Saturday, June 21, 2008

The Numeracy Project - Live

This is our Spirit Week 2007 gig. We rocked the house!
Voted best math teacher band in downtown San Jose!
Check out my singing debut in the second clip (get ready to turn down the volume...)



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Way cool. Got to love the kids loving the bad algebra jokes.

Do you know the original, before the Animals? I didn't, and was a little surprised by the subject... 1960 Joan Baez version

Jonathan

Dan Wekselgreene said...

Thanks for posting that link. It's really a beautiful version.

e said...

Dan,

Can you post the actual slides, or the words? It's is really hard for me to understand -- you know, being a foreigner and all. And it doesn't help that I yelled myself into mild deafness. Thanks.

Btw, it was awesome to see the enthusiasm on their part :)

Dan Wekselgreene said...

Sure...

"y = mx + b" (Sung to Semisonic's "Singing In My Sleep")

Verse:
You don't call me on the phone
Rather leave me all alone, so
You can stay home and read your notes, on Algebra
Reading up on lines and curves
Yes you're getting on my nerves
All you talk about day and night is
Rise over run, you're
Really boring, you
know it's true, the
y-intercept is just
not that cool

Chorus:
I can hear you
sing it to me in my
sleep

I can hear it, y = mx + b

Verse:
Horizontal and vertical lines
That you've drawn a hundred times
Making me want to pencil them all over your face
Yes I know that you're so adept
Calculating the intercept
You must come from Planet Math, in outer space, the

difference in the
x's and y's
it makes the slope, you've said a
million times

Break
Chorus

Slope-intercept
You don't have to shout, I
Hear it once more, I'll smack you
In the mouth

Chorus

I love my line...


Slope is Rise Over Run (sung to House of the Rising Sun, by The Animals)

There is a ratio in my math class,
(they call it Algebra 1),
and it’s been the ruin of many a freshman.
For reals, it’s hella not fun!

My mind is always wandering,
the hare and tortoise run.
The teacher points, and then declares,
slope is rise over run.

The change in Y, the change in X,
the stupid race is won.
And the only answer that’s required is
slope is rise over run.

Organ Solo

Oh seniors, help the freshmen
not to do what I have done.
I wasted my time in office hours,
pretending to get homework done.

Well, I open up my textbook,
I wipe away the drool.
I’m ready to do whatever it takes
to not go to summer school.

There is a ratio in my math class,
(they call it Algebra 1).
Though it’s been the ruin of many a freshman,
now, I’m no longer one.


Sweet Home Alameda (Sung to Sweet Home Alabama)

I don't have the lyrics to this one, as we change them all the time. But the chorus is always the same (our school is on a street called The Alameda):

Sweet home Alameda
Where the homework's always due
Sweet home Alameda
You can't wear no red or blue

Ms.J (formerly Ms. Libb) said...

Hi Dan,

I wanted to post a general "Thank you" for your blog. I've read your entire blog from June 2006, and I've learned a lot, so I picked your blog as one of only four to put on the blogroll of my blog about being a new math teacher: http://sinesoflearning.blogspot.com/

I also wanted to ask you about your new notetaking format. I'm also typing up an outline I want to use, in the form of a "dictionary" that we'll fill in together as we go along. Can you explain what you put in the third column of your format, under background? It would help so much.

Thanks again for blogging!

Dan Wekselgreene said...

Thanks, Ms. Libb. Good luck with the new job. Feel free to email me whenever you have questions, and I look forward to reading your posts.

About the note-taking format, the background column is the place for scaffolding of key concepts. For example, if I was teaching a lesson on multiplying and dividing rational monomial expressions, I might determine that my students should review multiplying/dividing basic fractions, and simplifying expressions with exponents. The background column would be the place to write down that sort of material. It could also be used for some sort of background understanding that is not explicitly review material... for example, maybe a historical or linguistic fact, maybe a connection to a real application, etc.

Unknown said...

Dan, you have the best blog...
Hadas

Unknown said...

Dan, your half brother sounds like he is way above average and has an exceptional talent for math.

Glad you liked the vegan cake.

Saw the movies, but the sound did not work. Will try to find them on You Tube.
Enjoy your summer!
Hadas