOY in 6th Grade
Yeah! I’m so excited to find all of these great middle school blogs lately! Most of my Twitter PLN is high school.
I love to find other bloggers who have are passionate about math. I teach remedial math to college students who I classify as “Mathphobics”. Most of them hate math, and my goal is to change their attitude by the end of the semester. They want to learn, but just need many different strategies outside of the book. Thanks for sharing your passion as well.
Thank you for your comment. I taught students from the inner city my first few years of teaching. Many of them hated math and they all hated traditional instruction. They did not start learning (or learning to like math) until I started experimenting with different strategies. I always say that they taught ME how to teach. Good luck with your students and changing their attitudes. It can be done!