About me

My name is Paul Murray.   I have been teaching Math since 1981 -- 23 years as a classroom teacher at the Franciscan Cre-Act School in Pocatello, Idaho, 4 years at an alternate middle school in Pocatello, and since 2008 as a resource teacher/coach in Waterbury, Connecticut (at Maloney Magnet School since 2012).  I retired at the end of June, 2021 and am now teaching on a volunteer basis at the Boys & Girls Club.  

As my site’s name suggests, the emphasis is on the use of hands-on activities and commonly available manipulatives and materials:  Base 10 Blocks, Fraction Towers, Cuisenaire Rods, of course.  Also rulers, meter sticks, polygons, grids, and the like.  But also yarn, boxes, pipe, pieces of wood,…you know, things.

I will share ideas, things I’ve made, and downloadable classroom-ready activities, as well as links to other informative and interesting sites.  One of the links will be to my store at Teachers Pay Teachers, where I have activities for sale. And as of August, 2019, I have opened the Math Things Store at which I am selling some products of my own — teaching materials which I have found very useful, but not (to my knowledge) mass-marketed by educational vendors.

I’ve had the good fortune to have taught in places that allowed me opportunities to experiment and learn.  I hope other teachers will find these ideas and activities useful.