I made a four-day weekend out of it, drove down south, and cleared my head. We still have two-and-a-half weeks out here at SLVHS so keep your crowing low, ‘kay?, but I’ve got a good exit strategy and inspiration struck me several times on my way to Los Angeles. (Better inspiration than a semi in the oncoming lane, I always tell my kids, nyuk.)
Here’s the fun stuff that’s been happening since:
Um … ยฟque?
Or: Best Lesson Ever
Or: Why It’s Nice To Have Some Totally Extraneous Skills
Or: Skip The Blah-Blah. Downloads At The End.
The Blah-Blah
I know this isn’t new. I’m not the first person to ask a class to make an x-y graph out of some ripped-from-real-life event.
“Give me a graph of what happens to a bouncing ball over time.”
“Show me what happens to your height as you grow up.”
“Give me a graph of your marriage odds for each year of your life.”
“Et cetera.”
This idea that we can describe things that happen with mathematical graphs isn’t new, nor is the idea that this is an effective introduction to a linear unit. I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is that it’s never been done this well.
Thanks for all the commisseration on my recent crisis post. That was helpful.
After last week’s pummeling I came in today with fists figuratively flying. I took some time this weekend to reconnect with what I love most about this linear unit which has been hitting me so hard. Namely, I dig that you can draw a mathematical picture of any situation in life and that sometimes — oftentimes — that picture can predict beyond the picture itself.
Armed with that enthusiasm, my usual workaholicism, and a righteous indignation over my lousiness last week, I banged out — no joke — the single greatest lesson of my career. By a long shot. The silver medalist is gasping for air a few miles down the road.
I beg your pardon but words and modesty both fail me right now. I wish I knew a better way to pull off lessons like these than through copious man-hours (18 over this weekend for a 45-minute lesson) but, at this point, that’s my only tried-and-true technique for not sucking at this job.
So encompassing was the idea and so onerous its demands I have no doubt its execution would’ve taken me a commited week last year at this time if it didn’t break me first. This math lesson was a planning marathon run at a sprinter’s pace. It sucked graphic design, video production, and creative writing into its orbit, which was about as exhilarating for me as you can imagine.
Naturally I want to show it off, inviting suggestions for improvement and accusations of overhype. I need a week to tweak some things (can’t bring anything less than the best to the blogosphere), format the supplementals correctly, and (teaser!) figure out how to properly seed a torrent file. ‘Til then, hope teaching’s been treating you as well.
The Carnival of Education is over at EdWonk‘s. Nice to read Dana Huff’s article, What Can You Do With A Wiki? ยถ Incidentally, the carnival’s coming here next week so please excuse our dust and do not let me catch you dipping into the cotton candy.