Snapshot: 6C Off and Running

It was our first day of math class for 6C. We started off tentative and not sure what to expect. We broke the ice with a few sentence finishers. The class responded to the following prompts: 

• Math is important because...
• Math is ...
• Our class should be ___________ everyday.

Below are a sampling of the diverse answers for each prompt! I am excited to get to know this group and I am eager to see where our math adventure takes us this year!

Snapshot: 8A Opening day

We are back! It was the first day of the 2016-2017 school year and my only class was with 8A. We opened the QLab and there was lots of energy and enthusiasm for the newly renovated space.  We opened class with an introduction for the new students to the group. Then we jumped into an activity called 31-derful. We just got a start on the challenge and will continue when we return from our trip to Catalina. Stay tuned for more information on this fun challenge.

New Space!

We are in a new space this year! It is a whirlwind, but we are opening the school year in a newly renovated educational space. Black Pine Circle raised the funds and built a new Science educational space for K-8 use. We are excited for the new Maker Space and wet lab. This opened up the opportunity to renovate the 6th St. building and make all the spaces more functional. 

I am excited to be in a new space with lots of opportunities for collaboration and flexible groupings. Cheers to a new year and all of the possibilities that await us!

Welcome 2016!

Welcome to the blog space for Ms. Seto's middle school math classes at Black Pine Circle School! This is the second year for this blog and we are going to pick up where we left off last year. 

My hope for this space is to share and post glimpses into what is happening in the classroom and to share our mathematical adventures with the world. A long-term goal is that the students will be sharing in their own words what is going on in the classroom, but for now, this will be from my perspective (facilitator/teacher).

For students: this is a portal to access materials and resources for class, a place for class notes and shared documents, and a place to share our reflections with a greater community. 

For parents: this is a window into the math classroom and an opportunity for you to access to what happens in your child's day. It can be a tool to connect and create conversations with your child. 

For others: this is a place to share our learning and to reflect on our mathematical journey. 

It is an ambitious project, but I hope that we can live up to the expectations and make our learning visible.  

News: Why We Learn Math Lessons That Date Back 500 Years?

I heard this piece on NPR and followed up by reading the accompanying article. It asks the question of why we learn the math we teach in schools? What are the origins of learning math?
 
NPR: Why We Learn Math Lessons That Date Back 500 Years?

This is a question I encounter every year, multiple time a year. This piece sheds some new light on the historical reasons for the math we teach today. I wonder, why does it remain the same? Why can't we approach math education from a different perspective? Why do we remain so rooted in this historical context?