Today in Algebra we went over multiplying and dividing fractions. I followed along with Fawn, the day went OK. We used rectangles to model addition, subtraction, multiplication, AND division and I believe students were overwhelmed with using the same representation for all four different operations.
Next year I will probably use rectangles only for addition/division. It was also difficult for students to shift from the rectangle representation of division to the algorithm. I explained to them that the goal for today and yesterday was to look at how fraction operations worked rather than just memorizing algorithms.
In Geometry we started with a Visual Pattern.
Student did an awesome job on this, it was really interesting to see which students counted the upside down triangles and the reactions when other students listen to a method they had not thought of. I have been doing visual patterns around once a week and LOVE them.
Students took a few notes on Adjacent Angles and Linear Pairs and worked through Pairs of Angles from Math Teacher Mambo. This was a great way for students to practice identifying and talking about different types of angles.I showed students a short proof on vertical angle congruencey and they went back through the worksheet and starred which angles were vertical.
Quadrant Dan 
Do you ever have students who want to count the bigger triangles too? I find some are thinking along those lines (ever more out of the box) but often get squashed by others telling them they are wrong.
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Yes and I had students who counted the inverted ones. Also, there were some who saw them as holes. Whenever we go over a visual pattern, I emphasize that the way students are thinking about the process of answering the question is more important then the answer itself. Which directs students towards being less critical on computation errors and focus more on multiple solution methods.
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Also, if you have any other questions on visual patterns or anything, feel free to ask! I would love to hear how you run them also. Thanks for stopping by.
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