Christmas Tinsel

Here is the assignment.  It does not look pretty.  The one I gave looked much better! 

I spent two years of college being an RA.  I hung streamers from the ceiling for several holidays.  I stole it from Andrea, the 6th floor RA!



I honestly can't believe it took me SO long to think of it.  During my 8th year of teaching I decided that I really should (and academically, could) decorate the hallway.  It was last minute, so my tinsel options were limited.  

I figured out how much tinsel I needed and how much was available at the local store (in two colors).

It was mostly estimation.  It was below the level for most students, but I still think it was good for all of them.



I loved it because it made the halls festive!

I think next year I am going to get Christmas themed scrapbook paper and cut 1-inch strips so the kids can make paper chains and hang them from the ceiling.

Christmas Lights

Here is my file.  It doesn't look as good as the Excel file I made, but I this is how it looks when I upload it here.  : /

I had kind of last-minute inspiration to do something Christmas-related at school.

I decided to do the 'estimation' activity and then I included a few other tasks in this assignment.



I got a ton of ribbon, but I guess I can do this again next year with the leftovers.

When we were done, I told the kids, "Uhh...  We are not actually going to hang these."  Some of them were sad or disappointed or indignant.  I decided they had a point.  I have two beams going across my room with lights.  (It is a really high ceiling above that.)  We hung the streamers across those two beams.  They were long enough they just hung there.

It did not end up being very pretty.  The colors were kind of strange and one of my students mentioned that it looked like the bad decorations of a gender-reveal party!



They were fun for a couple days, but we took them down quick.


I still want them to think even when they get a little antsy for holidays.  Also, I don't like to do this right before finals.  I like to do 'real' math then.

I drilled holes in the cups.  (My dad helped a lot.  Dads are the best!)  The kids pushed the balloon through the hole and then blew up the balloon.

Factors and Feathers

Here is the template and worksheet I assigned.
 

I do this to have some Thanksgiving decorations.  It is also a good time to review in Geometry and Advanced Algebra & Trigonometry.  It is a little below the level for College Algebra or Calculus.

I first gave the students two columns on a paper and had them 
1.)  Write the polynomial 
2.)  Write all of the possible factors of c
3.)  Write the factors of the polynomial
4.)  Write the solutions to the polynomial.

Then I had them trade with a person and check.

When everything is correct, then they got a half of a paint sample and they used a marker to write each thing.



I found a turkey clip art and just followed it.  It was a lot of cutting out.  My mom helped me.  (Moms are the best!)  

I took the pretty ones and put them together to make a turkey.  I tried to put the 'similar color palette' cards together.

Hexaflexagons

I actually found a copy of my old post on Hexaflexagons!


So... the 'dates' are a little off.


Last spring I attended the NCTM national conference in Denver.  I attended some really great sessions.  The last one was the finale with George and Vi Hart.  They are what I like to call “recreational mathematicians.”  You know… because that’s a thing!  After seeing some of Vi’s videos, I was interested.   
 


Later, I decided I wanted to do the hexaflexagons in school.  It was her idea, really.  We had a hexaflexagon party on Martin Gardner’s birthday.  He was the ‘original recreational mathematician.’    His birthday is October 21, so I put it on iCal, and waited for the day to come.  I showed Vi’s videos Hexaflexagons, Hexaflexagons 2, Hexaflexagon Safety Guide, and Hexaflexamexagon- I think that’s the one that hooked me originally!  I printed off the hexaflexagon template.  I told the kids to be sure to make good creases!  They created their tri-hexaflexagons, decorated them, and a few even tried the hexa-hexaflexagon.

 

Truthfully, I have not figured out the hexa-hexaflexagon.  In due time.  …  I’m getting better at the tri-hexaflexagon.  One class (out of 6) I had a tough time with the tri-hexaflexagon.  I finally got it to fold the correct way and it was the very end of class.  I decided to go ahead and let them finish it the next day, but we didn’t need to spend an entire class on it.  So I came up with a little research worksheet.  To ensure they didn’t use Wikipedia, I made them ‘cite’ their sources.

 

I thought it was pretty cool and the kids liked it.  It makes math fun again- at least a little!

I made them color some design to show that when you 'flex' it, the design changes.

This year, I made my own template.  It wasn't too difficult, but it worked the best.  It was not perfect, but if you made the creases well, then you could make a hexaflexagon.

Christmas Decorations!

When I was in the middle of my early years of teaching, I was at a Hobby Lobby almost 150 miles from my high school.  I found a blue and gold Christmas tree that was 2-3 feet tall.  It was really blue and yellow, so that's why I was a little surprised to see it.  I, of course, purchased it and loved to decorate my classroom with it.
When I changed schools, I left the blue and gold tree in the office of my English teacher friend.  She only stayed at that school for another year or two.  I assume she left it there for one of her friends.

Next, I could not find a purple and/or purple and gold tree.  I looked and looked, but they never did have one.  After looking at many things on Pinterest, I had an idea.  I decided to make my tree out of PVC pipe and I hung it on my door.

My dad helped a lot with sawing the pipes and gluing them together.  It was a little more difficult than I expected.
I spray painted it purple.

Here is a picture with Christmas lights.  Each light has the name of one of my students.  I tried to make the colors random, and then I put them in order by class and then alphabetically.  It was a PAIN!  In the middle of doing it, I told myself to never do that again!!!
It did look cool.



This year I found the shiny purple wrapping paper.  Then I did something that no good person should do.  I bought Christmas-things in October.



For the inside part of my classroom, I use my old 2-3 ft tall fiber optic tree.
 

One kid said, "Well that's a redneck Christmas tree."  : /
Well, can I blame him?
This picture is actually two years old.  This year, I used a different book on the chair.  This time I used a thin, red book.  It was for my Modern Geometry class during my junior year in college.

Eventually, I did find a purple tree.  It's 1-2 ft tall and  I put it on the corner of my desk that is previously occupied by my painted pumpkin.