Blog is short for weblog (weBLOG).
Check here to see the latest information about my site (and, occasionally, about my life in general).
Monday, August 18, 2008
My duplexer was broken on my new printer; the replacement arrived, and now double-sided copying is working great!
I've spent lots more time in school setting up my classroom.
I've written up a Greek Alphabet web exercise for my calculus class.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
I've finally retired my HP Laserjet Series IIE printer, replacing it with an HP OfficejetPro L7680 All-in-One:
it's a printer, fax, photocopier, and scanner.
I've created another GeoGebra tutorial: Tutorial #2: GeoGebra Basics
Saturday, August 9, 2008
I've been doing lots of work in school: sorting, cleaning, organizing.
I'll be putting a series of GeoGebra tutorials and worksheets into my online Geometry curriculum.
Check out the first two! Tutorial #1: Introduction to GeoGebra Worksheet #1: TRIANGLES
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Change of schedule; I'm now teaching Algebra II at Lenox High in the Fall, instead of the Basic Algebra/Geometry course.
So, check out the Algebra II online material.
Also, I'm supervising an independent study AP Calculus BC course with two students;
check out the suggested yearly AP Calculus BC Independent Study schedule that
I've prepared for them.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
I've created a cool NAME SPINNER
so that I can be sure that every student in class gets (randomly) called on when doing problems.
A totally random student is "thrown in" about 10% of the time, just to keep people on their toes.
This file can be modified for your own classes and students. Enjoy!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
I've spent the entire week getting things ready for my courses at LMMHS next year:
daily syllabi, course policies, grade sheets, algebra/geometry review schedules, missed work forms, and so on.
Check them out: Basic Algebra/Geometry Homepage Geometry Honors Homepage AP Calculus AB Homepage
Monday, July 21, 2008
I've completed some sample problems for MCAS Objective 10.N.3,
and also incorporated these problems into my web exercise on
Approximating Radicals, as a new concept question exercise.
I also removed the link to the non-MathML version of the Approximating Radicals exercise from the web (so I only had
to update ONE version).
Everyone should have MathPlayer by now!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
I was gone to Alaska with my husbandnot Karl and daughter Julia for about 10 days.
Upon return, I needed to study for my MTEL subject test in mathematics for my licensure;
just took it yesterday, and it went well.
So, I've now finished all the exams needed to obtain
my preliminary license to teach in the public school system. Yeh!
Monday, June 30, 2008
I've gotten the approximate yearly syllabi done for each of the "new" courses I'll be teaching at Lenox High
next year: Honors Geometry and
Basic Algebra/Geometry.
As I teach the Basic Algebra/Geometry course (which is largely an MCAS prep course), I'll be putting in new
concept questions
(mental math, estimating, evaluating expressions, recognizing patterns, story/word problems,
questions involving pictures and graphs).
Check out all the new problem types in
Addition.
Note that I'm also changing the background to sage green, for consistency
with the rest of my site, as I update each exercise.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
I've finished the map of the grade 9-10 MCAS objectives to my web site.
I will be writing web exercises to practice each objective, by taking
actual MCAS problems in the public domain and "randomizing" them.
These problems will also be incorporated into my online courses, in appropriate places.
Thus, a person following my online course will automatically hit all the dedicated MCAS practice problems.
Here's the first one I've done: MCAS Objective 10.N.2
These problems have also been inserted in the Algebra I curriculum: Additional Practice
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
My daughter has been visiting from Texas, so we've been cooking and baking, gardening, exercising, reading,
and enjoying summer!
I've moved the hearts out of the links on all my Tables of Content, for a cleaner look.
I've started mapping the MCAS objectives to my web site.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
I've updated my site to remove many of the Miss Hall's links, since I am now moving to
Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.
(I also tightened up my "sage green" color scheme a bit.)
Miss Hall's has been given a CD of all these files, so they may re-appear from the MHS site.
I have not removed any files from my web server; anyone with an existing link to these files will still have access.
The files may still come up in (say) a "Google" search.
Only the links from my web site have been removed.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
I've changed my homepage; instead of the trees, I've now got a graphic (made
into a puzzle) created by Hyun Sun Seo, an extremely talented student at Miss Hall's School. Check it out!
Monday, May 26, 2008
I've got some vocabulary practice up for the Communication and Literacy Skills Reading test.
Check it out!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
I had a week with my daughter in Texas for Spring Break; didn't bring my computer!
Now, I'm working on the third multi-section quiz for Algebra II.
(It's in progress.)
Friday, March 7, 2008
I'm working on a quiz over essential concepts for ALL of AP Calculus AB; trying to get it done in time for this year's Spring midterm (unlikely).
It's in progress, but you can take a look: AP Calculus AB, in a nutshell!
Monday, March 3, 2008
The second multi-section quiz for Algebra II is finished; check it out!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
I've decided that when a student's grade falls to C- or below, they must complete a sheet that shows the time they spend working on mathematics during the week. I created a form for this purpose, the Math Study Time Chart.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
I've made all the "FUN STUFF" open in a new window, so people don't lose the main Table of Contents.
Friday, February 22, 2008
The first multi-section quiz for Algebra II is finished; check it out!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
I was snowed in today. After over an hour (with Karl) trying to get my car un-stuck in the driveway, I realized I was not going to get to work.
Determined to make good use of this gift of time, I created the template for my "text puzzles"—I want to get all my index cards online, and be able to easily generate quizzes over this material.
Eventually, I'll have different levels of difficulty:
--a complete word bank
--a word bank with some distractor words thrown in
--a word bank with distractor words and some of the necessary words missing from the bank Check out the "text puzzle" template!
Monday, February 4, 2008
I've finally finished the MULTI-SECTION QUIZ for Geometry. Check it out!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
I've been going through the excellent collection of manipulatives at
the NLVM (National Library of Virtual
Manipulatives) and incorporating them in appropriate places in the
"Fun Stuff" in my online curriculum. These are beautifully-designed and user-friendly!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Happy New Year, everyone!
I haven't had a blog entry in quite a while—things get very busy at this time of year.
I've been working on the MULTI-SECTION QUIZ for Geometry; I'm not going to upload it until it is completely finished.
I've been adding quite a few new "fun things" into the Algebra I curriculum (online games and mental exercises), so you might want to check them out!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
I've just uploaded another MULTI-SECTION QUIZ FORM.
This completes the Algebra I curriculum.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
With Linda Coll's help (THANKS!!!!) I've FINALLY been successful in getting the "flip" in tatting.
I haven't worked this hard at such a tiny, focused thing since my days as a graduate student in mathematics!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
I've just uploaded another MULTI-SECTION QUIZ FORM.
Only one more, to finish with the Algebra I curriculum!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
My site is back to #1 when you google "math cat fisher"—they've finally re-spidered the web, I guess.
It took a LOT longer than I had expected.
I've added other photo options to my homepage–just click on the image,
and it will cycle through alternate photos. Enjoy!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
I'm trying (yet again) to learn server-side PERL programming, and am making some progress. I've actually
run a "Hello World!" PERL program from my web site, successfully. I've downloaded a PERL IDE (Perl Express)
which is helpful for practicing PERL stuff, but I don't have an easy way to practice with the HTML/PERL
interfacing... I write an HTML program using FirstPage, write the PERL in PerlExpress, upload both to my server,
and then test it out... which is time-consuming, tedious, and inefficient.
Then, to add to my frustrations, I've spent MANY HOURS trying to learn tatting... want to make ornaments for Christmas gifts.
I'm getting GORGEOUS knots, but they're building on the ring thread, not the shuttle thread. I CAN'T GET THEM
TO FLIP!! I've watched countless videos and read many different sets of instructions. AAARRRGGGHHH. This is REALLY frustrating.
Consequently, I can't close my rings. I clearly need a HUMAN BEING who knows what they're doing to help.
Plus, I've been sick since last Wednesday night. Sore throat, cough, congestion. So, this has also slowed my progress.
Ah well!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Whoa!!! OH NO!! I googled "math cat fisher" this morning, and I was NOWHERE in sight!
I figured out what happened...
I completely re-designed my web page recently, and took out LOTS of the words.
Google must have recently done a new "sweep" of pages on the web, and... without all the words... I lost my ranking.
This is NOT GOOD, since I tell everybody to just google "math cat fisher" to get to me.
Oh no! So, I'm going to have to adjust the home page a bit.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
I've just uploaded another MULTI-SECTION QUIZ FORM.
While doing this, I changed web exercise and worksheet variables to italics on several exercises.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
I've just uploaded another MULTI-SECTION QUIZ FORM.
While doing this, I changed web exercise and worksheet variables to italics on several exercises.
Monday, October 29, 2007
I LOVE long weekends! I get so much done!
I've just uploaded my seventh MULTI-SECTION QUIZ FORM.
While doing this, I changed worksheet variables to italics on several exercises.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
I've finished the map of SAT content to my site.
A few concepts are missing, which I'll gradually get filled in.
And, I've been wanting to re-design my homepage for ages, to make it much less cluttered.
I finally did it!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
On my "mixed graphical transformations" Algebra II exercise, closing parentheses on
things like y = f(x and y = ln( refused to print. WEIRD!
My coding is fine! By taking out the bold, many were fixed.
But, to fix the natural log problem, I had to insert a ThinSpace after the closing parenthesis in my code.
This truly has me befuddled. It looks fine on the screen, but the characters just don't print. If anyone
has any insights into this printing problem, please contact me!
Monday, October 15, 2007
I've just uploaded my sixth MULTI-SECTION QUIZ FORM!
While doing this, I changed worksheet variables to italics on several exercises.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Thanks to Design Science Customer Support, I think I finally have an answer to the "missing symbols" problem for some
people, on some of my web pages. Find out how to get the free MathType fonts here.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
I expanded the discussion on the Greatest Common Factor web exercise, and put in
some helpful graphics.
Friday, October 5, 2007
I'm finished fixing the code on all my timed web exercises, to make it impossible to "cheat" at Algebra Pinball.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
I'm just about done fixing the code on my timed web exercises, to make it impossible to "cheat" at Algebra Pinball.
I had weekend duty; the NEASC team was here Sunday through today; we've been busy with self-report cards for
advisees; and college recommendation letters are now in full swing. Needless to say, I'm not getting as much
done on my site as I'd like!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
I've just uploaded my fourth MULTI-SECTION QUIZ FORM!
I'm also working on mapping the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) objectives to my web site.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Well, school has begun!
I've spent about ten hours coding a "Name Game" to help us all learn student names.
And, of course, I've been really busy with start-up stuff.
Hopefully, I can get back to making progress on web exercises soon!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
I've revised my slide show to replace the SVG material with GeoGebra,
to more accurately reflect
the direction I'm now heading with dynamic graphing capabilities.
I've also put links to my homepage on each of the slide show pages.
AND, I've just uploaded my first MULTI-SECTION QUIZ FORM!
Saturday, September 1, 2007
I've updated all the online course materials for this year: syllabi for PreCalculus and Calculus;
algebra/geometry review schedule (which will work a bit differently this year); first month of the daily schedules;
my yearly comprehensive calendar; advisee meeting schedule for the year; new Algebra Pinball column for my classes.
The most EXCITING thing, though, is that I'm working on a form to create multi-section quizzes, so I can
easily generate the review quizzes over multiple sections, without having to do massive amounts of printing and cutting and pasting.
It's going well... the first one should be posted soon!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
I've finished
Introduction to Exponential Functions.
Now, I've got to stop working on web exercises for a while, and get everything ready for another year at
Miss Hall's School!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
I've finished the exposition for
Composition of Functions—all that remains is to write the exercises.
This one has two COOL GeoGebra worksheets, playing with function boxes.
I'm getter better and better with GeoGebra!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
I "attended" an online class about Mathematica Demonstrations.
Really, really cool stuff!
You have to download a free Mathematica Player to run the demonstrations,
but many of these are FANTASTIC for illustrating things on a computer during class. DEFINITELY check them out!
Also, Adobe Acrobat Connect (web conferencing software)
was used to run the class.
This was my first introduction to this kind of "virtual classroom" and I'm really impressed!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
I've learned how to embed a GeoGebra worksheet directly in a web page (no button or link required).
However, it seems to take a long time to load the page; users may get impatient and leave.
Therefore, I think it's better to use a link to the GeoGebra worksheets.
However, you can look at the source code to my newest exercise,
Graphical Interpretation of Sentences Like f(x) = 0
and f(x) > 0 , to see how it works.
(It's all commented out in the source code, since I chose not to do it this way.)
Friday, August 10, 2007
YEH!!! I've just learned how to guarantee that there will be a PAGE BREAK in my worksheets before the
solutions are given: <p style="page-break-before: always">
does the job! I'll incorporate this user-friendly feature in all my future web exercises.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Yeh! The web exercise Basic Models You Must Know
is finally finished!
The worksheet is a bit different than usual: it includes 27 problems—one of each different "type" (with
considerable variation within each type).
The format is also quite different, made necessary since there is so much variability in the vertical height of
the different questions.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
I'm finally back at work on web stuff!
At long last, I've made progress on the
Basic Models You Must Know
web exercise—check it out!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
July has been an incredibly busy month.
The move from New York to Monterey for my husbandnot's friend took over a week, working on both ends.
I was in Texas from July 19th to the 26th, helping my daughter get settled into her new home in the Rio Grande Valley.
She'll be teaching high school math for two years in the Teach for America program.
Now, she's back visiting in Massachusetts for about 10 days, and I need to finish her quilt while she's here
so she can take it back to Texas with her.
Not a good month for web work, but an incredible month for other "life stuff"!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Progress slowed... sorry! This is the week of my niece sleepovers (and I'm not really a lot of fun if I'm sitting
at the computer writing web exercises).
Also, I'm helping my partner with a move, which will take a few days.
And, I'm finally at the QUILTING stage on my daughter's quilt; using the "even-feed" attachment really helps
with the machine quilting.
My phone static problem ("snow" or "white noise") is solved!!
Verizon sent out four people: first an analog person; then a cable person; then a DSL person; and finally a higher-level DSL person.
The problem was with some equipment down near the lake. YEH VERIZON!!!!
All the people who came out were wonderful and professional—thanks, everybody!
I changed my instructions on "Getting Your Own Algebra Pinball" to use WordPad, not NotePad, to edit.
If the file is opened in Notepad, all my beautiful (helpful) formatting is gone, and it looks like one big mess. WAAAYYYY too scary for people.
WordPad seems to preserve the formatting.
(It's interesting... once the file is opened and
saved in WordPad, THEN it can be opened and will look good in NotePad. Weird.)
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Okay... the thing about having GeoGebra is that my average time to write a web exercise has practically doubled,
because NOW I want to incorporate cool GeoGebra dynamic worksheets in every section.
This is very time-consuming, particularly since I'm in the learning stage for this new tool.
I really AM working on
Basic Models You Must Know—it's just taking a long time!
(Also, I'm trying to finish my daughter's quilt—her college graduation gift—so I can bring it when I
visit her in Texas in a couple weeks.)
Friday, July 6, 2007
Well, I got ambitious again, and spent almost the entire day trying to get a web exercise to work in Mozilla Firefox.
I was able to create a " .xml " document that displayed the MathML correctly in both Internet Explorer and Mozilla,
but I wasn't able to get the stylesheet information to work in Mozilla,
and I wasn't able to get anything to write into my floating frames (<iframe>) in Mozilla.
Sigh. Periodically (every year or so) I just have to go through this process again.
I guess I'm "doomed" to restrict my audience to Internet Explorer + MathPlayer.
On a brighter note—AP Calculus AB scores are in, and my girls did a particularly FANTASTIC job this year!
Woo hoo!
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
I went to visit my friend Joy in southern Connecticut for a couple days, so I didn't get any web work done.
But, this morning I've finished the Graphs of Functions web exercise in
the Algebra II curriculum.
I like my "reading information from a graph" problems!
I'll start work today on the "Basic Models You Must Know" web exercise.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
THIS IS MAJOR!!
(Maybe not quite as major as the day I displayed my first horizontal fraction online using MathML, but close!)
I just figured out how to imbed dynamic, interactive,
GeoGebra graphs into my web exercises!
Check out my first experiments, in my new
Graphs of Functions web exercise in
the Algebra II curriculum.
(The exercises aren't written yet, but I should have them done in another day.)
WOO HOO!!!! WOO HOO!!!! WOO HOO!!!!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
I've finished the Compound Interest Formula web exercise. Check it out!
And, I JUST GOT DSL at home! No more dial-up for me! Woo hoo!
And, I just got my car back (someone backed into me... sigh... but it looks beautiful again).
And, I bought GORGEOUS backing material for the quilt I'm making for my daughter, for her graduation gift.
Okay... enough of this other life stuff... back to writing web exercises!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
I got two new "snapshots" up today—one about Algebra Pinball, and one about "NO ADVERTISING" (and my
donation button)!
Also, I've started the next Algebra II web exercise—the Compound Interest Formula.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
I've just about completed another Algebra II web exercise, Introduction
to Polynomials.
This one took me a long time to write, but I'm really pleased with it.
To finish the Algebra II curriculum this summer, I'm going to have to write a web exercise about
every 2.5 days.
I'm not sure if I can do it—but I'll give it a shot!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Paul VS (colleague at Miss Hall's School) and I met for about 3 hours to discuss the Algebra II curriculum;
based on this work, I revised the Algebra I and Algebra II objectives slightly on our Math Department pages (pdf files).
Monday, June 18, 2007
I've been working for days on a
word problem exercise;
my daughter Julia is teaching this for her first few days of summer school in Houston, Texas.
Julia wrote all the different types of problems; I just added randomness to them.
This exercise could go in a high-level Algebra I class, and/or when studying systems of equations in the Algebra II curriculum.
Thursday, June 14, 2007 Algebra Pinball for other schools is up-and-running! Check it out!
I've also revised my own Algebra Pinball so that all web exercises open in a new window.
I've also revised ALL my Table of Content pages, so that all web exercises open in a new window.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Well, the crazy end-of-year is over: finals, grading, comments, packing up, MHS commencement.
I had a "fender-bender" added to the mix, just for a little more excitement (a truck backed up into me at a traffic light).
My own daughter, Julia, graduated from Carleton; we were in Northfield, Minnesota for the commencement.
(Okay, I'll brag: summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with distinction in Mathematics!)
She's now in Houston, preparing for a 2-year Teach for America program in the Rio Grande
Valley, where she'll be teaching high school math.
So, now I finally get to start my summer work schedule! Woo hoo! (I LOVE SUMMERS!!)
I'll be finishing up the Algebra II curriculum, and a bunch of other projects.
First of all, I'm creating a page so that schools can run their own Algebra Pinball. It will be up soon!
By the way, my server has been up-and-down for weeks, with issues surrounding installation of a new server.
Sorry about any down-time you may have experienced.
With a bit of luck, things will settle soon and be better than ever.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Page views are up since changing the format of my homepage, so I think the "snapshots" are being successful
in keeping people looking around a bit longer!
Also, I won the first-ever "Pietas Award" at Miss Hall's School—this is an extension of their long-time "Civitas Award" for students.
Masha Jones read her nomination at Morning Meeting. What an honor... it was very exciting!
Friday, May 18, 2007
I'm changing my homepage. I'm putting "snapshots" of various parts of my site in the left-hand column,
with a button so that users can cycle through the snapshots.
Many people never get to see what the site can do for them—they have to get to a Table of Contents,
pick a section, pick an exercise, go down to the bottom of the page to find the actual exercise, install MathPlayer—too many
layers! I've decided to have all the "snapshot" links open in a new window.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
I've uploaded a new Algebra II web exercise,
Properties of Logarithms.
Again, I'm pleased with the variety of problems on this exercise.
Check it out!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
I've uploaded a new Algebra II web exercise,
Introduction to Logarithms.
No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get more than one web exercise written in a week (when
school is in session).
Check it out!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
I've uploaded a new Algebra II web exercise,
Multiplying Matrices.
This was a hard one for me, both in deciding how I wanted to motivate and present matrix
multiplication,
and also the coding for the multiplication of matrices.
The Javascript modulo
(remainder) operator once again came to the rescue! Check it out!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
I've uploaded a new Algebra II web exercise,
Basic Arithmetic with Matrices.
It covers adding and subtracting matrices, and multiplying a matrix by a constant. Check it out!
Sunday, April 22, 2007
I've uploaded a new Algebra II web exercise,
Introduction to Matrices.
I'm really pleased with the variety of questions. Check it out!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
I've uploaded a new Algebra II web exercise,
Equations of Circles.
This one took me a LONG time to write, but I'm really pleased with the generality of some of the questions.
Check it out!
Monday, March 5, 2007
I've uploaded a new Algebra I web exercise,
Simplifying (a + b)2 and (a - b)2 .
Check it out! I've added it to Algebra Pinball, too!
Sunday, March 4, 2007
I've uploaded a new Algebra II web exercise,
Complex Numbers. Check it out!
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
I've uploaded a new web page, Search Engine Results for this web site.
Check it out!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
I've uploaded a new Algebra II web exercise,
Factorial Notation.
Also, I took my PHP comment form off the web—web robots discovered it long ago, and I'm presented
with junk form submissions in my mailbox every day. So, I'm just going to have people email their comments
to me, using their preferred email tool.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
I've uploaded a new Algebra II web exercise,
Choosing Things: Does Order Matter?
This one took me a long time to write. Thanks to all the Miss Hall's people who helped me to come up with examples of situations where order matters, and where it doesn't!
Monday, January 8, 2007
I've now got my Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry courses posted at
http://www.curriki.org .
I also updated my "slide show" on MathML, and posted it at curriki, too.
I'm making good progress on my Algebra II combinations versus permutations exercises, so these
should be posted soon.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Happy New Year, everyone! I've deleted the blog created with Google "Blogger."
Even with my greatly-increased hits after my posting on http://www.curriki.org , this blog still didn't seem to encourage user comments.
I've updated all the Algebra Review exercises through the end of December. I'm now almost done with the Algebra I course updates, so I should be able to get going on new Algebra II web exercises.
Monday, December 11, 2006
I created a Google blog using the "Blogger" tool... will try and make it easier for people to send me feedback on my site. We'll see if it works!
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
I've updated all the Algebra Review exercises through December 8, for style consistency
with the rest of the site, updating the timing feature, and adding "in a nutshell" information as needed.
Thanks to my many girls testing the exercises, a few coding mistakes have been found and
corrected. Also, my "Google" ranking (and search engine rankings in general) is going up, with so many
people using the site!
Saturday, November 4, 2006
I've updated all the Algebra Review exercises through November 10, for style consistency
with the rest of the site, updating the timing feature, and adding "in a nutshell" information as needed.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Happy Halloween, everybody!
I've updated all the Algebra Review exercises through November 3, for style consistency
with the rest of the site, updating the timing feature, and adding "in a nutshell" information as needed.
Also, I've written and uploaded a new Algebra I exercise,
Adding and Subtracting Simple Fractions With Variables.
Check it out!
Sunday, October 22, 2006
I've updated all the Algebra Review exercises through October 26, for style consistency
with the rest of the site, updating the timing feature, and adding "in a nutshell" information as needed.
Have been busy writing college recommendation letters, too!
Monday, October 16, 2006
I've updated all the Algebra Review exercises through October 20, for style consistency
with the rest of the site, updating the timing feature, and adding "in a nutshell" information as needed.
I've also finished the Measures of Spread Algebra II web exercise.
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
I've updated all the Algebra Review exercises for the week of October 2–6, for style consistency
with the rest of the site, updating the timing feature, and adding "in a nutshell" information as needed.
This updating takes a lot of time! Now, I've got to get back to finishing up the Measures of Spread web exercise.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
I've uploaded a preliminary Algebra II web exercise,
Measures of Spread. Check it out!
I really struggled with how much to say about populations versus samples, but I'm reasonably pleased with my
final decisions.
The exposition is finished, but the web exercises aren't yet done.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
I've updated all the Algebra Review exercises for the week of September 25–29, for style consistency
with the rest of the site, updating the timing feature, and adding "in a nutshell" information as needed.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Whew! Even after about 25 years of teaching, the first week never seems to get any easier!
The girls are starting to fill in some of the "blanks" on Algebra Pinball, which is great. I'm still letting
them earn a free Quick Quiz point for each time they bring in a posting from someone outside MHS, so I'm
hoping to get a lot more entries from outside the school.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Welcome to a new academic year, everyone!
All the course materials for my four classes (AP Calc AB, Precalculus Honors, Precalculus, and Algebra II)
are online: Course Overview and Policies; Daily Syllabus; Review Exercise Schedules. I've also put
a multitude of the CLASS FORMS that I use online, including grade sheets and sign-ups
for Parent/Teacher conferences.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
I've finished entering ALL my timed exercises in Algebra Pinball. They're
ready and waiting for people to post fast times!
I finished the AP Calculus AB Algebra Review chart for the 2006–2007 academic year.
Now, it will be easy to adjust this review chart for both Precalculus Honors and Algebra II.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
I re-wrote the Identifying Place Values web exercise
to make it more challenging, so I reset its Algebra Pinball time. It's ready-and-waiting for someone
to submit a time! I also added "in a nutshell" material to this web exercise.
Sunday, July 9, 2006
I submitted my slide show to the NCTM Web Bytes. Hopefully, it will appear
this summer, while teachers have time to go through it. It would be great to get some new teachers using my site for the next academic year.
WEB BYTES SUBMISSION:
Take a stroll through this fun, interactive slide show! Learn about the language of math,
the evolution of mathematics typesetting, TeX, Math Markup Language (MathML) and much more—set in the
context of a site that uses it all, with 200 dynamic Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II web exercises.
There are lots of special effects to keep the presentation engaging and light.
Visit http://www.onemathematicalcat.org and click on the "slide show" link.
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
I'm doing updates on the Algebra I course: adding in a feature that tells you, as you're timing yourself,
how many correct problems you've done, and what time you're averaging. I'm also fixing some "focus" issues to
make the forms more user-friendly, and adding "in a nutshell" material where lacking. Have posted the
emerging year-long-review schedule off my homepage, so students can get started over the summer, if they want.
Unfortunately, this work is quite time-consuming and there isn't much "new" to show for it—but I guess that's
what summer is for!
Thursday, June 29, 2006
I've been so busy enjoying summer and time to work on all my projects, that I've neglected my blog!
I've finished creating an "Introduction to Moodle" course (using Moodle, of course). I'm impressed with the user-friendliness and capabilities
of this free, open-source, Course Management System. If our school decides to host a Moodle Server, then I'll
put the course online, open to everyone, as a gentle introduction for new Moodle users.
I've finished two books on XHTML/CSS, and feel confident to move forward, on all my new files, with strict XHTML.
I won't convert my existing files to XHMTL until (perhaps) many years from now, after I've finished my entire
high school math curriculum. It would just take too long—I have hundreds of files—and I want to keep
making progress.
I'm having fun with PHP, but have run into a glitch with MySQL. (It may be because I have MySQL in two
different places on my computer: one from installing Moodle, and one installation from the "Learning Php &
MySQL book. But I'm working on it.)
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Happy Father's Day to all fathers out there!
I just finished reading "Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML"—this is my first introduction to the "Head First"
series. FANTASTIC BOOK! I'll be using it to teach my next XHTML class at Miss Hall's School.
I'm also reading "Learning PHP & MySQL". From now on, I'll start writing everything new with XHTML,
and my site is certainly big enough that it could benefit from some database management. And, I definitely
need some server-side stuff for more interactivity (online quizzes, feedback forms, and so on).
I'm also reading "Using Moodle" (another O'Reilly book). I've downloaded Moodle (I'm "my own" server) and am
creating a little course, "An Introduction to Moodle," so I can show colleagues at Miss Hall's what Moodle
can do for them. So far, I'm really impressed with its capabilities and user-friendliness.
I've had all three nieces over for "pre-Julia" sleepovers, which was great fun. And, I'm actually COOKING meals every
night, now that school is out (and no longer providing me food). Mexican chicken corn chowder tonight!
By the way, I want to re-read my Javascript book (actually, I never quite finished it, way back when). I have
the THIRD edition of O'Reilly's "Javascript, A Definitive Guide". I notice that they're up to the fifth edition,
and the sixth is coming out soon. Can anyone please enlighten me—has it changed significantly? Is everything
in the third edition still valid, or should I trash it and buy the new one?
Enjoy summer, everyone!
Friday, June 9, 2006
Yeh! I've finally finished all my grading, comments, and end-of-year stuff, and can now start settling
into my summer routine.
I've bought seven books for my summer reading, on XHTML, AJAX, MySQL, and MOODLE.
And, I've still got books on PHP and SVG that I haven't finished.
So, I've got my summer work cut out for me!
I just added a "concept web exercise" to
Expressions versus Sentences.
(Go way down to the bottom to see the new exercise.)
This way, students don't have to print out (or view) a concept questions worksheet; they can just practice
with the questions online.
Thursday, May 4, 2006
I've finished the new Algebra II web exercise,
The Quadratic Formula (for now,
at least).
Sunday, April 30, 2006
I've uploaded a preliminary version of a new Algebra II web exercise,
The Quadratic Formula.
The exposition is not yet finished, and the exercises aren't yet finished. But, it's a start!
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
I turned the factoring trinomials Algebra I web exercise into a TIMED exercise (and will soon get it on
Algebra Pinball).
Also, I added some new equation types to the identifying quadratic equations
Algebra I web exercise.
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
I added a bunch of new problem types to the Algebra I web exercise,
Word Problems Involving Perfect Squares.
Also, here's a neat fact:
At two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 AM early tomorrow morning (i.e., on April 5, 2005), the time will be:
1:02:03, 4/5/06
Isn't that cool!
Sunday, April 2, 2006
Posted a new Algebra II web exercise,
Quadratic Functions and the Completing the Square Technique.
The web exercise isn't quite finished, but classes start again tomorrow, so it might be a little while before I get back to
it. (Sigh... for the end of vacation! It was glorious!)
Friday, March 31, 2006
Posted a new Algebra II web exercise,
Parabolas. This one has lots of neat Geometer
Sketchpad explorations!
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Posted a new Algebra II web exercise,
Probability Tree Diagrams. This one took me a
long time—about 20 hours. It has loads of variability with the following types of problems:
flips of a fair and unfair coin; colored balls in an urn with and without replacement. Enjoy! I've
also improved the previous exercise, More Probability Concepts (see below), and I've posted a lot
more "Fun Facts" in the Algebra I curriculum. I'm on vacation! I finally have time to get things done!
Wednesday, March 23, 2006
Posted some new Algebra Pinball exercises, and adjusted many links for consistency.
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Uploaded a new Algebra II web exercise,
Advanced Set Concepts.
Sunday, March 5, 2006
Uploaded a good start to a new Algebra II web exercise,
Basic Probability Concepts.
Saturday, March 4, 2006
Fixed a minor bug on "Solving Linear Inequalities with Fractions".
Saturday, February 25, 2006
I want to start putting some
FUN STUFF
into each of the Algebra I sections.
Here's a great site with lots of FUN FACTS that I'll be linking to:
Also, I moved the "Back to the top" links, to make the page less cluttered.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Rurika Oka has written Japanese instructions for Algebra Pinball, and we've put a link to these instructions
from the Algebra Pinball page. Thanks so much, Rurika!!
Also, I've added links from several of the pinball exercises back to the main pinball page, so someone doing the
exercise can quickly find out what the current best time is.
And, I've only got five more (of 51) end-of-term comments to write! Yeh!!
Friday, February 10, 2006
Happy Friday, everybody!!
I'm reading Fermat's Enigma (by Simon Singh) to my Algebra II class (last ten minutes every day; highly
recommended reading).
In today's reading, I made a discovery that escaped me the first time I read the book! We were
reading about perfect numbers (numbers whose proper factors sum to the number itself: for example, 6 = 1+2+3
is the first perfect number). I was writing the first few perfect numbers on the board...
6
28 (I'm thinking: cool, my birthday is on the 28th)
496
8128
I stopped. This number (8,128) looks like a date that I frequently write: 8/28. (The forward slash
looks a lot like a "one".) That's my birthday! August 28th! Look, my birthday is a
perfect number!
So, enough of that excitement. (Now, all future students will be subjected to this joyous bit of trivia
when a class is getting bored.)
Something more serious: I would like to check into MATH EDUCATION GRANTS that I could apply for,
to get more time to develop this web site. I want to develop a conceptual "skeleton" for an entire
high school mathematics curriculum online. (Algebra I is well along the way. Still to come: Geometry (started),
Algebra II (started), Precalculus, and Calculus. And I want "pinball" for the whole lot.) Teaching five courses,
there isn't much time left to do this.
Along the way, this site will promote MathML (Math Markup Language), which will change how math is
taught and learned, once it catches on. If
anyone knows of any grants that I might apply for, I would greatly appreciate it if you'd pass this
information along to me. (Just use the comment form link above.) Thanks!
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
First entry of the new year! Sigh... this is a sign of how busy things are.
I adjusted the Recognizing Products and Sums; Identifying Factors and Terms web exercise
so that, in the printable worksheet, there is a random ordering of the words product/sum and factors/terms.
Hopefully, once I have taxes and financial aid stuff done in the next few weeks (and have finished writing comments),
then I can return to making some regular progress on the web exercises!
Wednesday, January 18, 2005
I've fixed a bug on the Combining Like Terms web exercise; an answer of zero was mistakenly being reported
as an empty string.
I've been fighting for two days with Adobe Reader. It had been "bugging" me for weeks to download the newer
version, to which I kept clicking "NO!" because past experience has shown that upgrading can cause me hours and hours
of frustration with things not working. Well, this experience has again been confirmed! The new version (7.05)
is not working; it will not display PDF links in my web browser. I get a blank page, and then everything freezes. I have un-installed
and re-installed, scanned my entire system for spyware and viruses, gone through massive amounts of Adobe "troubleshooting"
stuff, and have still come up empty. SIGH. I just have to let it go for now, because I've got so much to do.
(I even tried to just re-download an earlier version of Adobe Reader, and that also failed to work.)
Last night, I got to see Al Gore's address at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, given on January 16th.
Unbelievable. His historical perspective, his understanding of the workings of our government, his eloquent
and dynamic delivery, made it the best address I have heard by a politician in many, many years.
Well worth your time.
This copy of his speech
doesn't even come close to seeing him deliver it himself, but it's better
than nothing.
Tuesday, January 3, 2005
I've finished the Solving Systems Using Elimination exercise. It
now has all types of systems: unique solutions, no solutions, infinitely many solutions. School starts up
again for us tomorrow. Happy New Year, everyone!
Friday, December 30, 2005
I have a preliminary version of the
Solving Systems Using Elimination exercise up and
running. There are still more different types of problems coming, but this is a start.
This one has taken quite a long time, because I've had to write a bunch of new macros
to automatically generate the MathML for equations of the type ax + by = c .
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Happy Holidays, everyone!
Things are settling down a bit, and I actually got some web work done today.
I finally wrote the "no solutions" and "infinitely many solutions" examples in the
Solving Systems Using Substitution exercise.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Fixed a minor glitch on the "Approximating Radicals" exercises in Section 22.
Rurika Oka has gotten the time on the multi-step exponent problems down to 3.3 seconds per problem.
Unbelievable!!
Sunday, December 11, 2005
A bunch of girls are having lots of fun with Algebra Pinball!
I've decided to include links to previous scores, so people can see the "evolution" of the fast times.
First international entry, thanks to Rurika Oka!
I put my "Condo for Sale" information online again.
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Did a lot more work on the
Solving Systems Using Substitution exercise.
Lots more coming: there will be more variety, systems with no solutions, systems
with a whole line of solutions.
Also, I got several more timed exercises posted on
Algebra Pinball. I'm trying to figure out a way to get an audience outside
of Miss Hall's involved in this. Offering "Quick Quiz" points to my students for getting people from
other schools to participate seems like one small step to get things started! Also, I'll be offering the
option of faxing the "time sheets" to the school instead of mailing them.
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
I decided to create my own blog!
Also, I uploaded a preliminary version of
Solving Systems Using Substitution
in the emerging
Algebra II curriculum.
