Pi Day

March 14 is an exciting day for math teachers everywhere. The date's abbreviation, 3.14, is the number pi rounded to two decimal places. It is the perfect day to raise awareness of the sheer significance of this irrational number. To sum it up, I love this picture:

During my student teaching, I was in an 8th grade classroom during Pi Day and it happened to be my last day at that placement. So, we had a little party and I decided to read this book to the class.

This book series is really meant for elementary students, but I think the students really appreciated that nostalgia of being read to as younger kids. I decided to do the same thing for my high school students - I think they appreciated my funny voices and side commentary.

I also printed out a bunch of blank pi coloring sheets and let the students relax by decorating their own pi. My students work really hard in Algebra 2, Calc 1, and Calc 2, so I can spare a day where they can take a break. My classroom is already chock full of craft supplies, so it was easy to set up.

As you can see, I had my own pi project. I hole punched some colored paper and was determined to fill up the whole pi by gluing each dot individually. Whew. It turned out great and this still hangs in my room:

This year, my classes are a little swamped with how our breaks fell and the new Common Core Algebra 2 curriculum, so I couldn't waste a whole period on pi day activities. Instead, I baked for my students. I really wanted to make mini chocolate pudding pies, but I couldn't find any mini graham cracker pie crusts. So, I improvised - I bought plastic shot glasses at Shop Rite and decided to make Pi(e) Dessert Shots. Bear with me.

I got these graham cracker crumbs and combined them together with some butter. I filled the bottom of the shot glass with the crumb mixture. Then, I made the chocolate pudding  - I add milk to my pudding for a creamier taste. I filled the rest of each shot glass with chocolate pudding and let them cool in the fridge. I used one box of the crumbs and I think 6 boxes of pudding. I packed all 120 pie shots in aluminum tins and carried them to school. During each class, I passed out the pie shots with spoons and went around topping each with whipped cream - I used up two cans of Reddi Wip. My students and fellow faculty members loved them. It was the perfect amount of sweet.

The stickers I again found off Pinterest. I bought the labels at a nearby Staples and printed them on my home inkjet printer. You will need a Teachers Pay Teachers account to download the FREE sticker template. Thank you so much fellow math teacher, Jennifer, for these cute stickers! My fellow math teachers wore them with pride and they accented my dessert shots well.

I look forward to many more fabulous Pi Days!

Miss Schuck

Super Bowl 50

Against all odds, the Denver Broncos took on the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. As you know, my favorite quarterback of all time played for Denver, and, as it turns out, the teacher I share my room with is a big Carolina fan. It was on and I started it.

Yes, I drew this by hand on my homework board! No, I don't think I could ever draw it again. It's a Super Bowl miracle! Anyway, Mr. Ferguson couldn't let me show him and his team up.

So, it started out small. Mr. Ferguson made his own Panther paper chain. I decorated my table in orange and blue. Then, I went to the dollar store. 

And I made a wreath based on this Pinterest idea! For a total of $3, I bought the Styrofoam ring, a blue rectangle table cloth, and an orange rectangle table cloth. I cut the table cloth into about 18 inch strips (though they could have been shorter) and double tied them around the ring in alternating pattern. Once I covered the whole ring, I cut the ends down and fluffed them up. I added a bow from Michael's and a little name plate. For $3, I thought it was a great way to one-up Mr. Ferguson in our classroom.

But then, Mr. Ferguson copied by wreath idea, covered his door in a Panthers claw mark, and made an end zone. So, I obviously had to make an end zone. Mine was made from painters tape, which wouldn't ruin the floor. Mr. Ferguson out cardboard down before the duct tape in an attempt to protect the floor as well. We got permission from the maintenance guys too before we did anything!

And from then on, the competition grew fierce all during Super Bowl week. The students loved walking in everyday and seeing what was added.

My mom helped me with these pennants.  I cut them out of felt and then she sewed them with her sewing machine. They came out great. Thanks Mom!

I may have went overboard. I covered my seat cushions in make-shift orange and blue cases, and I drew on our classroom windows with window markers. It was well worth it though when the Broncos came out on top and WON SUPER BOWL 50! I was beyond excited and glad that Peyton Manning could go out on top.

I celebrated with a victory selfie and got to keep up all my stuff for the whole week after. Even though his team lost, I bet Mr. Ferguson can agree that it was a great time decorating our classroom and celebrating Super Bowl! :D

Miss Schuck 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

One of the best aspects of working in a private Catholic school is the ability to celebrate and decorate for Christmas! The previous teacher left me her Christmas tree, so all I had to do was buy a few ornaments and decorations. I set up the tree by my wicker furniture.

Most of the ornaments were gifts made by students and other teachers. The little ceramic present was also a gift from a student. I found the letters to Santa mailbox at Home Depot of all places! It gave me a great idea for some extra credit projects during the month of December.

I created my own Advent Calendar! Now, typically advent calendars are filled with little treats or pictures for children to open each day as they count down to Christmas. Well, I modified mine to to fit the needs of my math classroom. Most days were just silly jokes or YouTube videos to watch. One day we made origami Christmas trees - it's really easy! My favorite day was when I hid a picture of a pickle in the classroom and told students the first one to find it won a prize; though most of my students got up and frantically looked around the room, it was the quiet ones that usually found it just patiently glancing around the room. Go figure.

So, for 6 of the days, I put in tasks for students to complete to gain a total of six bonus points. No matter the task, students had to format it into a letter to Santa and place it in my box to receive full credit. What Christmas fun!

Task 1 - Write two haiku poems, one about our current topic in math and one about the holiday season. For the math poem, students had to incorporate a vocabulary word from the current units. I heard a lot about polynomials, derivatives, and areas between curves! 

Task 2 - Two mathematical puzzles. One can be found here, and students had to find two DIFFERENT solutions. The other had to do with the 12 days of Christmas. I wanted my students to mathematically show the total number of gifts one would receive from their true love if they were literally given all the things listed on each day. Yay Christmas math!

Task 3 - Draw and color a Christmas scene. I really wanted to reach all student talents with these tasks, so instead of an academic task like the first two, I went with something artistic for this task. Students had to draw, not trace, a holiday scene and color it for the bonus point. I kept some of the really pretty ones.

Task 4 - This was a Wikipedia Scavenger Hunt. I gave students a Wiki page to start on, like the Christmas stocking, and a page to end on, like the Aztecs, and asked them to find the linking page between them. It's not easy. Can you find the page that links these two together? Good luck!

Task 5 - For this tasks I had students create their own memes. They could not use images from the internet. They had to use pictures of each other, teachers, the school, or themselves and make a meme. Some were pretty funny and are still hanging on my classroom walls.

Task 6 - For this last task, I asked students to actually write a letter to Santa. They had to ask for three things - something for themselves, something for someone else, and something for the world.

I was charmed by some of  the things my students wrote. I am proud they took the assignment so seriously and asked for some wonderful things, especially for other people. It made the whole advent calendar worth it.

My students really enjoyed these extra holiday activities we did each day as we got closer to Christmas break. As a final send off, I had an in class hot chocolate bar. Yum!

I welcome any new ideas to get my students excited about coming to math class!

Merry Christmas!

Miss Schuck