Review for Quadrilateral Quiz

Hello Class!

To review for our upcoming quiz use the following link to review quadrilaterals.

http://classtools.net/widgets/dustbin_1/3oh35.htm

Comments, opinions, suggestions?

Since this is my first blog I would greatly appreciate any feedback from you. Thanks!

Self-discipline and Math

Have you ever thought about the common thread that runs through many problems we Americans face in our every day lives? Think about it. What do diets, fitness and personal finance issues all have in common? My response is self-discipline -- or in many cases lack of it. Does it take self-discipline to eat responsibly, exercise regularly or stay within your financial budget? Certainly. Often I believe we are encouraged to believe that self-discipline is constraining, boring, or just plain anti-American. Like many of you I suppose, as I've gotten older I've begun to realize that there are many more benefits that result from strong self-discipline than there are drawbacks.


Now, let's talk a little bit about how self discipline factors into success in math. My desire today is to impress upon you that having self-discipline in math is highly desirable and will most likely lead you to accomplish your academic goals. Believing in this philosphy led me to do a little research about it. In doing so I came across this website, How to Teach Math to Students

The author Brian Boley points out what he calls process problems and states that this type of problem causes the most math difficulties. Let's examine one of these problems today.....SLOPPINESS.

SLOPPINESS: for example, inconsistently lining up columns or inability to disinguish one handwritten number from another.

Think about it.

How does neatness effect your ability to add 3 decimal numbers such as 0.03 + 0.012 + 1.45? Well, you will get very different answers if the decimal points are not lined up properly.

What if your problem is 178 * 56 but in your haste you wrote quickly and now you do not realize that what should have been a 7 now looks like a 1?

This is really just the tip of the iceberg so to speak when it comes to problems like this. Unfortunately, this type of problem cannot be fixed overnight. Instead it takes time, effort and SELF-DISCIPLINE.

So, let me ask YOU, can you think of other examples where sloppiness would negatively affect your math problem solving? Post your response no later than Friday February 12th.