Two years ago I took an unexpected hiatus from teaching High School Math in order to teach Grade 8 English Language Arts, Math, and electives. To this day, it is my least favourite year of teaching, and almost resulted in me leaving my current school. Not a fan...BUT during that year I discovered a love of poetry that I didn't know was in me. I've really enjoyed this week!
For the five Bridges poets, I chose to listen to Marian Christie, David Greenslade, Lisa Lajeunesse, Amy Uyematsu, and Ursula Whitcher. It happened to work out that they all had different takes on the way that the melded mathematics and poetry together, with some using mathematics, some writing about mathematics, and others writing to mathematics and mathematics students. Out of the five, Marian Christie and Lisa Lajeunesse caught my attention most.
Marian Christie read four poems: Pathways, Elevenses, The Primary Hourglass, and Clothoid. All of her poetry utilized the mathematics they were about to communicate information about them. Pathways was based on the Fibonacci sequence, Elevenses on the number 11 (side note: Much to my dismay, it does not reference The Hobbit at all 😞), The Primary Hourglass used the largest two sided prime number (739397), and Clothoid took the shape of carvings Christie had seen on a holiday in Malta. All of the poems took the shape of their topics and paid attention to the number of letters, words, or syllables that was connected to their inspiration. Below is The Primary Hourglass, which fascinated me, as not only do the number of words in the line mirror the number of numbers in each line, but each word has the corresponding number of letters!
Lisa Lajeunesse shared two poems, Dear Linear Algebra Student and Life and Love. I really appreciated the way she approached her poetry, reading as if the audience she was speaking to was right in from of her, familiar and relatable. She read in the first to her new students in a Linear Algebra course. I was amused by the way she compared Linear Algebra and Calculus and quickly connected with the things the said. The second poem was inspired by the Fibonacci Sequence in a different way that Christie. Beginning with the words "Life" and "Love", these words were repeated over and over again with the small addition of joining words for each phrase.
This short article described how Marvel creators used the Möbius Band in their comics, allowing characters to become the vehicle for some mathematical content. I have no idea this was a thing!
Marvel superhero, Silver Surfer, has a new-ish series, and Issue 11 is titled "The Moebius Madness of Silver Surfer". Below are two examples of Möbius Bands in comics.
My take-aways?
I am a visual learner. I gravitate to that which I can see and study and observe. I think that's why I'm so drawn to the poems that take the shape of their topic and the ideas that can be sketched out and made sense of on paper. I am fascinated by the artists who work abstract concepts into tangible pieces.
I think it is so cool that comic book creators have found ways to use the Möbius Band and other academic content in their creations, as this exposes children (and adults!) to bigger ideas without them even realizing it.
Listening to Mike Naylor, I also realized that I am drawn to rhythm, which he really leaned upon for his poetry.
All in all, this has caused me to stop and think about the way that I present my material in math class. Am I only presenting it in ways that I understand? Are there more creative ways I can engage students? How can I reach the students that really grasp humanities and arts?
I had a good time creating these two Fib poems:
COVID. Year 3.
Now
is
the time.
We look forward;
We long for change...
A time where "normal" and "new normal" meet.
The Same Question
What
are
we learning?
My students enter,
their faces sharing their hearts.
Math is an experience; no two the same.
I realized that I was drawn to rhythm too! I think back and it makes sense. Everytime I want to remember a set of numbers or phrases, I sing them in a tone in my head...kind of like the song 867 - 5309! Hmm I wonder if our students remember things in a pattern to and if it can be turned into a poem..or a song! After all, a song can be a poem...I think...
ReplyDeleteYour questions resonate with me! I am always trying to see if the way I am presenting math works for the students I am teaching. I loved learning about the mathematical steps and why they worked...but I see a lot of my students do not think this way. I see it a lot in problem solving with equations. I was taught to show a let statement, formulate an equation, solve the equation with all the steps, and then write a final answer. I question this method now.. I mean it may work for some, but does it work for all? Should we penalize because a student solves the problem using a different method? If I am reading a solution, and I do not understand a part, I go to that student and ask for verbal clarification. Some students need to talk it out instead of writing it out and we need to be aware of that.
I hear you! I have some students that writing a test does not work for them, so I meet with them after school and they talk their way through the test. This allows me to develop a better understanding of their thinking and what they know. Unfortunately, I can't do this with all of them.
DeleteRhythm - do you remember having to memorize phone numbers? I would sing them out, and each number had its own tune. I still remember old numbers but I can't even remember my kids' new ones. I will be in big trouble if I ever lost my phone!
I was taught the same way you were Justin, but is it really so bad? I think we have to find the balance between our more traditional ways, and new ways of thinking and presenting solutions. I ask students how they learn best, but the answer is often the same. Is this because they do not know any different? Are students unable to express an alternative way to learning math because they assume there is no other way and yet, their own responses show alternative ways? Sometimes the biggest struggle I have is encouraging students to write down more than just their answer.
Hey Debby and Justin,
DeleteI appreciate hearing about the different ways of showing understanding you allow for in the higher grades. I'm worried for my students because I don't think their teachers at the high school accept much variety, so I try my best to really get them to know and practice those old school processes so they're not hooped when they get there. Blegh. Of course we do a lot of other problem solving every day, Thinking Classroom style, which I hope will hope to balance things out a bit.
So interesting! I always remembered phone numbers by the shapes or designs formed on the touchpad. My friend's phone number growing up formed two right triangles - one large, one small (six-three-five-nine-three-seven-nine).
Fiona - thanks for posting the images. I didn't even think about the Marvel movies - the Time-Variance Authority uses the mobius strip. Your post reminded me of Dr. Strange, and the time stone. (I had an image but don't know how to include it here.) What a great way to introduce this into a math class.
ReplyDeleteI loved the poems you posted - I love the image, and the connections. This is a great example of the many ways poetry and math connect.
Your COVID poem hit home - where "normal" and "new normal" meet. How many times have we found ourselves saying the "new normal?" We just switched back to our old schedule, which was new since September, and represents our new normal as a result of COVID. At what point does the new normal just become normal?
Fiona! I really enjoyed Marian Christie too! Her presentation and voice were so graceful. I also thought Elevenses was going to be about hobbits! Ha! Like you said, I appreciated the way Marian Christie used shape to demonstrate the concepts in her poems.
ReplyDeleteI like your Fib poems 😊 COVID. Year 3. Oh goodness, aren’t we all just SO READY for normal and new normal to meet? I can’t wait to see my kids’ faces again and to be able to read their emotions on their mouths too, rather than just guessing with their eyes.
It's wonderful to hear that you enjoyed this week, Fiona! I also appreciate your posting of the comics, and your Fibs poems really talk about what we all resonate with. I think we all cannot wait for when the "normal" and the "new normal" meet, whatever this "new normal" means.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks everyone for a stimulating discussion! Cassie, it's so fascinating that you remembered phone numbers by the shapes or designs. That's very cool! One of my takeaways from this class is Susan's message about the traditional way of teaching, "it's not bad; it's just not enough." Great points about encouraging multiple representations and providing opportunities for students to share their thinking orally!