Random Observations

A few things that are scattered throughout my brain today:

1. I used Plickers to review some content in both Math 3 and Precalc. I really like the site except when it freezes up. And then it annoys me. Luckily it wasn't something that I couldn't fix by restarting my phone, but who has time for that in the middle of class?  And I really wish they'd include the possibility of mathtype in their answers. It's awkward to try and include square roots.

2. We're quizzing in Math 3 over solving quadratics tomorrow. Technically it's a Math 2 topic but the kids don't remember a lot (anything?) about factoring or solving and I feel like it's such an important thing to be able to do that I spend a good amount of time on it. Today I gave them a worksheet to practice solving equations (I emphasize the importance of choosing the best method to solve and not just the quadratic formula each time); the worked-out answers were on the back of the paper. My advice was to work through a problem then flip and check. I told them I wasn't going to collect the assignment tomorrow but to do what they felt they needed to do to prepare themselves for the quiz. In all 3 of my Math 3 classes I noted that the students who struggle immediately pulled out their phones once they heard the worksheet was optional. The students who do well immediately started working on it and checking their answers.

  • Are the lower-performing students that way because they don't work?  Or are they trying to avoid showing what they don't know and hoping it will go away?  (My vote is a mixture of the two.)
3. In Precalc we're reviewing Rational Functions. We've spent a couple of days practicing finding the zeros, asymptotes, etc, and graphing and seemed to be doing ok with it. Today I gave them graphs and asked them to write the functions.  It's amazing how much harder it is to work backwards through a problem. But it definitely shows what they know!  Instead of a quiz I created a Desmos Activity that I'm going to have the kids work through tomorrow.

4. I stayed up way too late last night watching election results. Honestly, I think the election of either candidate would have created a scary situation. A few kids mentioned it in class today but it didn't seem to be a big deal but unfortunately that's not how a lot of the country is dealing with the president-elect. I feel so badly for those kids who will basically be viewing the new president as an enemy (and vice versa). The next 4 years are definitely going to be a roller coaster.

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