Nat Banting
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natbanting.bsky.social
Nat Banting
@natbanting.bsky.social
Math Teacher & Math Ed Enthusiast (writing, speaking, tinkering); @FractionTalks; #MenuMath #OIFMath #UpscalePB creator; Public Address Guy; Goalie Dad.

natbanting.com
Has anyone built a math practice app where every answer is 6, 7, or 67 yet?
September 29, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Nat Banting
Visual Patterns 🤝 Pattern Blocks
I am currently OBSESSED, in a (mostly) healthy way, with @fawnnguyen.substack.com visual patterns and @mathforlove.bsky.social pattern blocks for kids to learn and create patterns. Ah-may-zing. Also, I am in LOVE with Mary Vail's Thinking Desks, they are phenomenal!
September 19, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by Nat Banting
September 14, 2025 at 11:42 PM
I think this is all sorted now!

(That’s 5 hours of my Saturday I won’t get back 😂)
When I try to load your website I get a message that your account has been suspended.
September 14, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Reposted by Nat Banting
I wrote a new post yesterday:

natbanting.com/play-with-yo...

It’s about the benefits of teachers tinkering with the problems/prompts we offer students.

(And, tangentially, about the benefits of conference spaces where we are given license to do so)

#iteachmath
Play with your Problems
I am a compulsive problem poser. When presented with a mathematical context, I have an incredible amount of difficulty leaving it alone. My teacher instinct is to push, prod, tinker, and/or alter i…
natbanting.com
September 11, 2025 at 12:22 PM
I wrote a new post yesterday:

natbanting.com/play-with-yo...

It’s about the benefits of teachers tinkering with the problems/prompts we offer students.

(And, tangentially, about the benefits of conference spaces where we are given license to do so)

#iteachmath
Play with your Problems
I am a compulsive problem poser. When presented with a mathematical context, I have an incredible amount of difficulty leaving it alone. My teacher instinct is to push, prod, tinker, and/or alter i…
natbanting.com
September 11, 2025 at 12:22 PM
“Orange” is a 1-syllable word

(Massive family argument occurring)
August 31, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Any old #bcedchat folks have a lead on a veteran math history teacher??
BC has a grade 11 math history course!!

Have any BC math educators on here taught this course? If so, what was your experience?
August 24, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Nat Banting
BC has a grade 11 math history course!!

Have any BC math educators on here taught this course? If so, what was your experience?
August 24, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Math class: “Here’s a task about a hallway of lockers that involves perfect squares”

English class: “Here’s a book and, at the end, the hero dies”

These are identical experiences imho

I think math teachers feel an increased need to include more “spoilers” to justify openness in their classroom.
August 12, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Nat Banting
It’s true what they say. This is excellent.

And I’m going to quote the end to give you a taste:

“But personalized learning is the wrong ideal. … We shouldn’t be going all-in on kids learning on their own. We should be trying to figure out how to make whole-group learning even better.”
August 11, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Nat Banting
August 11, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Reposted by Nat Banting
This exhibit at the Tate Modern in London giving real “How Many?” vibes.

@triangleman.bsky.social
August 11, 2025 at 6:04 PM
This exhibit at the Tate Modern in London giving real “How Many?” vibes.

@triangleman.bsky.social
August 11, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Nat Banting
Re-sharing from Feb ‘24: @natbanting.bsky.social waxes poetic about the Math Twitter Blog-o-Sphere (RIP). Man, that was a heady scene. It felt like an open apprenticeship for those of us on the periphery. I love seeing so many good folks emerge from it. #mtbos

natbanting.com/rip-bos-a-tr...
RIP-BoS: A Tribute to the Math-Twitter Blog-O-Sphere
When I was a first year teacher, the teachers in my province went on strike for two days. It was on the first of those two days that I signed up for Twitter in order to follow public opinion on the…
natbanting.com
August 8, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Reposted by Nat Banting
Looking forward to reading!

Here's my latest, on the importance of our connections to each other (thank you for being in my group of math people!)

karendcampe.wordpress.com/2025/08/05/f...
Find Your (Math) People
Teaching is hard. The day-to-day cycle of planning, presenting, orchestrating, testing, and reflecting is continuous, and there’s always the uncertainty of how the students will show up (or not) to…
karendcampe.wordpress.com
August 8, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Finally! An AI that gets me.
Google Gemini doesn’t appear to be doing too well:

‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’
Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments
Google Gemini users said the bot is sharing self-loathing messages while attempting to solve tasks, including "I am a disgrace to this universe."
www.businessinsider.com
August 8, 2025 at 12:12 PM
I don’t think people read blog much anymore, but a week in a library has produced a few new ones for this school year.

Some thoughts that have been ratting about in my head for a while.
August 8, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Several ppl sent me this extraordinary chart crime. Thank you I love it
August 7, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Here’s a thing about teaching post-secondary:

After the course, you’ll get emails expressing how enjoyable the course was. You’ll also get the odd one saying they disliked you and the course.

The former are sent immediately; the latter are sent after grades come out.

Pay attention to both.
July 21, 2025 at 5:06 PM
👀 the license plate
July 14, 2025 at 7:33 PM
**overheard at Starbucks**

Customer: “What’s the wifi password?”
Barista: “1-3-5-7-9. All the odd numbers.”
C: “That’s a lot of numbers to remember.”
B: “It’s a pattern. Once you see it, it makes sense. But until then, it’s just a bunch of numbers.”

Friggin’ profound advice re: math education.
July 6, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Reposted by Nat Banting
We’re currently under a severe thunderstorm watch here in Alberta. I love this handy guide which clearly explains the difference between a “watch” and a “warning.”
#yegwx #abstorm #yegweather
July 2, 2025 at 6:59 PM