Kids Teaching Kids with Mathtrain.TV

I've recently discovered Mathtrain.TV. It's a website full of videos that kids have created to teach math skills/concepts to other kids.  Several years ago middle school teacher, Eric Marcos, started this site after some of his students asked if they could make videos to help their peers.  The video below tells the story of how this site developed naturally following the request for help from one of his students.



After reviewing several videos on the site, I've been impressed by the level confidence and understanding that some of the kids demonstrate.  I feel very strongly that students need to understand the math they're learning rather than just being able to perform steps that lead to a "correct answer".  One of the things I like most about this site is that some of the students really do demonstrate number sense and understanding in their videos. The problems I've viewed have all been rote and skill-based, but the way some of the students explain their thinking makes them worthwhile for helping students learn skills.

Check out this video by papatom on finding percents.  In this video, Papatom (the students use fake names) does a nice job of solving the problem using number sense.  His explanation is also very easy to follow.

In addition to having hundreds of videos ready for viewing on the site, you and your students can also create and upload your own videos.  You can view any of the videos without signing up, but uploading videos requires that you register for the site.  

I hope that you and your students will check out Mathtrain.TV and get some inspiration!

Leave a comment telling us what you think about Mathtrain.TV.