Informal Geometry

Today's activities provided another opportunity for people to be "smart at math" in different ways.  The visual and tactile nature of folding paper into boxes and squares made geometry very concrete.  As I am starting to get used to, it may have been informal, but I felt less smart in math as than usual.  I am more familiar with drawing a geometric shape and learning all the rules about how angles and sides are related.  My stretching is continuing.

I was hoping we would discuss the use of creative writing in math class that was the subject of the Halpern article.  I thought that was a different type of example of how to make geometry (or any math) more accessible for students who have strong written expression skills.  As students get into Middle School, I often hear that students start being divided into those that are more humanities focus and those that are more math/science focused.  I read The Phantom Tollbooth last quarter and I felt it was a fiction book that would appeal to students who love words and/or numbers.  A bored boy travels in a toy car through a tollbooth to a place filled with adventures based on letters and numbers.  The Mathemagician rules the Kingdom of Digitopolis and a character called the Dodecahedron has 12 faces with different expressions.  It is another possibility for giving our strong writers an informal entry point into geometry.

Writing Vignettes

After writing (and sharing) one vignette, I find myself agonizing about the whole process.  What do I want to write about that feels okay to share with my writing group and eventually the whole class?  I purposely chose a topic for the first vignette that was not too personal, a remembrance of a Mary Oliver poetry reading I attended.  My writing group made the obvious comment that I described the event, but never really shared what it was about her poetry that made me connect so deeply to it.  Public writing, I know it will be a challenge for me.


According to Routman, teaching writing to students needs to include lots of guiding and demonstration. I feel comfortable with certain kinds of writing - reports, emails, memos and the kind of business writing that I used to do.  Personal vignettes and more creative types of writing that include emotions are a different challenge.   It is only one of many areas where I feel stretched and out of my comfort zone.  It certainly will assist me in understanding how some of my students are likely to feel and perhaps we will work through some of the issues together.


I did love the opportunities to work with our kindergarten buddies.  It is so helpful to get to explore the Emergent Literacy Profile by working with a student who is actively working through these important stages.  It has often been the highlight of my week and I look forward to going back to the class in the spring to see all the progress.