Altitude Sickness
July 29, 2011, 12:00 amAct 1
View from Pikes Peak:
On a trip out west with my wife, we took a trip up to the top of Pikes Peak by Colorado Springs. I’m calling this post Altitude Sickness because despite having this post in mind when we went up, I didn’t take the one picture that I wanted to take. Idiot. Nincompoop...
SBG: Please Help – A Question
June 30, 2011, 12:00 am
“Math class is tough.”
Barbie (1992)
How can I use SBG to challenge the top learners?
So after weeping quietly into my cereal while looking at the Geometry Regents results at the end of this year (just kidding, I don’t eat cereal, it was my toast), I noticed that I didn’t have as many “master...
Math Notebook Questions
June 22, 2011, 12:00 amEnd of the year reflection time.
In my 7 years of teaching, I’ve never required my students to have a math notebook. The sum total of my speaking on the subject is probably a couple of minutes at the beginning of year, “You need a math notebook or binder to write notes in and keep handout...
Dartboard Problem
June 20, 2011, 12:00 amFrom Infinigons, etc: Putting myself in kids’ shoes
You have a square dartboard. What is the probability that a randomly-thrown dart will land closer to the center of the dartboard than to an edge?
Superb problem.
I took the lazy route. I made a python program to run 100,000 trials, and graph...
SBG: A Small Tweak and a Feedback Inequality
June 16, 2011, 12:00 amThe grading system in Geometry this year was described to the students with the following description:
The final concept grade will be out of a grade of 8. The best you can do on the first quiz is a 4 out of 8 (50%). Every concept will quizzed at least twice. If the second grade is higher tha...
Geometry SBG Concept list
June 13, 2011, 12:00 amTo copy Ms. Nowizee from last year, I want to share my Geometry Concept List. This was the first year of Standards Based Grading in Geometry, and before seeing the end of the year results, I’d give it a B (more to follow).
The hard part was designing the list so that each concept was not too b...
Car Talk Puzzler (The Colored Caps)
June 12, 2011, 12:00 amThe newest car talk puzzler. Draw a diagram, it may help.
Three men, Mr. White, Mr. Brown and Mr. Green, were in the habit of meeting in a local doughnut shop every morning for coffee and doughnuts.
One morning as they were sitting at their usual table, Mr. White remarked, “Hey, will you look...
Why Math? Neil deGrasse Tyson Responds
June 11, 2011, 12:00 amMath needs better marketing.
There are people who say “I’ll never need this math, these trig identities”, from 10th grade, or 11th grade, or maybe you never learned them. Here’s the catch. Whether or not you ever again use the math you learned in school; the act of having learn...
Wonderlic Test
June 10, 2011, 12:00 amWonderlic Sample Test
If you’ve never heard of the Wonderlic, it’s an exam given to players entering the NFL draft every year.
The Wonderlic is an exam comprised of 50 questions. Players have 12 minutes to complete the test. The average score (out of 50) is a 21.
Vince Young made headlin...
Scavenger Hunt: Geometry Regents Review
June 9, 2011, 12:00 amQuick post:
In NY our end of the year exam is the Regents exam (no comment). The schedule of the exams this year means that I won’t see my students for 13 days. Great.
I made up a Geometry Regents Scavenger Hunt found here: http://bit.ly/qbyregentsreview
The students solve one set of problems...