Without going into too much (well any, actually) detail, I wanted to share this quote that a friend sent me a week or so ago that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
I have a formula for knowing if a next step is the right one for you:
If you feel both excited and scared, that is it. If you're just excited and not afraid, there is no challenge, no stretching, no initiation; you are still in your safe zone, and growth is unavailable. If you're just afraid, there is no positive motivation. Why walk through a fear unless there is something you are walking toward? But if you are simultaneously turned on and frightened, do it and watch your growth skyrocket.
Alan Cohen
Monday, February 25, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Polar Graphs
Polar Graphs 2013, a set on Flickr.
The results of the precalc kids' polar graphs. They turned out really neat!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Playing with Polar Equations
It's been fun the past few days to show the precalc kids what their calculators can do. We started with parametric equations were fun to play with, and now we've moved on to polar equations.
I found a parametric equation that produced a heart after a quick google search on Valentine's Day. Some of my precalc kids embellished it a bit.
Then last night because I had oodles of spare time on my 3-day weekend (ha!) I sat and typed this up. (I stole borrowed a lot of this from this worksheet I found online. Don't let the comic sans font dissuade you from checking it out.) I figure we'll spend a couple of days on it in class, and their own polar equation design is due on Thursday.
I found a parametric equation that produced a heart after a quick google search on Valentine's Day. Some of my precalc kids embellished it a bit.
I don't always do a lot with the polar equations, but this year after I discovered that desmos would graph polar equations (and you can add sliders to help you show the different options on the rose and such) I thought it might be fun to take some time and investigate. On Friday I gave them this worksheet that has some really cool graphs on it. I edited it so that the kids couldn't see what the graph would produce. Lots of oohs and aahs were heard!
I was talking with some friends last night... it was nice to have a "3-day" weekend, because it really gave me a 2-day weekend, as opposed to the normal 1-day weekend that we all usually get. It's not just me that dedicates Sundays (or in this week's case, Monday) to school work, right?
Saturday, February 16, 2013
My Weekly Tags (weekly)
-
Ratio and Proportion travel activity - Resources - TES
Great resource @MSeiler - A booklet that covers all the key concepts involved in ratio and proportion http://t.co/74kTVoB
-
McSquared: New intro to trig functions
McSquared: New intro to trig functions http://t.co/AzfEhxnK #mathchat #geogebra #flipclass #coflip
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Middle School Math Games Freebies - Math Concentration
Middle School Math Games Freebies http://t.co/h7QPkYOt
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
What to do?
I'm reaching the end of my rope with my Integrated Algebra 1 class.
Aside from one or two boys (depending on the day) their behavior isn't that bad. If you walked in my room you'd mostly see what looks like good things going on. Either we're reviewing old material or learning new stuff. Kids are quiet. (Except for that one kid... but you know.)
The problem?
They're not listening. They look like they're listening. They act like it. When I ask a question people raise their hand to answer. But nothing's going in.
Today we had shortened classes because of a 2-hour late arrival (for inservice). On Monday we'd started some exponent rules (short cuts, I called them) and I wanted one more day today to review them again. Kids were saying this would be the easiest quiz. Awesome! I thought.
Before I passed out the assignment, I asked everyone to look at me. I told them that instead of doing the whole worksheet that I was giving them, I wanted to them to do one side only. I showed them which side and even told them what it said at the top (while walking around so everyone could see). I told them that if they didn't hear my instructions I was going to make them do the whole assignment.
I passed out the papers.
As I was doing that, at least five kids asked me if we were doing the whole thing. Really?!
I told them yes.
Right now 7 out of 17 kids are passing. And it has me wondering what I'm doing wrong.
Aside from one or two boys (depending on the day) their behavior isn't that bad. If you walked in my room you'd mostly see what looks like good things going on. Either we're reviewing old material or learning new stuff. Kids are quiet. (Except for that one kid... but you know.)
The problem?
They're not listening. They look like they're listening. They act like it. When I ask a question people raise their hand to answer. But nothing's going in.
Today we had shortened classes because of a 2-hour late arrival (for inservice). On Monday we'd started some exponent rules (short cuts, I called them) and I wanted one more day today to review them again. Kids were saying this would be the easiest quiz. Awesome! I thought.
Before I passed out the assignment, I asked everyone to look at me. I told them that instead of doing the whole worksheet that I was giving them, I wanted to them to do one side only. I showed them which side and even told them what it said at the top (while walking around so everyone could see). I told them that if they didn't hear my instructions I was going to make them do the whole assignment.
I passed out the papers.
As I was doing that, at least five kids asked me if we were doing the whole thing. Really?!
I told them yes.
Right now 7 out of 17 kids are passing. And it has me wondering what I'm doing wrong.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
From the mouths of seniors
This morning in precalc:
A senior who's been slacking and now realized he has to start working or he'll have to take the final exam: This isn't even bad, Mrs. Fouss. I like this.
Me: You sound surprised that it's not bad.
Student: I am.
And then he went on to tell me that I probably shouldn't grade yesterday's quizzes because "literally" everyone got like "a 20%" and it'll make me look bad if I give them all bad grades.
But then he told me that we'll have to Skype next year when he's in college because he'll miss me.
You win some, you lose some.
A senior who's been slacking and now realized he has to start working or he'll have to take the final exam: This isn't even bad, Mrs. Fouss. I like this.
Me: You sound surprised that it's not bad.
Student: I am.
And then he went on to tell me that I probably shouldn't grade yesterday's quizzes because "literally" everyone got like "a 20%" and it'll make me look bad if I give them all bad grades.
But then he told me that we'll have to Skype next year when he's in college because he'll miss me.
You win some, you lose some.
Monday, February 11, 2013
What is a perfect man?
Because I can't resist sharing these...
Last week's quote:
"Perfect numbers like perfect men are very rare." - Rene Descartes
Some of the more interesting responses:
She is saying a perfect man is rare and she relates it to the variety of perfect numbers. She obviously never had a boyfriend.
I am no expert on relationships, but from my ranting friends, I think that perfect numbers are less rare and more reliable than "perfect" men. At least perfect numbers never change. Men may seem perfect at first, but then they always end up changing.
Perfect #s are rare and so are men who haven't been infected by psychotic women.
If there's a so called "perfect" guy I feel like he'd get really annoying really fast.
Perfect men aren't rare. It's just that some girls don't look in the right places. Guys do it also. People's expectations are sometimes too high since everyone has flaws, it's hard to find that "perfect person".
This is not true. There are plenty of perfect men, ______ for example.
Here I am.
Except for me.
Agree! Men as a gender are not perfect as many women have pointed out. Men as a human race are also imperfect.
This quote is not talking about men as a gender. it is saying men as in all humans. Humans all have imperfections. In the real world, numbers usually do not work perfectly. In my experience in construction, no matter how perfectly something is measured and cut, the board rarely fits perfectly. According to numbers it should, but it doesn't. This shows how numbers are rarely perfect.
I agree with this quote because a perfect man is very hard to find, like perfect numbers. You only come across these things if you're lucky.
I disagree because there are lots of attractive boys I know!
It's a lie, all numbers are perfect so if all numbers are like men, then all men are perfect. Boom.
And one to finish on. . .
I disagree because Hannah Montana once said "Nobody is Perfect" and that is totally true.
Last week's quote:
"Perfect numbers like perfect men are very rare." - Rene Descartes
Some of the more interesting responses:
She is saying a perfect man is rare and she relates it to the variety of perfect numbers. She obviously never had a boyfriend.
I am no expert on relationships, but from my ranting friends, I think that perfect numbers are less rare and more reliable than "perfect" men. At least perfect numbers never change. Men may seem perfect at first, but then they always end up changing.
Perfect #s are rare and so are men who haven't been infected by psychotic women.
If there's a so called "perfect" guy I feel like he'd get really annoying really fast.
Perfect men aren't rare. It's just that some girls don't look in the right places. Guys do it also. People's expectations are sometimes too high since everyone has flaws, it's hard to find that "perfect person".
This is not true. There are plenty of perfect men, ______ for example.
Here I am.
Except for me.
Agree! Men as a gender are not perfect as many women have pointed out. Men as a human race are also imperfect.
This quote is not talking about men as a gender. it is saying men as in all humans. Humans all have imperfections. In the real world, numbers usually do not work perfectly. In my experience in construction, no matter how perfectly something is measured and cut, the board rarely fits perfectly. According to numbers it should, but it doesn't. This shows how numbers are rarely perfect.
I agree with this quote because a perfect man is very hard to find, like perfect numbers. You only come across these things if you're lucky.
I disagree because there are lots of attractive boys I know!
It's a lie, all numbers are perfect so if all numbers are like men, then all men are perfect. Boom.
And one to finish on. . .
I disagree because Hannah Montana once said "Nobody is Perfect" and that is totally true.
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