You’re planning a lesson and you try to come up with super good question to ask to get kids to think about something. What is that question? Why did you phrase it the way you did? Why do you think it will prompt discussion/thinking? I’m returning to work at my International Baccalaureate school on Monday after seven months of maternity leave, and teaching Middle Years Programme (MYP) Math 9 for the first time. I’d written a few MYP-style units before in spite of teaching only Diploma Programme (DP) classes. I’m trying to be more thoughtful and intentional about unit planning now to create more effective assessments that tie into the…
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one good thing: animation and collaboration
One of the best things about my husband is that he loves creating curriculum ideas with me. He helped me develop SAM animation math stories years ago, and recently had his high school interns make some of their own. Complex Commutes
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buffalo chicken empanadas
I enjoy putting a twist on Filipino recipes such as my mom’s empanadas and pancit. Now that I’m a new mom, I’ve started to streamline my cooking by minimizing chopping and using my slow cooker more. Pulled chicken has become quite a staple in our household. For the Super Bowl, I’ve always loved eating buffalo wings or buffalo dip, so my Filipino mom adaptation will be…slow cooker buffalo chicken empanadas! This makes ~20 depending on how big you roll them. Dough (2 batches of my mom’s recipe) 6 cups all-purpose flour 0.5 cup sugar 1.5 cups water 1 cup butter (cut into small cubes) Chicken 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast…
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my favorite: trig tale
I originally chose to teach math because I thought that it’d be so cut-and-dry, with one right answer for everything. Eight years later, I find myself looking for ways to assess that have multiple right answers. A recent conversation with two of my best college friends reminded me of that, and led me to pick trig tale for my favorite. One of those friends is a German teacher, and she likes to give open-ended quiz questions that are unlike the typical matching ones. In a recent class, some students got quite agitated at the question “How was your last report card of freshman year?” One student said “but what do you want…
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powerball
Powerball is all the rage right now. Despite knowing that I could have spent my $6 on something useful, I still gave in to the hype. “An Annuity Option means winners can choose to be paid in 30 graduated annuity payments made over a twenty-nine (29) year period. A Cash Option means winners can choose a one-time cash payment which will be (approximately) the cost of the annuity divided by the number of winning tickets. Note: If a winner fails to claim the jackpot and select a jackpot payment option within 60 days, the prize will be automatically paid as an annuity. All prizes must be claimed within one year…
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one good thing: friends and puzzles
Today I’m grateful for a fellow mom-friend who said “want to come over and hang out?” when I mentioned that my husband was in Denmark for a business trip. Though interacting with folks via Facebook, Twitter, and text message does offer some solace when at home with an infant, it doesn’t replace the calming effect of in-person time. We chatted a bunch while playing with our babies (who have known each other since ~6-8 weeks of age but only recently recognized each other’s existence). She mentioned that she would be doing Mystery Hunt this weekend and explained it to me when I got intrigued. She shared a few of the…
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2016 Blogging Initiative, Week 1
Option 1: We rarely take the time to stop and smell the roses. Even on the most disastrous of days, good things happen. And these good things, when you’re on the lookout for them, pop up. All. The. Time. So for one day (heck, do it for many days), keep a lookout for the small good moments during your day and blog about them. We bet that by keeping an eye out for the good, your whole day will be even better! My one good thing! He’s overseeing my blogging from his “office.” I’m in the home stretch of maternity leave with my son Parker, so as much as I…
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math in real life: blackout shades
I’m researching blackout shades for our nursery and started my design process by polling a few mom groups. One mom suggested Pottery Barn Kids. These Harper shades are lovely, on sale, and have been positively reviewed at Embrace My Space. However I realized that they wouldn’t work for our nursery upon seeing that all variations were 64″ long. Our windows are almost floor-to-ceiling. I went in to measure the window widths to see if curtains might work. A friend recommended these Koala Baby curtains, but they would be too short. These Harper curtains come in varying lengths that could potentially be tall enough. However, the smaller windows are approximately 22″ and the…