Spring break brought out the creative juices. I spent time reworking guided notes sheets from last year into Vizual Notes this year. I like how they turned out. The Tangent Ratio Sine and Cosine Ratios I love it when I can start the class with a real world problem and help them arrive at a [...]
It's conic section time in Pre-Calculus. Learning from last year, I added a section on circles. I polled my students prior to spring break and they didn't recall the equation of a circle in standard form. To dust off the rust and get into completing the square mode, I created some Vizual Notes and a [...]
Use Geogebra to create similar polygons, compare the scale factor of a dilation with the side lengths of the image and preimage compare the scale factor with the ratio of the perimeters compare the scale factor with the ratio of the areas https://youtu.be/S2orPH6CqLk A written version of the investigation is below. Similar Polygon Exploration To see [...]
As a review for the semester 1 final, I created a review centered around deciphering clues. My students are not always good about doing work accurately. Some want to just write down an answer to finish. This several day long activity is designed to promote accuracy. There are several parts. [...]
Classifying Triangles Again, I'm re-creating the wheel, hoping to make it better. My students responded well to the doodle notes I created for my Transformations Unit. One commented, "I'm really understanding the material now. Honestly, your class was a little boring, but this chapter was much better." It's amazing how turning the tables on students [...]
Based on feedback from my geometry students, I've created some Vizual Notes for my pre-calculus classes as well. Sequences and Series This notes sheet can be used to help explain the the vocabulary involved withe sequences and series - explicit, recursive, summation, factorial, etc. It helps prepare students for Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences. Arithmetic Sequences [...]
Translations As an informal assessment, I gave my students a Halloween Transformations worksheet to a) keep them off their phones after they finished their chapter tests and b) see how much they remember about or can do regarding transformations with minimal instruction. Most completed the assignment with no issues. Translations Vizual Notes can help students [...]
Two weeks ago I wrote a post called Equations from Data. In it, my pre-calculus students first were charged with finding a curve of best fit for global iPod sales data from 2006 to the present. Then they were asked to find an equation for the curve of best fit for global iPhone sales. The goal was to show [...]
One of my unspoken goals for this year has been to include more explorations in my Geometry classes - specifically Geogebra explorations. This has posed some challenges. The iPad cart I have been checking out has 20 devices and I have had up to 30 students in my classes. Compensation: pair students up. It makes [...]
