Last week of classes

My philosophy as a teacher is this: In the classroom, the students should do more work than the teacher. If the teacher is doing all the work, then it is not the students who are learning.

In my classroom what this means is that my students spend a lot of time working in groups on mathematics. This doesn’t necessarily mean my work as a teacher is easier. A lot of prep time goes into putting together problems for my students to work on, because I have to choose (and sometimes write) problems very carefully if it is the problems that are going to be doing the teaching. I need to choose problems that will help my students think about the concepts I want them to learn, problems that will not be too easy but also not be so challenging that students find them impossible, and problems that will actually feel somewhat relevant and worthwhile to my students. And then once in class, I need to make choices about how much to tell them, and how much to withhold. I need to be aware of what the groups are doing, to know when to step in and ask questions or help them along, and when to just let them work through it on their own.

I really like teaching this way, and I like to think that it’s good for the students as well. I also kind of get a kick out of coming up with names for word problems. Family is a good source; Kelsey, Eric, and Sean have appeared in their fair share of problems, as have all of my cousins. I will also draw on books I’m reading, or television shows I’m watching (this year I’ve given word problem roles to Kate, Jack, Claire, Charlie, Daniel, Ben, and even Hugo). I’ve also used roommates and classmates and ward members. Every once in awhile I’ll even draw on a real situation (as opposed to just real people). Here is one of the questions from Wednesday’s review that I think my family might appreciate:

The ratio of fresh-squeezed orange juice to milk in Uncle Dee’s famous Orange Julius is 3:2.*

a. If Uncle Dee squeezed 6 cups of orange juice this morning, how much Orange Julius can he make?

b. Aunt Marget wants to use up the rest of the milk in the refrigerator by making Orange Julius. If there is ½ gallon of milk left in the refrigerator, how much orange juice will she need?

c. Uncle Dee and Aunt Marget need to make 20 gallons of Orange Julius for their daughter’s wedding reception. How much orange juice and how much milk will they need?

(*Note: This is not the actual ratio, nor is there only orange juice and milk in an Orange Julius—it was just convenient for the mathematics problem.)

I like this problem not because it is a good ratio problem for my students, but also because Uncle Dee and Aunt Marget are real people, and Uncle Dee’s famous Orange Julius is a real drink. They are my dad’s aunt and uncle who lived in Simi Valley while we were growing up in Southern California. They had an orange grove and would make Orange Julius with freshly squeezed orange juice from their trees. The Orange Julius drinks you get in the mall food court really do not compare.

What surprised me the first time I used this problem last summer, and therefore surprised me less when I used it on Wednesday, was that most of my students had no idea what an Orange Julius was. It had not occurred to me that Orange Julius would be a foreign concept to my students. It must be a western thing. I guess if you think about it, mixing orange juice and milk doesn’t really sound all that great (if you haven’t heard of Orange Julius and are having trouble with this, think about orange creamsicles). On Wednesday I had a student from Arizona, and another student who had a friend from out west who makes Orange Julius. They both vouched for the existence of the drink, as well as the fact that it really does taste good.
I guess I might as well finish up the post with a recipe. I don’t think this is the famous recipe because it doesn’t involve freshly squeezed orange juice, but it comes from the Jeppsen side of the family so I imagine it must be close.

Orange Julius

1 (6-oz.) can orange juice concentrate
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
6-8 ice cubes

Combine in blender and blend for 60 seconds. Pour into individual glasses and serve immediately.