Author Archives: blueshirtkhakipants
Blue Shirt Khaki Pants Day
It was my birthday on Wednesday, so my students decided to surprise me by wearing blue shirts and khaki pants to class. I was honored and humbled by the gesture. It was the perfect gift, and it made for one of the most memorable birthdays ever.
1st period
2nd period
Janet, Caroline, and me
Caroline and me
Keaton and me
Nicholas and me
7th period
Even my sister, who lives in Canada, decided to dress up!!
Rational Expressions – The Big 4-2
I didn’t post this on Monday, because today is my actual birthday. I am actually 42, which is a nice number, and it seems like an important one. After all, it is “the Almighty Answer to the Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.” And yet, I still have so many questions….
An Interview with Alan November
On Friday, December 7, I was interviewed by Alan November, one of the great minds in innovating education. I was honored and humbled by the experience. I talked to him about how I spent the first five days of class with my students.
My idea of using these first five days to give students better research and organization skills so that they can own their learning came directly from an idea that Alan shared with several teachers at a conference back in April.
I was very impressed with how students responded to it. Have a listen to the interview and feel free to comment. While Alan and his mission are truly great, during the interview he always turned it around and made me feel like I was the one who was doing great things.
Thank you also to Brian Mull, who reassured me before and during the process, and for editing the interview to make me sound much more intelligent that I really am.
If you ever get the chance to see Alan, do it. And don’t be shy about taking chances for the sake of your students.
Here’s the link: http://novemberlearning.com/implementing-the-first-5-days-an-interview-with-ian-vanderschee/
Rational Expressions – Math and Basketball
Sometimes I write comics about things that have already happened. However, this time, the comic was written first.
Kyler had his very first basketball game later that same day, but when he realized that his team was losing, he stormed off the court crying, and we couldn’t get him to play for the rest of the game.
Other parents were supportive and said that it happens to everyone, and we’ve since talked to Kyler, so hopefully it will go better at the next game.
The lesson for me is this: Be careful what you write, because sometimes life imitates mathematically-driven amateur pseudo-art.
Ultimate Poker
Students were asked to research the different combinations of all possible poker hands.
They were then instructed to discover the new combinations of the same hands if the deck included six suits instead of four, and an extra “bishop” card in each suit (valued higher than a 10 and lower than a Jack). They should also include the possibility of a new hand – five of a kind.
Using the inevitable increase in the number of combinations of hands (but not necessarily the probability of winning), they were then to create an advertisement for the new game, making it seem like players would have a better chance of winning simply because there were more ways of getting each hand.
The research and the videos were wonderful, and I promised I would post the best video. Here it is!
blue shirt khaki pants 