I came across the stuff at Exeter who has these problem sets . . . of which most are pretty difficult or at least challenge you to think outside the box a little, which I love.
So, I tried to start a math club (I had a student teacher at the time and was ready to hurt myself b/c I wasn't teaching) which lasted about 3 months, and I looked to use the problem sets.
Been reading some blogs (specifically rationalexpressions.blogspot.com) which brought up the Exeter problem sets in one the posts . . . I think this is something I want to incorporate into my classes. Just need to find a way . . . maybe devote a day - make it a challenge/competition. I need to think about it.
Here's some other things that I'm thinking about:
1. Multiple assessments / recurring topics - I can't test once, say oh you have it in September and not check for retention until December's semester final!!
2. SBG - I love the idea because my job is to make my students stronger mathematically, but even more to appreciate the math, to learn to strive and persevere through the ups/downs of class (uh and life!).
#inspired
We're going to spend some time at #twittermathcamp next week going through the Exeter problems - I'm excited to try and figure out how to use them in class!
ReplyDeleteWhat is #twittermathcamp? Will try and follow the tweetchat for sure. Keep me posted. Thanks for reading my blog post.
DeleteOne thing I found when using these in class is that most of the problems follow a thread of development throughout each text (and even between texts), so it can be really tricky to pull out specific problems without students seeing the preceeding connected problems or how the concept is developed in later questions. They are very interconnected & I had some issues when I went out of order or pulled problems out individually.
ReplyDeleteSo working through from page 1 to 2 . . . etc. might work best? Thanks for the input. If you think of a way to work them into your classroom please don't hesitate to let me know.
DeleteThanks for reading my blog post.