The coolest pinwheels in town

I was amazed at how much I learned at today's activity, it was really surprisingly amazing. The first child I helped was brilliant with math for his age. It made me jealous, because I remembered how at his age there was no way I was whipping out the numbers like he was. Then he and I encountered the point of long division. I think the last time I did long division was 3rd grade. :) It took me a trial run to remember all the steps. It was really awesome though to help him.

It was almost time to leave about 1:30 when two small families came to see what it was we were doing. I think it was from these two that I learned the most. These families showed me that it was all about opportunities. One of the families was a mother and her son. She said they did not come to this library much but she was excited to learn about the Riverbend Math Activity. She had a lot of questions for me, and my impression was that she came from a background with little opportunities. She kept telling me that her son was really good with his hands and very smart. Sure enough, what took me two times to see to learn how to do it, he mastered it in one. I could tell this was something that she would bring her son to again.

It made me think of a story I had heard on the news the other day. I heard that a lot of libraries were going to be and are closed due to lack of funding. The president of the American Library Association said she could not imagine what lives would be like without libraries. I think its amazing how much of our life is based upon opportunities. It is because of public transportation that the mother and son were able to come to the public library. Luckily, because there are amazing organizations like Riverbend Math that this mother and son were able to participate for free in a family math activity and learn of a lot of other helpful activities that she promised her son they would go to.

Our Bag fest is also an opportunity, I think. It will be able to provide information and experiences for people with a lot and little opportunities in their lives. I think it is events like this that everyone can look forward to, no matter what their background is, and that is what makes it so awesome. I think everyone who attends will leave with an experience and knowledge from opportunities, and that is what it is all about. We are giving an opportunity, and I hope everyone who wants to and can takes advantage of it.

Riverbend Math, Origami

I went downtown to the library to help Amanda for the Riverbend math session. Walking into the building I was nervous that I wouldn't be of much use. I don't trust myself to teach or tutor anyone over the age of 8 in math and I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to help out very well. It turned out to be a great time! I helped teach both kids and adults to create origami pinwheels which was a great project for the kids to work on and a few of the moms got really into it as well!! I had a blast and learned how to make some pretty neat projects..good for any college kid on a budget to know when it comes to having to give presents to other people!!! What was really exciting for me was to see how excited the kids were when they had a complete project! It was a good way to start out my Saturday...yes 11:30 is relatively early on a Saturday morning for me but this began my day on a positive note and I hope to be able to help out again sometime soon.

Homework Tutoring with Amanda

Yesterday, I went to the library to help Amanda from the Riverbend Math Community Center with tutoring math. I wasn't sure what to expect (and was pretty nervous about tutoring anyone in math)! But, it was actually a great time. I spent some time with two students, both 7th graders. One student and I worked on adding and subtracting positive and negative integers, the other student and I worked on some geometry. In both instances, it was a great experience because I got to help some kids who were having trouble with math and when I was in middle school I also stuggled a bit with math. It was really nice, I feel the kids and I were able to relate after I explained that I had similiar problems at their age. I remember being that age, and sometimes you think you're the only one having trouble. Something else that was interesting were the two other students both working on probability, and I thought wow, I just learned that in stats recently! We never stop learning at any age so... they learned-I learned, and it was a good time!!!

RiverBend Math

I worked at the library for Amanda for the third time. I did two homework clinics and the Saturday when the kids worked with statistics. I enjoyed it but it was challenging because some of the math concepts I haven’t used for years. But it did help refresh my memory. Helping people like that also helps build confidence. Amanda was real helpful. I had a chance to sit down and talk to her when all the kids had left. She is an interesting and insightful person. If I had time and if it wasn’t so far away from where I live I would really like to continue helping there. On a side note, I’m glad spring break is finally hear. I was hoping to get caught up on some things but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

Stats and Kids!

On Sat. afternoon last week, I took my 7 year old daughter to the library to volunteer for the River Bend Math Center. We had such a great time, and learned alot in the meantime! There were 3 activities that we participated in, one included a beach ball globe, another with letters, and the 3rd using M&M's these items don't sound much like what would be used to teach statistics but nonetheless, they provided great interactive opportunities for the kids's to learn from. One of the most impressive things to me, was that we had some participants that weren't kids but instead had some learning disability so that these activities were fun and a great way to learn something new even for adult/young adults. I met several nice kids and older people too, one adult woman really impressed me. She was very intelligent but struggled a bit socially or developmenatally, and she was just amazing during the beach ball experiment.
The idea was to learn with repeated sampling that we could get accurate and consistent results. The participant was told that the earth was made up of 75% water, then they were asked to hold up their pointer finger and I tossed the ball to them, wherever their pointer finger landed they said either, "land or water". Someone else recorded the results and after about 10 tosses, we looked at the results to determine if their fingers landed more often on land or water, The results showed that most times for obvious reasons they landed on water, and then the participants gave their ideas about why that happened. Well, the woman I mentioned would also comment on the land that her pointed to, and taught us a bit of geography!
My daughter was writing down fractions, and talking about proportions while using M&M's! Another young man had fun interviewing people about the spelling of their name, then using paper cut out letters he spelled each name and determined the mean, median, and mode for the number of letters his sample of names had! These were kids' doing statistics! It was so much fun, and a great way to fun while learning.

stats at the library

I had my second experience volunteering at the library. Today we introduced the kids to statistics. I was in charge of the activity using a beach ball globe. The kids tossed it to each other to see if their finger would land on water or land when they caught it. We used the results to find the percentages. The kids also used different colored M&M’s to find proportion, decimal, and percentages. Cards with letters on them were used spell names then find the mean, medium and mode using the letters of the name. It was a great experience helping the kids of different ages and different learning levels. Some of them were slower and some of them were real bright. I also got to meet a few other volunteers and parents.

family math activity - statistics

Today I volunteered with the family math activity. We did fun statistics activities. The activity that I was mostly involved with involved counting M&M's, making a frequency distribution histogram, then calculating the proportion, decimal, and percentage of M&M's and comparing that to the national average for each color. Needless to say, the kids really enjoyed this activity. We definitely should have done this in our class when we were learning this stuff. Another activity involved the kids taking a small sample of people's first names and then using letters to spell out each name and finding the mean, median, and mode of the number of letters in a person's name. This was interesting because the letters made it easy to visualize the concept.

clinic

I finally got to work at the homework clinic at the library. It was my third attempt. The first time a family emergency came up. The second time we got snowed in. They say the third time is always a charm. It was interesting. It allows you to brush up on your math. One lady even said she liked the way I explained it because it made it easier for her. Imagine that, me explaining numbers. One girl was doing things way beyond me.

family math activity

Today I volunteered at the family math activity held at the public library by the Riverbend Math Community Center. Again, I felt totally out of my comfort zone in explaining stuff that' s difficult for me, but I learned so much and had a great time in the process. The activity that I helped with today had to do with using materials such as little lightbulbs, batteries, and wires to make the lightbulbs light up and working with logic puzzles. I was impressed by how smart these kids were and how patient even the youngest ones were in trying different methods to make the lightbulbs light up. It certainly seems like sometimes kids have more patience and persistence in stepping out of their comfort zones to try something new than adults do and this certainly applies to learning statistics! I must admit these little kids were inspiring to me as I trudge on through my semester that at times can be very frustrating!

Science Alive

I also had a great time on Saturday. Coming away from it, I would argue that it was a HUGE success! First off, I was blown away by how many people were there! Second, having walked around a little bit, I thought the exhibits were great and very diverse, and overall, I was just amazed at how enthusiastic the kids really were about it! I admit, if my mom told me I was going to go to a math and science fair at the library when I was a kid, I probably would NOT be too happy about it. However, my preconceived notions would have been entirely wrong. The kids honestly had an absolute blast and were able to create and participate in hundreds of interactive experiements that were mostly about "real life" scnearios that we often don't take the time to REALLY think about. They were all eager to learn and try new things, and they were sincerely interested in how and why things worked the way they did. I was VERY impressed!

I was also surprised at how enthusiastic, patient, and supportive the parents were...despite the dangerously frigid temperatures, the huge crowds, and screaming children. Furthermore, I couldn't believe how many volunteers there were! I guess the take-home message for me was that science and math, and the effort to make it applicable to every child in a hands-on, practical way, is an issue that THOUSANDS of people are extremely passionate about! Admittedly, I had no idea.

Overall, I really enjoyed myself! I thought it was so refreshing to see SO many people truly enjoying themselves in what I would call an educational setting. I had tons of fun with the kids, and it was also great to be able to hang out with classmates in a place outside of the classroom. I am extremely grateful to Michelle for finding this volunteer opportunity for us, and to the Serenevy's for allowing us to be part of their wonderful exhibit.

That's about all I have to say about that. (Except, I didn't get a cool free pen!) :)

they blinded me with science...

Okay, hint taken. :)

Science alive was good times. Immediatly upon arrival, they tied me and my kind friend Ron in yarn and said "untangle yourselves." Dean tried to give me hints I found completely bewildering, while Tory and Michelle seemed to enjoy my bewildered tangled state. Molly came later andit all came full circle when we tied her up in yarn. What a great day with great friends! The Serenevys are brilliant, and so passionate about math, they really developed some fun activities for us kids, big and small. It was wonderful to see the kids faces light up w/ amazement and understanding. Sometimes I get so apathetic about math, being with those kids has inspired me to find the magic in it. And I got a cool free pen!

Melis'

Science Alive Event

I was up at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday and I was tired. The library parking was closed and I was mad. It was freezing cold outside and all I could find was parking with about a five minute walk. I walked in and was greeted by Amanda. From there on, the rest of my day was awesome and humorous. Kim and I tried to figure out the puzzle without success. Then I got to watch Melissa and her friend try to figure out the puzzle as well without success. Volunteering at the Science Alive Event was a really good experience. I loved watching the kids, and many parents, attempt the puzzle with so much confidence. They, as we all did, would jump through loops, step over each other, climb over and under. Then within five minutes both kids and parents were clueless and looking for clues. Once we explained the puzzle and helped them solve it they all would be in amazement and awe. Sometimes the parents were more impressed than the kids. I found the time went by incredibly fast because I was having a lot of fun. What I started off as being unsure about and kind of doubting toward, ended up being one of the best ways I could have spent my Saturday morning. I look forward to volunteering again to teach a little and learn even more!

Defining "space" disambiguously.

Participating in one of the exhibits at the Science Alive Event this past Saturday was a great experience and my sincere thanks to Dr. Amanda Serenevy, Director of the River Bend Math Center, for allowing us the opportunity to share a few of the basic concepts of topology with the community. I particularly enjoyed interacting with the children and teenagers; watching their facial expressions change as their interest and understanding of these basic concepts increased. Prior to the exhibit, I myself was not familiar with the theory of topology, but after some quick research, learned that it is a mathematical concept involving geometry and defining space...who knew?!

By using topology puzzles provided by both Dr. Amanda Serenevy and Dr. Dean Serenevy (Mathematician), I was able to help children conceptualize some of the mathematical properties of natural space and the knot theory—and make it fun!! The first time I met Dr. Amanda Serenevy was when she visited our statistics class (on campus) and demonstrated one of her topology puzzles. I was immediately intrigued with her ‘three-dimensional’ approach and wanted to learn more about her program at the River Bend Math Center.

One of my future goals is to evaluate various elements of core curriculum (e.g. Math, Science) within school systems that reflect consistent disparities in students’ academic performance to identify factors contributing to these discrepancies and find solutions that will allow students excel to their highest potentials. I have confidence that by implementing innovative techniques—such as the ones demonstrated by Dr. Serenevy in core subjects will allow educators facilitate a broader spectrum of learning styles within the student population.

Science Alive

I had fun at the Science Alive event, but I must admit that I felt very nervous at first at participating. I'm not somebody with a lot of math confidence, but I think it was great that we had a lot of students from our class participating. It was great getting to know my fellow classmates better too. I hadn't been there more than a few minutes when Amanda had Tori and I all looped together. Try this at your next dinner party. I highly recommend this as a get acquainted activity. (just kidding) I think one of the most important messages is that math can be fun and definitely relates to everyday life. There is math in everything we do. The same is true for statistics. I don't know that I would go so far as to say that statistics is fun, but it definitely relates to everyday life. I also never realized that math can actually produce something as beautiful as the "wreath" (donut or torus) that Amanda Serenevy made out of 2 inch squares of paper. She explained to me that the inside of it was made up of septagons and the outside of pentagons and the rest of it of hexagons, which has to do with the angles that these shapes form that allows you to weave the pieces of paper together. (Amanda, please correct me if I explained that wrong.) Anyway, it was great that so many people came to the event and had fun with our activities. I learned how to fold a jumping frog and went home and impressed my husband with the demonstration of what happens when you cut the two interlocked circles. Thanks to Amanda and Dean Serenevy for providing this opportunity to us.

Fun at Science Alive!

Despite yesterday's cold conditions, many kids attended the Science Alive Festival at the St. Joseph Public Library. And we were there to help support the Riverbend Math Community Center. Hopefully, some of my students will blog about their experience at the festival (hint, hint), but in the meantime, here are some photos taken at the event. Enjoy! :0)

Tori and Amy watch a father attempt the "Typology Tango"

Kim's typology demonstration

Folks having fun while learning math

Having fun while learning math is contagious

(or as one kid said, "kinda freaky")

Amanda explains the "donut" to two young boys

Girls hard at work

Molly's typology demonstration

Nancy's typology demonstration

Amy's typology demonstration

Melissa's typology demonstration

A cute kid