- The first time you give your students access to the blocks, give them some time to just play around, before naming the blocks.
- Tell them that the only blocks whose name they must memorize are the x and the y. All others can be figured out by using the corner piece to find their dimensions.
- You might ask for guesses as to why the blocks are called the Lab Gear — after a while, hint that it has to do with the letters that make up the words.
- I myself have not used algebra tiles, but teachers who've used both tell me the Lab Gear is vastly more popular with students.