It’s difficult to know when I finished my Masters program – when turned in my final assignment (April 16)? when my final assignment was marked (April 24)? when my final credits were posted to my transcripts (April 30)? when graduation happened (June 15)? when I got my degree in the mail (July 6)? Regardless – … [Read more…]
Yesterday I completed a years long journey backward in time. My friend Jenn recommended that I check out the podcast of This American Life back in 2012. I checked it out a few months later during summer vacation and then began listening to it regularly during my commutes to work which involved walking and riding … [Read more…]
My 11-year-old son has been keeping a blog, bookboyblaise.blogspot.ca, since the begin of this summer. Blaise is a voracious reader and we can barely keep enough books in the house for him. In fact, he will begin reading some of our books (with permission) if there isn’t anything geared towards him. His description of the blog: This … [Read more…]
Because the sine of angles between 0º and 180º is cyclical, in some occasions when calculating an angle of a non-right triangle using the sine law it is possible to produce two different solutions. The title of the grade 11 trigonometry lesson, “The Ambiguous Case of the Sine Law,” has always struck me as the possible title of a … [Read more…]
I teach math. I’m known as a hard teacher (my quizzes & tests aren’t easy). I expect my students to practice math daily. I expect them to ask questions when things aren’t clear. I expect them to engage the material and that the grades will follow as a result of authentically learning. I encourage them not … [Read more…]
Big changes in Zaakistan. After 7 years at Bearspaw Christian School I have left to teach at Calgary Christian School. At the same time, 15 years after graduating with my bachelors degrees, I am entering graduate school through a distance learning program through the University of Waterloo. Calgary Christian School offers many benefits over BCS. It belongs … [Read more…]
Blaise and I visited the Biodôme together two years ago and were thoroughly impressed so we insist Amber and Acadia join us this time. We try to go the day before but the crowds convince us to return the following day – earlier. It is a great strategy as we tour virtually alone for the … [Read more…]
I started at Bearspaw Christian School about 6 weeks after our family returned back to Canada after serving 3 years in Guatemala. The adjustment was rough. The overwhelming sense of entitlement as compared to Guatemalan students, the enormous wealth and luxury of the families connected to the school, my varied teaching assignment. My colleagues and … [Read more…]
The K-12 Integer Sequences Conference was organized by my good friend Dr. Gordon Hamilton (Dr. Pickle) of MathPickle.com and Dr. Neil J. A. Sloane, the founder of the On-line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS). I was fortunate enough to attend as a math educator among other educators, math professors, and curriculum developers. The goal of the conference … [Read more…]
Anger is an area of my life where I have always struggled and sensed the Holy Spirit continually with Her finger twisting in my side. As a child I would become enraged at my unfair sisters. As a teacher I have directed my anger at disrespectful students. As a commuter I have fumed at ungracious … [Read more…]