A Few Weeks of Relative Maximums and Relative Minimums

The title of this post is my math play on words for these last couple of months, as I have been away almost every weekend for some highs and lows.

Three weeks ago, I lost my childhood best friend to ALS. She asked me back in 2016 if I would write one of her eulogies. A few weeks before she died, I visited her and was able to read my eulogy with her. It was a gift I will never forget: to tell a person how much you love her and how much she impacted your life. We cried. Ugly cried. We hugged. Well, I hugged because she couldn't. She spelled out for me, with her laser pointer, "I am not worthy." If she only knew how worthy she was. Over 600 people were in attendance and four other very close people in her life wrote very different, yet equally if not more impactful eulogies. The funeral was beautiful, starting with Debbie picking out the song Thank You by Jennifer Nettles and having it played for all of us. I was numb. I was lost. I had no time to mourn.

I flew back to Florida a few hours later and immediately finished prepping for our first TEDxSaintAndrewsSchool event three days later. I went from possibly the lowest point in my life to probably the highest (professional) moment within a matter of days. The fifteen students and three guest speakers absolutely blew me away. They did better than I ever could have imagined, and more importantly, I watched as the students shined. Four months earlier, they started the TED-Ed class with little idea of what it was about and no idea that they would do a TED talk. And they all ended with an impactful idea worth spreading. Their and their parents' smiles said it all. Yet every moment when I wasn't busy, every moment I was alone, all I could think of was Debbie.

Around the same time, I helped one of my best friends with her ice cap through her chemotherapy. It's a cap she uses so she won't lose her hair. She's doing OK, but she feels sick for a week after and gets chemo every two weeks. That's not much time to feel like herself. All while she's still teaching. We watched part of the first episode of the Santa Clarita Diet as the poison seeped through her veins, and we had to turn it off as we both got nauseated - from the show, not the chemo! We sent tons of pictures of raw meat back and forth to each other with the throw-up emoji for days, just giggling about it as I'm thinking about it now. Highs and lows.

The next week, I took 30 kids to Mu Alpha Theta states. It was so much fun. I laughed with my incredible colleagues and students even as the kids competed constantly for almost two days straight. We started out at Universal Studios and went on a few rides and giggled when some of the adults turned a bit green. I heard a freshman exclaim, "Mrs. Winer! I won!" when his name was called for an award, and immediately watched him call his mother afterward. I constantly laughed while playing trivia with the students and cheered with them when we came in 3rd place out of over forty schools. I watched the kids sit in a huge circle outside of my hotel room late after awards because they weren't allowed to have boys in girls rooms and vice versa. They sat and played cards with the newest member of the math department, a male teacher who is equally as nerdy as me. I watched them grow to love him and learn more about him and realize they had a lot in common with him. I felt proud of him and of my students.

What no one knew is that when they were competing, I had some downtime. At Starbucks, waiting in line, I sobbed, quietly, into my MAO sweatshirt of all things. I read and answered texts from Debbie's friends and family while in line-- none of us sure we even believe that she is gone. How could I no longer see my sweet friend?? And then, a kid would appear in line, and just like that, I snapped out of my pain and into proud momma mode.

How can one go through a series of relative maxes and mins so fast? A sine curve? With a period of π/10000 for us math folk. Up down up down...

And the last maximum so far...I just got back from NCTM Annual. It was amazing. Sara VanDerWerf is my hero. She has superpowers for sure. I think she makes everyone she speaks to feel important. I am going to do math talks and make sure students can "see it before I show them" and that students will "say it before I tell them." I will try to teach with a "full stack" like Dan Meyer. I will try to do all of the things I learned. The biggest relative max of all was when I gave my first talk ever on Students Teaching Students. I ran out of handouts. That means I had over 200 people in attendance, and they were so engaged and interested. And I did it...I used to hate public speaking, but I was able to speak without having all my notes written down in front of me, and I didn't fail. It was actually amazing. I had an awesome time with my former colleague Mary. We laughed the whole time with my other colleague Ari. I bumped into my son's Kindergarten teacher from 15 years ago as well as a former student. I helped a group of pre-service teachers when the session we were at was at a lull, and it was so cute to watch them take copious notes on everything I said. It was so much fun.

But there was a low. A dear friend of mine whom I met for a drink there told me she has Parkinson's.  She was there for me when I had my medical issues in 2004, climbing Philmont with her son in my honor. And to hear this news - to hear that my avid runner friend, my brilliant author friend - is having to deal with such a huge burden...it's almost too much.

So now, I'm home and...it's time to mourn. It's time to mourn all the things around me that are falling apart and at the same time to be thankful for everything I have. It's time to be grateful I can make it to yoga this afternoon and know that my body will do what my instructor tells me to do. Well, mostly. It's time to be there for my students and let them know I'm here for them in a month when I've been out of school much more than I care to admit. It's time to thank G-d for being alive and not worry about petty things.

Who knows how long my domain will last. It's my range of actions that I need to be most proud of in the big function f(x) = life.

A Very Busy Second Semester (Gratitude)

I have so much going on right now, I feel the need to blog about it so that I can see it all in one place. So, as it is for many bloggers, this is more for me to just put it all down somewhere, organize it, and hold myself accountable!

TEDx and my new TED-Ed class

I have put in an application to host a TEDx event at my school. This is really exciting, but it is also nerve-wracking at the same time. I've decided that one of my New Year resolutions is to give students a voice. I read recently that one of your New Year resolutions shouldn't be about you. I like that, and so I spent a few days during winter break really thinking about how I can commit to that. I planned my TED-Ed class for two weeks, curating TED talks to watch, assigning small assignments, explaining the purpose of the class, etc. I'm getting excited. The irony is that I am a math teacher who at one time was so paralyzed by public speaking that I can't believe I am the one to teach students how to give a TED talk!! But I see it as an opportunity to give students a way to spread an idea that is unique to them and that makes their hearts beat faster. I'm pumped. I'm nervous, but it's a good nervous. And after 27 years of teaching, it's exciting to have something new to do!

I have been preparing by using the amazing modules provided by TED-Ed clubs (click the link to find out how to get the valuable resources) and by reading Chris Anderson's TED Talks book. He's the curator of TED. I met him in person at TED-Ed Weekend, which is enough to inspire me to help my students do incredible things. Stay tuned!! The video below explains TED-Ed clubs. Watch below!

A Math Fair

I wish I could remember how I figured out about the Julia Robinson Math Festival. Each year, I've charged my Mu Alpha Theta vice-presidents to come up with a school-wide community service project, and this is the first year that I have students who followed through! The goal is to have a math fair, grades JK - 8, for students and their parents, with our club members facilitating. I've listed some info below. The goal is to have our 85+ club members work with younger students to inspire them to enjoy mathematics. I hope that this will be a yearly festival! 

Speaking at NCTM

Again, never would I have thought that I could do public speaking. A sudden calm came over me in the last few years. I seriously used to get so nervous when I found out that I had to speak (not in the classroom, of course!), that I would be sick to my stomach for weeks, obsessing about what could go wrong. However, in the last year or so, this feeling has dissipated. I don't know why. But I'm not going to question it. I spoke publicly twice last year, once in front of a a group of alum and once in front of maybe a hundred and fifty people, telling my story about my love of my school and my job. It was extremely rewarding, which is another reason why I want to help students share their unique stories.

I applied to speak at NCTM Annual in Washington DC last year and was happy to hear that I was selected to speak about my TED-Ed project Students Teaching Students. I have yet to plan this talk, but hey, that's what spring break will be for!! This is another first that I'm excited about, but it feels stressful not having it ready yet. 

Competitions

There are a lot of MAO competitions coming up as this is our season. We have three regionals: January 20, February 3, and March 3, along with States. This year, we are hoping to take students to Universal Studios the night before states (by student request), and all of this takes so much time to organize. It's very enjoyable, and for January 20th, we have over 70 students signed up to go! This also means giving up 3 Saturdays and one weekend as a chaperone, but it is totally worth it. 

Spirituality

There is one thing that really helps ground me other than working out, and that is attending things that help me spiritually. Here are some of the things I am going to/going to do this year:

• Glennon Doyle Jan. 16
• Women's Day of Wisdom Jan. 21
• Adrienne Gold Feb. 4
• #YouDoYou  retreat Feb. 23-25 (Atlanta)
• Rachel Brathen yoga retreat in July (Aruba)
• Local yoga classes and those on oneoeight, especially Lara Heimann
• Weekly discussions with my spiritual guide Bruchy :)
• Will finish my 200 hr yoga teacher training this summer!! 

I'm also reading this book.

I also listen to Rachel Brathen's podcast "From the Heart" weekly. 

And I try to do something with at least one girlfriend a week - this is so necessary for my soul. 

After writing all of this down, I do feel better. I can see what's ahead. I know I have a lot to accomplish, but it's all doable. And I'm grateful for my family for supporting me through it and for this venue to share it. I am thankful for my health, my home, my friends, my job, and my students. I am thankful I can write this, and that my body is able to do the things I ask it to do each day: wake up, take me where I need to go, work out, and know when to relax (working on that last one!).

I'll leave you with this Glennon Doyle post from Instagram, in which my two worlds of math and spiritually collide: 

In which my nephew Bobby mansplians geometry but my niece Alice reclaims her damn time.

A post shared by Glennon Doyle (@glennondoyle) on Jan 6, 2018 at 6:56am PST

An Untraditional Route for a Veteran Math Teacher--What's Next?

Every year I think I'm going to slow things down and start saying "no." And every year, I think I take on more.

I see the parallel in my son's life, a sophomore in college. Each time he thinks he can't handle anymore, someone comes to him with an amazing opportunity, and he can't say no. The apple doesn't fall far, I guess.

I have been teaching high school mathematics for 28 years now. No year is like the last, so in that respect, nothing is ever boring. However, in the last few years, I have been feeling "what else?" Don't get me wrong...I love my job and love how Twitter and MTBoS have changed my teaching exponentially, as my department has grown from 10 people in the classrooms next door to me to thousands (tens of thousands?) globally. But, 28 years is a long time to be in the same career...from what I hear, most people change jobs 7 times...and though I changed schools once, I've been teaching some of the same topics every year, 3 or 4 times a year, for 28 years (completing the square, anyone??)

MU ALPHA THETA

Six years ago, I started a Mu Alpha Theta chapter in my school, and that kept the fire in my soul, in addition to teaching. I love it, and that was really just what I needed to keep things the same yet different. It gave me a new outlook each day, something more to look forward to. Again, I look forward to teaching my students each day, but I can't help the feeling I had that something was missing. Advising this amazing group was the antidote.

Honors Problem-Solving Seminar

Then, three years ago, I began teaching the elective Honors Problem-Solving Seminar. It was just something different and new, and what I LOVE about it is that we can stop the curriculum and talk about a cool problem or video that just came out (I'm biased and love TED-Ed riddles). This never happens in math. I envied history teachers for years, as they could talk about current events, and I know someone out there can say we can relate a math problem to the real-world and talk about current events, but for me at least, it does not come up organically. It comes up organically every day in problem-solving because I'm not constantly focusing on finishing a curriculum to ensure that next year's teacher finishes the curriculum to ensure that students pass their BC Calculus class the year after, etc. Whew. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

This year, Honors Problem-Solving Seminar is going strong. The students are all motivated, and best of all, they are funny. They thrive on humor and get excited when I give them just about any problem. Their final exam is to make a Numberphile or Vi Hart type video on any of the following topics:

• Sierpinski's Triangle and the Chaos Game (see picture for a project from two years ago.)
• Koch Snowflake (perimeter and area and...)
• Jacob's Ladder (we did not get to it this year) 
• The Mandelbrot Set
• Math Origami (looks so cool)
• Graph Theory and the 4 color Graph Theorem (usually I get to this in the class, but Hurricane Irma "blew" that away)
• Calendar Math and Cool Mental Math Problems
• The Monty Hall Problem and Marilyn Vos Savant's Column about the Three Children

TED-Ed Class

Next semester, rather than teach a second section of this class, I will be teaching a TED-Ed class. Instead of holding a traditional TED-Ed club after school (because I advise Mu Alpha Theta and JSU already), we will be having it as a class. This is new for me and I'm both frightened and excited. But I feel like this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing next. 

I love the quote: Do something every day that scares you. Yep, that's me! 🙋🏻

I am a mathematics teacher and truly hate public speaking. But I'm a TED-ED Innovative Educator (the only math teacher, I believe), and I have learned how to cultivate the best in my students. So while I do not like to speak publicly, I will show how, through the amazing TED-Ed modules, to give students a "voice with choice"--in other words, what are they passionate about? What is their idea worth spreading?

What is next up for me? I'm proposing that we host a local TEDx event, something I do not know much about. However, there are so many people out there who want to help and have helped tremendously. So in 5 months, we may actually have our students, at all grade levels (we have TED-Ed clubs starting in the Middle and Lower schools), do their very own TED talk in our brand new 180-seat theatre. This is so exciting to me! 

Someone asked me when they heard about it, are YOU giving a TED talk? No, that's not the point. At least not now. This is and always has been about opportunities to showcase our students, not ourselves. 

Our students have so much to say. Much of it could be bottled up and much of it students don't even know how to tap into. But now they will have their own voices and a platform. 

Maybe this is my calling? Well, math teaching was and is my calling...but it's time for something else. And what I love is that I'm not giving up my math teaching...I'm adding to it, in a way that is global and that allows for students to grow. And maybe, just maybe, a student will talk about their love of math at our TEDx event. And then my two worlds will collide.

What's next for you? 

A Nice Review for Honors Courses

It's hard for me to make up a review sheet for an honors course because I want to put questions on the test that are both challenging and doable, and how do you review for that exactly?

This year, I used a model that is from Mu Alpha Theta competitions. Students work in teams of 4 and get a packet of questions, but they can only look at one question at a time (all groups get the same question at the same time). Most questions involve four parts, each of which that has an answer A, B, C, and D, respectively. The final answer to the problem will ask for students to do something with these four numbers, for example, find AxB-C+D.

Here is a simple question:

And here are three more involved:

I started out with some practice rounds and explained the rules. During a competition, if a group gets the answer within the first four minutes, they get 16 points, in the first two minutes they get 12 points, in the first three minutes they get 8 points, and in the fourth and final minute, they get 4 points. However, this was stressing some of them out, and the intent was to review, so instead, I gave the first correct team 4 points, the second correct team 3 points, the third correct team 2 points, and the last correct team 1 point...and in some cases, not all teams earned points because time ran out. I gave students about 5 - 10 minutes a question depending on the question in a 90-minute block.

What I saw:

• students (randomly grouped) working together to solve, deciding how to divide and conquer the problem
• students who got the problem wrong (no points) being helped by students who got the problem right while other groups were finishing
• students talking about math!
• students who did not just see "textbook problems" and practice and regurgitate
• students who saw problems that looked hard but saw how to break them down and solve them
• students high-fiving each other constantly
• Groups celebrating
• LOTS of collaboration and high-level thinking

What I heard:

• "This is the best game ever!"
• "Great job!"
• "Can we do this again?"
• "YESSSS!!!"
• "I could do this forever!"

After each round, I reviewed questions as necessary based on how students were doing. It took me quite a while to pull these questions from the Florida Atlantic Mu Alpha Theta test bank, but it was worth it because, during class, I could facilitate and walk around the entire time. It was highly engaging for students and most were talking about math with a partner or team the entire class. I only had to chime in here or there.

What was cool is that our new Dean of Faculty happened to pop in unannounced to observe the class hard at work!

Here is a dropbox link to the problems I gave each group (cut up), and here are the answers. 

Math Club T-shirts Designed by Students; We've Come a Long Way in 5 Years

Every year, our math club and math honor society, Mu Alpha Theta (MAO), designs a T-shirt for the year. When we compete in South Florida, we enjoy wearing them and looking at all of the other designs that the other schools have made.

Yesterday, we unveiled our secret design, created by 3 seniors:

This was a play on Watch Me Whip, Watch Me Nae Nae, which is a popular song and dance out right now. So cool when on twitter, @pamjwilson tweeted this within days after the students and I came up with the idea "watch me flip, watch me translate." 

Great minds think alike. 

My students and I whipped and nae-nae'd for a while with excitement when we finally came up with the idea. OK, so they whipped and nae-nae'd...I would try, but I can't dance. At all. (My friends always tell me "less is more," but I don't get it, so I often refrain...especially in front of students!) 

We are lucky to have talented artists in the club, and that we have a great local company that makes the shirts for us at an affordable price. The color is beautiful and the shirt is soft this year, as we used a different brand. We always have our school mascot, Scotty, on the shirt in some way, and we usually take some pop culture idea and go with it. 

Last year, a senior came up with the idea "AB/BC" (Calculus), a play on words with AC/DC. We had SO much fun coming up with mathematical names for their songs. Here's how that shirt came out: 

In 2013 - 2014, we did a parody with Monsters University: 

Here's the artist's rendition..and how it turned out...we also make a digital scrapbook each year...the cover is the bottom left picture.

This was on the back of the T-shirt. At that time, we had student names on the back at that time, which I did not add.

In 2012 - 2013, "Oppa Gangnam Style" was big. My son, a freshman at the time, came up with idea "Cosine Tangent Style." The math club went to the mall after a competition once, and we were stopped constantly. People wanted to buy our shirt!
 
And below is our first shirt--we have come a long way! It says, in math symbols, "I'm Mathy and I Know it!," a parody of "I'm Sexy and I know It!" with a line from the song on the back, "I workout"...Problems.

We never know what we will come up with until we meet with the kids and come up with an idea after the summer. "Taylor Swift Series" was a close one this year, but I'm glad we came up with something specific to 2015. 

If you are not part of http://www.mualphatheta.org/, which I have written about here, here, and here, what are you waiting for? It has made a huge difference in my life as a teacher, and I think it has made a difference in the lives of my students. Maybe it will make a difference in your and your students' lives as well. 

Tattoo fun for MAO (Mu Alpha Theta) math club (or classes)

Did you ever think about what the first few letters in Mu Alpha Theta spells? I love when my kids discover this on their own. I also love these tattoos that I got from http://www.tattoofun.com/. I could see using them as prizes in math class, but I actually got them for my math club Mu Alpha Theta, which I wrote about here. This is my fifth year advising the club, and we are the biggest club in the school. We will start meeting once a week again this Friday, and we have a lot of new students who are interested...I am really looking forward to a great year. It is such a fun club, and it has definitely given me so much joy. I highly recommend that everyone start one at their school! Students elected a President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, Historian, and Social Media Specialist (aka PR). We gave the tattoos out at the Club Fair, and students will likely wear them at our competitions next semester. Go Mu and Go Scots!

 

The Unit Circle of Life

Math~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our math department is divided. Some like teaching the trig ratios with the Unit Circle, some don't. Since I hate  conflict, I teach both methods--one where students will draw a triangle in a quadrant and use what they know about 30-60-90 or 45-45-90 triangles to solve, and one where they learn the first quadrant of the unit circle and then reflect into other quadrants to get the answer.

For years, I have assigned a unit circle project, where students design a unit circle to wear or bring with them all day...the crazier, the better. I give bonus points to the top 3. Some of my favorites have involved printer tattoos that students wear, Shrinky Dink jewelry, Unit Circle Togas...so many more...

But one day earlier in the year I came across Unit Circle Art, a blog by Miss Rudolph. I loved her guidelines and rubric, and I used it in my Pre-Calculus and Algebra 2 Honors classes, and I have never been more pleased with the results. So this year, students were told not to use pre-made circles...that was a game changer. In the past, I have gotten some very lame projects where students cut out unit circles and paste them on circular shapes. I also said that they could not use the site http://www.embeddedmath.com to have a pre-made circle. So students worked really hard (for the most part...and if not, their grades suffered.) Here are some of the best ones.

Coolest thing ever!!

The Unit Circle of Life!

 

The rules were: Do not use a circle to begin with, but you may draw a circle. You must include degrees, radians, sine, cosine, and tangent of each special angle. You may not use a pre-drawn unit circle. According to the blog mentioned before which I pinned on Pinterest here: unit circle project, and I used Miss Rudolph's rubric exactly.

VERTICAL TEACHING:
I have been fortunate enough to have a new classroom since spring break, where 3 walls are wallpapered with white board paper. I tried to think how I could do something different after teaching the unit circle that would involve students going to the board. On the fly (usually the best way it works--organically), I asked students to go to the board in pairs, each having a different marker. Here were the directions:

partner 1: draw a circle
partner 2: draw the lines
partner 1: label quadrant 1 in degrees
partner 2: label quadrant 2 in degrees
continue for quadrants 3 and 4 alternating, and then continue for radians, (cosx,sinx) and tanx

The kids were definitely talking it through...it was a million times better than when I have had them fill in the unit circle on their own in the past...they loved drawing it on the board, and they helped each other and talked it out. Students that were confused had a partner to help them. If a pair was stuck, they could look at what another pair was doing.

Geek of the Week competition

My students love vying for Geek of the Week, and they asked to see who could draw the unit circle fastest...of course we had to use the Theme from Rocky...I got this idea from a blog but I can't find it...if you know where I got it from, please let me know so I can give credit to the owner!

Play~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mu Alpha Theta States was so much fun...the poster competition was "Math and Movies." Seven girls worked so hard to create this poster...some stayed up all night, in fact! We did not win, but they definitely won in my eyes! It's a combination of Mean Girls and Good Will Hunting and DaVinci Code.

Eat~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was told by family members that this was the best dessert ever, so here is the recipe of Flourless Chocolate Cake by King Arthur...very rich and decadent!

~Lisa

Why you should advise a math club (Mu Alpha Theta) , Math Department Halloween Costumes, Monkey Bread Recipe

MATH:

I cannot begin to describe the buzz of excitement that occurs in my classroom Thursday afternoons as students prepare for the Interstellar Competition. Every seat is taken in my room as well as in my colleague's across the way. The countdown begins, "3-2-1", and then the room silences. For 30 minutes, students take a 7 to 9 question competition against another school in a bracket known as "math madness." Afterward, kids discuss the problems, which they missed and how they solved them. It is not uncommon for me to find pictures such as these on my board at the end of the day.

One of our favorite competitions is the FAMAT Interschool Test. We have a week to compete on tough math problems, logic problems, codes, and random questions, such as anagramming the initials of famous artists to discover a famous painting, or figuring out which great works of literature allude to each other...here was a work in progress to that one below:

The most fun, however, is when we actually go to regional competitions. Usually about 50 students in Mu Alpha Theta attend these competitions. There are individual rounds and team rounds, and of course, an Interschool test which we often place at because of the tenacity of the team (and their advisors!) One of our favorite questions? "What's the longest sentence with one word." Click here for the answer. 

While tests are being graded, we take students somewhere fun to burn off some steam. I think the most fun was when we went paddleboarding for an hour, but we also go bowling, ice skating, or just to the mall depending on the location of the competition. Then we head back for the awards ceremony, where electricity fills the room as we wait with bated breath to see if one of ours has one something. If one of us wins, the whole team wins is how we see it, and the cheering for our own is so exciting! 

The group has grown so much since our start 4 years ago. We started with about 20 kids, and we now have 80, and have grown to be the biggest club in the school! We now have a math teacher advisor for each course. They motivate me, these kids who enjoy doing math with each other and finding others "like them." Last year's president wrote her college letter about the club, and it brought tears to my eyes. At the end of the day, I feel so nourished and enriched--and cannot wait for the next day to watch them actively participating, laughing, and just having a good time with each other. 

Sometimes there are challenges for the advisors...two of my students sent me a picture of themselves with thumbs up and "you will kill it!" written across as I was heading into competition. How could I not love my job?

If you want to start your club, go to http://www.mualphatheta.org/ and then you will also need to join your local Mu Alpha Theta chapter. We require members to tutor 5 hours a semester, and will start making video tutorials next week. 

PLAY:

I couldn't ask for a better department. Here were our "pi" themed Halloween costumes! Can you guess them all?

EAT:

Monkey Bread is always requested in my house. This pull-apart doughy cinnamon and sugar goodness is perfect for dessert, but it is also a big hit at brunch. Here is a recipe that I use, but I definitely double everything but the dough. I also use the honey butter store-bought dough, and I use one big bundt pan. I put it in the oven for about 28 minutes. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sticky-monkey-brains/

Enjoy!
Lisa

My Classroom Set Up, Workout Buddies, Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

Math~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was told by my department chair a few weeks ago that she had both good news and bad news. The bad news was that I was changing classrooms. I had just moved classrooms two years ago, and I worked hard at the beginning of the summer to finally get the feng-shui right in the room for next year. So I was kind of bummed. The good news was that I was moving to a much bigger room, the room that used to be the Math Lab (a place where math students go to get extra help, staffed by a math teacher every period of the day). This was going to be great because last year, my students were very squished in my classroom. The math club that I am faculty advisor for, Mu Alpha Theta, has been growing exponentially since we started the club here three years ago. There have been many days where there were not enough desks for students in the club, and we meet weekly. So I was very excited, but I had a lot of work to do, as the Math Lab was filled with books, cabinets, and tons of supplies that were outdated and abandoned.

My friends in the department helped me for what seemed like hours to move necessary items to the new Math Lab, and to discard or find new homes for the many items that have been sitting in there for years. Even after that was all done, I was very overwhelmed. There is a lot to do to make a classroom feel like "home."

I began by hanging up art work and poems from several students that I have collected from over the years. Here are some examples:

These pictures came from this assignment:

  

This is a view of the entire wall where I hung most of the art work. There were also some very good conic art drawings, but they did not fair well when when I removed them. I will take pictures this year and post them at a later date. I have gotten so many interesting projects over the years, and I do remember which student made them. The math sneakers have been hanging in my classroom for close to a decade! Also, can you see that I'm a Jersey Girl originally?

Now to other parts of the room. Ahhh, the couch. Boy do my students love the couch. It was in our garage at home, and I tried to sell it. No one would buy it...so I brought it to school and all the students vie for it...I do not let them sit on it before class...only after school or when we have a break from our block period, because otherwise the students do not want to get up! It is cute how much they love the stuffed animals. Kids can feel like kids again when they are working so hard to become adult-like in their high school classes.

The cubbies are left over from the old Math Lab, and they are awesome. I can see kids coming in after school to complete their homework here. My math club won these awards from our three years of competition in Mu Alpha Theta...we need an awards case! We have to find a place in the school to showcase them.

This will be our club wall when we go to events. We have a historian who takes pictures. Last year we won 2nd place in our digital scrapbook at States, and it was our first time ever going! I will blog about this wonderful group of kids at a later date.

This was the idea that I posted in l last week's blog. Students had to find parent functions around school or their home and take a picture. Next year, I will ask them to name the parent function as well. This well help them, I hope, to recognize the parent functions more easily when we learn them. 

To the left is a poster of NCTM calendar problems, and to the right are posters that I just love.

I made the "Everything is going to be OK" poster on http://www.zazzle.com/. I saw something very similar in a restaurant near my house, and I thought, wow, wouldn't it be great for the students who stress to see that every day. My friend Dave made fun of the overuse of all the polka dot boarder...I did overdo it. You don't see it, but I had polka dot letters that I bought, too, that I took down...oh well. That was a waste of $12. Hopefully a friend will use it. 

My husband was away for the first week of school and sent roses...that was a big and awesome surprise. And yes, of COURSE I had to buy the π decal for my Mac. I bought it here. (BTW did you know if you hit alt-p on the Mac keyboard you get π?) 

 Can you figure out this puzzle? I put a up a plexer puzzle every day and will try to post it on twitter under my handle @lisaqt314. This one is "Welcome Back"

And I don't tell students the date...ever. They have to figure it out...and kids who are hanging in my room after school will put the next one up for the day...they love to make them harder than I would!

This is my prize box. It's where I keep prizes that I give to students for creative thinking. A student made the box for me. Usually I put snacks or interesting erasers in the box. Sometimes the prize is to sit on the couch for a class period.





No body puts baby in a corner. At Back To School Night, parents always notice this. Love Dirty Dancing!

My seniors write where their names and where they are going to college when they get accepted. This is kind of a big deal! The board fills up quickly second semester, and the whole board gets filled.

I stole this from Pinterest. I love it. 

And from the outside...notice the little blue flag that says "math geek." Got that at a T-cubed conference in Las Vegas this past spring.

My clock. I love when I teach the unit circle and kids say, "Oh so that's what that clock was all about!!!"

I am looking forward to an amazing year. I met the kids twice so far and they are an amazing group of kids!

Play~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I try to work out at least 4 times a week. It may not always happen, and sometimes it happens more times. But it is definitely hard for me to do during the school week. This is why I think it is really important to have a workout buddy and a good workout program. My workout buddy is Liz, and we try to work out at least twice a week together after school.

This is our first week of school, and we needed to kill it. So we did a workout from Kayla Itsines,  an awesome blog, twitter, and instagram workout enthusiast. All you need is weights, a medicine ball (I just used weights), a mat, and two benches. Sometimes you can use chairs for the benches. Kayla promises a bikini body in 12 weeks. Her workout is HARD! But I can tell you that you feel fantastic when done! And it only lasts 28 minutes! Liz and I projecting her workout (it is a download that is about $69 USD) on the SmartBoard, and we were sweating like crazy. And afterwards, the endorphins kicked in, and together we felt like we could conquer our brand new 1:1 school design as well as our spanking new Whipple Hill grade program.

Find a work out buddy or buddies. You push each other when the other one does not feel like working out...and I promise you will feel better after...and even if you really do not feel like working out, just go for a walk. You will both talk through ideas and things that are bothering you and will feel better emotionally and physically. Just do it!

Eat~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes, I work out, but I also eat. And I LOVE peanut butter. I think I have it at least once a day. I have worked at camps that are peanut-free, and it was difficult for me to last more than a few days. I have made this Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake from Bird on a Cake recipe (of course found on Pinterest) twice and have not been disappointed either time.

I made it below once for my son and niece, who have birthdays three days apart, and for my husband who is nicknamed "Mookie" by our nieces. As one niece (who is 20 years old) used to say when she was 2 years old, "Umma Umma!!" (= Yum!!)

Have a great week!
~Lisa