Experimentation, Play, and Great Thinkers
What’s the best way to develop great scientific and mathematical minds? It can be helpful to draw inspiration from some of the great thinkers of our era. As a kid, Vera Rubin used to watch the stars drift past her…
Infinite Room to Grow
When people ask what age groups Tile Farm Academy is designed for, they are often surprised by our answer: PreK to PhD. In fact, our entire team regularly plays, experiments, and makes new discoveries inside Tile Farm Academy. To some,…
Secret Codes & Creative Thinking
By Alex Romero In addition to wearing many hats at Tile Farm, I am a lifelong teacher and look for any opportunity I can to get back into the classroom. This past summer, I had the opportunity to teach a…
Inside a District-Wide Adoption of Tile Farm in a Large Public School System
Tile Farm is proud to partner with Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) on a district-wide adoption of Tile Farm Academy for STEAM and make labs, supporting creative, visual, and student-centered mathematics learning across the district. This partnership builds on a successful…
Joyful Math in a Pasadena Unified After-School Program
By Julian Romero and Lauren Romero In addition to our work with Tile Farm, we have both spent many years teaching and always welcome opportunities to return to the classroom. This past fall, we taught an after-school course at San…
From Research to the Classroom: An ESSA-Aligned Approach to Intervention
Tile Farm Academy meets the criteria for ESSA Tier 4 evidence (“Demonstrates a Rationale”), meaning it is supported by a clearly articulated, research-grounded logic model and ongoing efforts to study its impact. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Tier…
Math Anxiety: The Hidden Barrier in Tier 2 and Tier 3 Support
Math anxiety has been described as a silent epidemic in education because it affects so many students, yet often goes unnamed or untreated. For students receiving Tier 2 and Tier 3 support, math anxiety is not a side issue, it…
Joy Is Not a Bonus: Why Intervention Works Better When Math Feels Good
Intervention Is About Healing Students’ Relationships with Math For many students, math intervention is not just about filling gaps in skills, it is about repairing a relationship with math. By the time students are identified for intervention, many have come…
Number Portraits: Number Sense Meets Project-Based Learning
Why Fluency Needs Creative Application The ultimate goal of fluency and number sense practice is not speed, it’s the ability to think flexibly about numbers and apply them in meaningful ways. A simple multiplication fact like 5 × 8 doesn’t…