Projectile Motion – what goes up must come down
The overarching MYP unit question we are trying to answer is “Does what go up have to come down?” Our tenth graders have been studying quadratics (a function that follows a parabolic path) for the past month. A quadratic is a function that follows a parabolic path, basically a smooth function that goes up, reaches a maximum height and then comes back down. The question we hoped to answer at the end of the unit, was how do we take the lessons about quadratic equations that we’ve learned and apply them to real life? The grade 10 students used their knowledge of quadratic...
Read MoreAnti-Bullying (Pink Shirt) Day
The last Wednesday of February is known as Anti-Bullying Day (also known as “Pink Shirt Day”) in Canada. Originally, the day started as a protest against a bullying incident at a high school in Nova Scotia against a male student who wore a pink shirt to school. On this day participants are asked to wear pink to symbolize a stand against bullying. On Wednesday February 29th, several brave individuals took to the stage to share their stories of bullying, their experiences with hatred, taunting and outright malicious behaviour. I sat in the audience and heard my colleague and...
Read MoreS.A.D.
On February 14th, a conversation with one of my Grade 7 boys went like this: Noah: Ms. Remtulla, would you like a sticker? Me: What does the sticker say? Noah: S.A.D. Me: What does that stand for? Noah: Singles Awareness Day. We’re boycotting Valentine’s day. Me: You’re in Grade 7! The Grade 7s boys decided that they were anti-valentines and they went around handing out stickers promoting their day instead. The popularity of their creation grew as the day progressed. Faculty wore stickers, and chuckled the entire time. The older kids wondered how little...
Read MoreYou sank my Battleship!!
The grade 7s just finished a quick unit called Coordinate Geometry, basically learning how to plot points on the Cartesian plane. The kids learned about Rene Descartes (who as the story goes created the Cartesian plane by looking up at the flies on his ceiling while he was bed-ridden) and we challenged them to a newly designed game of Coordinate Geometry. Mr. Barry and I set up a chat window for the students to call coordinates from one room to the other, some were assigned our battlefield and others were in charge of strategizing our attack on Mr. Barry’s class. A very tech savvy...
Read MoreMathbucks
Having had so many warmer than average winter days, Mr. Barry and I knew that the timing of our excursion to our neighbourhood Starbucks would be met with some daunting winter weather! However, no amount of snow or wind could keep our Grade 7s from having a great time venturing over to have their desired beverage while challenging their mathematical abilities by calculating which size was the best purchase in terms of percentage volume and price change. Many of the customers watched with curiosity and even began discussions of their own. Some commented that they wish they had done similar...
Read MoreA stack of marking and no red pen…
Yes, I give tests. It’s how teachers assess how students are doing in the class, how and if they are understanding the content and to be honest, it’s really just one of those things we do to make our students hate us…just kidding. I acknowledge that as a student it sometimes seems that you get bombarded by a week filled with tests, and then the next with nothing. It’s not on purpose, really, it isn’t. It’s just because that’s how long the unit took in my subject and in the others. We factor in how long the unit is, how difficult it will be for...
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