National Anthem

Every day the US national anthem is played over the school PA.  Students are expected to sing along.  As you might expect, after mindlessly repeating the words for several years, they have morphed into something different...

The correct lyrics:

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

The lyrics according to students:

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hail by the twilight last gleaming?
Who brought stripes and bright stars thru the perilous night,
Oh the ramparts we watch are so gallantly singing?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the fight that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet sway
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

I'm thinking I will have the students write out the lyrics sometime... I'm sure I'm missing many things!

Number Theory Games

This week:  Number Theory Games!  It has been a good change for the students and me.  These are part of "Prime Time" and "Accentuate the Positive" (CMP).  I wish this school had CMP as the adopted text.  We can do the class activities but without photocopying many pages (probably against copyright law) we can't do the homework followup.  I was surprised at the positive reaction of the students to the games.  In addition to the change of pace, it showed (at least to me) how a more problem-based classroom diffuses some of the behavior issues.

Factor Game - this game allows students to practice finding factors to numbers through 30.  It also requires students to think about the relationships of the numbers and encourages faster recall of basic multiplication facts.
Online version:   http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=12
Paper version:   http://illuminations.nctm.org/lessons/6-8/factor/handouts.htm

Product Game -  This game encourages students to develop a better understanding of the relationships between factors and multiples. 
Online version:  http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=29
Paper version: http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L272

Integer Product Game - This game extends the product game (above) to include work with integers. 
Online version:  http://connectedmath.msu.edu/CD/Grade7/IntProdGame/IntProdGame.html
Paper version:   http://blog.wsd.net/anholtry/files/2012/09/Integer-Product-Game.pdf

Why do we need to know this?

After a week of following the traditional textbook examples/exercises for operations with integers, I heard "Why do we need to know this?" for the first time.  I took this as a cue to change things up next week.  If I don't see the point and the students don't see the point, what is the point??  I'm going to abandon the textbook and do some things that are more interactive.

PEDMSA (or is it PEMDAS?)

30 - 15 + 12 / 3 x 2

It's no surprise, but order of operations poses difficulty for the students.  I asked the students to simplify the expression shown above.  As you might expect, the answers included 13, 18, 23, and an assortment of others resulting from incorrect calculations. 

My students have been 'drilled' to know "Please excuse my dear aunt Sally."  I told them it could be as easily called "Please excuse dear my sally aunt" but they didn't seem to believe something they had been told for years could possibly be wrong (or inadequate).  I don't think the two class days had much impact on the students...

CCSS - Standards for Mathematical Practice

The Standards for Mathematical Practice from the Common Core State Standards were mentioned at the workshop held this past weekend.  A file was distributed that appears to be potentially useful for a math methods course.  To "unpack" each math practice standard, participants were asked:

What does this math practice standard mean?

What would this math practice standard look like/sound like in the classroom?

Students will be saying or doing (words and actions)… The teacher will be saying or doing (words and actions)… High-level questions students or teachers might hear/say…

Let me know if you'd like to see the file with a list of suggestions for each heading in the table.

The website Illustrative Mathematics was also mentioned.

No Nonsense Nurturer

I attended a "new teacher" workshop this past weekend at the New Teacher Center.  Many topics were discussed including classroom management.  The model promoted by the facilitators was "No Nonsense Nurturer."  In my most difficult class I tried the"MVP" and "narration" aspects of the program and found them quite effective at getting students on track and quiet. Honestly, I was quite surprised!   MVP is an acronym indicating that instructions should include directions for Movement (e.g., stand, sit, walk), Voice (e.g., silently, in a low voice), and Participation (What should the students be doing?). The narration element is different from "I like how Susie is sitting quietly" in that it narrates (describes), but doesn't praise the students.  As a program, I think it is organized in a way to help a new teacher who might be starting in a difficult situation.  Looking back, I think something like this would have been useful for a couple of the alt cert teachers I supervised several years ago.  It seems to me to be an "in the moment" solution (i.e., with practicing teachers) rather than something to share with future teachers.  The video below shows the implementation of aspects of the program in a coaching situation.  This document also outlines the elements of the program. 

Simplify, Evaluate, Solve

Simplify 2 + 5 * 2 - 3

Simplify 6(2 + 2n) + 3n

Evaluate 7 + y for y = -7

Solve 9y = 900

I'm sure it has been noticed by plenty of teachers, but the three words - simplify, evaluate, solve - do not seem obvious to students.  (Are they even obvious to teachers?)  Students seem to want everything to end with a "number answer" so to simplify an algebraic expression (so there are fewer terms) baffles many of them.  Just when they begin to think that simplify means "write in fewer terms" they are asked to simplify a numerical expression.  "Do you mean solve it?" they ask.  But solve, at least as it is used in our textbook, means "find the value of the unknown."  I think one reason there is a confusion is that these exercises are addressing skills in isolation.  If there was a context to reason in, I don't think there would be an issue.

Credit Card Payments

While this post does not relate to anything from my classroom, it seems like there is a lesson in consumer mathematics involved!

I received a bill for some of the things I purchased when I moved to my new apartment.  The following table was included with the statement:

It seems they fail to mention that you can "save" more than $700 by paying the bill in full.  But who, in their right mind, would spend 20 years paying for some household items that won't even be useable in 20 years?!