Classes started at the community college today. This is my fourth time teaching this particular course, and even though I think last semester went quite well, I can never leave well enough alone and I've been putting a lot of time and energy into tinkering with the course for this semester. I'm excited about some of the changes I've made, and am even more excited for my fourth go-around than I was for my first. Teaching is not a boring job, unless you make it that way.It's hard to say for sure how tonight went. I don't get nervous about teaching anymore, and really haven't for years, but the first class can be a little awkward. I only just finished teaching the last one, and had already developed great rapport with my students. Tonight, I faced almost thirty new faces, and had two hours to make a good impression, and to get a feel for how the class as a whole would interact, with each other and with me. It will still be some time before I have the same rapport with this group as I did with my last group, but it will come, and I think tonight went pretty well. For the first couple class periods, I pick out some problems that are in some way interesting mathematically, and within the reach of most of the students, and we work on them and discuss the solutions, and problem solving in general.
After class I had one student excitedly tell me that she had found the answer to one of the problems she had been working on, and then she said, "I hate math, but I think your class is starting to make me feel like I like it!" That, of course, completely made my evening.
Just for fun, here are some of the problems we worked on. Can you solve them?
- There was a jar of cookies on the table. Kira was hungry because she hadn’t had breakfast, so she ate half the cookies. Then Steve came along and noticed the cookies. He thought they looked good, so he ate a third of what was left in the jar. Niki came by and decided to take a fourth of the remaining cookies with her to her next class. Then Kayla came dashing up and took a cookie to munch on. When Pam looked at the cookie jar, she saw that there were two cookies left. “How many cookies were there in the jar to begin with?” she asked Kira.
- In a dart game, only 4 points or 9 points can be scored on each dart. What is the largest score that it is not possible to obtain?
- Using three of the symbols +, – , ×, and ÷ once each, fill in the following three blanks to make a true equation. You may use parentheses.
6 ___ 6 ___ 6 ___ 6 = 66 - The costs of combinations of frowns, smiles, and neutral faces are shown. How much is a smile worth? (You can use algebra for this one, but it's more fun if you try to do it without algebra.)
6 comments:
great post! thanks for the math problems :)
Sounds like teaching's going well. Since I like pictures, I did the smile problem. A big goofy smile seems to be worth 15$, but the sleepy face is worth 12$, and easier to keep up than a giant smile all the time. So, my real question is then, are we paid by the hour? And who pays us, you? I've got quite a bit of unpaid facial expression time that I need to collect, so I may come knocking at your door expecting a check soon.
We're at Mammoth right now for our "anniversary." Surely I shouldn't be expected to think! (Well, I may break down and take a stab at the problems anyway.) :-)
There were 12 cookies, but I don't have the time or the brainpower to solve the rest.
((6+6)6)-6?
I'm really worried about your little quiz, because I'm taking the GRE tomorrow and I don't think my math skills are up to par. I don't even understand question 2. Does that make me an idiot?
Infinity?
Post a Comment