Lesson 2.2.1: Slope (Days 31-33)

Well, it didn't take long for me to receive my first parent complaint. This morning, I meet the principal for the first time, as he inform me that one parent is upset over my use of the word "dren" yesterday (to indicate the opposite of a "nerd" -- or someone too lazy to learn basic math). Even though I was careful to say that none of the students are "drens," all it took was for one parent to overhear my explanation of the word during at-home distance learning and the complaint was made.

Because of this, I've now decided that my word "dren" has outlived its usefulness. Recall that I've posted this word a few times since the earliest days of this blog -- well before I ever used it in the classroom. I thought that the word would motivate the students to work harder at math. Some students believe that math is only for "nerds" and that it's OK not to be good at math. My goal was to turn it around, so that it's not OK to avoid learning math.

We think back to the ancient sour grapes analogy (due to Aesop) -- the fox finds that it's too difficult to reach the grapes hanging on a high vine, so he walks off muttering that the grapes are sour anyway, so that he wouldn't want any. Likewise, students who struggle at math rationalize their failure to learn it by saying that it's not useful in the real world. My use of the word "dren" was like telling the fox that the grapes are sweet (that is, that math really is useful) -- but that makes the fox feel even worse about not getting any.

Recall the famous math teacher-blogger who died earlier this year, John Berray. He was able to motivate the students to learn math without using negative words like "dren." Instead, he convinced the students that they can be successful at math after all: "You are a math person." By telling them this, Berray was telling the fox that he can get the grapes after all. I was taking the students' comments at face value -- the fox thinks the grapes of math are sour, so I must convince him that they're sweet -- when instead I should have addressed the underlying issue -- the student feels less than confident at doing math.

Therefore I will stop using the word "dren" in the classroom. I am retiring the "Dren Song," as I will no longer sing it in the classroom. Perhaps I may one day rewrite this song to use positive words instead of "dren," but that won't be until after I complete this long-term assignment. Also, "No Drens" -- a parody of TLC's "No Scrubs" -- is also defunct. There's no reasonable way to rewrite this song to be more positive.

I hope that my second meeting with the principal will be under better circumstances. This Friday, he has called an after-school meeting to address next week's hybrid reopening.

But for this last week of distance learning, recall that today only the Wednesday-Friday cohort has synchronous learning, as opposed to the Tuesday-Thursday cohort. Therefore today is basically a repeat of yesterday's lessons. I teach slope to the eighth graders and slow down the seventh grade integer lessons -- I finish addition and only introduce subtraction.

There are also issues today in periods 3 and 5 with turning on cameras vs. leaving them off in order to play around or avoid working. I'm finally added to Canvas, but my next step is to access APEX.

I was going to sing the "Dren Song" to today's cohort, but since I'm retiring that song, I replace it with my traditional second song, Square One TV's "Count on It":

Count On It

Lead vocals by Larry Cedar

Sooner or later, you’re gonna see some math
You can count on it
Sooner or later, those numbers cross your path
You can count on it

You may be hoping it will go away
But let me tell you, math is here to stay
You can count on it, hoo, yeah
You can count on it

Everywhere you look, they’re measuring the action
You can count on it
Everywhere you look, they’re even using fractions
You can count on it

They’re keeping time, and they’re keeping the score
They draw the line, and they’re running the store
You can count on it, hoo
Yeah, you can count on it

Look at the dial; look at how far
Look at how much; look where we are
Look at the gauge; look at the graph
Check out the numbers; you’ve got the last laugh

‘Cause it ain’t mystery; there’s nothing tough about it
You can count on it, that’s right
Soon you’re gonna see that you couldn’t live without it
You can count on it, hoo

Don’t take a genius or a great magician
To make a pretty good mathematician
You can count on it, hoo, yeah
Yeah, you can count on it, whoo
Oh, you can count on it, whoo

Baby, you can count on it

When I sing this song, I also mention the fifth of my resolution, "We treat people who are great at math as heroes." The use of the positive word "hero" to describe someone who's good at math is much better than the use of the negative word "dren" to describe someone who isn't.

My new blogging schedule has me posting Monday-Wednesday only. Therefore my next post will be on Monday, October 5th.