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By Kyle, March 22, 2010 4:44 pm

Kanye West vs. Rolling Stones – Lockdown Shelter

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This was Example #2 today during class, a problem which my 6th period student had up until this point not yet seen, yet most were able to attack it with great precision and success. This was particularly evident when one of my brightest (and most energetic) students completed the second step and, noticing the variable he was about to distribute, mumbled not so subtly under his breath, “Throw some d’s on that…” 

I know, I know. There are times when I should be mad, but I just laugh.

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By Kyle, March 17, 2010 3:11 pm

Blossom Dearie – Figure Eight

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Our district is infatuated with the idea of “data”, specifically what, in education circles is becoming an emphasis on “data-driven instruction”. For the past year or so, our district higher ups have been pushing down this notion of using “data” to inform instruction in every single way, as well as our school administrators being under a similar pressure.

The problem is, nobody quite knows exactly how to use data to drive instruction in a meaningful way. This year, a co-conspirator colleague and I have been implementing an intervention program, and have literally spent the last month trying to figure out (a) what data is actually useful, (b) how to actually find the data (which was ridiculously difficult and time consuming), and (c) what it actually says about the effectiveness of the intervention.

The mid-year result? A sharp-looking Mid Year Report (feel free to view here and peruse in all your spare time)!

So far, we can definitively say that Kids Mastering Math is a qualified success. While the numbers are certainly not astounding, they are significant, particularly in the advances the lowest performing kids are making.

The purpose of sharing this is not to “toot our own horns” but rather, (a) to show that what we’ve done has helped many of our kids, (b) to gain momentum to help improve the curriculum and support for next year, and (c) to hopefully show how to actually use data in a meaningful way educationally.

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By Kyle, March 11, 2010 1:57 pm

Fats Waller – I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter

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Today I intercepted the following love letter written during class by one of my algebra students.

The letter’s contents, which follow remind my of the confused nature of what it means to be in middle school:

Ten twenty sixx two-thousand and nine <3

2 the love of my life <3

From this one dudee!

Hehe well babe Im bored ass Hell! Ima tell you how much I love you, which is a shitt load! yet again Im going to apoligize babe Im sorry for being a bitch to you and taking your candy HeHe <3 I love you much and always will forever and ever I will never stop or nobody can stop me babe you mean more than my life to me you have no idea I always will love and care about you babe I always want you to be happy no matter what my love for you grows each second hehe babe I wana be with you forever and ever byess. I love you! <3

K**** I love you baby!

P.S. Sorry for hand…

….at this point I intercepted the love letter and, after a quick read and not so good a job covering my laughter at it’s contents, continued to teach the lesson on multiplying monomials.

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By Kyle, March 6, 2010 10:09 am

Pomplamoose – Beat It

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Ah, the fun of using an LCD projector. It’s even more fun when I wear a white shirt to go along with it. My kids always get a kick out of the fact that as I teach, it often looks like I am wearing a just-created math shirt.

What’s even cooler is that I use what’s called an “airliner slate” to actually “write” on the displayed notebook page. Essentially, it’s a Bluetooth plastic slate that translates plastic-pen movements on its surface into colored pen strokes on my projected computer screen.

For a prize of 100 points (which currently have no redeemable value), be the first commenter to correctly identify what the abbreviation “T.P.” stands for. [Hint: There should be enough clues on the rest of my shirt, and on the board behind me to figure this one out].

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By Kyle, February 20, 2010 11:12 am

James Horner – A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics

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  This is the parking lot at The Grove. One of the downsides of statistics is that they put into full focus the reality of situations that can only be described as abysmal.

Yet, the TFA naïveté within me says there is hope in the midst of even the most dire situation.

At Cochran, the statistics say the situation is dire. Kids enter each grade far below grade level, and somehow expected to turn around instantaneously and make marked improvement towards the top (after all, it’s a race now). Many kids do, in fact, make improvements, albeit not miraculous, and some kids simply do not. One often wonders what one can reasonably hope for.

In my parking situation, I pushed forward onto Level 3 (notice “FULL”), and began the trek around the sardine-packed level. Yet somehow, out of the blue, the convergence of my “coming”, paired with someone else’s “leaving” did, in fact, open up a parking space, and roughly 45 seconds after snapping the above photograph (don’t worry….at least I wasn’t talking or texting while driving), I was walking out of my vehicle on the way out of the structure. In the midst of impossibility, the possible became reality.

In the midst of impossibility at Cochran, I think of C****, a former student who stopped by last week to get help filling out her FAFSA application; I think of A****, an 8th grader who last year seemed to make a weekly trip to the Dean’s office, now is the leading participant and moving faster than anyone else in her Algebra class; I think of K*******, who already a stellar student, has really upped her game to take on more leadership and meta-meta-service to other students at our school.

Hope in the midst of impossibility? Sure. Is it predictable? Never.

Go drive around some full parking lots and see for yourself.