Musings of a Mathlete

When we had the House Council retreat in August, the kids mentioned that they wanted to do something that would bring the idea of “random acts of kindness” to the forefront.  At the time, none of us had a clear idea of what that would be exactly.

In September, I was taking one of my Masters classes and was inspired by a guest lecturer who mentioned an initiative that their school had started.  Now this got my mind cranking…I walked into the Council the next day flying high on this idea.

I suggested to the kids that we find a way to create a coin – a kindness coin.  Something that could be given out as a token when a good deed was done to or for another without any regard for reward or re-numeration.  The good deed wasn’t just about holding open a door or helping someone across the street, but something more profound, more heartfelt.  What that deed would be, is up to each individual.

The kids took to this idea immediately…the talk started.  We had to make sure that the coin was obviously different so that it wasn’t mistaken for regular currency.  Would we use a poker chip or a metal coin?  How much would this cost?  Then, a new idea tagged grew onto the first one to start a website that would track the coins as they circulated…the kids bubbled with excitement!  It was infectious.

One student in particular, Peter Clarkson, took this idea and ran with it.  He came and spoke with me about his desire to see this project through.  He hunted for suppliers for the coins, he designed them, he checked in with me every two weeks and gave me a status update, we picked a quote  (Kindness is the language that the blind can see and the deaf can hear.  – Mark Twain), and decided that the best way to begin the “Random Acts of Kindness Project” would be to provide the graduating class an opportunity to start the project on the night of their graduation dinner.  Peter and Amanda went up to the microphone and gave a brief synopsis of the idea and its materialization before offering each graduate a chance to pick up their coin.

Front of Kindness Coin

Back of Kindness Coin

Excitement filled the room as students came by and picked up their coin.  Parents also expressed a desire to be a part of this initiative.  I can’t wait to see how this project grows and spreads around the world as the kids and their families find opportunities to spread kindness to others.

If you’d like to follow this project as it grows and impacts the world, visit http://blogs.yorkschool.com/kindness/.  The site is still under construction but should be up and running shortly, so return again and often.

The Kindness Coin Project has just begun.  Now, I’ve got to figure out just how I’m going to give my coin away…

There is a time-honoured tradition at independent schools…it’s called Grad Prank Day.  For whatever reason, it seems to have fallen on the last day of classes for the grade 12 students.  Now, because we are an IB school, and exams start in May, Grad Prank happens earlier in comparison to other independent schools.  This does not take away from its humour, relative importance in the grad’s lives, or the creativity.

My stance on grad prank is as follows:  I actually enjoy the tradition a lot, however, there are a few stipulations that must be adhered to.

The first is that the prank must be creative.  “Been there, done that” is not cool.  Come up with some new stuff, never before seen here, never before done here at the school.  You will earn the appreciation of others younger than you.  In high school, that means you will be talked about as setting the bar.

The second is that the prank must be funny.  Gross is not funny.  There is this tendency for kids to believe that making a mess is funny.  It’s not.  It’s just plain gross.  For example, saran-wrapping the toilets is messy, not funny.

The third is to ensure that no one is harmed in the process of the prank.  Either in the planning or execution.  Remember, people have feelings and it’s not necessary to hurt anyone in order to get a laugh.

The fourth is not really a condition, it’s more like an  understanding.  Whatever mess you make, you clean up.  Now students can appreciate the merit of the first two conditions, however disagree with the third.  They think someone else should clean the mess up, maybe the grade 11s, however, that tradition has never been started and will never continue…because let’s face it, no one wants to clean up someone else’s mess.  So just think – less of a mess means less clean up.

This year’s grad prank, in my opinion, was definitely worthy of being talked about.  Here are some of my favourite examples of what they did:

1. They tin-foiled the Principal’s office.  Every square inch of it.  Accessories too.

Mr. Hamilton in his tin-foil office

2. They filled the Vice-Principal’s office with pink packing styrofoam.

Ms. Gin floating in a sea of pink

3. They thanked the Student Services Department.

To the grads of 2010, you were definitely creative and got a few laughs out of me – Well done!

Over Challenge week, we headed over to Biloxi Mississippi to work with Habitat for Humanity.  Here’s a video clip of our time there…Enjoy!

When I first started working at The York School, I recall mentioning in my interview just how much I loved being involved in developing student leadership.  I guess they remembered…

My love of leadership started because it was probably the one of the main aspects of my own high school experience that I enjoyed.  It then grew as I worked on and eventually led the leadership conference at McMaster University.

I’m a huge fan of tradition!  I appreciate implementing and participating in traditions but I also love being a part of creating new ones.  I love the “ra-ra” aspect of school spirit – houses or clans, team colours, challenges and cheers.

Four years ago, Mr. Hamilton, the Head of the Upper School, asked me if I wanted to help out with the House Council and I couldn’t wait for the opportunity!  Since the moment I started, I’ve had the chance to facilitate and perpetuate traditions that the students created including:

• new house challenges, such as Twister and Liar’s Club
• school dances, such as Unplugged, Semi-Formals and Proms
• Impulse fashion show and coffee houses
• and so much more…

Every year,  a new group of kids enters the ranks of the House Council.  They are always fired up and ready to go, motivated to bring school spirit to the forefront and inspired to leave a legacy beyond their own graduating year.  For the past four years, it has been my absolute pleasure to participate in the experience, to support them and cheer them on.

I’ve learned and shared quite a few insights from my experience with House Council, as I hope the kids have as well, but some of the memorable ones include:

1. Planning is essential.  Advanced planning is preferred.  And as the saying goes…”Your inability to plan does not constitute an emergency on my part.“
2. Say please and thank you.  It goes a LONG way.
3. There is no shame in asking for help.
4. There is an etiquette to sending e-mails to the student body and the Faculty.  Follow it closely.  You will accomplish more that way.
5. Your goal is to get everyone to participate.  This will not always happen.  Do not get discouraged.  Keep trying.
6. The Council is made up of your friends, however as with all friendships, there will be days when you will dislike them intensely.
7. An idea does not belong to a single individual.  Share it.  Believe me when I say that it is likely to be enhanced by the contributions of others.
8. Stand united.  You will all succeed together or you will all fail together.  The choice is up to you, all of you, together.
9. Take pride in what you accomplish.  You have worked hard to obtain it and you deserve the praise and the credit.
10. Be sure to also take time to recognize your faults and find ways to improve.

Most people have asked why it is that I’m stepping away from the House Council, especially if I love what I do so much.  My decision is rooted in change.  Everything in life changes.  If we don’t change, then we get used to doing the same things over and over and we stagnate. We never step outside of what we know and what we’re comfortable with and then we never have the chance to learn what we are capable of.  As fearful as the experience of trying something new is, change must occur so that we can learn and grow.

Some have asked if I’ll come back to the House Council.  To be honest, I would have come back the moment I made my decision to take a step back.  However, I will leave that door open and see where the winds of change blow me.  If and when I have something new and important to share, I’m sure I will head in that direction again.

You see, being a Faculty member at this school presents us with unique opportunities to coach, motivate and inspire outside of the classroom.  It enables us to step into roles that make us become more than just the math teacher at the front of the classroom (though I do love that role as well).  It provides us with challenges that we must face, even when we may initially think we are not ready to take them on, goals that we must set for ourselves and for others, and examples that we would like to make of ourselves that our own students can look to.

It is with a sincere heart that I say thank you to all the students I’ve had the pleasure of working with on the House Council.  I treasure all of the memories that you’ve made, all of the traditions you’ve carried on and all of the new ones you’ve created.  I am so very proud of your accomplishments and your spirit.

Thank you for letting me be a part of it.

Remtulla

Sometimes, on the rare occasion, finishing a unit early occurs. Usually, my approach is just to keep going, tackle the next unit or spend a day on a related interesting tidbit of information.

A few year ago, a television show titled NUMB3RS started and needless to say, it quickly became a favourite of mine, as well as my students. Think a very mathy version of CSI. However, sadly, it is coming to an end this year. As much as I love showing an episode every now and then, I also like to change it up when a new idea presents itself.

I decided over the March break that I wanted to have a Games day.  Many of the board games in the world are based on probability, reasoning and strategy. Whether you’re playing Clue, or Chess…there is always thinking to be done (perhaps more in one than another, but still thinking).

I suggested my kids bring in some of their favourite games (they forgot, but I think they’ll remember next time) and I said I’d bring in some of the ones I have. I brought in the standard deck of cards, but some of the other interesting games I brought in included:

Othello/Reversi: is a board game, given to me by a previous student who was sickeningly good at it, where the player’s goal is to have a majority of their colored pieces showing at the end of the game, by turning over as many of their opponent’s pieces as possible.

GO: the board game featured in the movie “A Beautiful Mind“. The rule book seems quite daunting, however, it is apparently quite simple.

Chess: one of my favourite childhood games that I don’t play nearly as much as I’d like to now.

DaVinci’s Challenge: This patterning and strategy game was a recent birthday gift. A definite winner of a game!

Senet: A recent acquisition from the AGO when I went to see the King Tut exhibit. It was a board game played in ancient Egypt.

Personally, I think Games Day was a nice change of pace. Check out some of the pictures I snapped below…

Strategizing to win DaVinci's Challenge

A friendly(?) game of Jenga

Deep in chess thought

See you at the next game’s day…

My grade 10s (I have two classes) have just started a very important unit on Quadratics. Every year that I teach this course, I highly encourage my students to know the quadratic formula.  I have made my kids memorize the formula by yelling it at the top of their lungs, whispering it in hushed tones, and even standing on their chairs.

Some teachers have their students memorize the formula by putting it to the “pop goes the weasel” tune whereas others put it to the theme song for Sesame Street.

I was recently sent a link to the video below (from a math teacher friend of mine at another school).  The students in the video decided to put the formula to a popular hip-hop song from 2009, “Crank That” by Soldja Boy.  Not the best quality video but highly creative!

Now, as all teachers know, teenagers are a rough crowd to please.  So, I issued a challenge – each of my classes has until March Break to come up with a video of their own to help other kids remember the quadratic formula.   Their song choice is entirely up to them.  Their dance moves also left up to them (but I did hear rumblings of a stomp routine or taking tips from the Jackson 5).  I told them that I would not check in on them, or hound them.  This was a challenge for them as a class.  A challenge for them to work together and put their talents to the test.  10s, let’s see you do better…I dare you!

~ Remtulla

The IB Math mock is tomorrow morning…for those of you reading this who know little to nothing about the IB, here’s a quick glimpse – take two years worth of information and put it on a single exam.  A daunting task for some, especially at the age of 17 or 18.

As someone who teaches both grade 11 and 12, I have the advantage of seeing how all the material is connected and can often see why certain questions are selected over others.  This is something I also encourage my students to see and think about.  It’s almost the same advice I give to my grade 10s – What did the teacher think was a “good” question before?  Why did they think that?  Try and come up with a practice exam yourself using questions that are “good”.

In the past few years, preparation for the mocks has taken on a life of its own.  Before (say 5 years ago), it was a few review periods in class time, and questions after school and during my spares.  Then it evolved into these massive IB math review sessions (others may call them cram sessions) and some very late nights in the library.  I recall a couple of years ago taking a picture on my cell phone of the table in front of me – stacks of paper, old practice exams, graphic calculators and numerous cups of coffee as well as remnants of a fast food dinner.  The picture has since been lost (I went searching for it, but had no luck finding it), however, the image is still vivid in my mind.

This past year, the math review sessions took place in the drama room.  The sheer size of the screen alone must have made the trigonometry questions overwhelming, but the kids handled 8 hours of straight math relatively well over the period of a few days.  Quadratics, Functions, Matrices, Sequences & Series, Trigonometry and even some Calculus.  Coffee intake was at a high while texting was at a minimum.  Some appeared dazed and overwhelmed, and others prepared and challenged.

Has there been tears at these sessions?  The answer is yes.  Has there been tears after the exam?  The answer is also yes.  But that isn’t to say that there haven’t also been moments of glory where students have buckled down and made the connections they’ve needed to make all this time.  Sometimes, you just need the information to percolate a little bit before you can get it.

I have one class of 12s writing tomorrow morning.  I believe they are currently at home or at the library studying.  I’m sure some of the kids are sitting there deliriously laughing at the sheer volume of content they have to know.  The best advice I can give them is something that my own mother gave me more than once in my educational career…You have learned everything that you need to know for this exam.  All you have to do is recall it.  So, start.  You cannot get anywhere without starting.  Take it one page at a time, one question at a time.

My dear 12s, take it one page at a time, one question at a time.  I believe in you and all that you are capable of.  Failure is not an option, nor is achieving less than the goal you have set for yourself.  Reach and keep reaching.  You will get there.

~ Remtulla

We ended school before the winter break with the usual insanity – tests, assignments and project deadlines. But, as all students and teachers know, it is also known as the season for baked goods. This year, there was an abundance of delicious goodies available for consumption as it was someone’s brilliant idea to have parents bake for the staff. When you walked into the staff room, every inch of counter space or table was covered with either cookies, cupcakes, muffins and my personal favourite, chocolate chip banana bread! Now, I am never one to turn down a fix for my sweet tooth, but I did try to moderate my intake (the chocolate chip banana bread was my downfall).

The one thing that I didn’t notice (perhaps it was eaten immediately or buried under that plate of cookies that I never made it to) was gingerbread. Now, I admit to not being a huge fan of gingerbread myself, but for some people, it symbolizes the season. They wait for the moment that Starbuck’s offers its seasonal peppermint latte and gingerbread men. To each their own I suppose.

When I was in university, my housemates and I had this tradition of decorating a gingerbread house and has continued each year since. There has always been an overindulgence in candy consumption, however over the years, the houses that we’ve created have become more unified and definitely more artistic. In past years, one of my friends has taken it to her elementary school, and raffled it off to a deserving student, oftentimes, a student who had never known what a gingerbread house was. This year, we decided that I would take the gingerbread masterpiece to my school and raffle it off, on the condition that the money raised went to a deserving charity. With two of us in the house being teachers, and with our circle of friends growing with new bundles of joy, it seemed obvious that our charity of choice would be Sick Kids Hospital.

So, I came to school and rallied the help of some of the House Council students (more on them at another time), the gingerbread house was raffled off to a student during the coffee house and we raised $61 in a mere two hours of ticket selling. Now, that’s not even the best part of the story! Here’s the thing…one of my students came up to me the next morning, on the last day of school before the break, to tell me a sweet story. The winner of the gingerbread house and a friend of his went to Sick Kids Hospital to share the house with a student who was there undergoing a procedure. They didn’t do it because they had to, or because anyone told them to, but because they wanted to. How great is that?!. It choked me up a little and made me smile.

Wishing you a gingerbread moment this season.
~ Remtulla

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

It’s time for you to vote for the MMVAs!

Watch the videos.  Comment.  Vote.

*voting closes at midnight on December 31st, 2009.

The Grade 12 videos are all posted below.  Underneath each video are the lyrics for that video.  Please take a moment to watch each video and read the lyrics and then cast your vote for the BEST MMV.  When voting, please consider video quality and appeal, song choice, lyrics and creativity!

Your votes will be used to determine which video deserves the MMVA!

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Yes!

M. Hanson, L. Mersky, G. Love, E. Goldberg and B. Matheson

Everyday I do some calc
Every day I do some, everyday I do some calc
Everyday I do some calc
Every day I do some, everyday I do some calc

Every time I walk into math class
Its hard to be humble
When I use the chain rule to solve the quadratic
And come up with the derivate, next find the tangent
Being greeted by Ms. Remtulla with the new IB rubric
It gives me 6’s and some 7’s
IB says factor then determine I say
“Let me get my GDC” Cause its on paper 2
Next I find the answer write it down ,And then they say,
“Guys your marks are so freakin’ sweet”

And I’m like,
Yes, the product rule
Yes, the quotient rule
Yes, the triiiig rule
Yes, and there ain’t no fudgin’

Yes, the product rule
Yes, the quotient rule
Yes, the triiiig rule
Yes, and there ain’t no fudgin’

Everyday I do some calc
Every day I do some, everyday I do some calc
Everyday I do some calc
Every day I do some, everyday I do some calc

Wakin’ up next to by math standard textbook
Close the book and say hello to my beautiful day
No time for breakfast, gotta get to TYS
Studied hard so I’ll rock this challenging test

YES!

And I’m like
Yes, the product rule
Yes, the quotient rule
Yes, the triiiig rule
Yes, and there ain’t no fudgin’

Yes, the product rule
Yes, the quotient rule
Yes, the triiiig rule
Yes, and there ain’t no fudgin’

Math Prince of Calc

L. Romoff, M. Florence and L. Bandler

Now this is a story all about how
our brains got flip turned upside down
and id like to take a minute just sit right there
ill tell you how to find the max and the min if you dare.

When your taking the derivative this is what you have to do
use the product, the chain, quotient, power rule.
Multiply terms, if that’s what’s asked of you
Make charts of f’s and g’s, add or subtract foo
If its bracket to exponent, bring the ex-ponent down
Minus one from the top and deriv. the bracket now
Were ready to move on, don’t know where to begin
G-bands said ‘set it equal to 0 to find the max and the min’

So now we’ve solved for x and were bringing in the chart
Put your equations down on one side, use the x’s for this part
Sub in the number above and below
Each of your x values so that you know
When it’s a plus or a minus you add em together
This tells you if its up or down, whatever

To get your y-value, sub x into the orig.
The number that you get gives your full co-ordinate.
Now you found the max and the minimum
Don’t you agree, our beat should go platinum?

Every Equation

A. Litman, R. Sless and M. Goldman

There is one thing in my life
That makes me love again
As pretty as calc could be
Product rule.

Every morning I do an equation
With a smile on my face
I’m a man in love
With Calculus

There is one thing in my life
That makes me love again
As pretty as calc could be
Product rule.

Every morning I wake up and think of you
With a smile on my face
I’m a man in love
With Calculus

Oh baby I want to do this all my life

F g prime plus g f prime

Calculators t’the side
Oh baby I am gonna sketch all the time
find it the first time, derivatize

For the critical points

There is one thing in my life
That makes me love again
As pretty as calc could be
Product rule.

Every morning I do an equation
With a smile on my face
I’m a man in love
With Calculus

There is one thing in my life
That makes me love again
As pretty as calc could be
Product rule.

Every morning I wake up and think of you
With a smile on my face
I’m a man in love
With Calculus

Every morning I do an equation
With a smile on my face
I’m a man in love… With Calculus
Every morning!

Should I Sine or Should I Cos?

L. Bridle, S. O’Dwyer and J. Csopak

Function, you’ve got to let me know:
Should I sin or should I cos?
If you tell me to derive,
I’ll solve you till the end of time
So you got to let me know,
Should I sin or should I cos?

It’s always trig trig trig
You’re happy when I start to solve.
One day is sin, and next is cos
So if you’re sin I’ll give you cos
Times the derivative of
the function’s inside bracket .

Should I sin or should I cos now?
Should I sin or should I cos now?
If I don’t there will be trouble
Cuz IB will fail me double
So lets’ take derivatives!

This cos function’s killing me
The derivative is tricky
It is negative sin multiplied
By the inside bracket of cos
Come on and show me now
The graphs of trig will show you how

INTERLUDE

Should I sin or should I cos now?
Should I sin or should I cos now?
If I don’t there will be trouble
Cuz IB will fail me double
So lets’ take derivatives!
Cuz with math it surely lives

Should I sin or should I cos now?
But I forgot about the tan curve
Which is the derivative of
Secant squared x
So it’s really not complex

Product Rule State of Mind

R. Mingay, B. Usher and S. Green

Yeah
Im in my math class
Now im doin my homework
Right next to remtulla
But I’ll be IB forever
Were the new Newtons
And since weve made it here
We can make it anywhere
(Yeah I love calc everywhere)
I used to cop in f and g
All of my mathematicians (hey yo)
Right there off the x-axis
Brought me back to that local maxima
Took it to my inflexion point
1320 yonge street
Catch me in the Math office chillin with them teachers
Crusin through my homework
ON LINED PAPER
Working so fast
(but calculus, oh its so crazy!)
Me I love that product rule
It’s the favourite of that boy bigby!
Now I’m doin a calc assignment
And I brought my boys with me
Say what up to my boy TI 83
Showin all my workings out
Now its PAPER 2
Usin my rules hopin for high 5’s
Baby Im mathed out
I could divide by ZERO
Tell by my attitude that I most definitely enjoy…

[Alicia Keys]
Product Rule!!!!
F times G’ plus G times F’

There’s nothing you can’t do,
F times G’ plus G times F’
These rules will make you feel brand new,
its nothing you cant do,
Let’s hear it for Product rule, rule, rule…

Product Rule!!!!
F times G’ plus G times F’

There’s nothing you can’t do,
F times G’ plus G times F’
These rules will make you feel brand new,
its nothing you cant do,
Let’s hear it for Product rule, rule, rule…

Love Story

J. Winkler

I was young when i first learnt about you
I opened my eyes
And math class had started
I was sitting there
In the back row beside whoever was there

See the equations
See the tangent curves
I don’t see how I can do this quickly and ms. Remtulla says its not that hard

That you were the quotient rule, you were much easier than product
And everyone says away from quotient
And i was crying during the math test
Trying to remember what to do with the denominator and I said

Jeremy multiply g of x by f primed
Then minus f of x multiplied by g primed
Then divide all of that by g of x squared
It’s a love story baby just say yes

so I sneak out of the test to review
i keep quite because I’m dead if you know
so close your eyes
let me get a seven for a little while
cause you want a good teacher present
and my daddy said study for this math test
but I was just too lazy
and i was praying that you wouldn’t know and i said

Jeremy multiply g of x by f primed
Then minus f of x multiplied by g primed
Then divide all of that by g of x squared
It’s a love story baby just say yes

this song saved me, I just remembered how it goes
this math isn’t difficult, it’s a thrill
don’t be afraid, I’m going to get that seven
its a love story baby just say yes,

Oh, oh

I got tired of the product rule
wondering if I had to make the power negative
my faith in you was fading
when i met the quotient rule in math, and I said

quotient save me I’ve been feeling so confused
i keep trying you but you take too long
is this in my head, i don’t know what to think
I knelt to the ground and pulled out a TI-83

marry me quotient you’ll never have to be alone
i love you and thats all I really know
i talked to remtulla,  she’ll write a lot of questions
its a love story baby just say yes
oh, oh, yes
I was still young when i first learnt you

The Grade 11 videos are all posted below.  Underneath each video are the lyrics for that video.  Please take a moment to watch each video and read the lyrics and then cast your vote for the BEST MMV.  When voting, please consider video quality and appeal, song choice, lyrics and creativity!

Your votes will be used to determine which video deserves the MMVA!

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