the weeks fly by

I had my first parent/teacher conferences last week. They were dizzyingly stressful, what with the thousands of papers needing to be handed out, progress reports needing to be organized, etc.

I took a page out of last year, and set up a nice display for parents, replete with candy, work we have done in class, and a sign-in sheet. Important gestures I feel.

One of the realizations that came out of last week was the need to get myself organized asap. One of the ways I am doing this is using the eChalk system we have online.

Below is my first parent letter. Let me know your thoughts!

Good evening families and students,

I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for coming in last week for our first parent/teacher conferences for the year.
It was a pleasure to meet you, and I hope that we can continue our communication throughout the year.
I wanted to send out the website I spoke about, in which I post ALL math homework assignments, and any other information our students need to know. I try to update regularly, so if there is an error, feel free to let me know, and I will fix it as soon as I can.
The website is:

http://echalk.uainstitute.com/faculty/sarar

If you click on your student's group, it will go directly to her class page, in which she will be able to find all the information that she needs about her class assignments and work.

There is also a resource page, in which you can help your student by making flash cards online, playing math games on the web, and more!

Just as an FYI, this week's important task is going to be turning in any test revisions for their Unit 1 Exam. They will be getting their tests back tomorrow, and will have an opportunity to revise their tests by this Wednesday for a higher grade.
Should you have any questions or concerns for me, please let me know, and I will be happy to address them.
Again, thank you for your time and dedication. It is truly appreciated.

All the best,

Ms. Sara
UAInstitute Math Department

of mathematics and beauty

I love math

I really do. I think it represents a profound aspect of humanity that is both beautiful and surreal.

What I love even more is seeing that same excitement I feel reflected in my students, and also pushing them to proofs, because this, ultimately is what mathematics is about.

I had two students jump out of their chairs today when they discovered that the number 35 can be written as

17 + 18 = 35

and

2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 = 35

Students were also excited by the fact that their peers hypothesis were either totally correct, or that there were some exceptions to the rule. (such as triples of consecutive sums add up only to an odd number.


Students today worked on a continuing problem from Friday. Here was the challenge:





One of the major conjectures students came up with today was the following:

An odd number plus an even number is always an odd number.

I asked them if they would bet 2 million dollars that this hypothesis was true. Some decided to renege on the answer, while others were more insistent. The next step in this is me asking them to prove it.


Here is the formal proof below for my mathematically inclined readers.

Conjecture: An odd number + an even number = odd number

Let k represent some natural number in the natural numbers set.
Let m represent some natural number in the natural number set.
Let n represent some natural number in the natural number set.

Therefore, we want to show the following:

(2k + 1) + 2m = 2n + 1

Proof:

By commutativity, 2k + 1 + 2m = 2k + 2m + 1 = 2 (k + m) + 1

Let n = k + m, such that n is a natural number in the natural numbers set.

Therefore, 2(k + m) + 1 = 2n + 1

By definition, 2n + 1 is an odd number. proof complete.

Thus, an odd number + an even number is ALWAYS an odd number.

Beautiful, elegant, and simple no?

In any case, this is where I want my students to head towards; the idea that there is truth and elegance in this world.

I strongly recommend this book:





It has really rich and insightful problems that can cater to a wide range of mathematical curricula.

I have found that updating grades is a lot easier when listening to this song.

today....

first brief glimpse of what my students deal with on the outside.

it ain't pretty.

and it makes me sad.

tomorrow I start advocating for them, one day at a time....

undermining bridges

Today would rate as a B - or translated into a 'meh'

Activity went okay. I did all the good utepy things you're supposed to when doing a group building activity:

- job roles for students
- clear expectations
- modeling positive and negative behavior
- clear worksheet with directions
- materials ready in advance to be passed out
- job helpers to pass out materials
- and it goes on....

however, this was all undermined by something very foolish and obvious. I did not explain that the job roles they were being given were IN ADDITION to the group discussion they were supposed to be having...

sigh*

well at least I've learned my lesson...and now will refine that idea for tomorrow.

I bravely look towards tomorrow with sniffles and a head cold.

plans have been made
photocopies need to be hurriedly rushed in the morning.
charts need to go up.
greetings, addresses, and the daily tumble begins.

triumphs and tedium

I am very exhausted this week, and have one more day to go still tomorrow.

It has been a week of realizations, battles, and brief moments of getting it right.

Too tired to type deeply, so I'll speak with pictures.

Here are some of the 'positives' for the week:


Group D's Hopes and Dreams. I need to put up Group E's and F's, but I am waiting for the imminent arrival of the SmartBoard and its subsequent placement before I tape up 60 more of these...


My very simple but effective rules for the classroom. To make it actually concrete as opposed to abstract we did the following activity below:



Students, in their study teams, received a packet of 'anecdotes' of behaviors I had seen last week, both positive and negative. They then arranged them according to category. This became quite powerful as there were some negative stories that fit into all three rules of being broken. Students realized that their actions affected more than themselves. (Of course, not everyone got this, but it was still a powerful exercise nonetheless)

This was a time-heavy activity to make with all the materials. I made envelopes of about 20-30 stories for group, 20 groups in total. At least two hours of prep time, but it was worth it, I feel.


We've started bar graphs and our graphing unit this week. Middle school girls apparently really like Chris Brown....so let's put him into mathematics eh?

I've also been purposely making mistakes on my graphs, so that I can ask students during share out what problems they are noticing about my graph. This is leading up to an activity where they look at different graphs to find errors....still working out the details on it however.....



Yay! I am using my math word wall, and used it to jump start Math Simon Says today. Tomorrow, they begin formally defining the words for themselves. Math Simon Says went well, despite some disruption and behavioral problems.

Okay....bed time

Sara