Introducing systems today. Had the students make 2 lists; one where pairs of numbers summed to 6, and the other with pairs of numbers whose difference is 11. Then asked them to find a pair of numbers that are on both lists.

Absolute crickets.

I had to ask leading questions, give hints, ask them if they had tried such and such. I really had to drag them along before they realized they could do something other than stare at their paper.

So the next period I had them start standing at the whiteboards before I gave them this task. And I did not have to seed them at all. Some were graphing the pairs and realized they made lines. Others were finding the equations of the lines and realizing they needed to find the intersection point. All in all, in 15 minutes I watched the whole class figure out systems of equations. I taught them nothing.

I really feel like when the students are sitting in their desks, they are waiting for me to give out answers and pour knowledge into their brain. But when they are standing at the whiteboards, they take control of their learning. They are willing to try different things, take risks. And they don't wait for me to tell them what to do.

#ThinkingClassroom for the win.

#Algebra2 #MTBoS #ITeachMath #ClassroomMath

For secondary math teachers new to Desmos activities: join me for a free virtual session highlighting the tremendous engagement opportunities. Tuesday, September 12, 7:00 - 8:00 PM EST. Registration: https://bit.ly/intro-desmos-activities #mtbos #iteachmath @desmosclassroom

Hello folks. I’m looking for blog posts / “tweets” / thoughts on how you start your (secondary) maths lessons. Thank you!

#MTBoS #iTeachMath

Here's a great problem from Donald Bell ... can you solve it?

========

Rectangling the Square:

Is there a set of rectangles, with no repeated length of side, that will tile more than one rectangle?

========

To get the context of the problem you'll need to read Donald's DOCX ... I'm not really in a position to extract and reformat it, but I'm hosting a copy here:

http://www.solipsys.co.uk/documents/DonaldBell_RectanglingTheSquare.docx

Love to hear your ideas !!

#MathsPuzzle #GeometryPuzzle #MTBoS

(Boosts welcome for reach)

I thought I'd share this. Julia is well-known in the education community, to which she has contributed enormously.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-julia-dweck-and-her-family

If you are able, consider contributing, no matter how little. Everything helps.

#MTBoS #MathEd #MathsEd #MathEducation #ITeachMath #ClassroomMath

New blog post: 219th Carnival of Mathematics!
https://karendcampe.wordpress.com/2023/09/09/carnival-of-mathematics/
#MTBoS #ClassroomMath #iTeachMath #MathEd

#mtbos okay, I might get arund to making an "invisible parentheses around exponents," but there's another thing I want to do.
They're learning Venn Diagrams. Now, 2 of them JUST GOT IT. WHAT ?!?!?!? If they had the smae instructor, I'd be sending an email :P
But I'm thinking ... something animated with sets in circles, connecting the symbolic "intersection" and "union" stuff, etc. I mean, folks like me, we have the working memory and other cognitive accoutrements to build it.
TBH Powerpoint is often my "quick animation" choice... would #geogebra @geogebra have any advantages?

This is a fabulous post:

https://mathstodon.xyz/@adhestenes/111027392064551643

#MTBoS #ITeachMath

It's been a long week. We lost a student from our school over the labor day weekend and the atmosphere has been low. Time for a light hearted activity to end the week.

Inspired by Fawn Nguyen's "Vroom Vroom" post on her blog.
https://www.fawnnguyen.com/teach/vroom-vroom

Students measured the pullback distance of a car and then measured the distance it rolled. Graphed the data. Found the line of best fit by eye, then found the linear regression. Made some predictions, calculated some residuals. Summed up all the stuff we've been learning the past week.

I then picked a random distance and groups calculated their pullback distance. Everyone lined up their cars that distance from the finish line, pulled back their calculated distance, and let 'em rip. The group whose car got the closest to the "finish line" (marked by tape on the floor) got bragging rights.

#ThinkingClassroom #ClassroomMath #MTBoS #iTeachMath #Algebra2

#mtbos today I had a victory (I think!) w/ a student who was struggling w/ -3^2 being -9. Okay, they were *insisting* it had to be 9 to the point that I said that it was up to them whether they accepted this or not; it was the meaning math folks had given it. They were perusing assorted math books, confident that they were correct: the number was negative 3, and it was being squared.
I went to Google and asked what negative 3 squared was. I got a calculator wiht the entry -(3^2) = -9 (with proper superscript).
Inspired I told the student" You know how if we see 3ab that there are *invisible multiplication signs* between them because they just agreed they didn't want to write them in there? That if you put it in excel you have to add the multiplication signs? Welp, for exponents, there are invisble parentheses around the exponent and the one thing it's next to, UNLESS the person making the problem puts them somewhere else."
Advantage to this over "order of operations says power first": my visual-kinesthetic learners and write/ imagine the parentheses there.
Next thing: make a poster like @mathequalslove would :P and share it out. Anchor charts for the win :P

#WritersCoffeeClub 6: Easter Eggs?

I have so many in the background of my personified math, that looking back, even I was surprised by some. I'll link to a comic, where "the proof is in the pudding" #MTBoS. (Also 5-7-5 refers to Haiku.)
https://mathtans.blogspot.com/2018/02/s9331-home-economics.html

My regular writing also has some, like the BTTF tribute entry, or for characters there's the King family: Lee, Faye, Sing and Soh. Think about their full names.

Question for my fellow math teachers:

What do you say when a parent tells you “oh math isn’t really my child’s thing, they’ve never been good at it”?

This happened a couple of times at open house last week, once even when their child was with them. I always find myself stuck about what the right way to respond 😬

#ClassroomMath #mtbos

Looking for a fun little game to keep in your back pocket for those days when you have seven random minutes left at the end of class? Let me introduce you to the Game of Sim (invented by Gustavus J. Simmons) that involves drawing lines and avoiding triangles!

https://mathequalslove.net/game-of-sim/

#mtbos #iteachmath #classroommath #classroomgames #mathed #mathsed

#mtbos yesterday wasn't too busy in the tutoring center but it was *all* requiring Lots Lots of Patience. Here's a little idea, now let's carefully move around all the other ideas that need to shift because of that (e.g., adding negative numbers). Carefully. 'Cause it has to move *in your brain.*
Today? Two students who just *got* Venn Diagrams.
And one of them was one we did a lot of Lots Lots of Patience teaching last 2 semesters.
It's worth taking the time to teach for understanding :)

Boosting @MsHereth post about using Zearn to #ClassroomMath #MTBoS #iTeachMath #MathEd folks.

https://mathstodon.xyz/@MsHereth/111018222261785854 Math teachers--quick question. Anyone use Zearn? I am experimenting with the free one with my 8th graders but it doesn't include all the IM lessons. Does the paid version have them all?

@hpicciotto @davidradcliffe @benleis
I like this introduction to e from @samjshah , specifically the whole group numerical investigation of e^x vs x^e
#ClassroomMath #MTBoS #iTeachMath #MathEd #MathsEd
https://samjshah.com/2019/04/28/tiny-game-re-eulers-number/

I revised "Desmos2OneNote" (which captures a student's #Desmos screens and creates a OneNote Page of them) to take advantage of some #PowerAutomate improvements -- and found a way to share it with others.
If you try it, let me know how it goes! https://onenoteschool.com/desmos2onenote-version-2/ #mtbos

Boosting @ilanahorn thread to the #ClassroomMath #MTBoS #iTeachMath #MathEd crowd!

https://nerdculture.de/@ilanahorn/111013242348274494

@ilanahorn also use #MTBoS & #ClassroomMath

@MrBinfield
Here's my set of messages to students at the start of the academic year.
https://karendcampe.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/setting-the-stage/
#MTBoS #ClassroomMath #MathEd #iTeachMath