Trainer As Consultant 12/08

This certificate at the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies has expanded my mindset regarding learning and teaching and has been a positive experience professionally and personally.

The next certificate -- Coaching -- will be completed in 2009 and has helped to me to better understand and support learners in the classroom and one-on-one.

Permanent Weight Loss is a Metaphor for Life

While this may seem off topic for a Math blog, the methodology and mindset for permanent weight loss is very similar to that of success in Math. In 2003, I lost 40 pounds off of a 5'2" frame after a health issue forced me to give up sugar!

I have kept the weight off for 3.5 years and since it was always my #1 New Year's Resolution, I have had to reorient my goals and find new ones to keep myself going!

Looking long-term, making a commitment, planning in advance, staying on course!

Motivation is a Key to Success

More and more I realize that what I do is not really about the Math...much of it is about motivation and coaching. How do you build a student who is willing and eager to learn? How does one instill the idea of doing one's best? That phrase is overused so the one I like to use is living up to one's potential. I know that when I took History is high school I did not do very well -- my interest level was low. I got less and less enthusiastic with the less work that I put in. In hindsight, if I had put in a little more I would have gotten a lot more out.

It is not necessary or even desirable to do everything excellently, just to know that you put forth the effort makes a big positive difference!

Excellent Opportunities

Math for companies, Math for educators, Math for everyone ;)

Mental Math

Students can sometimes procedurally solve arithmetic problems but have to use different skills when asked to compute 85 x 99 without a pencil.
The idea of 99 x 85 being equivalent to 100 x 85 - 1 x 85 is a different non-mechanical way of thinking for many students. The mechanics of Mathematics are important -- however, when used in conjunction with mental Math and clever but easier procedures, students are empowered and become more confident and self-reliant.

Is a function increasing or decreasing?
The advent of the graphing calculator has helped students and teachers understand and explain this material much more easily and clearly. The best example is to use a right side up parabola and ask the student verbally. When shown the Power Rule of Calculus at the same time, the student can then support his/her answer (or change it accordingly!!). The next task is show the contrast between the parabolic and the cubic so that the student can see that y = x^3 is ALWAYS increasing!!
Then we can revisit the idea of a line and how it has a constant rate of change -- all of these concepts can be well demonstrated by using the xy table on the graphing calculator.

When working with a tenth grader on imaginary numbers, we used the graphing calculator to study the contrast between y = x^2 - 4 (that has 2 zeros -- at 2 and -2) and y = x^2 + 4 that hovers up above the x-axis and has no real roots only imaginary. When students are able to visualize this difference and then tie it together with the quadratic formula (seeing that the discriminant b^2 - 4ac will result in a negative number for x^2 + 4 -- and that there is no sqrt of a negative number), they can then understand and process the concepts and procedures that are key to success in working with imaginary numbers.

Imaginary numbers are best studied and remembered by sequentially (and boringly) rewriting each component of the equation. For example,
sqrt(-4) x sqrt(-36)
sqrt 4 sqrt (-1) sqrt 36 sqrt(-1)
2 i 6 i
12 i^2
Then from up above drop in a -1 for i^2
12 (-1) =

An interesting Letter to the Editor regarding Math homework in the New York Times today.
Here is the text:

To the Editor:
I wonder if the educators cited in the article have ever tried to teach the New York City-mandated math curriculum to students who enter high school at a sixth-grade level. Perhaps gifted students can “chill” during vacations.
But the 98 percent of students who don’t attend Stuyvesant and the other specialized high schools need to catch up — and homework is one of the few tools we teachers control that can help us provide individualized instruction.
We either raise the level of homework for these kids or lower our expectations of them — the choice is obvious.
Mitch Kurz
New York, April 4, 2007
The writer is a math teacher at the Bronx Center for Science and Math.

The Calculus in a freshman core terminal class!!

The idea of slope extended beyond the straight line

Contrast a line with a parabola graphically and with a table on the TI-84 and equation wise (algebraically) so that students can see that the rate of change for a nonlinear function changes in a nonconstant manner)

Show the slope of line is the "m"

Write the slope formula using dy/dx or as delta y / delta x (using the Greek letter delta triangle thingie)

Sixth grade homework can sometimes look like this: 5/12 divided by 5/9. I wish fractions problems would use easier numbers so that the student can feel if their answer makes sense. I like to use 12 divided by 1/2 or perhaps the more difficult problem used by Liping Ma and/or Deborah Ball : 1 3/4 divided by 1/2.

Students can build intuition by asking themselves if the answer would be more than 1 or less than 1 by using 3/12 or 12/3 and seeing which of these examples their problem resembles.


These fraction problems are usually also related to attention to detail and reading. One of the other problems was you have 12 yards of fabric and will use 2/3 of a yard for each item -- how many items can you make? The student will often perform the multiplication of12 x 2/3 without asking themselves the question: Can I make more than 12 items or less? Once they have answered that questions, then they have a more clear sense of what to do. 1/2 vs. 2 can be used here.

1/2 x 1/2 is a great example as students often add instead of multiply and do not feel that multiplication should make their answer smaller!!

For division of fractions, why do we invert and multiply? If the student just memorizes the procedure, they will not know which procedure to use. It might (definite maybe) be ok if students were able to memorize these concepts and procedures but they get all jumbled!! Students will better comprehend the material and have the ability to more accurately retrieve it if they rely upon examples rather than memorizing procedures.

Middle School Math is the Glue That Holds Everything Together

The middle school merry-go-round: Fractions, Decimlas, Percents

Which is bigger? .02 OR .059

As soon as the third decimal place is added, the difficulty goes up by a lot! When students compare and contrast these numbers (as opposed to learning them in isolation), they can find order and beauty in decimals.

Undoing Common Student Mistakes and Leading by Example

This is where I spend most of my time with students. When students know where the traps are they learn so much especially after they have made the mistake a few times!!

How many times did it take me?? When I worked as an engineer, it took me a while to learn that if the oscilloscope shows no sign of life it is likely the wrong channel has been chosen or the wrong probe has been picked up. I probably made this mistake about once a month in the first year I worked as an engineer. It stumped me enough times that eventually I learned to check it!!

This is a valuable lesson for Math, for life and for engineers ;)

After discussing the slope of a linear line, one Math 102 student asked “How do you find the slope of a parabola?” – led me right to where I was planning to go ;)
I showed them the x y table for a linear and a quadratic and they could totally see how they differed. Next, we will discuss the algebra involved in finding the slope – the first derivative – and apply it to the parabola.

Worked with a student last night on the unit circle, cos goes with x and sin goes with y – it is alphabetical!!

Have also seen lots of logarithms lately including using logs to solve radioactivity and interest/financial problems. Using log 100 = 2 simplifies the procedure (and therefore concept) to the student. Teaching by example (rather than by concept) gets student to understand and remember the material!!

The TI-84 -- always something new to learn

At the Ten County Math conference last week, I learned how to input piecewise functions into the TI-84 in a precalculus session.

This week, worked with 2 students taking the first derivative of sqrt x -- this requires a leap of faith that delta x (or h) really does go to zero. The calculus is so algebra-dependent -- expressing sqrt x as x to the one-half is necessary to differentiate it. Interpreting the power of the derivative of sqrt x (which has x to the -ve 1/2 in it) again requires that algebra skill!!

TI is introducing a new product called N-Spire which I will get to see next month at the ATMNYC's minconference.

Related Rates

These calculus problems can be a lot of fun -- ok, I am the Math Lady.

Found an awesome web site:
http://www2.scc-fl.com/lvosbury/CalculusI_Folder/RelatedRateProblems.htm
The best demonstration of the concept is the balloon problem which shows that the rate of change in volume changes depending on how full the balloon is -- the two rates are related ;)

Strong algebra skills are a true asset here as some of the solving involves negative and fractional exponents and dividing by fractions.

How Do You Say "1/4"?

1/4 to me is "one-quarter" and to most students, it seems to be "one-fourth".
A fifth-grader that I work with made me realize that I say "one-quarter" -- maybe from working on Wall Street. Parents and teachers should keep this in mind ;)


Borrowing with Fractions = Rewriting

Fractions are often seen as having their own rules -- which is true, however, subtracting one mixed number from another involves the concept of 'borrowing'. Because borrowing seems so mechanical, students may not analyze the process. If students see borrowing as 'rewriting', then the mixed fraction rewriting will make more sense. For example, 8 - 3 1/2 -- student will often make a mistake and get an answer of 5 1/2.
If they rewrite the 8 as
7+1
and then again as 7 + 2/2, then can then perform this operation with much greater ease and confidence.

Non-Intuitive Answers

Multiplication of Fractions: Fractions get smaller and students are used to multiplication answers (products) being larger than whatever they started with. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School has an excellent article update ("The Future of Fractions" was first published in 1978) by Zalman Usiskin from the University of Chicago -- the driving force behind the K-6 Everyday Math curriculum.

One of the features in the article was a NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) items from 1978 for thirteen-year-olds.

Estimate the answer to: 12/13 + 7/8
You will not have time to solve the problem using paper and pencil (let alone a calculator!!)

The choices given -- and percents responding were

1 (7%)
2 (24%)
19 (28%)
21 (27%)
"I don't know" (14%)

Fractions have always been a sore spot for many and it is that foundational upper elementary/lower middle school Math that enables students to succeed in high school and beyond. It also contributes greatly to Math confidence or lack thereof.

The Unit Circle and "All Students Take Calculus"

Trigonometry is like a workout for the brain ;)
Some trig problems are posed like this:
sin A = 8/17 and cos A <0, find tan A.
How to start?

Where is sin positive and cos negative? Sin is +ve (positive) in Quadrants I and II. Cos is positive in Quadrant I so we must be in Quadrant II. The Quadrants are labelled with Roman numerals in a counterclockwise fashion starting with the most popular and +ve Quadrant #1.

In Quadrant II, sin is +ve but cos is -ve -- this results in a -ve tan since tan = sin/cos.

Tan = opp/adj

In Quadrant 2, we draw the right triangle of 8, 15, 17. Since sin A is 8/17 and the angle is in Quadrant II, we know that the y value (vertical part of the triangle) is positive. This makes the x value have to be -15. We also know this because in Quadrant II on a regular x, y coordinate plane, x is -ve while y is +ve.

From the angle, since tan = opp/adj and opp = 8 and adj = -15, then tan A = -8/15.

Note: We do not need to use a calculator for this!! (nor should we as the calculator will find the Quadrant I angle (less than 90) that pertains to sin A = 8/17 rather than the second angle value (between 90 and 180) where sin A also is equal to 8/17 but cos A <0.

Law of Sines and The Law of Cosines

The word best associated with the Law of Sines is PROPORTIONALITY

a b c
___ = ______ = ______

sin A sin B sin C


It can also be flipped upside down (or right side up if you prefer) to read:

sin A sin B sin C
_____ = ______ = ______

a b c


By the way, you can use just two out of the three at any time ;)



Law of Cosines

Please see the posting from Thursday 2/22/07 re: Trigonometry

The Main Thing About Logs -- Use Examples Not Formulas!!

Logarithms, like most topics in Math, are best learned and taught by example rather than formula. The log rules work like exponent rules so be wicked careful!!

If students know that log10100 = 2, they can see that 10^2 = 100. They can then apply this knowledge to any other log problem that comes up. Log 'rules' do not make sense!!
Just use thinking and analysis to remember the rules:

log101000 = 3
log10100 = 2
log1010 = 1

This is because logs are related to exponents!!

log10 (10^3) = 3

and

log10(10^2) = 2

and

log10(10^1) = 1

Therefore log 1000 = log 100 + log 10
(here you can build and see that 100*10 = 1000 and that their logs are related additively rather than multiplicatively)