I started my math camp today, and am extremely pleased with how the first day went. As background, here is an excerpt from an email I sent interested parents about the version of my camp that I will be running at my town's public library in August.
I have designed this program with three goals in mind: I'd like to (a) encourage teenage girls to stick with math, (b) introduce them to non-curricular math ideas, and (c) show them that math is full of opportunities for group work. My goal is NOT to say that math is easy; rather, I want to convince my students that it is interesting and fun enough to "stick with," even when it seems difficult.
I will be introducing students to studies showing that even babies have some "number sense," show them how to read a stock page, address some basic ideas of economics, have them find examples of the Golden Ratio in nature, and demonstrate to them some mind-bending proofs about infinity. I hope to also teach students how to play the game "Set," during our break time each day. I will use a variety of techniques and materials, including a "Great Books"-style seminar, an excerpt from NPR's Radiolab, the Business Section of the New York Times, and lots of collaborative work.
The Radiolab excerpt is really great. If you're interested, check out Numbers. We listened to minutes 2 through 18, avoiding the reference to Johnny Cash's "25 minutes" (a countdown song to the gallows, something I thought might not sit very well with a group of 13-year-olds...or their parents).
I am looking forward to the rest of the week!
I had no idea that you had organized this whole camp by yourself! I'm EVEN more in awe of you.
ReplyDelete(and am pretty sure that means we need to talk ASAP).