Twitter Math Camp Is All About Love – TMC15

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TMC15

Twitter Math Camp 15 – 200 Strong!

This may be my longest post ever.  It was tough to write.  It’s a hot mess and just all over the place, but I can’t look at it anymore.  I just need to post it. I almost did not go to TMC15.  I changed schools for the 2014-15 school year.  As an experienced teacher I was not really worried about changing schools.  I did not take into account the added stress I would encounter from new people, preps, procedures, and new culture.  I did not take into account how difficult it would be to be “unknown” by students (and everyone) in a much larger school.  But I found that it was a tremendous change for me. I had switched divisions, from middle school to high school, and had two new preps.  I had never taught Geometry before.  My co-teacher (who I had grown close to) quit mid-year.  My three children also changed schools with me and it took them a while to adjust.  Plus, as much as I love high school students, I really missed teaching middle school students.  I was overwhelmed and under water most of the year. Luckily, I have an amazingly supportive administration at my new school.  That, and a few key people completely saved my year.  But it was still hard.  So hard that I haven’t recovered enough to think about education, or read educational books.  For the first time since I returned to teaching, all I did in this summer was SUMMER.  I was anxious about going to TMC because much of my time there involves intense math education conversations.  I just didn’t know if I was ready to be immersed in education yet.  At the same time, I was worried that if I didn’t go, I would still feel this way on the first day of school.  I love teaching, and I adore my students, so I didn’t want this to happen.  In the end, I decided that I HAD to go to TMC, because I was hoping it would inspire me.  Enter Fawn. My most impactful “non-lesson” TMC thing was Fawn’s keynote.  Fawn’s talk deeply moved me.  She reminded me how much I love my students.  Her talk created the shift in me that I had been hoping for the entire conference.  It wasn’t about pedagogy and activities.  It was about the heart, because that is why we teach.  Students are why I love teaching.  Fawn’s talk affected me emotionally.  It makes me tear up, even now, just thinking about it.  I am excited to go back to school now, and I can’t thank you enough Fawn. Screen Shot 2015-07-29 at 5.21.07 PM Of course, the rest of Twitter Math Camp was amazing as well.  Lisa Henry said that it was like a family reunion, others jokingly referred to it as a cult.  There are many things that set this conference apart (and above), other conferences or professional developments, but the most impactful difference is the support, and even the love that is there.  Fawn’s talk was even titled, “A Love Letter to the MTBoS”. Screen Shot 2015-07-31 at 9.36.54 AMTeachers do not attend TMC just to learn how to become a better teacher, they attend TMC to connect with other progressive and like minded math teachers.  Last year, I connected with many Geometry and Alg2 teachers at TMC14.  These connections not only carried me through the year, they saved my year, especially in Geometry (special thanks to Jim Doherty and Peg Cagle).  Connections like these are the “special sauce” that makes TMC better than other conferences. Last year after TMC some of the amazing things I implemented were Glenn’s (h,k) forms, Cindy’s Conic Cards, and Plickers.  I have an even longer list of new things I can’t wait to try this year.  My number one TMC15 thing (#1TMCthing) is to try to include debate in class.  Who doesn’t love a great debate?  And it totally fits in with my class personality.  Other things from TMC15 that I want to try are:

Lisa had a great idea that we could all pick the one thing that we most wanted to implement and tweet it out to #1TMCThing.  Then, on Oct.26th, we are all going to check in on other people that picked our same thing.  This is support and community.  And this is why I love TMC and the #MTBoS so much! This year I had a blast at game night, where Deborah Boden was nice enough to give me an amazing pink math teacher shirt!  Screen Shot 2015-07-31 at 12.53.52 AMBefore the conference even started, I got a shout out from Jonathan that made my heart smile.  I presented a session with Sam and Brendan (even though I complained so much because I wasn’t in the mood to prepare).  Thankfully, Sam didn’t let me off the hook, and it felt great sharing my story.  IMG_4606I finally got to go to IN-N-OUT burger with tech genius John Stevens and posted the pic on Instagram for my former students.  I was excited that they remembered the lesson from 2 years ago!  I got to do Barbie Bungee with Fawn and Matt!  I also learned how much preconceived ideas can affect your math.  Matt had mentioned quadratics to me and even had a quadratic option in the Desmos model so I totally went for it.  And totally failed (sorry Hedge and Ashley)!  But it was such a great experience and I would not have been satisfied if I hadn’t tried it.  Sam, Tina and I conducted a lunch meeting on the next blogging initiative, and I presented a short “My Favorite” on Kahoot.  I had a blast collecting money for a gift for Lisa, posing as a raffle, especially when she bought five tickets!  And, even though I didn’t help write it, Sean and Rachel and David still asked me to help sing the amazing song they created.  ❤ But one of my favorite things about Twitter Math Camp is all of the Tweeting that is going on.  The backchannel is almost more active than the conference.  It is almost like there are TWO conferences going on at all times.  It gets pretty bad (in the best way).Screen Shot 2015-07-31 at 12.53.27 AM Finally, I just had an amazing time reconnecting with the best friends I have ever had.  My only regret is not spending more time meeting and talking with new people.  I am sorry about that.  After all of the changes this year, I really needed serious quality (healing) time with my closest friends.  I needed to sing and dance, a lot.  I tried hard to be myself, even though I wasn’t feeling like myself.  Thank you tweeps, for being there for me this year.  And even though I wasn’t in the best frame of mind this year, TMC, and the love of the people attending, inspired me again.  They are not only “my people”, they are my soul mates. Special thanks to my dear friend Lisa Henry for all of the work she does for this.  I don’t know how she gets it all done (and done so well), but I am very thankful for her!  Also thanks to the TMC Planning Committee, Darryl Yong, Harvey Mudd College, and our barbeque hosts.  I can’t even imagine the amount of work that went into planning and pulling this off for so many people.  Twitter Math Camp is all about love. Piano, piano on tweeps! Screen Shot 2015-07-31 at 12.53.35 AM Camp Song – “Party at the TMC”

Slideshow:

Party in the TMC Slideshow with lyrics and pictures

Lyrics:

“Party at the TMC” I hopped off the plane at L.A.X. Because I didn’t realize there was a closer airport Welcome to the land of awesome tweeps (whoa), Am I gonna fit in? Jumped in the car, Here we are for the fourth time (beat) Look to my right and I see the Harvey Mudd Sign This is all so crazy Everybody seems so famous My phone is buzzin’ with the fav-rites and the retweets So much excitement and I’m nervous, That’s when Lisa turned on the microphone And then TMC was on And then TMC was on And then TMC was on [Chorus:] So I put my hands up I’m giving high fives The MTBoS is here to stay We’re starting on time like yeah Movin’ our thumbs like yeah We got our phones out, We’re tweeting along, There’s awesome packed in every day Yeah, twitter math camp where your work is play Yeah, twitter math camp where your work is play (breathe!) Get to Friday gonna share my fav Everybody’s tweeting at me now Like, “Who’s that chick that 3D prints?” I gotta go and track her down. (beat) Sooo hard to choose, why can’t I pick three? It’s definitely not like normal PD ‘Cause all I see are teaching pro-s Sha-kin’ it in front of two pianos (breathe!) My tummy’s rumbling’ and I gotta pick a food TRUCK Gonna count the times that fawn will say f…. whoa whoa whoa! -something incredibly heartfelt that makes us all feel very emotional- That’s when Chris Shore dropped and did the worm And then Fawn put a wig on And then Fawn put a wig on And then Matt put a wig on So we put our hands up We’re two hundred strong And growing bigger ev’ry day Bar-be-que-ing like yeah Nixing the tricks like yea Now look at these pics Which doesn’t belong? There’s awesome packed in every day Yeah, twitter math camp where your work is play Yeah, twitter math camp where your work is play Soon I’m hoppin’ on my flight (on my fllight) Wish I’d won The Price Is Right (Price is Right) Hard to leave you every time (every time) But then I’ll just log on and I’ll feel alright So we put our hands up We’re waving goodbye We’re sad to all go away: Courtyard chil-ling like yeah Raf-fle-ing stuff like yeah We found what we love, We’re doing that now, And did it for the last four days Yeah, twitter math camp where your work is play Yeah, twitter math camp where your work is play And of course, my favorite moments at TMC, in pictures!

TinyScan – PDF Scanner App for Smartphones and iPad

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IMG_6195I have been using an amazing app that I really don’t know how I lived without called TinyScan.  Holy mac, this app is a teachers dream!  There is a free version which I tried first.  But, I quickly upgraded to the premium version for $4.99.

With TinyScan you take a picture of something with your phone (for me, it is usually the worked out solutions to homework), take a picture of the page, then TinyScan beautifully turns it into a crisp and clear pdf file.  You can edit, crop, and rotate the file.  You can make it black and white or color and darken or lighten the ink.  You can take pictures of several pages in one file (you may have to have the premium version for batch scanning documents into one file).  Once you have edited your pdf, you can email, AirPrint or fax the pdf’s with one click.  The very best part is that you can instantly upload the pdf to your Google Drive from within the app!  You can also set the app to instantly upload to Google Drive (or other services).  To do this, go to settings and choose Auto Upload, and you can choose from Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, Box or OneDrive.  It’s so easy!

The best way that I use it is by uploading the files to my Google Drive.  I created a shared student folder on Google Drive, so as soon as I finish the key I can take a picture of it and upload it to the student file so that my students have immediate access.  I also take a quick picture of all of my test keys and keep them in the same folder as the original in case I lose the key.  I love this app.

Glenn showed me a couple of different scanning apps at TMC15.  His apps were able to rotate a picture automatically if you took it crooked.  However, he could not automatically upload to Google Drive.  So if you look at a different scan app, make sure you can seamlessly upload to Google Drive if that is important to you.

Fill Out This Form to Connect With Other Math Teachers On Kahoot!

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There are thousands of public Kahoots! made by teachers to chose from.  Kahoot! has a search feature that allows you to search by title, subject, tag, or username.  You can also share a Kahoot! that you have made with another teacher if you know their username.

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Since my Kahoot! post, I have found that many math teachers that I know also use Kahoot! and are using it in ways that I have not even thought of.  For instance, Laura Wheeler uses Kahoot! a few times a week as a warm up for a fun way to do spiraling reviews.  I would love to easily find and see her reviews, since we both teach high school math.

Then, as is often the case, an amazing idea was born on Twitter.  Wouldn’t it be GREAT if we knew our math teacher friends Kahoot! user names?  Then, we could search and share with teachers that we know.  Additionally, if teachers would tag the Kahoots! they use with MTBoS, we could also search that way.

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Sharing your Kahoot!

So, please fill out this form if you are interested in easily sharing the Kahoots! that you create and use with other math teachers.  I asked for the subjects you teach so that other teachers can more easily find teachers that have similar needs.  And don’t worry if you don’t make your own Kahoots!  I rarely make Kahoots! from scratch.  But, I do go through each Kahoot! I use carefully, and often edit them, so other teachers would probably benefit from the Kahoots! that I use.  If you are not already using Kahoot!, you need to sign up for a free Kahoot! account here to get your username.

Here are the results: Google Form of MTBoS Kahoot! user names.

Once you finish the form, you will be directed to a Google Form of MTBoS Kahoot! user names.

How to Search and Add Tags in Kahoot!

Also, to search by tag, you can’t just enter mtbos.  You have to type in doc.tags:mtbos.

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Don’t forget to tag your Kahoot! with MTBoS after you finish making it.

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Fill out this form to connect with other math teachers on Kahoot!

Fill out this form to connect with other math teachers on Kahoot!

You Have To Try Kahoot! For Engagement

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Moving from middle school to high school this year was an enthusiasm culture shock. For example, in middle school, I had to use Popsicle sticks to limit student participation in class. Many middle school students wanted to answer every question, and I wanted everyone to have a chance to participate.  In high school, I had to use Popsicle sticks in order to encourage student participation. Silence can be deafening, especially at the beginning of the year and always on Mondays.

I do not prefer a silent classroom on a daily basis. I  also prefer that my students talk more than me. So, since my move to high school, I have been endlessly searching for activities that engaged everyone WHILE they were doing math. I tried games, stations, trasketball, speed dating, group work on big white boards, gallery walks, tinker toys, conic cards, Nearpod, Plickers, CANDY and just about anything else you can think of this year to get high school kids ENGAGED and EXCITED (about math work).  While they have liked many of my crazy activities this year, they did not love anything until Kahoot!

Playing Kahoot is the most fun I have had in my classroom in AGES.  Kahoot! is an online multiple choice game where students play against their classmates. I project the questions from my computer, and they select from four choices on their device. Students can use iPhones, iPads, or a computer. Students can also work together and share devices if they do not have enough individual devices. They do not see the question on their device, only the answer choice. As students answer a visual timer counts down and the number of students that have answered pop up on the overhead screen.  To increase the excitement, you can also chose to play KaHoots jeopardy sounding music.

Students get points for getting the correct answer, and even more points if they answer the question more quickly than their classmates. The top 5 students are listed on a “Leaderboard” after each question to keep the competition HOT.

The kids love playing Kahoot! They love playing it so much that I often have my students that aren’t even in the current period join my class during their study hall periods!  Students in class have tweeted and texted out the game code. I even noticed a kid playing through the glass window of my door one day.  Of course I took a picture.


Other than all of the fun for the kids, the best part for ME is that I NEVER HAVE TO MAKE MY OWN KAHOOT.  There are thousands of Kahoots! already made by excellent math teachers everywhere. This is KEY when you have a new planning or are simply overwhelmed. You just type in your topic and then can chose from dozens of premade Kahoots! on just about any topic, including Calculus!

The biggest downside to Kahoot is that the kids want to play it all of the time and beg me daily to play it.

Suggestions for fun and productive Kahooting:

  1. Don’t make your own Kahoot at first. In fact, I may never make my own. There are so many to borrow from!  Once you duplicate a Kahoot, it is easy to edit.
  2. When playing Kahoot, 6 – 10 questions is best. Some kids get discouraged and give up if they fall too behind in the scores. So, instead if playing one KaHoot game with 20 questions, play two 10 question Kahoots! You will have two winners and thus more opportunities to get everyone engaged.
  3. I use Kahoot! as a pretest, for a quick check of their understanding of terms. and as practice problems for more rote  or basic topics. The max time students have to answer a question is 120 seconds so KaHoot is not for problems that take a longer time to solve.
  4. Let them make up silly names. I play Kahoot! so they can have fun while doing math. And making up silly names is really a big part of this fun.


You can also embed YouTube videos into KaHoot. I videoed the kids one day and posted it to YouTube, then added it to their next KaHoot game. The next time we played, their video was what played while they were signing in. They loved it. 

Watch the action here. 

I have just learned about a Ghost Mode in KaHoot but haven’t had a chance to try it yet. Cathy Yeneka blogged about Ghost Mode. I can’t wait to try it in the fall!

Exam Time – Study Guide Assignment

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It’s finals time!  I teach mostly freshmen, so I wanted to help them prepare for their Geometry final.  Many students have a tough time studying for a math test, and this one covers an entire semester plus of material.  Geometry is full of things to know as well, like properties of your favorite shapes, everything you never wanted to know about triangles and circles, and finding areas and volumes of anything and everything.

I created a Study Guide Assignment to help them.  I gave them an outline of the topics the exam would cover, and a rubric on how I would grade it.  I gave out the assignment a week before our two in-class review days, with the study guide being due at the beginning of class on the first review day.  I emphasized that they needed to create a study guide that would help THEM.  They did not have to do it any certain way.  They could take notes, use index cards, make a booklet, do it on their computer, any way they wanted!

IMG_3566Today students shared their study guides with the class.  They were very creative!  A few students went all out and created a brand new binder for their study guides.  They created page dividers for each chapter.  On the page dividers, they attached note cards where they had written the notes from the chapter.  In each section they included the most important notes (foldables), study guides, problem sets and assessments for that chapter.  One student even put every page in a page protector!

Here are some of the other things they created.  Below is a gallery of pictures I took today.

  • A binder with dividers, one for each chapter.  Notecards attached to the divider, then all quizzes, tests and problem sets from the chapter in the sections.
  • A section in their INB, so they would have their notes all together with their notes from the year.
  • Index cards, love the “again” card one student created so she would go through them “again”.
  • LARGE index cards (from half sheets of paper)
  • Booklets, like the ones we make in class to review
  • Quizlet
  • A word document (the student even learned to use equation editor – impressive)

The students did an amazing job and most students told me that it took them a couple of hours or more to do this assignment.   Yesterday many were mad at me (as they were finishing them up the assignment), but today they said, “Wow, this should really help me on the exam.”  Exams are still a week away, so hopefully getting this work “out of the way” should give them a huge head start on their studying.

IMG_3574I feel that their study guides are already effective and helping them.  Today, after they shared their study guides, I let them work with other students if they were missing sections on their study guides.  Afterwards, I gave them an exam review packet of problems and was happy to see many students flipping through their own study guides to get help on the problems instead of asking me immediately.  Seriously, I should do this before every test.  Success!

Grading Side Note – I didn’t want to have to grade ANOTHER project before exams, so I had them self score the rubric.  Then, I scored their rubric as they presented.  It counted as a small quiz grade so I graded it pretty easy.  The main point was that they were organizing and re-writing many of their notes.  And most of my students could use a small good grade this time of year.
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Rice Krispie Conic Sections

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After seeing Rice Krispie Conic Sections on Shawn’s blog, I knew I had to make them for my class.  I’m so glad I did.  They were amazing.  They are actually very easy to make, and totally worth it.  We have been doing parabolas all year, but it was so cool to cut a conic and SEE a parabola inside!

Screen Shot 2015-02-25 at 10.13.13 PMTips for anyone who wants to make them.  I used snow cone cups that I got on Amazon.com.  I first looked at Target, but there were no snow cone cups to be found in January.  Once the treats were made and set, the snow cone paper just tore off very easily.

Screen Shot 2015-02-25 at 10.11.34 PMThe Rice Krispie Treat recipe is not on the Rice Krispies box, but on the marshmallow package.  It took a double recipe to fill 18 snow cone cups.  I only have one Alg 2 class, so this was fine.  But, if I had more students I would probably not fill the cups up as full, so a double recipe would fill more cups.

I gave each group of students two snow cone krispie treats (so we could make a full conic) and some plastic knives, and then we were off!  I first had them cut a circle off of the top.  Then we moved to ellipses and parabolas.  For the hyperbola, I had them stick their two cones together.  I was impressed at how well it went.  Sometimes you do an activity that sounds great, but doesn’t really give you the full effect.  The rice krispie cones turned out better than I even thought they would!  And of course, the best part about Rice Krispie Conic sections is that you get to eat them!  This was worth its weight in gold today during the LAST period of the day before 8 inches of snow was expected to fall!

Completing the Square with Algebra Tiles

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I can’t remember when I learned how to “Complete the Square”.  However, I don’t know if I ever knew (or even thought about) why it was called completing the square.

I wanted my students to actually complete a square before they “completed the square”.  And, what better way to do this than with Algebra Tiles!  I have an entire class set that I bought for middle school.  I even have a magnetic set for the board.

My Algebra 2 students had never used Algebra Tiles before.  Introducing manipulatives to high school students isn’t always easy, they think they are “too old” to play with them.  One student even (loudly) made a comment at the beginning of class about how silly they were.  However, by the end of class he had changed his tune, and I even had two students ask to take a set home.

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I also made an INB graphic organizer that also leads them through completing the square. It includes steps on the back, but my students didn’t like that at all once they actually understood what they were doing.  Love that.

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Here are three videos that I made for my students on how to complete the square using the area model. 

Completing Two Squares to Make a Circle

Trying Conic Cards

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I haven’t taught Conic Sections in many, many years.  But even though it has been many years, I still remember how much students disliked them.

After hearing Cindy Johnson speak so enthusiastically at TMC14 about her Conic Cards, I knew I wanted to try them.  Amy and Sarah had great success with the cards as well. So, I’m going all in.  If you have tried them and have any suggestions for me, please throw them in the comments.  I start Monday.  I can’t wait to try them!

I had read from other bloggers how much time it takes to makes these cards. I thought I understood, but really had no idea until I started printing them out. It took for-ev-er. I also laminated them and then cut them out while watching a movie with the family. It took me over two hours to cut them out, and I only made five sets. (I’m at a private school so I only have 20 kids per class). Thank goodness for snow days.

The entire time I printed, laminated, and cut each page I just kept thinking, “I cannot believe that Cindy CREATED all of these cards!” And I can’t even imagine how long it took her to make them! So, thank you Cindy for your great work, but especially for being willing to share them with all of us!  This is why I love the #MTBOS.

The entire set of Conic Cards including worksheets, a project, and even a test to go with them can be downloaded here.  There are even two levels of worksheets, a standard and an advanced set.

I also plan to make Rice Crispie treat conic sections that we can cut apart, IF I have the time (soccer!).  And no, I am not above bribing my HS students with food.  Whatever it takes…

Printing and Laminating
GIANT stack of uncut cards
Serious cutting ahead
Just some of the scraps

Discovery Fosters Engagement in the Classroom with Factoring

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Last month I accidentally had a chance to “experiment” on 3 different classes of students.  It reminded me of graduate school when we would devise a new method for one “test” class to try out while the “control” class was taught a more traditional lesson.  It was “Swap Day” at our school.  Swap Day is a half day when the 8th graders visit high school for a day.  They take the place of the current 9th graders who spend their half day visiting Middle School.

Since I teach primarily 9th graders, I had a day full of brand new students that I have never taught, or even met.  We only had 30 minutes per class.  I didn’t want to bore them to death with the, “This is what you will do in High School Geometry” next year.  I also didn’t want to stand up there and talk all period to students who did not know me.  So, I decided to tackle simple factoring with them, since most of them are currenlty in Algebra 1.  They have not gotten to factoring yet in Algebra 1 so I had beautiful, blank factoring slates to work with!

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I started out with one of my most favorite factoring puzzles.  It is the x-box puzzle.  I give them zero instructions, just a puzzle sheet.  As students start to test numbers, I walk around and let them know if they have figured out the pattern or not.  This becomes a great game for them, as they all try to “get” the pattern first.  The fervor usually intensifies as soon as one student figures it out.  Other students redouble their efforts.  Usually towards the end, students who took the longest to figure it out are the proudest and give me high fives.  It’s always GREAT fun!

Except for one class.  I gave out the puzzle then went into the hallway to look for more 8th graders, as my class was half full.  When I came back in I said, “Has anyone figured out the pattern!?!”  “We ALL have.”  WHAT?  It had only been a few minutes.  It usually takes about 10 minutes for everyone to get the pattern!  Then, a student admitted, “Well, she figured out the pattern and told us all what it was.”  Oh.  I watched them sitting there, dutifully filling out the rest of the boxes.  No excitement was born, and the rest of the class was much more flat than the ones before.

Two classes had to work to figure out “the math” on their own.  They had to push their brains to discover the pattern and apply it to subsequent problems to see if they were right.  They were competitive with each other and themselves.  They were excited and engaged.  But the one class was told how to do the pattern did not get the challenge of discovering it on their own.  Once they were “instructed” what to do, they mechanically filled out the tables of numbers like they would any other worksheet.  I did not do this on purpose, but I am glad that it happened.  Because it reminded me how important discovery and challenge is to engagement.

Back to factoring.

Screen Shot 2015-02-15 at 8.43.42 AMSince I only had 30 minutes, I did not attack factoring by grouping like I usually do.  I went with “number sense” and made the factoring using the boxes a “puzzle” just like the x-puzzles.  I created a Factor Boxes Dry Erase Template and slipped it into a dry erase sleeve.  (Everything is more entertaining with dry-erase).  I gave them a couple of area models.  Then I let them multiply binomials with the boxes.  Then I filled the boxes in and they had to find the factors.  Finally, I gave them a trinomial and they had to figure out what to put in the remaining two boxes and thus find the factors.  At each stage the students caught on very quickly.  And they seemed to really enjoy the challenge.

I wish that I had the time to design engaging discovery lessons like this everyday.  Days that are missing discovery are flat for me, and even torturously boring as a teacher.  NEVER underestimate the effect on engagement of true discovery in a classroom.

Polynomial FUNctions – Multiplicity Roots Video

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Polynomial End Behavior and Multiple Roots Video

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You just NEVER know where a math lesson is going to go once you bring in the “teenager” element.  After a few very random events in class I decided to make a video to help explain end behavior and multiple roots to my students.  Music included!

I was teaching multiple roots with the help of the fun terms “bounce” (double root) and “wiggle” (triple root) coined by Rachel.  (Thank you again Rachel for sharing your files).  So as I was talking about “bounce” and “wiggle” in class I MAY have said (sang?), “Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle” once…or twice.  I have a tendency to sing random song clip-its throughout class, so it just may have happened.  Towards the end of the lesson one of my students, Michael, raised his hand to share how he was thinking of it with the class to help everyone.  He then started taking about Bounce It with Juicy J and Wiggle with Jason Derulo.  EVERYONE in the room was like, “Oh yeah! I get it now.”  Well, everyone but me that is.  You know you are old when you cannot even understand what the teen people are saying.  At least I DID know the Wiggle song, but all of the J names completely threw me.

After class I shared all of the dance fun with my teaching partner Chris.  He talked about how he hi-lights what the roots look like at the graph when explaining multiplicities.  He said he even draws a little frame around the root so the picture inside the frame looks like a line, a parabola, or a cubic function.  I don’t think I’ve thought of roots visually this way, but when I shared it with my students they were like, “Duh, Mrs. Reulbach”.  How do I always miss obvious things?

Screen Shot 2015-02-20 at 8.58.47 PMWe also did the “End Behavior” dance to High School Musical (my sophomores are obsessed with High School Musical – it’s adorable).  I threw in a lightening round of Simon Says End Behavior at the end but quickly had to cease all manic dancing when I noticed I was being observed from the door by several other teachers and one of our deans.  Luckily I don’t embarrass easily!  During all of the madness one of my students found an adorable picture of little ghosts doing math graph dances.  I had seen this with stick figures before, but never ghosts!  Adorable.  Thanks Kallie!