whiteboard – Math in the Time of Corona

January 26 Day 689: It’s Pretty Sticky

I love Post-It Note activities to bring a group together as we work towards a common goal. After today’s assessment work group meeting, I created this activity to prepare for our next discussion. The circles represent the four majors in the Science and Math (SAM) Division of the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences atContinue reading “January 26 Day 689: It’s Pretty Sticky”

January 18 Day 681: That was Interesting

The verdict is in. In-person class was OK. Seven in the classroom. Eight on zoom. One (maybe two) absent. It was the best attendance I have had thus far. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. So I tried to be flexible and ready for anything. Everyone brought a laptop or tablet and most signedContinue reading “January 18 Day 681: That was Interesting”

January 6 Day 669: Miro Voting–the Reality

It worked! Not perfectly. I learned things along the way. I had 12 (of 17 students) attending class today. Of those 12, only 9 participated in the voting. Not everyone got the prompt to join the voting. I don’t know if this was because they joined the board after the voting started or if itContinue reading “January 6 Day 669: Miro Voting–the Reality”

January 5 Day 668: Miro Voting—the Plan

Presenting definitions can be downright boring. One activity for class tomorrow gives students all the definitions from this section (as you can see on the left side of the cover image) and has them work in groups to identify which of the four augmented matrices a), b), c), or d) on the right satisfy thoseContinue reading “January 5 Day 668: Miro Voting—the Plan”

January 4 Day 667: Return to Remote

This was not the way I hoped to start Winter Quarter 2022. Remote in the first week and in-person thereafter. “Have a soft start” they said. Unfortunately, in a 10-week quarter, there is no wiggle room. In the best of times, it is a delicate balance between empowering students to investigate new concepts on theirContinue reading “January 4 Day 667: Return to Remote”

October 5 Day 576: Inconceivable

I just finished a virtual meeting with a student who was asking questions about the written homework due tonight (at 11:59 pm). He kept holding his work up to the laptop camera and I squinted to make out the writing. Hoping we could work differently, I asked, “What’s your favorite collaborative whiteboard?” Crickets. It wasContinue reading “October 5 Day 576: Inconceivable”

January 18 Day 316: Beginner’s Mind

This quarter I am teaching the second course in the two quarter sequence of undergraduate abstract algebra. I use inquiry based learning and that means I need everyone to be able to present and share their work with others. I wish everyone could have an iPad (or any other touch screen tablet). But it isContinue reading “January 18 Day 316: Beginner’s Mind”

January 11 Day 309: JamBoard vs. Limnu

I started the quarter using Google JamBoard because it was the technology the students used in the first quarter of this two quarter sequence. I’ve used it for two days and I have a few complaints. I can only select one object at a time to copy/move/resize. The size of the images pasted to theContinue reading “January 11 Day 309: JamBoard vs. Limnu”

January 5 Day 303: Notable Firsts

The Joint Mathematics Meeting 2021 is a virtual affair and will be my first national conference of the pandemic. It officially starts tomorrow morning but today was the MAA Board of Directors meeting that is held the day before. I’ve just finished planning my first two days of attendance. There is a learning curve forContinue reading “January 5 Day 303: Notable Firsts”