Math Mahjong

I have just found a new, highly addictive math game. It's Mahjong.... but with math terms. The goal is to click the tiles to make a mathematically true equation  (but remember your order of iperstions!!). Only the tiles on the ends of each row are lit up and avaliable. So if you run out of equal signs and need to get to one, you need to incorporate all the tiles on the edge of the tile's row before it is avaliable. Once you get the hang of it, it can be fun to make challenging combinations using multiple signs. It reminds me of the Number Challenge activity I have in my classroom. Check it out below (I think the link only works on Google Chrome).


http://www.mathjong.com/ChromeMathjong.php

If I remember correctly, my high score was about 72,000. Can you beat my score??

Math Notebooks

By now, some people may have noticed that I take our class notes and notebooks pretty seriously. Why do I do that? Why do I make students keep a table of contents? Why do I make students cut out colored paper and glue it into their notebooks? Why spend time color coding things?

Well, I guess it comes from the idea that I'm not a textbook teacher. We don't have a textbook open on our desks when we're learning or investigating. Our textbook is a resources for practice problems or extra help. Instead, I like helping students understand math through discussions, investigations, reflections, and visual aides. It's great to do math this way -- but sometimes can hinder students when it comes to studying, or reviewing information. Some students just don't know what should be in their notebooks.

Let's all face it -- at one point you forgot something and needed notes to help you. Or you had a series of steps to complete and needed the list to help you remember what to do. This is why I make my students take nice notes. Because I want something user friendly and helpful to use as a resource. I want something that breaks down information in a way that they'll remember and understand it.

I've seen students when they take notes their own way. Some students blow my mind by how they highlight key words, color code problems, put stars and symbols next to big ideas. But I've also seen some with words and numbers just randomly thrown on pages, steps written in paragraph from so it's impossible to quickly follow, or the worst .... the blank notebooks from the student who "didn't need this stuff"

So we make our notebooks a bit detailed than most to ensure all the information we need, be it from a textbook, class discussion, an investigation or activity, are all in one spot; our notes are organized so that everything can be quickly found and understood; and everything is there.

Hopefully my students see that their notes are a resource --- not just something you do to make the teacher happy!

Psychology Elective: Optical Illusions

My psychology students are learning about how our brain's perceptions can skewed which leads to optical illusions. Here are a few:

"The Pac Man" Illusion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilac_chaser#/media/File:Lilac-Chaser.gif
(if the pink is too hard to see, go here: http://www.rpdms.com/satillusion/saturation%20illusionc.gif
or here for different colors: http://www.rpdms.com/satillusion/ )
Count the Black Dots: http://www.mindfake.com/images/illusions/illusion_27.gif
Stare at the Black Dot: http://waynesword.palomar.edu/images/haze.jpg
Disappearing Yellow Dots: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/gif/2015/12/21/2e5838a813406ded41357235bbe1f5c5a224c338.gif

Just some more fun ones:
Focus on the dot in the center and move your head back and forth
NONE OF THESE CIRCLES ARE MOVING

Integer Practice

Here are some fun games for practice with integers!

Orbit Integers Addition- http://www.mathplayground.com/ASB_OrbitIntegers.html
Fruit Shoot Addition- http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/integers/FS_Integer_addition.htm
Comparing Integers- http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/integers/FS_CompareIntegers.htm

Changes

Just a few more days before school starts!! As much as I love summer time, I also can't wait to see my students and start working with them again. Some of you that had me before might be surprised by my room this year. Big changes happened in Room 204 this summer, including my room layout. Here's a little preview...

Math in the Olympics

I've been trying to find good examples of math in the Olympics, other than the obvious ones such as times and score averages. It might be the last day of the Olympics, but I finally found an interesting website!

Ties in Olympic Swimming:
It might be a bit confusing at first, but if you slow down and digest what the author is saying, it has some cool information you can learn. There were some cool facts about Olympic swimming that I didn't know about!
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/math/why-are-there-ties-in-olympic-swimming

5 Fun Number Facts
Just how fast is Usain Bolt??
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/math/5-numerical-fun-facts-about-the-olympics

Math Boot Camp
Your math basics for the Olympics
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/math/olympic-math-boot-camp

Summer Reading

My students' have their summer reading; well, I have mine. I've been working hard over the summer getting ready to handle some new classes coming my way next year. Between curriculum and pacing planning, reviewing some math concepts I haven't used in a while, planning activities and methods for teaching, creating notebook resources and worksheets/activites, I've been busy. Despite that, I'm looking forward to next year!