Planning Ahead
Halloween is my second favourite holiday, and I couldn't be more excited about this year. To begin with, I missed it last year, so I need to compensate. Secondly, I will get to dress up for school, which is awesome. I've decided that for my school costume I want to be something math-related. I know it's super-dorky, but I am a math teacher after all. If I can't embrace the dorkiness (in an attempt to normalize it, of course), then this career path is not going to turn out well for me.
But what to wear? I am completely stumped as to what would make a good costume. I don't want to dress up like a famous mathematician because (1) even if I tell people, they still won't know who I am and (2) that's not fun. I also want to avoid just writing a lot of numbers on a shirt and being pi/the fibonacci sequence/whatever, because that's not so much a costume as it is a t-shirt with numbers on it.
Suggestions, please!
10 comments:
You could be a cartesian plane, and plot something neat-looking on your axes. Of course, you'd have to hold your arms out all day...
Math superhero! You would get to wear a cape, have a wall activity where kids could vote for your superpowers, sport a mask complete with logo. You and your CT could be a dangerous duo, fighting crime/idiocy with mathematical powers...of 10!. Of course, flying through the hallways would be a necessary (and excusable) activity.
Hmmm...but what to name a math superhero? Madam Calcutron?
BTW, I'm totally jealous that you get to dress up for Halloween. I'm going to carve a jack-o-lantern for the school if I can find the right kind of pumpkin. In the land of school uniforms I think that's just about the best I can do.
Binary woman? A take off on Roni's suggestion? Or be a ruler - now that would be true dorky.
Geetha,
Jason, son #2 taught math for 8 years at Howell High School (now assistant principal) and dressed for his freshman classes as The Count from sesame street. He had language down and a few jokes. He thought it went well. That's my input. How did you end up in Cal. student teaching for math?
Bill
PS - your mom is the favorite librarian at Emerson this year.
Suggestions from my school:
A student suggested you be a Mathmagician.
Sam suggested a square root and Mary suggested a little higher level and make it a cubic root. Make a cube (or square). Paint it to look like a carrot or other familiar root.
Beth suggested the triangular trigonometric mountain of SUCATOA. She assures me that that is an acronym for some trig process but I am not sure what it is or even if I spelled it correctly.
In my day you could have been a slide rule but I suppose that is a bit dated. I am still asking others for ideas.
Good luck
I have been Long John Division in the past. You could just add math symbols to, or instead of the Jolly Roger. It also lends itself to the treasure hunt as a math lesson.
In High School, one of my teachers arrived as Sister Mary Hypoteneuse, with a compass in place of the crucifix on her rosary, as well as a protractor in place of the ruler used to swat children. Clearly a Catholic school education left a nasty mark on a few of my old faculty.
If I think of anything else ...
MEF
Several people have suggested some variations of pi--an apple pie with radius and circumference somehow coordinated. You could do a square pie of some sort because, as we all know, pi are squared.
Or a pie chart of some sort.
Somewhere is the perfect costume.
I have the Dean of the UM School of Information (formerly head of the Computer Science Dept.) on this.
You better let us all know what is the final choice.
Geetha:
You are good at calculus, so you could carry a calculus integration sign in your left hand and a Sigma sign on the right hand (like bow and arrow. A gown with Square root and Pi signs. A beard to show that you are a mathematician (my biases show). You will need someone to carry the goodie basket.
An irrational number--with wild hair and maybe even a straight jacket.
A proper or improper fraction. I envision a proper fraction having a little pill box hat and white gloves. The improper fraction would be more fun in a setting where you don't have to make any attempts to be teacherly.
Pi rat--A rat with lots of pi signs or other pi references.
Someone beat me to the square pie idea. Here's another: you could go as a flower that illustrates the fibonacci sequence, which all flower petals do, so you'd have lots of choices.
Post a Comment