Drafting Math Class Expectations/Norms Using Clips from Movies and TV

What's it mean to be a "mathematician"?

How can we be kind to each other (and ourselves!) as we study in class in order for everyone to thrive?

How do mathematicians work together?

How do mathematicians communicate?

Since it's Back to School season for me, it's that time of the year when I try to reinvent the wheel once again (I'm a glutton for punishment) and reimagine/examine how I can set the culture of Algebra class from Day 1.  Below is a playlist of 9 clips from TV and movies that feature characters doing or talking about math that I am going to show to prompt discussion in my classes. Once kids have watched the clips and reflected on them in small groups, we'll take their ideas and begin to craft them into class expectations for success!

I also created a notetaker for kids to jot down their individual ideas as they watch. I hope this will help them remember what they were thinking and process with the group!

Drivetime Diaries - Ep 1:07 - "R U Fun?"

 Today was the 1st day of school! I always like to give kids the opportunity to ask WHATEVER they want about me, math class, school, etc., and this question usually comes up. Am I fun?? I dunno - I aim to be!

My Syllabus, in Emojis

One of the most basic rules of writing is to use only as many words as you must, and I think this especially holds true for syllabi. The denser they are, I imagine the less they get read, right? 

There's a cute version that my son's teacher gave him tonight that involved lots of tabs and you can download and edit for yourself here: Mrs. D's Editable Parent Handbook Flapbook. (You may have already had your first day of school, but maybe you could wow all of your friends with this flapbook next open house or parent-teacher conference night?)

Anyway, I'm not here to talk about flapbooks, because while I think they are good for notes in class, they aren't so much my thing for simply conveying information. 

This idea was borne today when a colleague of mine was trying to think about how to be represent the Teach Like a Champion strategy "100%". You figure you want some imagery that the students would really internalize, right? Thinking through how much our students communicate solely through emojis on Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, I knew that the "100" emoji was just what she needed.

But why stop there? 

My syllabus in emoji - 📧📞📱📚📒✏📆📈🎨⏰🆔💯🌟🔁🔨💭❓- Can you get them all? #moedchat

— Chuck Baker (@chuckcbaker) August 13, 2015

Tomorrow's syllabus will be supplemented with text as needed, but I mostly want my students to remember my procedures and expectations through emoji this year. 

Can you guess what each one represents? 

First Day of Semester, January 2015: Setting Class Culture

My first year teaching, I really wanted to do this well, but I don't think I knew myself well enough as a teacher (or a person, for that matter) to do it well.

There have been some years where I jump right into math content so the kids will know that "this is a serious class."

Jumping off from last semester's classroom climate success, I feel comfortable in my "voice" to set a tone of collaboration, meaningful work, and continuous-iteration for my Applied Math class this semester. Here are my slides.



They might be a little wordy, but I've got a break after my first section, so I'll be able to be to walk my talk, live "beta" and edit it before the rest of my classes for the day.