Stuck In the Middle

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!

Exemplary Map Work in World Geography Ray S. did an amazing job on the Week 8 assignment for World Geography for the Logic Stage. That week, the class studied Western Europe, and they had to mark up their maps to show

I have the best students:
www.wtmacademy.com/student-show...

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.

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

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.

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

Pleased with this series I'm working on:

| Well-Trained Mind Academy Week 3 in World Geography for the Logic Stage is all about using an index in an atlas, interpreting map symbols and legends, and locating the continents. For their weekly assignment, students were ask...

Love to show off my students’ work:

www.wtmacademy.com/student-show...

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.

Enjoyed this from Michele Caracappa during my morning coffee:

michelecaracappa.substack.com/p/a-new-scho...

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

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

INTEGERS, EQUATIONS, GRAPHING, ROOTS AND MORE PRE-ALGEBRA REGISTRATION OPEN NOW traditional Dolciani style 7 seats available August 12, 2025-May 16, 2026 - Monday/Wednesday 12pm Eastern (New York City) time - Monday/Wednesday 1pm Eastern (New York City) time - Tuesday/Thursday 10am Eastern (New York City) time www.wtmacademy.com

Four More Weeks

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

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!

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...

AI is Maybe Sometimes Better than Nothing Reporting on that World Bank Nigeria paper

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Tutoring Format and Tutors: Findings from an Early Literacy Tutoring Program This study presents the first within-program, within-tutor experimental evidence comparing the impact of in-person versus remote tutoring. Based on results from an early literacy tutoring initiative d...

Courtesy of @pepsmccrea.bsky.social

I saw this paper this morning: “ comparing the impact of in-person versus remote tutoring”
“we find no statistically significant differences in students’ literacy outcomes by instructional modality”

edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1176?ut...

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

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

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!

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

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

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

@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...

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!

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

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!

Head of Professional Development - Remote - Indeed.com Carousel Learning Ltd

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...

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!

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

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!

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.

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