Everyone in fourth grade had a wonderful time writing the date today. Me too! 12-12-12 and it's the last time I'll get to write one of those. I pointed out to my students that they might make it to 1-1-1 which would be January 1, 2101, but they'd be really, really old.
However, then we got going on some other interesting dates and we came up with a few that will be coming up in our lifetimes:
11-12-13 will come along next year!
12-13-14 will be there in a couple more years!
The math brain kids already pointed out some fun dates in the last month:
11-1-12 They said that we could change the first dash to a plus sign and make an addition equation.
10-2-12 Again, that little change and we've got an equation. They went through the whole calendar at that point, and came up with every date in 2012 that could become an equation.
These are the real teaching moments! You can sense a change in the atmosphere--there's a little ripple of excitement going through the room. Everyone is engaged and, suddenly, it isn't just math anymore---it's Real Life Using Math! Cool!
I love teaching school. Still. Even the week before, the week before Christmas. Everyone is nuts! Especially me. Sigh. Just seven more school days and we can all take a break from each other. I'm really concentrating on that most important professional goal of mine: Do not commit a felony. Merry Next to the Last Week of School Before Christmas all you teachers out there!!
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