#MakeOverMonday Week 3 Bedroom Carpet ... Let's Save Money!

Dan Meyer has published his third #MakeOverMonday textbook revision challenge - Bedroom Carpet.  Check it out here!  (Hmmmm ... the problem says her sunroom, OK?)

There are two things I notice about the problem.

• First, the dimensions in the scenario are all in customary measurements and the picture is in meters.  My first revision would be to change the measurements on the diagram to customary measurements.  If I see that the prices are described in customary measurements, I am going to measure my room with feet/yards ... not meters!
• The second thing that catches my eye is this sentence, "Lesa wants to lay out the carpet so the nap is running in the same direction, with the minimum number of seams."  I am guessing that "nap" will need explanation.  And this creates the possibility of two solutions ... the nap could run from left to right in the diagram or it could run from top to bottom.  Thus my revision, is which way costs less?  Let's save money! 

Use the information given in the problem to determine the cost of the carpet if installed from left to right.  Also determine the cost of the carpet if installed from top to bottom (as in the drawing below).  Which installation will save Lesa money?  Would one way be more wasteful than the other?

A second revision might be to question Lesa's choice of indoor/outdoor carpet (ugh!) and suggest that students find an appropriate alternative and determine the cost.  The teacher could provide links to websites for flooring choices like this one. This revision could be combined that with their English class' assignment to create a persuasive argument for a specific flooring.   (If time is limited, and research not desirable, the teacher could provide costs for alternative flooring).

Additional revisions could include students measuring rooms in their own homes, bringing in the layout drawn to scale, and determining the cost of flooring.  Students could research flooring costs in their area, choose their own style, and determine the total cost.

Even though I don't expect to use a problem like this next year, I like the challenge of thinking about revision.  I even went on an Internet scavenger hunt this morning for a project in which students plan their first apartment.  I know such a project exists ... I had created one many years back but today I didn't find any links to share.

How are you revising this problem?  And if not this one, what problem are you revising?

Textbook Revision Idea

I read with interest Dan Meyer's plan for Makeover Mondays this summer.

My workplace, curriculum, team ... they were all new this past year. I was surprised to learn that the Algebra teachers didn't use the textbook at all. I am not a fan of textbooks, but to not use them at all seemed drastic. After all, all resources have some value.  As it was we created almost all of our own materials.  Some were OK, maybe a tad better than the book and some were not.

So, I am taking Meyer's challenge to heart in an effort to create more worthwhile learning activities for my students. I am looking through the textbook that we don't use to find problems that could be revised and made useful in our curriculum.

Today I chose #24, from page 240, of Holt Algebra 1 published in 2007.

I chose this problem because we start the year studying functions and relations.  We do quite a bit of graphing, analyzing graphs, discussing domain, range, continuous, and discrete.

I also chose this problem because this last year while my family was reading "real food" blogs and working on maximizing nutrition, I noticed that my ninth graders ate a lot of junk food.  Now I don't propose to preach "real food" to them, but I thought it might be fun in the first week of school for everyone to bring their favorite snack food.  (I've heard that the way to man's heart is through his stomach and I'm wondering if this maxim will help me win the hearts of my 14-15 year olds!)  The only "rule" is that students must bring the snack in the original packaging so that we can use that packaging for math!  (I'll bring a few snacks myself so that we have plenty to work with).

I'll ask teams of students to chose 5 snacks to compare.  I'll ask students to create two graphs each illustrating the relationship between 2 elements of nutrition on the packaging.  First I'll ask students to examine the relationship between fat grams and fat calories as pictured in the textbook problem.  For the second graph students can choose any of the nutrition facts to compare.  I'll ask students to create a mini poster with their snack packaging and the graphs.  Then we will discuss if the elements of nutrition they compared represented functions or relations and why.

My specific goal in reworking this problem is to provide real data for students to analyze.  Additional side goals include enlisting their interest in math class and bringing attention to the nutritional value of the food they snack on.

PS ... during the summer I hope to find a really good article ... something short and on target for teens that discusses nutritional values as a bonus to this math activity.

Blogosphere ... Good Ideas!

As I was working on my Feedly list, I visited a number of blogs today.  I am really bad about remembering good ideas that I see around the blogosphere.  So I was delighted when I happened up the radical rational ... where she mentions reading three blogs a day.  She blogged about the three great ideas that she found today ... which sent me on my own hunt for three ideas to use next year!

One of my goals for next year is to do more with math vocabulary.  So I was delighted to find this simple self-reflection on vocabulary at Math = Love!  I remember reading about this strategy in Marzano's book on vocabulary but I didn't put it into practice this past year.  Creating a master list for each unit, rating before, in the middle and at the end of the unit will be helpful in getting students to think about their own understanding of math terms.  (And ... Sarah mentioned a book I might need to add to my summer reading list ... Styles and Strategies for Teaching High School Mathematics: 21 Techniques for Differentiating Instruction and Assessment!

I was not satisfied with my math notebooking efforts this past year.  I value keeping a well-organized notebook but doing so is not one of my skills!  I am afraid that I passed on my lack of organization to my students this past year.  So I was glad to run across Borsht with Anna's post on math notebooking in a 3-ring binder!  Our print shop will copy assignments on hole punched paper. Hole punching is so much easier than gluing and pasting!  I'm hoping that with this plan in place I can teach myself and my ninth graders how to keep each unit organized!

Last but not least, I visited Math Munch today.  Wow!  So many possibilities!  I love the numeric design project.  I had some doodlers this year that would have loved to created graphic design numbers for me!  The Math Munch folks highlighted a TED video presented by Nina Fetterman on epidemics. I can imagine using this video (or a clip of it) as I introduce exponential numbers - talking about the spread of disease!  An ongoing effort is capturing students' attention and interest.  I'm thinking there will be ways to use Math Munch next year ... maybe even "math munch Mondays!"

As you peruse the Internet this summer, how are you organizing the good ideas you find?  Please share!

my students speak ...

I asked students to provide some feedback on our algebra class – anonymously.  It is interesting that across six classes, the thoughts are very similar.  I will review these ideas before our second semester begins …

 What is one thing you like about math or about our class?

• It’s easy


• I like trying to learn


• My friends are in the class


• Helps you learn about most things in life like money


• Using the calculator


• When I understand the material


• I like how you can put math in everyday words


• It’s fun to learn


• The low degree of difficulty


• It will help me in the future


• Classmates are funny


• I like that we have plenty of time to take our tests


• I like that we learn well


• I like the posters with notes that you hang around the class


• The notes you give us


• The active activities


• We get rewarded


• I like the way we do reviews


• I like how the next topic fits in with the one we just learned


• I like coming to morning tutorials


• I like that we sit in groups and take notes

 What is one thing you don’t like about math or about our class?

• The class is somewhat slow


• It’s not helpful


• It’s too long


• It’s hard


• It’s confusing


• I don’t like having to write out everything


• I don’t understand it


• I don’t like when the teacher goes to fast


• Some people are annoying


• After you first teach us something, you expect us to know it


• The math can get super boring


• When I am trying to understand, I can get distracted


• I can’t remember how to do a lot of the material until after a long time of struggling


• Algebra is mostly pointless


• Not being able to sit with who you want


• Our class is noisy


• A lot of people cheat in our class


• Our classroom is cold


• I don’t like quiet individual work


• We don’t get a lot done


• I don’t like that problems have tons of steps to get to the solutions


• We go too fast


• None of my friends are in the class

What can I do to help you learn Algebra better?

• Use peers to help one another


• By being fun


• Take more time with the problems


• Help me understand the questions


• Do more activities


• Keep me on task


• Use more engaging activities


• Nothing more than you are already doing


• Explain more clearly


• Provide food/candy


• Use more visual learning


• Go slower/explain more


• Move faster – class is boring because you go too slowly


• Keep having tutorials in the morning


• Use pictures when you can


• Use better activities


• Do more homework in class so we can ask questions about it

 What can you do to help you learn Algebra better?

• Try harder


• Focus


• Study more


• Take the teacher’s advice


• Attend tutorials


• Pay attention in class


• Listen when you are talking


• Stay focused and care more


• Start doing homework


• Not be lazy

Hmmm ... how best to use these thoughts??

Related articles

• So, how did I do? Getting feedback from students in end-of-year evaluations (missaliceleung.wordpress.com)