How to be a Math Dork

After a so-so day yesterday, today was great. I taught exponents this morning, which to start off with was a concept I am way more comfortable with than yesterday’s negative integers. I started off the lesson with some real-world application of exponents, which means really long, complicated equations that are actually pretty cool. I showed them the equations for radioactive decay and one that calculated the growth of bacteria – stuff that most high school boys could appreciate (graphics would have been even better, but technology did not allow). I showed them quickly how these worked, and what they could calculate with them…given that they understood exponents! One of my students, G., has kind of an attitude, though he and I get along fine. He’s bright, but generally apathetic. His response to me saying you could calculate how fast stuff rots with a math problem was simply “no way!” Oh yes way. That’s when I became the math dork, and as I got more excited telling them how cool these equations were and how powerful exponents are (pun intended) and their giggles grew. Yes, they were laughing at their crazy, dorky math teacher who was getting excited about equations full of Greek letters and letters that were supposedly numbers (e constant, anyone?). I was thrilled! It didn’t matter in the least that they were more entertained by me than the equations (which are cool, by the way), it only mattered that they were beginning to be engaged. My students’ laughing at me was the highlight of the day! And who ever thought I would be the math nerd?

Exponents aside, there is a pretty wide range of skills in my class. I have students who understand everything to the point they seem bored, and students who freeze at the sight of a negative sign. Daily assessment scores range from 20% to 100%, though individual students are very consistent in their mastery, or lack thereof. We send week 1 progress reports home tomorrow and we’re calling parents tonight, so hopefully we can begin to address some students’ struggles better than just checking for understanding during class. It amazes me that this time last week; my students were a name on a page (and not necessarily correct names). Now Rebecca, Julie and I sit around grading and planning, and every single point we give our kids we celebrate. We cringe when they make stupid mistakes, and talk about them like we have been teaching them for years. Actually, they’re all we talk about. It’s amazing how fast a roster of names becomes “my kids.”