Math Confidence Newsletter

Volume 54

November 2013

Math Confidence Video
Finding the Equation of a Line

Upcoming Workshops

Nov 1 T3 @ Molloy College

Nov 13 College of Mt St V

Nov 21 Rutgers University

More Event Details

Request info about Math Confidence workshops here

Audio

Please Don't Use The Answer Key

Quote of the Month

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

Benjamin Franklin

Math is the universal language! This month's recommended reading is a wonderful collection of Math's history and global commonality. Other features include finding the equation of a line and "flipping the classroom" (students watch lectures at home and do problem sets in class. If you are in the NYC area, sign up for the annual ATMNYC Fall conference on Nov 16 at Hunter College (I am the Conference Coordinator!).

Recommended Reading

This beautiful out of print book, available from third party sellers on Amazon, highlights developments in Math like the positional system that allows us to write 2013 and know that the 2 stands for 2000. The chapter From Numbers to Figures details how pebbles were used for calculations and that "calculus" is Latin for stone. The author Dennis Guedj was a professor of the history of Science at the University of Paris.

A Universal Language: Math
Numbers of Goodreads
Regular Calculus Wikipedia page Simple Wikipedia Calculus page
Math as the Universal Language on Annenberg Learner

Slope and the Equation of a Line

A friend recently shared this problem about slope:

The table below gives selected values for the linear function f(x) also known as y.

x y (or f(x))

5 12

10 19

15 26

20 33

which of the equations below has the same slope as f(x)?

g(x) = x + 7. h(x) = 2x + 2, q(x) = 4/5x + 8, p(x) = 7/5x + 5?

Entering Two Points on Web Math Gives The Equation of a Line

Finding the Equation of a Line on Cool Math

Slope from Khan Academy

"Flipping the Classroom"

"Flipping the classroom", popularized by Salman Khan of Khan Academy, has students watch lectures at home and do problem sets in class. Many schools report better outcomes with this model but I wonder if students will become dependent on the teacher's presence while they are doing Math.

Salman Khan of Khan Academy on Flipping the Classroom

Flipped Learning Network

NYT Opinionator on Flipped Classrooms and Mastery

Educator Feedback on the Flipped Classroom

Brain Teaser

On a 12-hour digital clock, what is the smallest interval between two times that are palindromic (can be read forwards and backwards as the same number)?

Answer to October's Brain Teaser:

They are part of a set of triplets or quadruplets or...

Solution to October's Brain Teaser

Best,

Robin "the Math Lady" Schwartz

Math Confidence