the world needs more hugs

A student at our school thought the world needed more hugs, so he developed a website that allows you to send people hugs.  In the spirit of the holidays, this seems like a pretty good idea.  I hope y'all send his google analytics through the roof today...  happy Monday...  send a few hugs...   


http://internethugs.com/

giving thanks

This is my 51st post since I started this adventure.  Mostly I'm stunned.  This blog has had more than 7000 hits in the past 2+ months. 

I know there are regular readers, students, teachers, friends, alums of my school.  I am deeply grateful for all of you. 

There've also been drive-by readers, people who popped in to make a comment or got lured in by a silly title.  Some of these folks came back over and over.  They are awesome new friends. 

And a few people came by the disagree with me.  I love this!  Those conversations are priceless.  Missing have been spammers and trolls.  I'm grateful for that too. 

I'll be off for the next couple days, on a vacation to recover from the feasting.  When I return it will be a sprint to exams and then a longer vacation. 

I wish you a restful weekend and the peace that comes from being with those you love, your bellies and hearts overflowing. 

Thank you for supporting my first 50...  Get some rest.

Deb

P.S.  On another note, if you're on twitter and want to check out students writing tweets from the turkey's perspective, follow @BirdofThanks ...  simply adorable! 

Photo Credit

cantasmic

Each year our school collects cans for the Second Harvest Food Bank.  Central Florida was hit hard by the downturn in the economy and our recovery has been slow.  There are still so many folks who are hungry.  Last year we collected more than 13,000 items, weighing more than 6 tons.  We're still totaling up this year's haul, but no matter the numbers, I am proud of our school and our students.  As part of the program, we build sculptures with the cans.  You can see some of them here.

 

 

  

    

 

      

cow...cow... COW!

A colleague posted this silly website on her Facebook page, and I showed it to some students.  I have been hearing it all week...  make sure your volume is on. 

Sometimes you just need to play...
http://findtheinvisiblecow.com/

student worries

Student:  Is today a work day?

Me:  Yes.  You can work on the online assignment.  I will need 10 minutes to talk about the quiz.

Student:  I love work days.

Me:  Why?

Student:  There's no pressure.  You can just work on stuff until you get it.  There's no stress to keep up.

Me:  I understand when there's stress on test days.  Is there stress on days when we learn new things?

Student:  Yes.  I'm worried I will fall behind. 

Me:  Do you fall behind?

Student:  No, but I'm worried I will.

Photo Credit: 

perfection is overrated

On a mediocre day, teaching math is about showing students how to solve problems.  If it's a decent problem, the students might care, but mostly they'd like me to teach them a rubric so that they can easily do the homework.

On a good day, I manage to not only teach students how to solve a problem, but also why a particular technique works so that they might have a tool to solve a different, but conceptually similar problem later.

On a great day, we have a problem and they figure out the how and why for themselves. 

This week we are working on figuring out how to graph complex functions using calculus techniques.  This lesson was on how we might find the concavity of a graph along with a review on the procedures for finding asymptotes. 

My lecture was perfect.  It started with a good question.  I remembered to emphasize the big ideas.  I modeled the correct techniques and justifications.  I asked them a few questions to be sure they were with me and they answered each one correctly.  And I ended just in time without rushing.   They asked me nothing.  As I was saving the day's notes to post online, I thought, maybe I should use them again later in the day because they were just right.

The hard thing is, because class was perfect for me means it wasn't that great for the students.  The best learning doesn't happen when I do everything right.  It happens when things go a little wrong.  The act of wrestling with the material, struggling to understand, solidifies the learning.  Asking questions about things they don't understand means they are thinking about the ideas, poking holes in the explanation. 

When I deliver a perfect lecture, it means they didn't do any intellectual work.  It means they didn't process.  It means they are going to struggle with the homework.  And it's better to struggle together in class than alone at home. 

I had, at best, a mediocre day. 

take me to the river

Humanity hates word problems.  But the reality is, once you know how to do a particular type of problem, it becomes easy.  This particular problem caused a real stir in my classes.  Post your solutions in the comments and I'll follow up with an answer...

A power boat and a raft both left dock A on a river and headed downstream.  The raft drifted at the speed of the river current.  The power boat maintained a constant speed with respect to the river.  The power boat reached dock B downriver, then immediately turned and traveled back upriver.  It eventually met the raft on the river 9 hours after leaving dock A.  How many hours did it take the power boat to go from dock A to dock B.