Ms. Bearse's Site

We’re off to an interesting start of the semester.  Stay safe and warm everyone.

Our class today helped us get into the swing of things in a thinking classroom.  We were in random groups, up at the board, tackling a challenging problem.

3 logicians (honest people with perfect logic) each have a hat.  On each hat is a number.  The numbers are positive (non zero) integers.  2 of the numbers add up to the 3rd, and each of the people know this.  Person A looks at person B and C and says “I do not know my number”.  Person B looks at person A and C and says “I do not know my number”.  Person C looks at person A and B and says “I do not know my number”.  After hearing this, person A says “I know my number is 50”.  Our goal is to determine the numbers that B and C are wearing.

We wrote our ideas, and tried to get a handle on what we know and what we don’t know.

We looked at ways to represent relationships between numbers and options.  We used diagrams and drawings and equations
We came across a promising strategy, and followed it through to see if it works.

We ended off by justifying our work to classmates by acting out the possible scenarios.

The question and solution are not straightforward.  Even when we walked through them a few times we really needed to engage our reasoning skills.  

It was not always a comfortable feeling to have a problem we were challenged by.  We relied on each other, we looked at what other groups were doing, we tried a few different strategies, and even then the solution seemed so close you could almost touch it.  We experienced struggle today.  We will experience struggle often, in math and in life, and it’s good to recognize that many positive things can come about after struggling and investing time and effort.  

Good work today!

Grade 10s explored this problem today.  In Round 1 and 2 the tug of war is a draw (nobody wins).  The question is to determine who will win the final round, and to justify it sufficiently.

Many groups created equations and introduced variables, and solved the equations to determine which side would win.

We are using ideas of ratios and fractions and decimals, and showing important information in boxes.
We’re working towards clear communication, and solid justification of our answers.

We ended up with a different question. 

6 hamburgers and 5 drinks cost $30

10 hamburgers and 3 drinks cost $32

Determine the price of a hamburger.

We tackled the sky scrapers puzzles today using our linking cubes to build our buildings.  The rules are that each row and column can have only 1 building of each height.  The heights are 1,2,3,4 for a 4×4 matrix.  The grid has numbers on the sides which indicate how many buildings can be seen from that position.

We needed to work as a team to see all perspectives of this problem and verify our finished arrangement.

We tried a 5×5 puzzle when we mastered the smaller ones.
Good work today!  

Voici un casse-tête: une grille avec les carreaux.  Chaque carré représente un édifice.  Chaque rangée/colonne peut avoir un édifice de grandeur 1, 2, 3, 4 étages.  Les nombres représentent le nombre d’édifices visible de cette endroit.

Voici un exemple d’un groupe qui est en traine de résoudre le casse-tête.

Voici plusieurs casse-têtes de skyscrapers que vous pouvez essayer.

Grade 9s worked on interview skills today and practiced answering questions that we may discuss during portfolio interviews.

We made 2 circles, and spoke for 30 seconds to answer the prompt, then our partner had a turn to answer.

We answered questions like “what was your biggest challenge this term?” Or “what was your organizational strategy that helped you”, or “how did you use collaboration to help you” or “what was your biggest lightbulb moment”.

We worked on listening carefully and being able to give feedback like a sandwich (positive, area for improvement, and then positive again).

We will come in and do 5 min discussion of our learning and growth as problem solvers for our interview over the next 2 days.  

We ended off with “oh the places you’ll go” a great book to read every year!

Thanks for the great semester everyone!

So this is the 3rd day of bus cancellation.  We have a plan.  Class will run on Thursday, and the exam schedule will be bumped by a day.

Swimmers, our meeting is now rescheduled (again) to Thursday at lunch.  Come with your forms and money for EOSSA.  If you have not yet signed up for races, please do so now!  Email me, or contact Brooke.

Grade 10s that means your test is thursday, exam is Friday morning at 8:30.

Grade 9s that means your interviews are on Friday afternoon and on Monday.  Here’s the handout you’ll get tomorrow if you want to have a look now.

The school is open today.  If you are coming, please be safe.  If you are not coming, I’m available by email if there are any questions.

Triboard transportation has been cancelled yet again due to the cold temperatures.  Schools are open (but a bit cold, so dress warmly if you are coming).  I will be available by email to help out if you are staying home.  Culminating assessments are going to be pushed to Wednesday.

Swimmers here is the OFSAA form that you need to bring signed to our meeting on Wednesday at lunch: release_of_liability_form

Grade 10s: I hope you are all working on review! mpm2d3 exam review 2019.  Your test will be Wednesday.

Grade 9s: The final task has been cancelled, and we will spend our time preparing for excellent interviews, and completing our portfolios.

Grade 9s, your task is cancelled, and grade 10s your test will be Tuesday.

Stay warm everyone!  If you can get to school safely and want to get caught up on work, or ask questions, please come find me in our classroom.  It’ll be toasty warm in there (as always).

I will be reachable by email if you are working from home and have questions.