Lesson 2.3.1: Multiple Representations of Proportions (Day 34)

 On Saturday I created my long-awaited Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/DavidWa12688560

Now that I have a Twitter account, I've finalized my blogging and tweeting schedule. The class that I'll focus on in each post corresponds to the largest class that meets that day under the hybrid schedule:

• On Mondays, all classes meet online. I will blog about first period Math 8, my largest class overall (32 students total).
• On Tuesdays, odd periods last name M-Z meet in person. My largest class is third period Math 7 (actually it's tied with first period Math 8, with 14 students each -- the tiebreaker is that third period has 13 students in person while first period has only 12).
• On Wednesdays, odd periods last name A-L meet in person. My largest class is first period Math 8 (18 students, including 14 in person.)
• On Thursdays and Fridays, even classes meet in person. These are smaller special ed classes with a co-teacher, and so these days are for tweeting, not blogging.

Here on the blog, I will use the "Math 8" label on Mon./Wed. and "Math 7" on Tuesdays. Originally I was going to blog only about Math 8, but it's awkward to blog thrice a week for a class that meets only twice a week (once online on Mondays and once in-person during the week). And so I will blog about Math 7 after all, naming the current seventh grade lesson in the title of my Tuesday posts.

OK, so this post is a Monday Math 8 post. The lesson for today is on multiple representations of proportions, and it explores the relationship between unit rate and slope. The "multiple representations" mentioned in the lesson title include equations, graphs, and tables.

A few students in fourth period are hoping for a song today. But on my new singing schedule, songs are reserved for block days during the week, not Mondays. Still, I admit I'm tempted to sing "U-N-I-T Rate" today -- a parody of the UCLA fight song, since the lesson does mention unit rates. (When I first came up with that song, I imagined it as a seventh grade song and forgot that unit rates are mentioned in the eighth grade Common Core standards on slope.)

Last Friday, there was a full-staff meeting on the upcoming hybrid schedule. Of course, new rules for social distancing are discussed there, including the "three strikes and you're out" mask rule. This is one of my biggest worries about tomorrow -- just before the meeting, I heard a student (along with his parents trying to enroll him before classes start this week) complain that he doesn't like wearing masks. And I wonder, what if this kid turns out to be placed in my class tomorrow. My other worry is that APEX still isn't working for me. It may or may not be working by tomorrow. Anyway, it is what it is.

Concurrent hybrid is starting tomorrow, whether I'm ready or not. So I feel nervous about how it will go.