Navigating Math with GPS by Sanaa Saykali

ssaykali1 — 2025-09-09 06:31:58 UTC

I grade homework based on completion and effort rather than only correctness, so students feel safe to try.

ssaykali1 — 2025-09-09 06:33:53 UTC

When teaching logarithms, I connect them to the Richter scale for earthquakes since many students in California have experienced one

ssaykali1 — 2025-09-09 06:36:56 UTC

I share a Padlet post where students write down one word that describes how they feel about math. We then talk about common themes. It helps students see they’re not alone in their struggles or excitement

First Day QR code

2025-09-10 16:24:34 UTC

On the first day of school, I provide a QR code for my students to answer some "getting to know you" questions. Then I put them into groups to discuss the answers as the try to find things they have in common and build a sense of community.

Mount St. Helens Zone of Silence

2025-09-10 16:30:44 UTC

When teaching Polynomial Equations and graphs, I show a video about the Mount St. Helens eruption and then show them a picture I took in Washington at the museum describing the Zone of Silence. The sound waves traveled as a polynomial graph and the explosion could not be heard within 60 miles!

You can do something about it!

2025-09-10 16:34:10 UTC

I tell the students a story about how heart disease runs in my family and how a doctor told me that I am basically doomed. But I told my students that I won't just accept that fate. I exercise regularly and eat well because I can grow and change. Similarly, if they think they are doomed to always be bad at math, they can also practice and grow to become successful.

Multiple opportunities to "mess it up"

2025-09-11 19:32:51 UTC

We use worksheets and quizzes in-class on multiples days during the week. (This is a corequisite course, so we have the time). I tell the students to work together and figure it out. I walk around and assist, but I do not give out answers. I tell them that the answer is not helpful once you know it. Getting the answer (or getting the answer incorrect) is helpful.

hourly vs. commission work

2025-09-11 19:37:44 UTC

This is a standard example, but it helps students think. The typical question is would you rather be paid $X per hour, regardless of sales; or $Y (necessarily less than $X) per hour plus a commission of what you sell during those hours.

The questions become:

"How much do I need to sell to earn the same as $X per hour for the number of hours worked?"

"Can I make that number of sales?"

"Do I want to work that hard?"

"How much can I earn over $X per hour if I make a lot of sales?"

First day activity from James Lang's book (Small teaching)

2025-09-11 19:39:23 UTC

I plan to try the first day exercise from James Lang's book. It seems straight forward and easily adaptable to an entry-level college algebra class.

Judith Covington

2025-09-17 01:12:45 UTC

I try to give them lots of practice and talk about how practice helps us learn from our mistakes. We use MyMathlab for homework and I talk about how there they get to redo problems lots of times with no penalty. Then we take quizzes (on MML) and there they only get once chance to answer a question, but they do get multiple attempts at the quiz. This is to help them see if they have mastered the material. Then when there is time we take a practice quiz/test in class to help them get LOTS of practice before we take the "official" test.

2025-09-17 01:14:16 UTC

In our contemporary math class we do lots of example and so there are lots of really life applications. Currently we are working on the method of sealed bids which is a way of dividing/sharing items that cannot be cut into smaller pieces. I think this is a neat application since everyone almost always gets more than their fair share.

2025-09-17 01:16:10 UTC

On the first day I had students write something they were worried about or excited about in the upcoming semester. I did not do a great job of introducing this since all students wrote both. Then I had them wad them up and throw them at me. Then come pick up one and throw at me again. They read what was on the paper they collected. I did make sure that all students knew that at some point what they wrote would be read out loud, just not by them. I think it helped the students see that their answers were not very different from their classmates.

Parabolas and Sports

2025-09-19 16:53:30 UTC

One of my favorite units in college algebra is applications of parabolas. A few semesters ago, I was at a LSUS men's soccer game, during which a student in on of my colleges algebra classes successfully navigated a "header" that the goalie did not anticipate. I play the video clip (without introduction) every semester before we analyze quadratic functions. The students are eager to engage in discussions about what they saw and noticed about the path of the soccer ball.

The Snowball Throw

2025-09-19 16:59:14 UTC

Saana shared this activity with us at the MSummit in the spring. I used it on day 1 with students in my trigonometry class. After about twenty students read different comments, it was as though I could feel the tensions roll off the students' back. I asked them if they could think of "throwing the snowball" not only as they were not alone, but that they were also throwing the fear away.

More tries on homework

2025-09-22 14:07:53 UTC

I allow 10 attempts on each homework problem, and I tell them that I'm willing to add more if necessary. I tell them, "I don't care how many tries it takes you to get it right, I just want you to learn how to do it."

Piecewise Functions

2025-09-22 14:09:59 UTC

I explained piecewise defined functions with an example of zoo admission based on age. We talked about how we first need to decide which age category we fall into, then we can know our one (and only one) admission cost.