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Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2013

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Lesson Idea: Combining Like Terms

I haven't written about a lesson idea in a while!

While talking with an 8th grade teacher today, I was reminded of a lesson I've done in the past about combining like terms. I wanted to write a quick post to share and also so that I can have it saved to refer back to.

The lesson begins by showing this clip:

The kids always laugh and enjoy the silliness of it. When it keeps going, I hear a lot of "You gotta be kidding me!" and "ugh, how long is this going to go on?" Perfect. I feel like I'm creating the controversy (create the controversy, Dan Meyer suggests is a first step)

After the video, I talk about a simpler version of this same idea.

Me: What if I ordered 5 hamburgers, 3 orders of fries, 6 hamburgers, and 2 more orders of fries. Is there a better way to order that is less confusing?

Students: Yes! (they are almost frustrated with me!) Put the hamburgers together and the fries together.

Me: Oh, so if I wrote ((write on the board: 5h + 3 f + 6h + 2f)),…

Pi Day is Silly. (but I still want to love it!)

I think to be a good teacher, you have to love teaching, love learning, love kids, and love your content area. You don't have to love them all equally and there can be parts of your job that you like better than others... but you certainly can't dislike the subject that you teach!

So, I love math. My love of math has grown as I grow in my own understanding. But I do love it. I love how numbers work. Prime numbers? Fascinating! Dodecahedrons? Beautiful! Fractions? Useful! ... and Pi? Yep, I love pi!

Today happens to be Pi Day. This is my 11th year of celebrating Pi Day. I've done everything from bringing in pie, having memorizing contests, investigating the ratio itself, and circle drawing contests. I have been in my own little world, proudly wearing pi t-shirts and pi earrings! My family and friends know I like pi. My brother bought be a pi pizza cutter. My daughter wore a onesie last year that says "Cutie Pi." I myself have 30 digits memorized!

Until I was on …

Seeing Math Everywhere!

Math is everywhere! As a math teacher, I feel like I'm thinking about math often. But there are some latest inspirations that keeps math on my mind ALL THE TIME. I see math in almost everything I do!

My first example of inspiration is "Math Photo Challenge," a summer photo taking challenge for math-minded Twitter peeps (not on Twitter? check out the website). Each week there is a different theme/challenge. It's a great way to see the math in your everyday life.

The collection of pictures from everyone is also great images to use in your classroom in the fall. You can show pictures and ask your students what they notice/wonder. Or you can use pictures for specific standards and ask students what problems they can come up with that match the image. I'm even thinking about how I can have my students use their iPads to take pictures with a different theme each week so they are inspired to see math everywhere just like I have been!
Here are a few examples of my pictur…

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Merry Christmas!

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