Ethan Weker (he/him)

It really is wild that the government pays people more to kidnap kids than to educate them

I missed you too!

Guess what? I get to share a #MentalMathMonday problem related to my favorite math pop culture trivia. What's the largest prime number referenced in a pop song lyric?

Yes, but not on social media enough. Still here?

20 years ago I wasn't able to attend the California Math Council conference at Asilomar because I was in and out of the hospital with meningitis. Today, I go for my 20th straight year, and 22nd overall in 24 years of teaching.
#mtbos #iteachmath

Did anyone else see this as √3+√3, or about 3.4? Just me?

I used to be chaotic good when traveling and had paper boarding passes, and lawful evil otherwise, but times change. Now I'm mostly lawful neutral for fiction, and lawful evil (but bad at it) for non-fiction.

My kids have been playing Jedi mind tricks on me since they were toddlers, so I guess so?

a man walking in a store with a sign that says ' next ' on it Alt: a man waves his arms then walks through automatic doors into a store

Make everyone a Jedi?

You know how with logarithms, the logarithm is the exponent, the base of the logarithm is the base of the exponent, and the argument of the logarithm is the...other thing. (Yes, power, but it's clunky).
A student proposed we call it the logarithmain't and I couldn't love it more!
#iteachmath #MTBoS

I've been searching for something for 20 years that will do this well. The only success I've seen was students with strong coding backgrounds taking notes and showing work with LaTeX, but that's definitely a niche intervention.

Ah! I saw a vague reference to this, but thanks for the link to dive deeper.

That's what I assumed, but it was an American using Latin. (Maybe).

Also, the student was happy to know I got back to her and didn't think it was all that important of a question. But I was fascinated.

Yesterday, a student asked why natural logarithms are abbreviated on instead of nl and I realized I didn't ever wonder about that. Turns out the abbreviation is newer than I thought (maybe 1893 by a Berkeley professor Strangham, maybe a bit earlier, but not Euler or Napier). Fascinating!

And more, but I love this creativity!

List of products my students are "manufacturing" for their rational functions profit margin business model project:
-cowboy boots & hats
-lip gloss
-churros
-biomedical implants
-performance racing tires
-produce stickers
-vitamin supplements
-mint chocolate bars
-wigs for cats
-pajamas
-footballs

wait why does the dept of government efficiency have two co-chairs

Don't Obey In Advance | The Jose Vilson Last week, I hopped off a bus and voted early. It was quick, convenient, and came with two stickers: one for me and one for ... Read More

Don't Obey In Advance

A call for us to make resistance to the new normal a way of life. Here's what I'll start doing. Join us:

thejosevilson.com/dont-obey-in...

I haven't uninstalled Xitter yet, or deactivated, since there are people I'm only connected with there, but the time has come to focus here. (The constant notifications about new followers was the final catalyst.) Glad to be here to talk math, math education, and disruption and reform.
#iteachmath

presented at #NCTMCHI24

"Women of the 1939 Putnam: Leveraging Technology for Student Research & Mathematical Engagement"

images:
1) me with session posting
2) me at lectern, slide on screen
3) close up of badge with SPEAKER flair
4) me standing with giant NCTM letters

🔗 www.tinyurl.com/Putnam1939

#nctmchi24 NCSM TODOS 2016 joint statement. Action items pp 4-5. What are you doing? What do you want to try? www.todos-math.org/assets/docs2...

I think I'm partly still in a state of shock at this kind of change so late in the year, and I'll be in a better space to try problem solving soon. But at the moment I'm experiencing a lot of frustration at the situation.

My original test was already pared down because of a slower pace this year, and was set to be 4/4/4/3 questions for our 4 units. There's a focus on algebra because it wasn't taught well last year in algebra 2, and is the biggest stumbling block for calc students who did well in algebra in the past.

I'm at a private school that doesn't have required state testing and I don't use any MC on my assessments. Keeping the same general general format is important to me, so fewer recall and more applied questions or in depth questions.

I feel like I should tell students to be prepared for anything but cut several questions. That does not seem equitable for a variety of reasons. And making questions easier doesn't allow me to test large scale problem solving and persistence. Plus, I've tried to de-emphasize rushing through problems

#mtbos #iteachmath Anyone have a 45 minute final exam, and how do you even do that? I have a precalc cumulative final because I really want to measure learners' fluency after a pretty difficult year. We were told the final exam period in 2 weeks changed from 75 minutes to 45 minutes and I'm stuck.

Example of Cramer's Rule (a method of solving a system of equations using matrices) drawn on a table with whiteboard markers.

Detail of the first picture of Cramer's Rule example

What happens when two math teachers chaperone a school dance and find a whiteboard marker and a table to write on?
#mtbos #iteachmath

Last week, #NCTM in DC. This weekend, #CMC-South in Palm Springs. 4 days of sub plans on 2 weeks means 4 days of not much math learning in my classroom (so hard to find subs so we have teachers sub during planning periods), but hopefully worth the rejuvenation for me.