New Bloggers: Week 3

Sam started a new blogger initiation and the crew is more than half way done with their assignments.  A group of us divvied up the introductions since there are so, so many enthusiastic newbies!  We lost a few members the third week (I would have dropped out too I think, school starting has me all thrown off!) but still have an awesome group participating.  I'm keeping track of the introductory posts on the #matheme page.  The prompts they have been getting are really great.  I will post a link to all of them at the end of this process, even if you're not a new blogger they are great to think on and share about.

Without further ado, may I present the following 7 new/restarting bloggers:

Brent Jolicoeur: Reflections & Transformations 

Brent Jolicoeur @brentjolicoeur has a blog named Reflections & Transformations. The third post for the Blogging Initiation is titled (NBI) A problem I'm looking forward to and the author sums it up as follows: "This post shows one of the problems I'm looking forward to in my precalculus class. I think it is a good end of unit summary" A memorable quotation from the post is: "I think it really does a good job synthesizing all of the material covered in the unit."

Kevin Krenz: Rational Limits 

Kevin Krenz @kevin_krenz has a blog named Rational Limits. The third post for the Blogging Initiation is titled [NBI] My teaching story and the author sums it up as follows: "Every teacher has a combination of characteristics that make them a unique educator. Before my first year of teaching, I did this activity which helped identify precisely what those characteristics are and where they come from (spoiler: they were from my teachers)." A memorable quotation from the post is: "The qualities of my favorite teachers not only influence how I like to teach, but my students recognize them in my teaching."

Malcolm Eckel: Solving Problems 

Malcolm Eckel has a blog named Solving Problems. The third post for the Blogging Initiation is titled Good judgement... and the author sums it up as follows: "My favorite quote, period - not about math in particular, but life in general." A memorable quotation from the post is: "One is tempted to say “that’s what I get for trying something new and different!” and just sulk, but I try to remind myself – if I hadn’t screwed that up, I wouldn’t know how to do it better next time."

barrylewis: Gleaming Number Rockets 

barrylewis @2ndarymathedist has a blog named Gleaming Number Rockets. The third post for the Blogging Initiation is titled Misconceptions--One Rule to Ring Them All. As if. and the author sums it up as follows: "It seems that the set of rules for adding and multiplying signed numbers is one of the more common arithmetic Lego bricks that barefoot middle school learners tend to step on. I wonder if there is anything we can do to help students correct those misconceptions, and I wonder if the reliance on RULES is itself one of the main doorways that these sorts of misconceptions barge through." A memorable quotation from the post is: "The 18 ft. Great White in the pool, however, is the multiplication of two negatives."

Kyle Eck: k-gram 

Kyle Eck @kylejeck has a blog named k-gram. The third post for the Blogging Initiation is titled Pre-what? and the author sums it up as follows: "A quick idea on how to make Algebra 2 and Pre-calculus more useful to students by incorporating real-life models as motivation for learning math." A memorable quotation from the post is: "Using math to model real-life situations gives it meaning."

Alex Freuman: Math Teachering 

Alex Freuman @freuman has a blog named Math Teachering. The third post for the Blogging Initiation is titled An Influx of International Students and the author sums it up as follows: "I've been charged with placing international boarding students among geometry, algebra 2, pre-calculus and calculus. It has been a true odyssey and I am learning from my (many) mistakes. Please feel free to learn from them too." A memorable quotation from the post is: "Among the many major changes we are undertaking this year at my school ..... , none terrify me more than beginning a boarding program for international students."

Tofer Carlson: teachertofer 

Tofer Carlson has a blog named teachertofer. The third post for the Blogging Initiation is titled Circling a Solution and the author sums it up as follows: "A past student recently emailed me with a problem that I really enjoyed figuring out for myself--it requires using analytical, graphical and algebraic reasoning." A memorable quotation from the post is: "This is a really hard problem for my students to do, but not one that’s impossible—and when a student can make the first leap or second leap, they get excited and build resiliency."