Why do we have to learn this?

Calculus, that is.

I'm teaching 'basic' Calculus and AP Calculus this year, both for the first time.  My AP kids have been great and very easy - they love procedures, get things memorized, and generally do well on everything.  They ask good, specific questions and they help each other.

My regular calculus kids have been a struggle.  They had a not-so-great year in Pre-Calculus last year, with a teacher who was new to the school and new to the level of students and new to the material.  They did not learn a lot.  That's ok.  I'm willing to work with that.  Honestly, I think Pre-Calculus should only be a quarter or semester only, and we should not beat kids over the head so much with rational functions.

My problem with this class has been their attitude.  I have a 'change your words - change your mindset' bulletin board in the room that my students are quick to point out to each other, but their attitudes are not changing.  Everything is so hard, my examples are so hard, and then my examples were too easy and the homework is so hard.  They actually do ok on tests and quizzes, because they can learn the material.  But class is a struggle.  It really tests my patience.

These 28 seniors will probably all go to college next year, and most are anticipating needing some form of calculus for their major.  I studied Engineering and I worked as an engineer.  So at some point, they will realize that 'because you use it in Engineering and Sciences and Business' is not technically true.  But right now, related rates and implicit differentiation is new and therefore confusing, and they don't want to learn it.

So, my response to 'Why do we have to learn this.'
1) You don't.  It's not an 'everyday' type of math.  You can get through life and be entirely successful without it.
2) Studying calculus helps you practice abstract reasoning.  Beyond being used in traditional STEM fields, this is of utmost importance to lawyers, communications majors, journalists, teachers, and EVERY PROFESSION I CAN THINK OF.
3) Yes, it may be needed for you to earn your desired post-secondary degree.  Perhaps you will even use it in your future career, if you are one of the lucky ones. (And you choose a theoretical career)
4) You can see the beauty of math and by extension appreciate the beauty of our world.
5) By taking calculus in high school, you see wide-ranging applications which may spark an interest.


Maybe I'll make this into a poster.  Then when someone asks I can just point to it. 

Poof Books

I have found a few uses for poof books.  My students are amazed by the small book they are able to make.  I like being able to refer to a specific page in the book as we solve problems.

I use poof books in Algebra with solving systems of equations - our 3 methods fit perfectly in the 3 'pages' inside the book.  I also used them recently with Absolute Value Equations and Inequalities.  They were great!

I created a template for this book, so I could type in the 'rules' for dealing with absolute values.  We do spend a good amount of time discussing why these absolute value problems have 2 parts to their solutions.  My students are pretty good at understanding the big picture...And then they try to solve problems on their own.  They forget to isolate the absolute value bars.  They forget to follow the 'rule' for changing the absolute value into two parts of their solution.  And they just assume that if one part is x > 3 (for example,) that the other part will always be x < -3.  Sorry kids, not that easy.

So, we made a poof book.  It has a page each for dealing with =, </≤, and >/≥.  Then the back lists the STEPS FOR SOLVING.  We refer to these most.

Overall, I'm happy with the books.  Except any time we use any guided note aid, students want to use them on the test.  Sorry kids, just you and your brain on this one.

If you've never made one, be sure to check out some directions for poof books here.

An inside page.  I type the rule, students write an example.

The back cover - step by step!

I'm back...

Well...August and September sure were interesting months.  School has started wonderfully, my students are pretty great, and I have been feeling not great.

Sorry the blog was neglected!  Some days (and months), you just have to survive.

Back to regularly scheduled programming:

BINGO

My students love the idea of playing bingo.  And then we start playing, and it's actually a pretty quiet game, and I just walk around working with individual students.  But they ask, so we play.

I used to use an Excel template I downloaded somewhere.  It was great.  My only issues with it: 1) Sometimes math expressions don't work well in Excel, and 2) Every student received a different board (generated by the template), but many of the boards were really similar, so several people would win at once. 

A few weeks ago my Calculus students asked to play bingo.  So we did.  But they are cut-throat competitive, so I looked for a new Bingo card generator.

I ended up using Print-Bingo.com.  I typed up my 25 problems (finding derivatives) in Excel, copied them into the 'Word List' and printed 30 different boards for class.  Worked great and was easy for me to do!  I hope you find this resource useful!