About the Author: Rusty Bresser

Rusty Bresser, M.A.
Rusty first became interested in teaching as a result of studying children and families in French Polynesia. When he’s not in San Diego, you might find him on an island in the Pacific.

  • Making Sense of Fraction Multiplication

    Published On: April 1, 2026•By •6.4 min read•Views: 2058•Comments Off on Making Sense of Fraction Multiplication•

    When I was in sixth grade, I remember learning how to multiply fractions by multiplying across the tops and the bottoms. The problem 1/2 times 1/2 was easy! All I had to do was multiply...

  • My Students Don’t Know Their Basic Math Facts! What Can I Do?

    Published On: September 2, 2025•By •12 min read•Views: 4419•Comments Off on My Students Don’t Know Their Basic Math Facts! What Can I Do?•

    I was recently facilitating a math professional development session for elementary teachers, and with about five minutes left at the end of the day, a teacher raised her hand and asked, “What about basic math...

  • Foot Parade! Modeling with Mathematics in Grades K-2

    Published On: July 17, 2025•By •8.2 min read•Views: 1504•Comments Off on Foot Parade! Modeling with Mathematics in Grades K-2•

    How many feet are in a foot parade that has 3 snails, a ladybug, a moose, and an octopus? How about the number of feet in a foot parade with 5 ostriches? Or a parade...

  • Venn Diagram-Image 1

    Venn Diagrams in Math Class… A Big Hit!

    Published On: September 6, 2024•By •7.3 min read•Views: 4103•Comments Off on Venn Diagrams in Math Class… A Big Hit!•

    What’s a Venn Diagram? Way back in the 1880’s, John Venn popularized this graphic organizer to illustrate the relationships between two or more sets of items. In fact, Venn-style diagrams have been around since the...

  • From Rockets to Polygons! A Geometry Experience for Grades K-2

    Published On: August 28, 2024•By •7.6 min read•Views: 1857•Comments Off on From Rockets to Polygons! A Geometry Experience for Grades K-2•

    Mathematician Marcus Du Sautoy once said, “The power of mathematics is often to change one thing into another, to change geometry into language.” His quote reminds me of one of my favorite math experiences that...

  • Performance Tasks: What are they? Why are they important?

    Published On: August 12, 2024•By •9.4 min read•Views: 29547•Comments Off on Performance Tasks: What are they? Why are they important?•

    A respected colleague once reminded me of an old saying, “You can’t fatten a pig by weighing it.” She was a classroom teacher and exasperated by all the testing she had to do with her...

  • Ten Apples Up on Top!

    Published On: June 4, 2024•By •6.3 min read•Views: 4414•Comments Off on Ten Apples Up on Top!•

    Launching a Math Lesson with Dr. Seuss Choosing a book by Dr. Seuss to launch a math lesson made me reflect on the author’s contributions to children’s literature. Although Theodor Seuss Geisel is immensely popular,...

  • Teaching Plus One & Minus One Within 10

    Published On: January 8, 2024•By •8 min read•Views: 2687•Comments Off on Teaching Plus One & Minus One Within 10•

    Engaging Experiences for Transitional Kindergarten Recently, I sat in on a professional development session in which Math Transformations consultant Elba Ozakcay shared some of her favorite lessons with a group of transitional kindergarten teachers. Watching...

  • Helping Students Make Sense of Subtraction

    Helping Students Make Sense of Subtraction

    Published On: October 17, 2023•By •7.6 min read•Views: 15972•Comments Off on Helping Students Make Sense of Subtraction•

    The other day I was reading an opinion piece about teaching subtraction, and although I didn’t agree with some of the ideas in the article, it really made me think, talk to colleagues and friends,...

  • One is a Snail Ten is a Crab

    One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab

    Published On: October 2, 2023•By •5.3 min read•Views: 12975•Comments Off on One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab•

    Literature-Launched Lessons for Grades K-3 One is a Snail Ten is a Crab by April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre is a children’s book all about feet, and it’s my current favorite. Did you know...