annette g. cook, fellow amatyc project acccess cohort 5 shelton state community college tuscaloosa,...

Annette G. Cook, FellowAMATYC Project ACCCESS

Cohort 5

SHELTON STATE COMMUNITY SHELTON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGECOLLEGE

Tuscaloosa, AlabamaTuscaloosa, Alabama

www.sheltonstate.eduTuscaloosa, Alabama

Shelton State Community CollegeMartin Campus

C.A. Fredd Campus

Higher Education Opportunities

Stillman CollegeThe University of Alabama

Shelton State Community College

Tuscaloosa Industry

Uniroyal GoodrichMercedes Benz

JVC America, Inc.

ISSUE/PROBLEM

• Classes can become too routine…”same old, same old”.

• Students and teachers in math classes sometimes need something to keep things from getting too heavy .

• Primary Goal: To keep class interesting so that the students are engaged.

• Secondary Goal: To help students understand that math has a lighter side.

What does research say?

• Maslow defines humor and laughter as “education in a palatable form.”

• “What is learned with laughter is learned well.” (Grotjahn)

• “Laughter frees up and opens pathways to creativity and discovery.” (Eble)

http://www.faculty.armstrong.edu/roundtable/4717458.pdf

• “Humor…forces people’s minds into modes of thinking that are investigative, seeking, grasping, and filled with trial-and-error.”

• Humor and laughter contribute to “enjoyment, interest, motivation, creativity, a relaxed, open, warm atmosphere, a positive student-teacher relationship, and reduced tension and anxiety.” (Robins0n)

• “Using Humor in the College Classroom to Increase Teaching Effectiveness in ‘Dread Courses’” http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_3_33/ai_62839448/

• Dread courses are defined as those in which students have a lack of self-confidence, perceived difficulty with material, or past negative experiences with content.

• “Humor is useful in facilitating attention and motivation (Bandes, 1988;

Bryant et al., 1979; Wandersee, 1982) and comprehension.” (Gorham & Christophel, 1990)

• Ice Breaker – Have students share their “Goofiest Moment in a Classroom”

• List Teacher’s Top Ten Pet Peeves in the Classroom

• List Student’s Top Ten Pet Peeves

Top Ten ThingsMore Fun than Stats Class

6. Having your computer crash on the last page of your research paper.

7. Listening to bagpipe music.8. Trying to get across the river at 5:00.9. Watching "Barney" for 12 consecutive

hours.10. Having your wisdom teeth extracted.

Top Ten ThingsMore Fun than Stats Class

1. Finding a parking spot on campus!2.Being attacked by a roving pack of

Rottweilers.3. Waiting in line at fee payment.4. Jogging at noon with a heat index of

112.5. Having your paperwork lost at

Financial Aid.

To summarize the research…

• “Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.”

~ Paul E. McGhee, Ph.D.

How?• Add cartoons, jokes, riddles, and

video clips to lessons. It’s easier than you think.– If using PowerPoint, literally add them to

your presentation. – If using an overhead projector, copy humor

onto transparency.– If LED projector is available, save to jump

drive and share.

First Day of Class

• The following clip is a great way to begin your semester. Let them know right away that using basic math operations is a pre-requisite for the course.

Ma & Pa Kettle Math

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4215496701990923822

Great for an early morning class

New Math? (a poem)

A boy taught a girl arithmetic; he said it was his mission.

He kissed her once, he kissed her twice and said, "Now that's addition."

In silent but sweet satisfaction,She gave the kisses back and said,

"Now that's subtraction.“ (continued)

New Math? (a poem)

Then he kissed her, and she kissed him, without an explanation.

And both together smiled and said, “Now that's multiplication."

Then her Dad appeared upon the scene and made a quick decision.

He kicked that boy three blocks away and said, "That's long division!"

“New Math”

• Definition: The “idea” is what matters…not the actual calculations.

“New Math”

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXx2VVSWDMo&feature=related

Got a student who is habitually tardy? Use this one day just after

he/she arrives.

•“…so all you have to do, class, is remember what I just said and you’ll have no problems on the test.”

(similar cartoon also available)

Fractions/Rationals

• In the middle of a lesson about fractions or rational expressions, the following can be shown. It’s always fun to see how long it takes them to get it…if they ever do.

“Systems” Song—Lyrics by Vicki YoungMelody: "You Are My Sunshine”

The other day, dear, as I was graphing, Instead of one line there were two!

I was perplexed until I realizedMy teacher would tell me what to do.

When you have two lines, it's called a system,And there are three outcomes you'll view:

They're parallel lines or they're the same lineOr they cross in one point that is true.

Before a lesson on rational roots, I show the following video clip as a

review.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIRb7F7tKEM

Imaginary Numbers

• Once rational numbers have been taught, the following cartoon can be shown the day after an introduction to imaginary numbers…again to see if they “get it”.

Catholic School

• A couple has a son who is struggling in school, especially in math. They decide to enroll him in a catholic school and see if his grades improve.

• He comes home everyday, goes straight to his room to do homework, and is very serious about his school work.

Catholic School

• The son brings home his first report card from the catholic school and he has an “A” in MATH!

• The father is, of course, pleased, but wants to know: "Why are your math grades suddenly so good?"

Catholic School

• "You know", the son explains, "when I walked into the classroom the first day,

• and I saw that guy on the wall nailed to a plus sign, I knew one thing: This place means business!"

Roots, Polygons, Integration… (one of my all-time

favorites!)

Excuses, excuses…

Modeling Polynomials

• Goliath, a hypercoaster, opened in 2006 at Six Flags over Georgia. It climbs to a height of 200 feet and reaches speeds of nearly 70 mph. It has over 4,400 feet of steel track. Portions of Goliath’s tracks can be modeled with a polynomial function.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex7-CJzmdv8

Interpreting Graphs

Algebra’s Top Ten Mistakes

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhVTbUrrMNo

Another all-time favorite…

• Four friends have been doing really well in their pre-calculus class: they have been getting top grades for their homework and on tests. So, when it was time for the final, they decide not to study on the weekend before the final, but to drive to a friend's birthday party in another city - even though the exam was scheduled for Monday morning.

• As it happens, they drank too much at the party, and on Monday morning, they are all hung over and oversleep. When they finally arrive on campus, the exam is already over.

• They go to the professor's office and offer him an explanation:

Another all-time favorite…• "We went to our friend's birthday party, and

when we were driving back home very early on Monday morning, we suddenly had a flat tire. We had no spare, and since we were driving on back roads, it took hours until we got help."

The professor nods sympathetically and says: "I see that it was not your fault. I will allow you to make up for the missed exam tomorrow morning."

• When they arrive early on Tuesday morning, the students are put by the professor in a large lecture hall and are seated so far apart from each other that, even if they tried, they had no chance to cheat. The exam booklets are already in place, and confidently, the students start writing.

• The first question - five points out of one hundred - is a simple exercise, and all four finish it within ten minutes.

• As they complete the first problem and turn over the page of the exam booklet, they see the next question:

• Problem 2 (95 points out of 100):

Which tire went flat?

Mathmaticious Video

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e-nJufDEQ0

Quadratic Formula Rap

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBtUetKJzOU&feature=related

For Geometry/Trig

James Blount on Sesame Street Triangle Song

• Great in Math for Elementary Teachers Class!

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Z6tDSb6c8&NR=1&feature=fvwp

for Trig class

Funky Math Guy

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs464DqnPTo&feature=related

Ever had one of those days…

• You are working a long, hard, problem as an example and you have to concentrate…

For those golf players…

In Honor ofValentine’s Day…

Math Pick Up Lines• “You are the solution to my homogeneous

system of linear equations.” • Your beauty defies real and complex analysis. • "I don't know if you're in my range, but I'd sure

like to take you home to my domain." • “i = Ø when i am not with you.”• “Your beauty cannot be spanned by a finite

basis of vectors.” • “My love is like an exponential curve; it's

unbounded .”

Top Ten Reasons for Not Turningin an Assignment

7. I accidentally divided by zero and my paper burst into flames!

8. I was watching the World Series and got tied up trying to prove that it converged.

9. I couldn't figure out whether I am the square of negative one or the square root of negative one.

10. I could only get arbitrarily close to my textbook. I couldn't actually reach it.

3. I didn't want the other students in class to look bad.

4. I was abducted by green-skinned, three-eyed, pig-snouted space aliens, and they incinerated my paper with their death rays.

5. Another student fell in a lake and I jumped in to rescue him. Unfortunately, my paper drowned.

6. I made a paper plane out of it and it got hijacked.

1. I have a solar powered calculator and it was cloudy.

And the number one reason for not turning in an assignment is…

2. My roommate used it as a dryer sheet.

This is good for the day when graded tests are returned.

Scene from Numbers TV Show

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFRTgr7MfWw

For your own copy ofwhat’s been shared…

• Email Annette…

acook@sheltonstate.edu

Annette G. CookAnnette G. Cook

acook@sheltonstate.eduacook@sheltonstate.edu

SHELTON STATE COMMUNITY SHELTON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGECOLLEGE

annette g. cook, fellow amatyc project acccess cohort 5 shelton state community college tuscaloosa,...

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