When I worked in Cambrian School District in San Jose ten years ago, I walked into a colleague's classroom and spotted a test on a table in the back of the room. The test topic was circles, and I noticed one of the questions was about the Japanese flag. The students were asked to find the circle's circumference on the flag. This question did not require a picture of the flag, nor was it very challenging. There is only one way for students to solve the problem: to apply the formula written at the top of the page.

Even though I wasn't a fan of the question, it gave me an idea. I looked up a few interesting flags, and after seeing that test on the desk, I presented my students with the flag of Norway and asked them to find the area of the three colors. 

I did not give them any other instructions, but what happened next was more exciting than anything I could have dreamed of. Students started moving around the classroom, discussing their ideas with classmates. They walked up to the Smartboard and started drawing lines to cut up the shape. Students with different answers began arguing about who was right; mistakes were made and then erased. It was beautiful. 

Shortly after, I bought large whiteboards and markers for students to use in small groups of three, and I spent most of my free time creating presentations on Google Slides. I spent a few years creating presentations with math that applied to the real world. Some worked great; others could have been done better.

One day, I decided I needed to share my presentation with the rest of the teaching community, but I needed to figure out how or in what format. I tried a few things, but I needed more. One night, I was reading to my sons before bedtime, and it hit me. I can make math stories! And so Real Math was born.