Teaching Reflections: Year 10 (2021-2022)
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October 22, 2021: Things Teenagers Say Volume 60
It has been a VERY crazy week, so I thought I would end the week with a new volume of Things Teenagers Say. This is my regular round-up of the crazy and memorable things I hear my students say in class.
One week into school…
Student: Wait. We have lockers?
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They put letters in math problems. Why not put math problems in letters?
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If you give me detention, I will catch my tears in a cup and pour them on your head and it will make your hair look weird.
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If my ovaries don’t stop me from having children, my wish for fame will.
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I got rich people chocolate milk.
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That’s the only reason I go on all these college tours. Free T-Shirts.
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Student: Are we allowed to work with partners?
Me: Sure.
Student: No thank you!
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Is it Adam’s rib or Eve’s Rib? I don’t know. Oh wait…it’s Adam’s apple!
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Student A: You’re a cosine.
Student B: That’s not nice!
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I know why the bell at the end of the day hasn’t been ringing. Somebody stole the bell!
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Is the homecoming game a home game or an away game?
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Student A: Why is there half a ruler in my backpack?
Student B: Maybe you got a little hungry?
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Student A: Would you be a dear and let me copy your notes?
Student B: I’ll be a deer. A deer in the headlights.
January 3, 2022: Monday Must Reads: Volume 95
It’s the first Monday of the new semester for me, and I have to be honest that I wasn’t thrilled to set my alarm last night for a day full of professional development meetings today. I know that I’ll get my teaching energy and enthusiasm back tomorrow, though, when I find myself in a room full of teenagers again.
To help get in back-to-school mode, here’s a new volume of Monday Must Reads. This is my weekly-ish attempt at capturing the creative ideas shared by other (mostly) math teaches on twitter. I hope you find at least one or two ideas that you can adapt for your own classroom.
Word Wall and Words of the Week Display
Vocabulary is definitely an area of teaching where I could improve. I really like this idea from Austin Coleman of posting weekly vocabulary that you want to focus on.
Desmos Gingerbread Houses
Tricia Krumbach inspires with an idea I’m filing away for next Christmas – Desmos Gingerbread Houses!
Mathematical Memes with Template
Scottie O’Neill suggests having students create their own mathematical memes using a template. I love this idea!
Polynomial Theorems Two Truths and a Lie Activity
Katie Marhefki suggests using the Two Truths and a Lie practice structure with polynomial theorems. Brilliant!
Using Mentimeter on the First Day of School
Check out these examples from Kristen Fouss about how to use Mentimeter in the classroom.
Panda Square Parades
I realize this is an old tweet, but I only ran across it recently. I love this twist on Panda Squares from David Butler – a Panda Squares Parade.
8 5 4 9 1 7 6 3 2 0 Sequence
Justin Aion shares a clever brainteaser.
Math Puzzle Bulletin Boards
Leah TenEyck highlights a brilliant way to display puzzles to capture student interest.
Conditional Probabilities with Taco Tongues and Evil Eyebrows
Check out this fun probability lesson from Kim Jackson!
Until next week, keep sharing your great ideas! You may just find yourself in a future volume of Monday Must Reads!
March 7, 2022: Monday Must Reads: Volume 96
Today feels monumental for some reason. It’s the last Monday before Spring Break. The rest of the school year always seems to fly by after Spring Break, so it almost feels like this is the point in the school year where I’ve “made it.” I’ve survived another year of teaching.
The end of this school year will mark a decade of classroom teaching. Since I started blogging while student teaching, that means I’ve been writing about teaching math for over a decade. How is that even possible?
One of the best things I’ve done over my teaching career is to seek out ideas from other math(s) teachers around the world. I hope you’ll read on and check out my newest volume of Monday Must Reads – my weekly-ish attempt at capturing the amazing ideas shared by (mostly) math teachers on twitter!
Graphing Food Decay Activity
Check out this memorable lesson from Mr. Collier which involves decaying food and Desmos! Students select item & monitor it for 2 weeks. Students weigh item each day (using a scale that is accurate to two decimal places) then use that data to write their function to predict the next day’s weight. Items are covered with wrap during the process. Very interesting!
Fractions and Decimals Open Middle Task
Will M Dunn shares a lovely open middle style problem involving fractions and decimals.
Inspiring Desmos Skirt
I am blown away by this Desmos skirt that was hand-crafted by one of Nat Banting‘s students. Wow. Just wow.
Notice and Wonder Hallway Display
Ashley Skiffington showcases a great way to incorporate Noticing/Wondering into your school culture!
Interactive Math Wordle Display
If you are obsessed with Wordle, check out this interactive Math Wordle Display from Molly Owles.
How to Create a WODB Activity
Have you ever wanted to create your own Which One Doesn’t Belong activity? Check out these step-by-step directions from mathwithmeMN.
Linear Equation Sun Catchers
Solenne Abaziou shares some inspiring linear art created by her students.
Peardeck Weekly Themes
Looking to infuse a bit of fun into your class? Sevdije Perezic does this by letting students pick a weekly theme.
Pi Day Facts
Tracy Darbyshire uses Pi Day as an opportunity to share fun math facts with her students.
Graphing Window Hack
Nicole Miller shares a clever teaching hack for anyone with a plethora of windows in their classroom. Tape graph paper on the outside of the windows to make it easy for students to create graphs on the glass with dry erase markers.
Until next week, keep sharing your awesome teaching ideas!
March 21, 2022: Monday Must Reads: Volume 97
It’s been a rainy Monday full of prepping to attend an ACT training tomorrow and analyzing our spring ACT benchmark data as a math department. I thought I should take a bit of time today to put together a new volume of Monday Must Reads.
Can you believe I’m getting close to reaching 100 volumes of Monday Must Reads? Monday Must Reads is my weekly-ish attempt at capturing the amazing ideas shared by (mostly) math teachers on twitter. I enjoy sharing and amplifying these ideas so they can impact as many classrooms as possible.
Quadratic Equation Puzzles
I’m super excited that Nicole Whitty has started a new math teaching blog with some amazing free resources! I miss the days when it seemed like everyone was sharing free resources on their math blogs, so it’s super exciting to see a new blog pop up.
I really like these quadratic equation puzzles.
Systems of Equations Debate Activity
And how awesome does this systems of linear equations debate activity sound?!?
Cuisenaire Quilt
Simon Gregg shares an awesome quilt made by a kindergarten class from Cuisenaire rods. Beautiful! Each section of the quilt represents a hundred.
Math Quote
Berkeley Everett shares a great quote about mathematics.
Hands on Angles Lesson
Check out this brilliant hands-on angle lesson from Sevdije Perezic.
Teaching Transformations with Transparencies
Anna Scholl demonstrates how to use transparencies as a manipulative in geometry class.
Adding and Subtracting Fraction Templates
These fraction templates from Julie Morgan look very helpful!
Coding Laser Cut Coasters Project
Rob Morrill shares a fun coding project.
Illustrating Volumes with Post-It Notes
Jed shares some excellent student work from his calculus class made out of post-it notes.
Trig Question
Check out this thought-provoking trig question from Matt Enlow.
Puzzle Bulletin Board
Check out this puzzle bulletin board shared by eliotmath. I love that the math challenge was created by a 3rd grader for his fellow students to solve!
Until next week, keep sharing your awesome math teaching ideas!
March 29, 2022: Things Teenagers Say Volume 61
It’s been way too long since I put together the last volume of Things Teenagers Say, so I thought I would remedy that issue. This is my regular round-up of the crazy and memorable things I hear my students say in class.
Me: Hyperbola is such a fun word to say. Hyperbola, hyperbola, hyperbola.
Student: I like saying asymptote. I feel like I’m getting away with something.
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Student 1: You are so funny. Where did you get your sense of humor from?
Student 2: Junie B Jones.
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Watch out. This one is a negative slope. It’s going downhill like my life.
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My phone is more modern than your stone age phone.
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Can you get in trouble for skipping a class if it’s a sports class? We’re running and I don’t want to.
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I am not taking cough medicine. I am NOT letting my dad win that battle.
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I feel sooo tall today.
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My life isn’t sad. I just hate Valentine’s Day.
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Party in my backyard. We’re burying my computer.
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Student 1: How am I done before you?
Student 2: Because I was looking at memes.
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You’re literally built like a block of cream cheese.
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What did you do today? Go to school? Me too.
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You wore sweatpants to a job interview?
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Student 1: What was that sound on the roof?
Student 2: Thanos.
Me: It wasn’t Thanos. It was Santa.
Student 3: I don’t believe in Santa, but I believe in Thanos.
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Student 1: Wait. Do you have a purse inside of a purse?
Student 2: No, this is my wallet!
Student 3: Are you just now beginning to understand women?
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That joke died like two days ago.
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This is supposed to be cosine. What in the ravioli is this?
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I can’t write on this paper. It has to be straight from the tree.
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One student to another: You look like a mom who just got back from yoga. That’s a compliment, too.
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Why are you so against croutons?
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I only eat Bueno for the salsa.
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I’m not taking a gap year. I’m taking a gap life.
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I never knew you had a stepmom. When did you have her?
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I paid for that whole speedometer. I’m going to use that whole speedometer.
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Do you have hair on your toes?
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Student 1: You go to Planet Fitness? I go to Planet Fitness!
Student 2: I’ve been going there for five days and I haven’t seen you. Are you sure?
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It’s been over 24 hours since I last had a Belgian waffle.
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Student 1: Can I say that you are terrible at flirting?
Student 2: That was just me saying hi.
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Student 1: People that unfriend other people are fake friends.
Student 2: But I resubmitted my friend request in person.
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It’s okay. Starburst wrappers are edible.
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Do fish get thirsty?
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Student who came in my room during lunch: Are you listening to an audiobook sped up? That makes you a terrible human.
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I would have so many college offers if my twitter wasn’t private.
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Student: Is the test timed?
Me: Yes. 5 minutes.
Student: 5 minutes?!? That’s going to be the fastest F I’ve ever made.
April 11, 2022: Monday Must Reads: Volume 98
I can count on one hand the number of Mondays that I have taught since the pandemic began in 2020. When we returned to in-person instruction in the fall of 2020, we adopted a calendar of Distance Learning Mondays where students would complete their lessons asynchronously each Monday.
The high school I teach at kept those asynchronous Mondays this year as well. But this week, we ended up having to move our distance learning day to Wednesday instead of Monday due to ACT testing. This meant that I had a room full of students on a Monday!
To celebrate surviving a Monday with students, here’s a new volume of Monday Must Reads. This is my weekly-ish attempt at capturing the amazing ideas shared by (mostly) math teachers on twitter. I hope you find an idea or two worth adapting for your own classroom!
I am now only two volumes away from 100! Anyone have any ideas on how to celebrate this upcoming special volume number?
Triangle Midsegment Activity
David Sladkey shares a fun, hands-on geometry activity with lots of student choice!
Calculus Class Playlists for Remembering +C
Julie Reulbach shares some creative Spotify playlists she put together for remembering the +c when integrating and for u-substitution.
Transformations and Reflections Playlists
These transformations playlists from Ashley Spotted Wolf look super-engaging!
Calculator and Slide Rule Display
Check out this calculator and slide rule display from Mark Kaercher. Very inspiring!
Pythagorean Theorem, Distance Formula, and Midpoint Formula Mystery Activity
I am super impressed by this crime solving mystery activity put together by Sevdije Perezic.
Isosceles Triangle Puzzle
Catriona Agg shares an isosceles triangle puzzle.
Volume of Solids Geometry Project
Jennifer White shares an engaging performance task she gave her geometry students.
Math Flips Flash Cards
Berkeley Everett has an excellent free resource on his website called Math Flips. These flashcards are not your normal flashcards. Instead of having a problem on one side and the answer on the other, these cards have a problem on the front and a similar problem on the back to “encourage relational thinking instead of answer-getting.”
Math Word Walls
Nicole Whitty has written another excellent blog post which shares several inspiring math word walls worth checking out!
Quadrilaterals Conjecture
Tracy Proffitt shares an interesting mathematical conjecture shared by a student. How would your students respond?
Until next week, keep sharing your awesome math teaching ideas!
