Category: Geekdom

Tiny Polka Dots

My daughter, Pickle,* and I got a package in the mail today.

Developed by MathForLove, it was a kickstarter… like… nine months ago, and it arrived today.

Immediately, (after we clocked the little brother with the box, denied it, got sent to time-out, confessed, and pledged to be truthful hereafter) we sat down to play the game.

The box, as you can see, is a cute size, and the rules for the various games are also printed on cards within the box. Which is good, because I wasB hella stoked to play, but unsure where to start.

First up, “Hungry Numbers” for ages 3 and up. The purple numbers will only eat cards with the same number of dots as their value.

Pickle: Hungry Numbers? That’s a silly name!

Next, we matched cards with the same values to their buddies with the same number of dots. It was a good chance to get PickleB acquainted with ten-frames, which she hadn’t seen before.

This was a good time to teach my wife why aB ten-frame (the blue cards) are important for counting and cardinality development.

I should note, my wife had surgery last week, is hopped up on Oxy, and didn’t really care about cardinality development. She went to take a nap shortly after we finished playing.

Both those games were for ages 3 and up, so I figured we could take it up a notch with something more her level (Pickle is 4).

We played PowerDot (which is essentially War, but for with a different name for children/people in nations besides the U.S.). For this game, we added in the Orange cards (circular numbers).

This led us into some great chats about what makes a number “greater,” a term she hadn’t heard yet.

Then we were interruptedB because her brother had gotten stuck by the ottoman.

Next, good-ol-fashioned Matching.

Then, we took it up a notch.

Vaudrey: Pickle, the next game is forB big kids. Ages five and up. Do you think you can handle it?
Pickle: (blows out tongue) I can handle it! I can do a hard game!

In the Dot Fives game, we matched ten-frames with other dots to make five. “This one has three, how many more to make five?” She, of course, crushed it. My wife and I were both impressed.

Then, in a moment out of a sitcom, she cheered and cried, “Yay! I can do tough things!” Then gave me a hug.

This… doesn’t happen often in my math classroom.

Letting students struggle and asking probing questions has been the focus of my career for the last decade, so I felt well-prepared to lead Pickle in this game. Even for parents who areB not math-education geeks bent on patient problem-solving, this game is a great place to start for Pre-K kiddos.

Thankfully, the designers also includedB a Guide for Grown-Ups (posted here, about 75% of the way down). This guide should be required reading for teacher candidates in college. It should be laminated and given, poster-style, to every new hire in a school district. It should be tattooed on the forehead…

Okay, you get the point.

I no longer live in the Pacific Northwest. The next time I’m there, however, I’m scheduling a visit to the MathForLove HQ. I really wanna meet these three people, who have advanced degrees in things I can barely pronounce. Here’s founder Dan Finkel on a TED Talk worth watching:

“Thinking happens when we have time to struggle.” Oh, yeah. Finkel gets me.

Since the last time I visited their website, they’ve added a free lesson plans page. Using your resources to empower math teachers for free? That — by itself — is enough to get me on your team.

Also, the team at MathForLove also designed Prime Climb. Initially, it sounds like they were trying to cram math into a game where it doesn’t belong, but after reading the rulesB to Prime Climb, I really want it.

In short, I recommend getting your own set of Tiny Polka Dot here as a PDF or clickB here to order sturdy cards early next year.

~Matt “I can do tough things” Vaudrey

*Not her real name, but what I call her on the regular.

December 30, 2016
Desmaze

Claire Verti, one of my teachers, sent me this blog post today. David Sladkey is using Desmos to complete a maze with his students.

Sweet, right?

I immediately tackled it and now present to you my completed Desmos Maze. As you can see, I had some fun toward the end.

Then, because we’re testing this week and my entire role is to sit and wait for something to break, I made this. Using Google Draw, we can make any kind of maze we want. Make just three points if you want students to start practicing, like Michael Fenton did spectacularly.

Or make a complicated one if you have two-hour blocked periods for SBAC testing and some Pre-Calc students who need to be challenged.

This might be what I bring into Mr. Rynk’s class next month for a demo lesson; I’m curious to hear students talking about piecewise functions.

Then, I made this one, thinking that it might help students with coordinate plane, but I’m not sold on it yet.

Initially, I had students changing the ordered pair (x,y) to move the point, but then, as students delete the 5 and type the 6, the point blinks in and out of existence. We need continuity. But moving the sliders isn’t very challenging, and it’s no longer a math activity, it’s a game with very little math reasoning in it.

Improve this, will you?

~Matt “I Promise; This Is Technically Work” Vaudrey

UPDATE 23 APRIL 2015: A nice follow-up question to keep the class challenged:

@MrVaudrey @Desmos @ClaireVerti @dsladkey Amazing! What is the minimum number of equations needed? https://t.co/8Ms5gbA0Ct

— Eric Milou (@drMi) April 23, 2015

April 22, 2015
Year-End Christmas Activities

Younger Students

For elementary teachers, students can email Santa and he’ll write back! (He might have a grumpy Elf or a silly Reindeer answer if he gets too busy).

Visit bit.ly/emailtosanta and check it out.

Older Students

You know those moments when you’re excited for something, and you share that thing with somebody, and they look at you like you just suggested skinning a puppy to make a wallet?

My director gave me that look when I showed her the below slideshow. It’s not going to my district staff, but it’s just too fun to keep to myself.

For older students, this is a good way to pass the time on the last day before break:

In case you can’t see the embedded slideshow, here’s a link to full-screen.

~Matt “If you don’t celebrate Christmas… I got nothing” Vaudrey

December 16, 2014
Google Teacher Academy

or

How the Most Exalted Conference in EdTech Was Exactly What I Expected, But Not In The Way That You Think

Fifty-two of us from all over the continent converged on Austin for two days of … something. We weren’t sure exactly what to expect; the agenda (initially public) had been locked from view sometime that weekend, so we hoped that was a good thing.

My own district treated my acceptance to the academy (a month ago) with more excitement and reverence than I expected. My director, Kris, is likely to thank for that; there’s a very good chance she had conversations with cabinet members explaining why it’s a big deal.

Thanks, Kris.

Here’s why I went:

Thanks to Twitter and blogging, I know of a lot of outstanding teachers. Most of them–the ones equipping students with 21st-century skills–have a little badge on their websiteB that says,

My role models (click here for a list) have this qualification, so I wanted it, too.

The application process (documented here) was stringent, but definitely worth it. I knew my cohort had worked as hard as I to apply.

Near and Far

You probably noticed what I did, so check this out:

This academy was in Texas, which likely contributes to the spike. Regardless, California was well-represented.

With one Canadian subbing.

What Types of People

As you can see below, the average age of attendees was 37, and we stretched from 26 to 49.

Within a few hours of arriving, I was grouped with two teachers who were…B veteran enough to have me as a student 20 years ago. Both showed and/or taught me something cool.

It was a fresh reminder that–as I often insist to my teachers–age does not necessarily correlate to tech ability.

Stevens pointed out that it’s likely people were reluctant to select “Stooge” as their job title.

Stuck on a desert island with one beverage. One member wrote, “Choose between wine and coffee? This is the hardest decision all week.”

The next question asked,B “How stoked were you/your employer for GTAATX and these parts of it?”

What a bummer that 5.02/10 was the average excitement for districts and schools. Doesn’t match the group’s excitement at all.

I can’t relate; my district gave me the time off, covered expenses, and drafted a press release and an article in the paper. It’s a great place to work.

Fun Data

And, in the spirit of silly math, here are some interesting data:

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”presentation/d/15o-BLsrtVutyFgUpGtMFmk5sEwki_umXXqRAo7Qa_aU/embed” query=”start=false&loop=true&delayms=60000″ width=”1440″ height=”300″ /]

Exactly What I Expected

TwoB attendees (separately) pulled me aside and asked if I was underwhelmed. As a lifelong optimist, my expectations rarely match reality, with its rough edges and imperfections. The last 30 years have seasoned me to adjust idealism (Twitter’s perception of GTA) with reality (52 game-changers from across the continent in one room).

I had some fantastic conversations, drank some great local beer, and bowled a 79. Teachers from Ontario to Missouri to Mexico challenged me to rethink my mindset, brainstormed solutions to my Moonshot problem, and encouraged me; B I hope some were encouraged by me, as well.

And some I’ll probably never contact again. That’s the thing about getting big personalities in one room; we’re gonna disagree.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmdaa1QX6TU#t=50]

In high school, I never studied. I showed up, napped, and got a B.

When I went to college, I had to work harder to keep my place in the upper quartile of academics.

Upper Quartile is not a defensive formation for the Steelers.

GTA was like EdTech College; many of us came from schools and districts (even counties) where we were the smartest kid in class. For two days, the bigB fish leftB their small ponds and droppedB into a wading pool…

No, that’s not the analogy I want…

TastyB appetizers from several menus are spread on one table…

Eh, that’s closer…

A bunch of CEOsB start a business. Working together and sharing ideas with each other,B two days would be woefully insufficient to drink up all the great stories and experiences and knowledge in one room.

Drew addresses the temptation to coastB after completing a big project, Rachel expresses thankfulness, and I make dopey charts by cramming math into inappropriate places.

… that sounds about right.

Here’s a list of all the books recommended by the GTAATX cohort. It seems selfish to keep that list to myself.

~Matt “Google Certified Teacher” Vaudrey

December 6, 2014
#GTAATX Application
Together with John Stevens and Karl Lindgren-Streicher, I’ve been brainstorming an interesting way to apply for the Google Teacher Academy for months.

As of August, our planB was a rap with a beat we composed, referencing each other in our videos and starring in quick cameos.

We quickly realized threeB things as the deadline for Austin was announced.
1. The beat that we (okay… the beat that I) composed was not very good. Making it good enough would take longer than I wanted to spend, plus there are tons of Creative Commons-licensed songs for free downloadB if you’re a teacher.
2. The rap would limit our creativity, and we’d have three nearly identical videos instead of three that showcased our unique classrooms and educational philosophy.
3. One minute is not very much time at all.
So we made a Voxer channel, made a shared folder in Google Drive and gave each other editing rights, and asked for feedback.

This is from Karl’s doc. He brought some other Edu-ringers in as well.

Let me stress; this is a microcosm of the same attitude that has grown all three of us into the educators that we are today. We ask peers for help and drink it up when we get it.

Between Voxer (where we dropped any and all inspiration we had and bounced ideas off each other) and the shared Docs (which I won’t share with you, so stop asking), we each took the general concepts that the three of usB shared and fine-tuned them to be specific to ourselves.

We encouraged and trimmed ideas in equal measure, and at the end, we had three very different videos that showcase three very similar mindsets.

In short, we actually modeled the collaboration that we promote to our teachers while we made a video about collaboration with teachers.

Here’s mine:

When I showedB my video to Karl and John, they bothB said, “Yep. That’s Vaudrey.”

Here are their videos, too:

The best part? I just wore the fairy costume and went about my regular day as EdTech Coach.

I trained students on Google Forms and URL shorteners.

I met with a teacher to help her utilize web resources for 3rd grade Social Studies.

The only real weird part of the shoot was that I’m still new to the district;

many of these teachers hadn’t met me in person before I was putting on glitter wings in the teacher’s lounge.

“Hi, are you Wendy? I’m Matt; did you email me about iPads? Also, can you zip me?”

Also priceless wereB the student responses to the Google Fairy walking through campus.

Elementary School: “It’s a fairy man! Hi, Fairy Man!”

Middle School: “Oh! It’s… uh… he’s the Google Fairy. Aren’t you hot?”

High School: “I love your costume! [Takes picture]
High School: “What the f***?”

~Matt “Google Fairy” Vaudrey
October 13, 2014
Chalk Art for Math Daddies

My daughter has water-soluble sidewalk chalk and free reign of the backyard.

Here’s the thing though: As adults, we rarely have to go outside our comfort zone. I don’t draw much. Most of my adult life, the drawings I’ve done are geometric figures.

So I’ve been mixing thingsB PickleB wants me to draw with theB things I can draw well. She asks for something, and I add to it.

A dinosaur chasing a square root function.

A black sheep standing on convex polygons.

Snakes on a plane. Get it?

An owl and a banana enclosed inB an isosceles triangle.

A robot with a striped face and a RAY gun. See it? RAY?

A blue sheep walking on a rhombus.

The locus of points equidistant from a baby.

…and tangent to a turquoiseB bee.

A linear function tangent to two sheep and a blue stick-cat bounded by a negative parabola.

My kid is gonna blow the socks off her mathB teacher.

~Matt “Daddy coloh lello seep?” Vaudrey

May 31, 2014
The First Question

#CaEdChat is going on right now. I’m no doubt missing dozens of witty, hastily-typed tweets to type this, but I think it’s important.

Tonight, #CaEdChat is discussing questions, and I heard this one kicked around a lot, and I want to share my response to it.

This isn’t about the question that gets teachers the most excited.B It’s also not the boringest question we get all year.

It’s not the easiest question to answer, nor is it the hardest (though many teachers seem to think it is).

It’s the question that new teachers fear, but veteran teachers still wince when we hear it.

This question is one that drove us to become teachers in the first place, and it’s still being asked now, decades after we asked it toB our teachers, and our children and grandchildren will ask their teachers:

Why do we need to know this?

I usually get this question about 3 weeks into the year. If not, I pull it out with the first really abstract Math topic that we get. This year it was Classifying Real Numbers.

I got through the meat of the lesson and said,

Okay, put down your pencils, fold your hands and look at me. You’re probably wondering by now when you will use this in real life, yes? I’m going to tell you.

You won’t.

Odds are that most of you will go to jobs where you don’t need to do this [point to the board] in your career. However, it’s still important. Here’s why:

When I was in college, I used the same workout room as the football players. One day, I was lifting weights across from thisB huge guy. He picked up these massive weights and did this:

I was surprised, so I asked him, “Bro. Why are you doing that? Shouldn’t you practice sprints or throwing a football or something you’ll actually use?”

He responded, “Dude-ski, I may not use this motion in the game, but I use this muscle in the game, fo shizzle*.”

“I’m so glad I did those calf raises!”

Students, the math you learn in this class will work out your brain in ways that you will use. You will likelyB neverB need to classify real numbers in your profession, but because you worked out your brain, you’ll be smarter. You’ll be a better boyfriend, girlfriend, boss, employee, and friend.

Is that a fair answer?

So far, that answer has satisfied every class in my teaching career.

~Matt “Honest Abe” Vaudrey

*If the slang terms wasn’t clue enough on the decade when I was in college, here’s a picture of me and my roommates.

December 1, 2013
20% Time

image: togalearning

Today, I took a risk. I’ll present it to you in the same way I told my 6th period (who all have iPads).

The Intro

“That was the bell. Sit. Fergie; you didn’t ask if you could get water. Sit. Maria, eyes over here.
[Dramatic Pause] Today… you will begin… for the first time… ever… your Twenty. Percent. Project.”

A couple “huh?”s, a chuckle, then a few started clapping. The whole class gave a round of applause for something they knew nothing about.

This is clearly a safe class to take risks.

Accustomed as I am to a class full of adoring, applauding adolescents, I waited until their awe subsided and I said, “Go ahead. Ask me.”
In unison, they chimed, “What’s a 20% project?”

Akin to Kate Petty, I said, “You’ve got iPads. Figure it out. Do some Googling.”

So they did. After about 12 minutes, I killed the mood music and asked, “Okay; what did you find out?”

Belinda: It’s a Google thing.
Louie: It involves 20% of the time.
Kathy: No kidding!
Harrison: [reading off the screen] Employees will dedicate twenty percent of the work day toward–
Vaudrey: BORED! Somebody else, who isn’t going to read it.
Robert: Research?
Destiny: Like… um… you look up stuff that isn’t part of school.
Vicki: [reading] Students will create a proposal and a presentation–
Vaudrey: BORED! Somebody else, summarize what you’re reading.
Vicki: Hey, you didn’t say ‘summarize’.
Louie: We research anything we want?
Vaudrey: Let’s watch a video.

I had previously searched YouTube and–what luck!–found Kevin Brookhouser‘s video showing 5-10 second chunks of his students’ 20% presentations.

Vaudrey: Okay, what did you see?
Fergie: Novels.
Vicki: Cookbooks.
Nadia: Music.
Vasily: Raising money for cancer.
Buzz: Tutoring.

As veteran teachers will tell you, there’s a fine line between baiting the hook and stringing them along. One of them gets them interested, the other gets them frustrated. This group was approaching the threshold. Time to bring it home.

Vaudrey: For 20% of our week–every Friday–you get to learn about whatever you want. You get to pick something that interests you and learn about it.
Kathy: Anything we want?
Vaudrey: Anything that is interesting to you… and school-appropriate.
Two idiots: Awww!
Vicki: Like… what do you mean?

It’s notable that Kate and Kevin executed this project with 16-18 year-old students. My students are 11-13 and in a Math Support class (with iPads as part of the strategy). Developmentally, it was unlikely that they would understand the concept without some prodding and leading.

Vaudrey: Okay, Vicki. What’s something that interests you?
Vicki: Soccer.
Vaudrey: What about soccer?
Vicki: Um… the cleats.
Vaudrey: Keep going.
Vicki: Like… how are they made? Some are made from carbon fiber.
Vaudrey: That sounds like something that you could research and then teach us about.
Louie: We have to present this?
Vaudrey: Yup. At the end of the Trimester to parents and teachers.
[Cries of distress and gnashing of teeth]
Vaudrey: …but the final product isn’t graded. You’re graded on your work along the way.
[Blank, confused stares. I’ve hit the overload. Time for some exploration.]
Vaudrey: Take the next 15 minutes. Do some research on something that is interesting to you. What do you want to learn about?

And they were off. After checking with a couple groups, I was stoked. Photography, engine design, taking risks as a professional athlete, anime, sound engineering, art therapy; they were diving in, and it was pretty sweet.

Also, there were a couple of these:

Vaudrey: What do you have so far?
Anna: Nothing.
Vaudrey: Okay. What’s something that interests you?
Anna: Nothing.
Vaudrey: Okay. What’s something that you like?
Anna: Nothing.
[I wait and stare at her until she cracks]
Anna: I donno… like… music?
Vaudrey: Okay. What about music is interesting?
Anna: I don’t know.
Vaudrey: What’s on your iPod right now?
Anna: Songs.

I’ll have mercy and spare you the rest, but there’s probably a reason that this project is done with high school students instead of middle-schoolers.

Same reason that we let the dough rise for a while before we make pizza out of it.

Questions I Didn’t Expect

Beatrice: Are we allowed to change it up?
Vaudrey: Uhh… sure.B Because you’re probably having a hard time committing to one thing and you’re more likely to lighten up if it’s temporary in your head.

Vicki: Some of those students were in pairs or teams. Can we work in teams?
Vaudrey: Once you’ve decided what you’re researching, you might pair up, yes.
James: Mark! Me and you!
Vaudrey: Nope. That’s not how it works. Stop. Stop pointing at each other. If two people are interested in the same thing, then I might group you together.
Anna: We can’t pick our own groups?
Vaudrey: No.
Anna: Why not?
Vaudrey: I forget. Whose class is this?
Students: Mister Vaudrey’s class.
Vaudrey: So who is the boss, the divine ruler, the king?
Proletariat students: You are, sir.

Louie: Can I do SpongeBob?
Vaudrey: What about that is interesting?
Louie: Uh…why’s he so happy?
Vaudrey: Well… that’s a silly question. I could answer that with 4 minutes of searching on the Nickelodeon website.
Louie: Awwwww, What?
Vaudrey: Also, if you pick an easy thing, I’m going to make sure that you still have to work hard.
Louie: Oh. I’ll pick something else.
Vaudrey: Good idea.

Recent days at work have been great. The first month of school was tough; within the top 3 frustrating Augusts of my teaching career, but recent developments (and freedom to do whatever I want with 6th period) have freed me from the chains of canned curriculum, and given my tethered wings…

…eh, that’s enough.

~Matt “SpongeBob” Vaudrey

September 29, 2013
#HowToLearnMath by Jo Boaler – Week 1

I admit, I’ve been slacking.

Much like when I was in college, the online courses don’t command my attention unless I pick time during the week to dedicate to them.

As a result, I’m a little behind in the How to Learn Maths course by Stanford professor Jo Boaler, though it’s not from lack of solid material.

(Truth be told, I had a busy weekend and had a lot on my mind.)

To that end, I’m posting here my Concept Map (not really) for the discussion of why students are averse to maths education.

As you can see, the Easy and Practical maths (Quadrant I, top right) are brightest because they’re easiest and quickest to consume. While I can’t speak for the U.K. or other areas, the United States is very interested in quick consumption and disposal with no lasting effect.

…this extends to their math as well.

Quadrant I holds maths that are quickly calculated using simple formulas and requiring no greater understanding of mathematics. These are especially appealing to American teenagers; the Big Mac of maths, if you will.

Quadrant II (top left) is math that is easy to grasp, but not typically applicable to real life. Many of the 3-Acts fall into this category, and that’s okay.

Quadrant IV (bottom right) is math that is easy to do, but won’t be used often in real life. If it can be done easily in Excel or Google Sheets, it goes here.

And the student interest fades with the colors as we travel to Quadrant III (bottom left) where math is difficult, uninspiring, and never used again after the course.

I asked my (physician) father if I should take Calculus 2 and 3 in college. He responded, “Only if you want a job as a very narrow form of geek.”

I’m now a math teacher.

July 27, 2013
April Auction

Let’s be brief.

The Auction takes place about every 6 weeks this year. (Not sure about next year.)

As the weeks have passed, I’ve found ways to quantify what the kids like.

And, due largely to my wife’s enforcement of a budget on my awesome ideas (I love you), I added a column to quantify my own investment.

The “Bang Per Buck” column divides the student cost (Poker Chips) over my cost (dollars). A low ratio means “not worth Mr. Vaudrey’s money”.

And I played the Price Is Right theme, which you can download here for free, along with tens of thousands of other themes.

Here’s this month’s cost breakdown, including currency conversions for my least viewed countries:
the rupee from Mauritius (an island by Madagascar, about 10 times the size of Washington, D.C.)
and Azerbaijan (Maine-sized central European country).

Because… why not?

My wife was thrilled to hear that this auction only cost $11.52 out of pocket.

Many cost boxes are blank because they were stuff I had around the house. The reason that stuff still sold is this: Hype.

Middle schoolers are the puppies of the consumer world; if you get them excited about something, they will pee money all over the carpet.

"Are those Hot Chee-tos!?! OMGOMGOMG!" — “Are those Hot Chee-tos!?! OMGOMGOMG!”

“Grandma’s Specialty Items” were just crap from the Goodwill box at my in-law’s house.

But, with added hype, it was one of the most anticipated items each period. Just put on a dramatic song, reach into the bag and slowly… ever so slowly pull out…

…another bag. (Each class burst out laughing at this point). Straight face again… open the bag… slowly reach in… and pull out…

…another bag. Then peek the corner of the item out of the bag. At this point, they just have to know. What’s in the bag?*

See the look on his face? He just HAS to know!

Another sweet hype-builder (or cost-inflator) was adding buzzwords to the description of the items. I learned that from McDonald’s and the home shopping network. “Deluxe” “featuring” “…but that’s not all” “you also get…”

Finally, the Box of Anything But Booze was just a bunch of Goodwill stuff in an old Bacardi box. The hype went like this:

“Students, there could be anything in there! It could be… a pony? A dictionary? Stickers? It could be anything … anything but booze.”

I put on the dramatic song and dramatically pulled a dollar from my wallet and put that in the box right before bidding.

…oh… shoot, I didn’t include that in my spreadsheet. I gotta go.

*Credit where credit is due: I learned hype from the master, Dave Burgess. Follow him on Twitter and buy his book, Teach Like A Pirate

April 26, 2013

Category: Geekdom

Younger Students

Older Students

How the Most Exalted Conference in EdTech Was Exactly What I Expected, But Not In The Way That You Think

Near and Far

What Types of People

Fun Data

Exactly What I Expected

Why do we need to know this?

The Intro

Questions I Didn’t Expect