This year, I'm going to be teaching one section of Intro to Programming. This will be my first time teaching any computer science, and it is definitely a bit outside my comfort zone. Fortunately, a colleague pointed me towards Carnegie Mellon's CS Academy curriculum. I appreciate that the course translates well to remote learning, and … Continue reading Playing with CS Academy
I love the #MathArtChallenge
I absolutely love the #MathArtChallenge! Here are some reasons why: These challenges are incredibly accessible AND considerably complex. Annie has engaged a wide audience in recreational mathematical thinking. In a lot of ways, this is exactly what we try to accomplish with Play With Your Math. Annie's warm and encouraging attitude sets the perfect tone. … Continue reading I love the #MathArtChallenge
Ceilings
Play With Your Math problems are designed to have low floors and high ceilings, but designing a task which has a high ceiling can be really complicated. Take, for instance, 18. X-Factor: Of all the possible numbers I could have chosen for this problem, why did I choose 12? Here are three reasons. To make … Continue reading Ceilings
Restorative Circles in My Math Class
At PCMI this summer, I gave an Ignite talk that I called "Beyond High Quality Math Instruction" that was about how/why I do restorative circles in my math classroom. Some teachers wanted to know more, and this is my attempt to elaborate. I am a math teacher who loves math and loves teaching. Being a … Continue reading Restorative Circles in My Math Class
PCMI Part 2: Pedagogy and Socializing
This summer, I spent three weeks in Park City, Utah as part of the Park City Math Institute (PCMI) Teacher Leader Program. PCMI is a teacher math camp of sorts, and is sort of like if PROMYS for Teachers and Twitter Math Camp had a baby. PCMI captures the intense but thrilling mathematical experience of PROMYS with the … Continue reading PCMI Part 2: Pedagogy and Socializing
PCMI Part 1: Morning Math
This summer, I spent three weeks in Park City, Utah as part of the Park City Math Institute (PCMI) Teacher Leader Program. PCMI is a teacher math camp of sorts, and is sort of like if PROMYS for Teachers and Twitter Math Camp had a baby. PCMI captures the intense but thrilling mathematical experience of PROMYS with the … Continue reading PCMI Part 1: Morning Math
16. Self-Aware
Creating a new Play With Your Math problem is a long, multi-step process. Here's a quick recap of how 16. Self-Aware came to be. Find and try the problem. I think I first saw this problem a few years ago in some puzzle book, but I haven't been able to figure out what book that … Continue reading 16. Self-Aware
Reusable Structures
With 180 days of class and 3 different courses to teach, I can’t come up with a brand new activity everyday. As often as possible, our activity is “Doing Math,” but often, we need a bit more structure. Fortunately, there are tons of awesome websites, blog posts, and books about structures that I can use … Continue reading Reusable Structures
Restructuring Algebra 2
Algebra 2 has been a hard course for me to teach for several reasons: My students’ understanding of linear and exponential functions has faded during Geometry, but these topics are a crucial foundation for Algebra 2. My students have not seen quadratics before, and the polynomials part of my unit becomes bloated. I’m supposed to … Continue reading Restructuring Algebra 2
Day 1 Activity: Name the Game
I don’t start school for almost four weeks, but since other people are, here's my favorite way to start the year. On the first day of school, we play a game. I project the numbers 1 to 9 on the board. And I project the rules: Select a player to go first Take turns selecting … Continue reading Day 1 Activity: Name the Game
Mister, is this right? 