Math Education

11/16/17 Wanted to share my lesson for today and tomorrow. I love doing this lesson, especially this time of the year when students, and teachers, are already mentally on vacation. Today we are investigating the popular children's game Tic-Tac-Toe. There are many strategies found online, or perhaps you think you have the perfect strategy. Most people already know that the game in unwinnable, but can you guarantee you will never lose. Remember, never losing means you will either win or you will tie.  I always show the clip form the old move "War Games" where the computer is trying to launch Nuclear Weapons in a simulated World War. The solution to the problem is teaching the computer that some games are unwinnable. They do this ( SPOILER ALERT!)  by having the computer play itself in Tic-Tac-Toe. The computer then realizes that the game cannot be won and is there a point to playing. I see the math, the patterns, the rule. This is real math to me. Identifyi...

11/14/17 I have been battling with a big question for a while now. Why did I choose mathematics? I ask that of myself a lot, and I try to challenge my colleagues with the same question. The number one response I get from other math teachers is that it was easy for them. I fell into this category for a long time. I now have a different answer, but want to first address my thoughts on the "easy" group. If math was easy for you, do you really understand it? Procedure is easy for you. You understand how to follow a set of directions in a particular order, but do you really understand mathematics? I struggled with this for many years. I loved math in school. I was doing Algebra in 6th grade. Numbers made sense to me, procedure was easy to follow. That was until I got into geometry. Why was this class so different? Why do we as a profession tell people you might be good at algebra but bad at geometry and that is ok? Do you really understand the math? I had to find the answer ...

11/9/17 Working with my students today we found something I had never seen before. Some of you smart people out there may already know this, but it blew my mind. Given a quadratic function in Vertex Form, what is the significance of the a value? ie:   y = a(x - h)^2 + k We looked at a progression of functions to build it out. If you are interested in doing this look at: a)  y = 1/5x^2             b)  y = -2/3x^2            c)  y = 3/4x^2 + 3 I found it to be really interesting. I love looking for patterns and seeing new things. For me mathematical education should be all about this type of stuff. It is really hard to do this because the students are not equipped to look for patterns in their work. But if you can get them past that by the questions you ask, I think you will find real enjoyment in this. Please feel free to send me any cool pattern things you use, or that you a...

11/8/17 State of mathematical education This post is prompted by the frustration I am feeling daily in my job. For those that don't know me, I am a high school math teacher. I love math. Really! I like to tell my students I see math the way I imagine Picasso saw art, or Beethoven saw music. Math is a form of art; it is the art of thinking and problem solving. If you enjoy puzzles, math is for you. Ok, enough of all that. The purpose of this post is to try and get to the root of a huge issue. Our young generation of students, as with many of their parents, don't see a reason for the study of mathematics. It is something I hear daily. "When am I ever going to use this?" I try to remind my students that they aren't going to graph parabolas in their everyday lives. They wont be asked to solve an absolute value inequality. I understand that and I can appreciate the frustration. However, when you try to offer them something new and different, they just want you to ...