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Jousting By Calculator
Feb. 21st, 2004 05:35 pmWe had our first major academic tournament of the year today, down at Kougar High in Fort Twist ISD. (I must add that it still caused a certain amount of cognitive dissonance for me to see a wildcat mascot painted in maroon and white; I imagine Aggies and UH's alums feel similarly, but this is a high school thing for me.) We got a late start, even later than I anticipated - and one of my students ended up so late he had to arrive in his own car (which he's not supposed to do; fortunately, he remembered this and brought a note from his mother giving him permission). Even so, we got there in plenty of time and got registered.
For me, the interesting part of the tournaments is interacting with the students as they exit their tests. I got to explain several fine points of algebra and exponentiation again - *sigh* - we went over this in class, I was right there when we did it. We had a few calculator issues, since some of the tests don't allow graphers; I had to explain reverse Polish notation to several kids. On the other hand, I did get to play cards with some of them (I need to teach them Peasant again, and I should probably brush up on hearts and spades), and they checked their answers on the Harry Potter Trivia test against me (ha!).
We didn't do terribly badly, although were were well outpaced by the four standard powerhouses and, oddly, Health Professions, which doesn't normally compete. We got three trophies (Physics and Spanish) and a reasonable handful of ribbons. It'll still sound fine when it's read over the intercom, especially since (a) Bearville didn't come, and (b) Liontown was on the roster, but didn't have a single person place (I think they only brought three people).
I'd brought my usual assortment of junk, plus an extra tote with the calculators and receipt book in it. A couple of my students had offered to carry some of my bags for me, which I of course politely refused. After the awards, I had to go down to get the package with our tests and rankings in it; as I was coming back up from the stage, four of my kids (not just math club kids, but ones who are also in my classes) were carrying my stuff back to the bus for me. Startling, but sweet of them. :)
I think we'll be better prepared for the Katy Tigertown tournament. At the very least, the kids have seen or been reminded what the tournament tests will look like. Even better, most of the kids who went to this are juniors - I'll have them for tournament season next year, too.
For me, the interesting part of the tournaments is interacting with the students as they exit their tests. I got to explain several fine points of algebra and exponentiation again - *sigh* - we went over this in class, I was right there when we did it. We had a few calculator issues, since some of the tests don't allow graphers; I had to explain reverse Polish notation to several kids. On the other hand, I did get to play cards with some of them (I need to teach them Peasant again, and I should probably brush up on hearts and spades), and they checked their answers on the Harry Potter Trivia test against me (ha!).
We didn't do terribly badly, although were were well outpaced by the four standard powerhouses and, oddly, Health Professions, which doesn't normally compete. We got three trophies (Physics and Spanish) and a reasonable handful of ribbons. It'll still sound fine when it's read over the intercom, especially since (a) Bearville didn't come, and (b) Liontown was on the roster, but didn't have a single person place (I think they only brought three people).
I'd brought my usual assortment of junk, plus an extra tote with the calculators and receipt book in it. A couple of my students had offered to carry some of my bags for me, which I of course politely refused. After the awards, I had to go down to get the package with our tests and rankings in it; as I was coming back up from the stage, four of my kids (not just math club kids, but ones who are also in my classes) were carrying my stuff back to the bus for me. Startling, but sweet of them. :)
I think we'll be better prepared for the Katy Tigertown tournament. At the very least, the kids have seen or been reminded what the tournament tests will look like. Even better, most of the kids who went to this are juniors - I'll have them for tournament season next year, too.
