Tangrams

In a Saturday morning math workshop, I was exposed to more interesting ways to use Tangrams in the classroom. I have had some experience playing withTangrams in the classroom, but the teacher presenters showed me more interesting and refined ways to use these puzzles. We did many creative activities, including making our own Tangrams, creating images from a story, and playing with a different variation of tangram that incorporated a circle cut-out. I was inspired by the workshop, it motivated me to try these activities in the future.

A Familiar Face

This morning, I went to a Starbucks that I rarely visit to read a bit before attending a morning math workshop. A man came in with his daughter. He looked pleasantly familiar, we made eye contact for a fraction of a second as he passed by. After he ordered and stood by the coffee bar, he looked at me again and we knew we had met before. In fact, Charles was the father of two boys (C.J. and Josh) who I used to tutor in 2005. We haven't seen each other since. I then also recognized his daughter, Cassidy. They were on their way to her basketball game. We chatted a bit. I found out that his oldest boy is now a senior in high school and is applying to colleges. I shared with him briefly that when I tutored his boys, I had just quit teaching. Tutoring his boys math in the afternoons, after my non-teaching job at that time, in part inspired me to return to teaching. I told him that he can bring his boys over anytime and I'd be happy to work with them. He told me that I still look like a kid. = )

Who Will Pass?

Occasionally, AP students study in my classroom after school. Today, a non-AP-Stats student asked me, "Mr. Yip, how many students do you think will pass the AP Stats test?" I thought for a second, and responded truthfully, "Half or more." She appreciated my optimism. Then she asked if I would do as another teacher does in putting pictures of students who passed on a Wall of Fame. I joked to her that I would take pictures of those who didn't pass and call it the Wall of Shame.

Letting Go

As I reflect on my difficulty with letting things go, I realized that it has to do with how much I've put in. If you invested much in a relationship, or a job, with all of your efforts and emotions, it'll no doubt hurt when it tanks. It'll hurt bad. You have a major stake invested in it, feeling that it'll work out. On the other hand, if you did not contribute to the relationship, or to the job, then there's really no strong attachment to its outcome. When it's going great, you don't appreciate it. And when it fails, it's no big deal because you didn't risk anything.

Looking forward to the future, I know I still have a desire to do good work and have meaningful relationships. It's easy to not contribute and be detached, but there also won't be any reward. I read a book today in which the author said that the only failure is in not taking action. At times, I feel like a battery that's been drained empty and doesn't recharge anymore. When the time and opportunity comes again, I hope I still have the drive and optimism to give it my all.

Moving Forward

Yesterday was Chinese New Year - Year of Rabbit. As I reflect on my previous year, I constantly think of the setback that I experienced. But I'm also careful that I don't let it affect me to the best of my ability. To stay positive and keep myself on track, I focus on what I've accomplish this past year despite the experiences that have affected me negatively. This is not a show-off list, but are tasks that I'm proud to have completed:

- I finished coaching a season of badminton.

- I completed a series of Link Crew training.

- I was a part of the team that led this year's Link Crew orientation.

- I taught summer school for the second time.

- I completed my fifth year as a high school teacher.

- I completed a series of AP Stats training.

- I completed a course on using the newest TI calculators.

- I wrote the AP syllabus for the school's inaugural AP Statistics class.

- I completed my master degree.

- I took advantage of many professional development opportunities.

- I completed the first half of my AP Stats program.

- I presented at the 2011 Parent University.

- I became a home owner.

I don't have everything and I don't think I'm as happy as I was a year ago, or two years ago. I might even have lost some of my passion for what I do. But I believe that I've done and said all the right things. All I can give is my best effort. Others can judge me and treat me however they want. I've care so much that I really don't care anymore.

Parent University 5.0

This was my fifth time presenting at our district's Parent University. I built on my session "Improving Math Grades." I was again fortunate to have Ms. Betsy Sanchez translate for me. The first session was jam-packed with over 45 attendees. The second session was a much more intimate, with just eight people. Both sessions went smoothly. I've learned that two sessions are good, three would be an overkill. At the end, I assisted Mr. C.'s Link Crew session by picking up pizza and drinks for the participating Link Leaders.

That evening, I also got to hang out with a few great teacher-friends. A very nice Saturday.

Got Sick

Out of nowhere, I caught a nasty flu on Monday. I remember feeling just fine during fourth period, but my whole body ached as lunchtime rolled around, and has continued since. I got home late Monday night due to a professional training. Today, my voice was almost completely gone. I fought through and finished the day, even tutored for Link Crew for a few hours after school. I needed to show my students some grit by reviewing until the last lesson.

There is an upside. In addition to losing my voice, I also lost five pounds.

Farkel Party

Dice are extremely useful in many activities in statistics that demonstrate key concepts. I purchased a set of these from Amazon and really like the box and containers. Though a bit expensive, I purchased three more to have a set for every pair of students. I'm realizing that this course is very expensive... = )

M&Ms and Sampling Distributions

Last week, to introduce the concept of sampling distribution, I used an activity involving M&M candies. Students received cups of about 50 candies and counted the number of each color. Initially, they guessed that there are more reds than blues. As our sampling distribution showed, it was quite clear that the proportion of blues is higher. According to many web sources, the proportion of blues is 24% and reds is 13%. Our results were very close. It was a fun activity; students ate the chocolate afterwards.

RC vs. Coke

One of the goals that I have for my AP Stats class is to involve as many hands-on activities as I can manage. We've already done several. Last week, I bought two cases of soda. RC Cola and Coca Cola. We used the blind taste test to generate the random variable of the number of students who can decipher the brands. Interestingly, only 10 of the 24 tasters correctly identify the "real" Coke. More tasters thought that RC was Coke!

Escher

M.C. Escher in my classroom. (Predestination 1951 Lithograph).

Stats Shirts

The Stats shirts were distributed on Monday. I tossed them out to the students one at a time. I spoke a thing or two about each of them. I don't know all of them very well, but I'm glad that I have their names on the shirt. I'll let the kids decide when they want to wear the shirt. I will debut my shirt at the rally tomorrow!

SGV CaMP

I attended another California Mathematics Project (CaMP) workshop last week. Although it ran from 4pm to 8pm, I felt that the time went by very fast because I enjoyed spending time with like-minded math educators. We spend the evening discussing differentiation in the classroom.

Stats Shirts

I'm blessed with some of the best students on campus in my AP Statistics class. We struggle as we learn, but I believe strongly that we're making positive progress. Inspired by the Wordle website, I designed our class shirts. I placed the order today. The front of the shirts have students' names. They insisted to have my cartoon face on the shirt. Initially, they wanted a big face on the back, but I lean towards subtlety. A small face on the sleeve will do.

New Book

During my lessons, I tried reusing some of the illusions that I've collected over the past couple of years. While many of them are amazing, I want to show students who I've had in previous years new illusions. "Masters of Deception" is my newest book purchase. It has a collection of 20 illusion artists. While it is not a complete collection, I am able to easily search for their works online.