Fold-ables

Hi folks, I thought of Jim/Whitney/Denise's trip out to Texas a few years ago (or was it a decade ago now?) when they came back with a fold-able notebook.

I've been following this math teacher's blog (link). She is doing similar things (though not with SIMMS materials). I'm getting ready to start If The Shoe Fits with my lower achieving students. As a method of front loading some of the vocab and ideas, I'm going to have them make a foldable like this one link. I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy New Year

I manged to survive Christmas, my 66 birthday and New Years eve in that order. For New Year's eve my wife Cindy, son Brendan, and I watched Julie and Julia. I thoroughly enjoyed this flick and am inspired by it. A new year resolution I am making is to do a much better job of blogging on a regular basis. No I do not intend to master the art of French cooking. However, I would like to become a better math teacher and maybe help others do the same.

We will have two more weeks of classes at Lawrence High when we resume on the 4th. In my level four class I have been torn between finishing with All in the Family which is about families of functions or Strive for Quality which deals with combinarics. Because we just completed Risky Business I have decided to go with combinarics. It is a more hands on modules, and the kids should enjoy it more. I am making a similar decision for my level 2 class, but that is for another blog.

On another note am I the only one that is concerned about priorities in the media? I enjoyed Micheal Jackson's music, and am sorry for his passing. During the last week's obligatory review of 2009 I have seen stories about him at least once a day. I read an article about seven Americans who were killed in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. Today on page three there was a story about how he got in the compound. No where in either of these stories can I find the names or homes of the Americans. How about the names and homes of all of the American soldiers we lost in 2009 while serving their country? Wow, you can read all you want about Tiger Woods. Phew, I'm not saying these thing should not be in the news, but let's focus on what really matters.

Thanks for letting an old man ramble for a bit. Please feel free to jump into the blog anytime. Be well, Jim

Vacation is coming, Vacation is coming

Hey All, How's life treating you? Really ... well that's nice to hear. I'm doing well. It's been tough getting SIMMs to the students. I've spent much time trying to give them the back ground skills needed to accomplish many of the activities. It's been very slow going. I really like the activities in the books (I teach Level 1 and 3 with a smattering of 2) but the students really need to be guided through many parts. Some of my students are getting it and that makes my day when I get an aha moment.
I'd like to thank Jim and Sue for not only showing the way but also for the Share Site and many documents to use in class. I have used many of them as is and use some with my personal modifications. The share site has saved me a few times when I needed a good homework page for the class.
Once again thanks to all and to all a good night... can you believe that... from the Jewish guy.
Happy Holidays

Hats Off to math people in Newark

Hi all. Welcome from snowy Fairfield Center, Maine. Not many schools are in session today because of the weather.

I spent yesterday (12.08.09) with the high school math department chairs of Newark, New Jersey. What a great day I had. This year all 16 (I think) high schools in Newark are implementing SIMMS as their only math curriculum. I spent a week in July with 75 or so high school teachers. What an outstanding group. The enthusiasm and and commitment were contagious.

Their chairs asked to spend a day with me in order to figure ways to further support their respective departments. We shared things about the curriculum, what to expect when you step into a SIMMS class, the best ways to facilitate professional learning communities that include SIMMS, how to communicate with parents about the curriculum, and just a tiny bit about my grandchildren. Well, what did you expect for a nickle?

At the end of the day the kids on Newark are going to be the ones who benefit the most from this wonderful group of people. It seems that whenever you hear the word Newark negative comments come up. It is time to realize what positive things are happening in this city. I have really enjoyed my time there, and look forward to returning many times. It is leaders like these math people who make it an up and coming community. Go in peace. Jim

Well

So sorry I have not contributed yet. In addition to a Level 1 class, I am teaching a new course at our high school, and it has been crazy to say the least.

Anyway, we just finished up "Food" at our high school and have started "Well." One of the concerns that came up was the materials needed for the exploration in Activity 1. We could not find our timers, and the few we did find all had dead batteries. The suggestion was made to have students use their cell phones. Almost every phone has a stopwatch feature, which worked beautifully! The kids were excited that they were able to whip out their phones and not get them confiscated. The data we collected was actually very consistent; more so than with the timers we used in the past!

For funnels, a manila folder works great. Using an open folder, I make an arc using a radius of the desired opening diameter. Cut out the semi-circle, close the folder and tape the bottom edge. Kids have to be reminded to keep the opening as circular as possible, but the results are fantastic. They hold up to three liters - more than the required two. Plus, if the folders actually hold up to student use, you can "file" them away very easily. This has worked for me for many years. We had a great time, collected some good data and saved a bunch of time.

Happy SIMMSing!

New SIMMS share

For the first time in my 44 years as a teacher I have the entire Thanksgiving week off with no students. I am NOT complaining.

I will spend a lot of the time with my wood pile. I also will spend a fair amount of time uploading files to the new SIMMS share site.

Because of the limits of people allowed on the old site my friend and colleague Sue L has created a new site where all SIMMS teachers can post files for use by all with no limits on use. I encourage all interested SIMMS people to make use of this site. I have included the address below. The only cost to you will be a quick message of thanks to Sue (lornitzo @ charter.net)

I am almost through the No Place Like Home module with my level 2 class. We are spending more time than usual refreshing our skills with the trig functions and revisiting our old friend Pythagoras.

In my level four class I have taken a five day break from SIMMS, and we are working on strengthening our factoring skills. After Thanksgiving break we will go into the Big Business module in the level three book. This should drive home the factoring we have been strengthening.

I am having problems coming to grips that we only have 5 weeks left in this semester. We are a 4 by 4 block so the classes will end at the conclusion of the semester.

Again if anyone stumbles onto this post I encourage you to check out the new SIMMS share site. Happy holidays to all and to all a good night. Jim in Maine

http://216.136.47.99/

Jim,

I tried to link this to your post...but could not.

Trig is such a fun thing to teach - so much better when the kids can see it on the computers.

For those looking for a great way to introduce the graphs of trig functions there is a really cool applet using a Ferris wheel. I am not sure of the web address but if you google it you may find it.

If you can't, let me know and I will work a little harder to remember it.

Laura Reynolds
Math Teacher/Coach
MSAD 49

Thanks for doing this blog Jim! Let's see what we can do to get more on here!