Mathsational

I am about to start my 13th year of teaching high school math.  Every year, I buy way too much stuff for my classroom.  (My school does not provide us with very much in terms of physical supplies). This year, I am actually buying only a few things.  Of course there are some things that I will make as well.  Here are my must haves for the new year. 1)   Patty Paper  - for paper folding constructions and other activities from Patty Paper Geometry .  I already have the book, I just need to refill my paper supply.  This book is great for discovering geometry in a low tech, hands-on way.  Sure Geometer's Sketchpad is great, but sometimes physical is good too. 2)   The Classroom Chef  - I received this order a few weeks ago but was finishing a grad class.  I have a conference this week, so I'm hoping to start reading next week.  I follow both Matt and John on twitter, so I have high expectations.  I think their boo...

I came across this activity in the #MTBoS community through twitter.  The activity seemed very outside the box for me and my students and I was nervous to try it.  Many teachers have written about their experiences with implementing this lesson, but Jenn's is the most detailed and helpful that I found.  The basic idea is this:  Students make a set of parallel lines and a tranversal with masking tape on the floor.  You review the angle pairs alternate interior, alternate exterior, same side interior, same side exterior, corresponding, vertical).  Have students place their feet on the appropriate angles in their tape diagram. In the post mentioned above, Jenn shares some awesome videos with fun music and angle pairs.  It works just like Dance Dance Revolution from there.  I tried it with my 11th graders as a review before we started parallel line proofs.  They had a grand time and really got into it.  I recorded one of the dances ...