25 days of math (with treats)

I love advent calendars. It’s a Christmas tradition that I always wanted and never had growing up, so last year I bought this lovely wooden one on deep discount at a local craft store, after admiring them for years. Of course, I immediately discovered why my parents probably never indulged us in this tradition and why pre-filled calendars are so popular: It can be a serious challenge to find so many tiny things to fit in those drawers–and to be ready by December 1, to boot! But it’s so worth it, especially when I hear all the math noticing happening every day.

With four children, the way I tackle my advent calendar is to divide it up. Last year, I divided the first 24 days by four, so each child got six drawers, and then on Christmas Day they got a shared treat. This year I decided to have more shared drawers, so I divided all 25 days by five, so that every fifth day is a shared treat.

The kids immediately picked up on the new system and proceeded to explain it to their younger siblings. I would like to say that I planned it, but I have to admit is was sheer dumb luck: The calendar is helping my kindergartner learn to count by fives!

“Look, Mom, my days all end with two or seven! Malcolm, your days end with one or six, see? And on the five and zero days we all get a treat!”

Another bonus to the calendar is that I have a pat answer every morning to the inevitable question, “Mom, how many days until Christmas?”

“Go check the advent calendar and count.”

Melissa Burt

Melissa Burt

Guest Contributor

Melissa is a Graphic Designer & Copywriter at Educational Service District 112 who provides design for Math Anywhere’s printed and online materials. She is also the mother of four young math-curious kiddos.

More Biscuits!

Here is a lovely math exchange shared by my sister, Shannon, and my almost three-year-old nephew Cal.

boy with biscuitsMom: [gives Cal a plate with one biscuit]

Cal: I want more biscuits! I want two!

Mom: You may have one biscuit.

Cal: I don’t want one! I want two!

Mom: You may have one. If you don’t want one, you don’t have to eat any. That would be zero.

Cal: I want two!

Mom: You may have zero or one.

Cal: I want zero!

Mom: [walks away with plate]

Cal: I want zero and one. I want zero with my one.

Mom: Okay, here is your one. [sets plate back on table]

Cal: [finishes eating biscuit] I want my zero biscuit now.

Mom: That is your zero biscuit on your plate. Because zero means ‘no biscuit.’

A few minutes later…

Mom: Which biscuit did you like better, your one biscuit or your zero biscuit?

Cal: The zero biscuit.

Math moments happen everyday and I appreciate that Shannon took the time to notice, document and share this one!

Molly Daley

Molly Daley

Molly Daley is a Regional Mathematics Coordinator at ESD 112 in Vancouver, WA. She started the Math Anywhere! project to help children and their grown-ups experience the creative and playful side of mathematics. As soon as she learned there was more to math than the rules she memorized in school, Molly was hooked. She believes math is expansive and she likes helping people recognize their own mathematical connection.

Am I Streaking, Yet?

No need to picture security chasing someone around the field- I get cold too easily, I am not fast, and I love watching live sports, so a lifetime stadium ban would keep me from ever trying that type of streaking. In hopes I will stay engaged with running during the wet and cold winter, I am starting a streak today. I am going to run everyday for as many days in a row as I can. So if it’s day 1, am I streaking, yet? Or does your streak technically start on day 2?

In any case as I start my run streak, I thought it would be a good time to also start a blog streak. Jog and blog everyday to make these activities a routine part of my life. I have never tried an official running streak before, but here is what I imagine I have to accept:

  • Some runs are short. If I set unrealistic expectations trying to exceed or even meet the distance I am capable of every day, I won’t be able to keep up the pace or find time each day. Squeezing in ten minutes between meetings will be all I can manage on some days.
  • Some runs are “meh.”  Even pro-runners don’t want to run everyday. My favorite part of running is the feeling just after you finish, but I often have to remind myself of this before I start a run when I am resisting getting out there in the rain or distracted by other things on my to do list. Before or during a run I sometimes feel irritated, uncomfortable, or ambivalent. On days like this it just matters that you are out there. 
  • Some runs are lonely. I like to run with others- friends, training groups. Running with others promotes accountability and prevents boredom. But during these past several months at home I have developed more independence, which I think is an essential quality to maintaining a commitment to running.

Though I have never started a blog streak…I think I have only written one or two posts ever, I plan to apply these same lessons. What is the minimum length for a blog before it becomes a tweet? Maybe if I write only a sentence or two, I will tweet instead of post? We will have to see, but eking out ten minutes of writing between meetings will certainly be the case some (or many) days.

One of the main reasons I procrastinate blogging is because I have so much to say on the topic of math learning (especially beyond the classroom) that I overthink the “right” sequence or framing or articulation. Some blogs will be “meh” and I need to hit “publish” anyway. I am pretty confident a daily blog post would turn away a lot of subscribers, but I don’t really have the problem of speaking to a large audience now. I am going to blog daily because it is necessary (I think) for me to establish this routine in my professional life. 

Even more than running with others, I seek professional collaboration. I am always initiating and cultivating partnerships, and I rarely like putting my own work out there without feedback. I will have to write alone and share my unreviewed ideas if I am going to publish every day. This will cause me some discomfort, but I anticipate new found independence will follow.

So here we go…

Molly Daley

Molly Daley

Molly Daley is a Regional Mathematics Coordinator at ESD 112 in Vancouver, WA. She started the Math Anywhere! project to help children and their grown-ups experience the creative and playful side of mathematics. As soon as she learned there was more to math than the rules she memorized in school, Molly was hooked. She believes math is expansive and she likes helping people recognize their own mathematical connection.

Big Eyes and the Element of Surprise

Harry Potter Mystery Mini-figure toyTo market anything to the 10 and under crowd these days all you need to do is add some big eyes and the element of surprise. For my son (10) and my niece (8) this holiday Harry Potter Mystery Mini-figures became the obsession. With one figure each in hand we started our seven store sold-out toy search for more. I eavesdropped in on their backseat chatter as we traveled from store to store.

Harry Potter Mini-Mystery Figure Box with probability for each figureThe back of the box kept them occupied as they began to categorize the figures into four groups: 1) common – 1/6 odds 2) uncommon- 1/12 odds 3) rare – 1/24 odds and 4) epic – 1/36 odds. They went on to discuss their ideas about how many you would have to buy to get all 12 figures in this series. They also had boxes from 2 different series, which both included Harry Potter, of course. “How many Harry’s would you get if you tried to collect all the figures?” they wondered. And, “What are the chances we both get an ‘epic’?” and “What are the chances we get the same figure?” Somehow, nobody but me was wondering, “How many stores will we have to visit?” or “How many miles have we covered so far?” Occasionally they turned to the calculator on my phone to work out some of their reasoning. I have no idea if their math was correct. This is partly because my attention was on the road, but also because it didn’t really matter to me in that moment if it was. This was a mathematical conversation between two kids who were motivated to explore this situation. What more can I ask? I work hard to be patient and accepting of math ideas, trusting that correct methods will show up with time. I don’t need to do anything in this moment, but listen. Even by asking a question I might run the risk of derailing the conversation, or zapping their energy.

Thankful for my Barnes and Noble educator discount and holiday gift money from family, they each left with two more mini-figures. After working out the rules for how they would open them (each of them went to a separate room and called out the category of probability before revealing) on the way home, they finally opened their boxes. The dreaded duplicate…a painful life lesson in experimental probability. And yet, another opportunity to work out rules about trading and fairness of trades based on the commonality of the figure. Odds are there are more mystery mini-figure math discussions to come in my house.

Molly Daley

Molly Daley

Molly Daley is a Regional Mathematics Coordinator at ESD 112 in Vancouver, WA. She started the Math Anywhere! project to help children and their grown-ups experience the creative and playful side of mathematics. As soon as she learned there was more to math than the rules she memorized in school, Molly was hooked. She believes math is expansive and she likes helping people recognize their own mathematical connection.