Pancakes

A few times a month, I’ll make peanut butter pancakes for the kids.

Today, I realized that I know what I need to make pancakes, and if the Betty Crocker cookbook was stolen or lost, I could probably get pretty close. If I go a bit over or under the 1 cup of flour, it’s no big deal, but I’ve had baked goods with too much of one ingredient, and it’s a real bummer.

Now, I’m unwilling to give my kids a mouthful of chaulky pancakes, so I use the cookbook every time,B since I am scared of making a mistake and the resulting fallout.

Have you ever had a student say, “I don’t get it,” unsure of where to start? Or they do one or two steps correct, but want some assurance before proceeding?

I sure have. Like they can’t recall if it’s 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda or of baking powder?

There’s no point here, just a connection that was too long for a tweet.

Here’s what I’m still wondering:

• How can we better get students to differentiate between low-stakes and high-stakes?
• Should we have high-stakes stuffB at all?
• B What is the math-class equivalent of tossing a botched bowl of ingredients and starting over?

~Matt “Betty Crocker” Vaudrey