Students in 7th grade worked on a "Pythagorean Spiral" project as part of their end-unit assessment, creating a spiral using right-triangles and the Pythagorean Theorem.
Biography
Andrew Brennan
6th-8th Math
Decatur Classical
I am a Chicagoan born and raised in West Rogers Park, and am excited to be teaching not only in my hometown, but less than a mile from where I grew up! As a child, I played and practiced for sports teams at Lerner Park and on Decatur's basketball hoops in the back (the turf is a major upgrade from those hoops). I currently live in the Edgebrook area with my wife and toddler twin daughters.
I earned my Bachelor’s Degree from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH, and taught for a number of years at the 6th-8th grade level in a small Catholic school in Detroit, MI (Math, Science, ELA, Religion). After teaching for 3 years there, I went on to earn my Master’s Degree at the University of Chicago; during which I student-taught at Decatur for a semester!
Upon earning my degree, I spent one year teaching at Jamieson Elementary in CPS, and then came back to the Decatur community. I have been a proud member of Decatur's teaching community for over 9 years now, and am looking forward to many more to come.
Posts
The 8th grade class took part in a Zoom Q and A session with mathematician Eugenia Cheng. See more of her work @ www.eugeniacheng.com
Students in 7th grade worked on a theory called "Buffon's Needle" for Pi Day, which is an approximation of pi using toothpicks randomly thrown on a lined surface. Students track which toothpicks are crossing a line and total toothpicks, the ratio of which will approximate pi.
8th graders worked with their buddies this week on a measurement activity. Students measured various objects and things around the classroom and hallway with non-standard units of measurement (a gluestick, paperclip, etc), and then measured in a standard metric unit.
The 8th graders made "Parabola Art" using the Desmos platform we use as a curriculum. This is part of their unit study on Quadratic Functions.
8th Graders worked with play-doh and real bagels to explore the "Mobius Bagel." This was an introduction to the work of Eugenia Cheng. Video link here if you're interested.
7th Graders worked in pairs on a Formative Assessment Lesson (FAL), where they complete a card sort matching a situation to the graph of a function that could represent it, then match those graphs/contexts to an equation.
8th graders worked on their End of Unit Synthesis Project (Unit: Linear Systems and Inequalities) by creating and branding their own Trail Mix. Students created nutritional constraints and chose ingredients for their own trail mix, then had to graph inequalities in order to make a trail mix that met all of their specifications.
8th grade students worked on a STEM challenge---using 20 sheets of paper only (no scissors, tape, glue, etc), build the tallest freestanding tower possible.
2nd and 8th graders partnered up for a Math activity in the gym. 2nd graders took time to poll the school with a survey, collecting categorical data, and then worked with the 8th graders to turn the data into a visual representation in the form of a bar graph and table.
5th Grade worked on an SEL / Cartesian Plane activity, plotting emotions on a cartesian plane and sharing a time when they felt that emotion with their partner.
5th graders worked on Order of Operations this week as a welcome back. Pictured above, they are writing their ideas for equations from our "Tricky 24" activity, a variation on "Four 4s," which we did the day prior. The idea is that using only the digits 1,2,3 and 4, in addition to any operation, they must come up with an equation that equals the numbers 1-24.
8th Grade worked with their 2nd grade buddies this week on an arts and crafts activity creating a snow-globe.
8th Graders participate in the Stock Market Game, where they receive a virtual $100,000 to invest in the real stock market. The virtual investments behave in real time with the actual stock market.
On Thursday, 8th graders met virtually with a Financial Advisor from Raymond James to hear a presentation/Q&A on the Stock Market, philosophy if investing, and top tips for young investors.
