Technology

NCTM Annual — 2018

I’m excited to be heading to Washington, DC in April for the 2018 NCTM Annual Meeting!

NCTM’s annual meeting brings together thousands of educators from across the country to discuss mathematics, pedagogy, technology, and more. I presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting in San Antonio and had a great time, so I’m looking forward to this year in DC.

I’ll be presenting Statistics and Simulation in Scratch, a 60-minute session about using simple computer programming tools to make the study of probability and statistics more experimental and exploratory. We’ll look at ways teachers and students can use Scratch, the free, web-based programming environment designed by the MIT Media Lab, to model simple probability experiments, collect and analyze data, and create mathematically compelling projects. The technology tools we’ll be using are free and intuitive, and they open up a new pathway to probability and statistics for students and teachers. In addition, it creates opportunities to learn and apply fundamental computer programming skills in a meaningful context.

My talk is scheduled for Thursday, 4/26/18, at 3:00 pm, so if you’re planning on attending the NCTM Annual, please keep my session in mind!

Conferences like this are great opportunities for professional growth, but the logistics are often complicated for classroom teachers.  I’m fortunate to have received support from Math for America, which makes attending NCTM’s Annual Meeting in Washington DC possible. And I’m proud to be one of several MfA teachers presenting at NCTM! You can find a complete list of MfA presenters here.

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By MrHonner, ago

MfA Workshop — Stats and Sims in Scratch

Tonight I’ll be running a workshop, “Stats and Sims in Scratch”, for teachers at Math for America. In this workshop we will develop basic computational tools for exploring elementary and advanced problems in probability, and implement and apply statistical procedures via programming.

This workshop is a product of my ongoing efforts to integrate mathematics and computer science in my classrooms. The study of probability creates natural opportunities to bring in tools from computer science, which create alternate pathways to understanding concepts in probability through generating, managing, and analyzing data.

I will also be presenting on this topic at the NCTM Annual Meeting in Washington, DC in April of this year. Feel free to contact me for more information about this particular workshop or my other work with mathematics and Scratch.

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By MrHonner, ago

Making Math with Scratch — Scratch Ed

Scratch Ed, an organization at the Harvard Graduate School of Education that supports teaching and learning with Scratch, recently profiled some of my work teaching mathematics using Scratch.

The article, Making Math with Scratch, highlights a Math for America workshop I ran for teachers that centered on approaching mathematical concepts through the lens of coding and computer science.  Several projects I use in my classroom are featured, and I also discuss why I like teaching with Scratch and how it’s become a valuable part of my approach to teaching math.

The purpose of the workshop and Patrick’s classroom activities are to demonstrate the power of bringing mathematics and computer science together. “Ultimately the goal is to show how math and computer science are great partners in problem solving. And Scratch provides a terrific platform for that.” 

I’m excited to share the work I’ve been doing with math and Scratch over the past few years–including talks and workshops at conferences like Scratch@MIT, SIAM ED, and the upcoming NCTM Annual meeting–and I really appreciate this nice profile from Scratch Ed.

You can read the full article, Making Math with Scratch, at the Scratch Ed website.

By MrHonner, ago

Regents Recap — June 2016: Still Not a Trig Function

I don’t know exactly why, but fake graphs on Regents exams really offend me.  Take a look at this “sine” curve from the June, 2016 Algebra 2 Trig exam.

2016 June A2T 33

Looking at this graph makes me uneasy.  It’s just so … pointy.  Here’s an actual sine graph, courtesy of Desmos.

2016 June A2T 33 -- desmos graph

Now this fake sine curve isn’t nearly as bad as these two half-ellipses put together, but I just don’t understand why we can’t have nice graphs on these exams.  It only took me a few minutes to put this together in Desmos.  Let’s invest a little time in mathematical fidelity.

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By MrHonner, ago

Scratch@MIT Conference, 2016

Scratch MIT logoI’m excited to be participating in this summer’s Scratch@MIT conference.

The conference, held at MIT Media Labs, brings together educators, researchers, developers, and other members of the Scratch community to share how they use Scratch, the free, block-based, web-based programming environment, in and out of classrooms.  The theme of this year’s conference is Many Paths, Many Styles, which aims to highlight the value of diversity in creative learning experiences.

I’ll be running a workshop on Mathematical Simulation in Scratch, which will introduce participants to some of the ways I’ve been using Scratch in my math classes.  I’m looking forward to sharing, and learning!  And I’m grateful to Math for America, whose partial support has made it possible for me to attend.

The 2016 Scratch@MIT conference runs from August 4th through 6th.  You can find more information here.

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By MrHonner, ago
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