More Math for More People

Episode 2.25: Where Joel and Misty close with pinatas, events, and AI (oh my!)

• Misty Nikula • Season 2 • Episode 25

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It's the final episode of Season 2 of the More Math for More People podcast!

This week it's National Piñata Day! So fill a ball of paper mâché with candy, get yourself dizzy and bust it open!

Joel and Misty also have some fun with AI - both writing a segment for them and then reading it for them! It's reasonably silly and impressive. 

And since it's the close of the season, Joel and Misty have a conversation about the importance of closure for the end of the year. 

Come join the fun!

Send Joel and Misty a message!

The More Math for More People Podcast is produced by CPM Educational Program.
Learn more at CPM.org
X: @cpmmath
Facebook: CPMEducationalProgram
Email: cpmpodcast@cpm.org

Misty:

It is the 18th of April, 2023. This is episode 25 of Season two of the More Math for More People. Podcast the last episode of this season. Cheers.

Hello everyone. I'm Misty. And I'm Joel. And this is the more. For more People. Podcast brought to you by CPM Educational Program. On this podcast, we discuss the CPM curriculum, trends in math education, and share strategies to shift instructional practices to create a more inclusive and student-centered classroom. We also highlight upcoming CPM professional learning opportunities and have conversations with math educators about how they do what they do, and we always try to have a little bit of fun and laughter as well. Indeed we do. So come and find out what shenanigans were up to on this episode. Boom.

Misty:

Okay, Joel. I'm actually, I'm a little excited about this one.

Joel:

Hmm.

Misty:

What is the National day today

Joel:

National Pinata Day.

Misty:

Oh my gosh I don't know that I've actually, well, I know that I have been around when pinatas have been

Joel:

Mm-hmm.

Misty:

or whatever they. Busted up with, that's the whole point of having a

Joel:

the stick and yeah.

Misty:

Yeah, I know. I have been around when other people have had pinatas. I'm sure we had them one time at my school and some other things, and I just remember though, that when I was a kid, I always wanted to have a pinyata at my birthday party. and I, never had a pinyata I probably never actually voiced that desire, so I, like kudos to my parents, but I didn't actually ask them, so I can't actually be too sad that I never had one. But yeah, I remember I always wanted a pinata.

Joel:

Well, it's never too late to have a pin.

Misty:

I could have a pinata. Yeah. I just think there's something that's for kids, it's something very exciting. There's a thing and you make it outta paper mache and all the tissue papers, and then you bust it open and all the candy comes out. That's very exciting. Yeah. Did you ever have a pinata?

Joel:

I never did. I have been in locations with pinatas never swung the stick. Like I, I even remember being in line to swing the stick, but I would bust open, right? Like in, and then you have to make that decision. Do I drop the stick and go for the things or, there's just lots

Misty:

breaks it open is the person who probably gets the least

Joel:

Exactly what's going on? What's going on?

Misty:

and I have to take off the blindfold and I'm still dizzy. if they turn me around. And yeah. There's also something that's like mildly, I don't know what the word I wanna say, is like mildly sadistic about taking children and then making them dizzy and then making them try to swing at things they can't see, you know? Sort of haphazardly. It's we're all sort of like, whoa, look at that person who can't hit the thing, well, they're blindfolded. I

Joel:

that.

Misty:

all, so also it makes me think of, I don't know why this makes me think of also the game pin, the tail and the donkey.

Joel:

Very similar maybe.

Misty:

I, it's a similar kind of thing, but there's no candy that comes out. So I don't know

Joel:

Yeah. What do you win in pin? The tail.

Misty:

I don't know. If you just win a prize, if you, I feel like that was like a more like a carnival game.

Joel:

What if, what if you could do pin the tail on or pin the pin the vertex on? Quadr lateral for a classroom,

Misty:

You, you could

Joel:

something.

Misty:

I that's

Joel:

coming up with stuff.

Misty:

I see

Joel:

Rough draft thinking.

Misty:

Exactly. Oh, All right. So it is national pinata today. I, are you gonna have a pinata today?

Joel:

I'm gonna watch videos of people with pinatas maybe.

Misty:

Okay. Okay. That's great. I was like, you could just have one yourself and then you would get to be the one who gets to bust it open,

Joel:

Well

Misty:

don't think, it like that would be less exciting.

Joel:

could be hazardous to the house too, if I'm spinning around blindfolded.

Misty:

We should do it outside.

Joel:

and poor Wendell. Come on now.

Misty:

Oh man. Yes. He'd be like, what is going on? Yeah. No. Alright. All right. You can watch some videos of pins. I don't think I'm gonna go get myself a pinata either. I might think about if I want one for my birthday though, coming up,

Joel:

I would, that would be fantastic. Okay.

Misty:

about it. I'll think about it. So, all right. So it's national pinata today. If you so choose, go get yourself a pinata and just bust it open. It sounds fun

Joel:

I agree. So one of my favorite shows is CBS Sunday Morning, and I was watching it the other day. And they were talking about this article that was in the New York Times about artificial intelligence and So apparently there's this online free, open, artificial intelligence resource that you can you can ask to write a paper for you. You can ask, it's a song. It'll solve math problems. It'll, you can somebody was asking it to write a novel, like a murder mystery novel.

Misty:

Uhhuh.

Joel:

A children's book, all sorts of things. So I thought it was interesting. And then also they were talking about the implications of what this meant to education and it also sounded like they're developing software to be able to tell if artificial intelligence wrote the paper or not. So

Misty:

Well, it's like we create some technology, then we had to create some technology to deal with the technology. Yeah, absolutely. So that's super fascinating, Joel. So I'm wondering if we could use it to write a good podcast segment for us. What do you think? So?

Joel:

we could?

Misty:

All right.

Joel:

I say that a little tongue in cheek, you'll find out in a moment, so I went ahead and I asked a artificial intelligence on the site. Please write a podcast about math. And here's what came out.

Misty:

all right, so we're gonna, we're gonna read this to you. Here you go. All

Joel:

Here's the. Hello and welcome to our math podcast. I'm your host, Joel, and I'm joined by my co-host, Misty. And today we're going to explore some interesting concepts in math.

Misty:

That's right. Math is a fascinating subject that plays an important role in our daily lives, and we're excited to dive into some topics that might surprise you.

Joel:

So let's start with a fundamental concept in math. Arithmetic. It's the branch of math that deals with the study of numbers and basic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and.

Misty:

Absolutely. Arithmetic is the foundation of all math, and it's essential to have a strong grasp of these concepts. But did you know that there's a type of arithmetic that only uses two digits, zero and one

Joel:

That's right. It's called Binary Arithmetic, and it's used in computing and digital communication. It's a fascinating way to represent information using only two digits.

Misty:

Moving on. Let's talk about geometry. It's the branch of math that deals with shapes and their properties from the simplest shapes, like circles and squares to the more complex ones like spheres and polyhedra.

Joel:

Yes, geometry is all around us. And one interesting fact about geometry is that some shapes have an infinite number of sides. Can you guess which one?

Misty:

I think that would be a circle. A circle is a shape with infinite sides, and it's a fascinating concept to wrap your head.

Joel:

Speaking of fascinating concepts, let's talk about infinity. It's a concept that's difficult to grasp, but it plays an important role in many areas of math.

Misty:

Absolutely. And did you know that there are different sizes of infinity? For example, the set of natural numbers has an infinite number of elements, but it's considered smaller than the set of real numbers, which also has an infinite number of element.

Joel:

That's really interesting. Moving on, let's talk about algebra. It's the branch of math that deals with solving equations and manipulating variable.

Misty:

And one interesting fact about algebra is that it was developed in the Middle East in the ninth century. They made significant contributions to the field, and it was later adopted by European mathematicians.

Joel:

Okay, we have time for one more topic. So let's talk about probability. It's the branch of math that deals with analyzing the likelihood of.

Misty:

And one fascinating example of probability is the birthday paradox. It's the idea that in a room of just 23 people, there's a 50% chance that two of the people have the same birthday.

Joel:

That's really surprising. Okay, that's all the time we have for today's podcast. We hope you enjoyed our discussion on math

Misty:

Don't forget to tune in next time for more fascinating topics in math. Thank you for listening.

Joel:

and.

Misty:

All right, so what do you think, Joel? Should we use AI to write the podcast from now on?

Joel:

I don't know. We're gonna I'd say, let's poll the listeners, so please respond. Let us know what you think. I'm hoping you lean one way versus another, but I won't say which way that is.

Misty:

If they write in and they say, which part of the show was ai, then I'm gonna really worry.

Joel:

Yeah, we're gonna have an issue.

Misty:

All right. So now we have a really special treat for you. A friend of mine who is also a blazers fan, used to live in Portland here with me. We were talking about AI. The other day and he asked an AI. To please tell my friend Misty about Damien Lillard's rookie season in a poem in I ambit pentameter. So it gave us a poem. And I'm going to have Joel's AI voice. Read it to you now. Here you go. It's a very special treat. Enjoy.

Joel:

In the year of twenty-twelve, a young man, A new draft pick for the Blazers, took the stand. His name was Damian Lillerd, full of grace, And in his rookie season, he'd find his place. With nineteen points per game, he did impress, And six and a half assists, no less. Three-pointers he would make, a rookie high, A new record that would never die And when the season's end was drawing near, The NBA named him Rookie of the Year. Unanimously, they chose him for the prize, A true star in the league's bright, shining skies. So, Misty, know that Lillard's rookie year, Was one that filled his fans' hearts with cheeer. Ands since that time, he's only grown and thrived, A play that the NBA cannot deny.

Misty:

All right, it's almost the end of the school year. This is, yeah, it is almost the end of the school year. It definitely starts, I know when I was in the classroom, it always felt like about this time it, like everything's sped up, but also slowed down in a weird way that Yeah that like the kids were feeling done, but we had a lot of things that were going on in the spring. We always did a couple big plays and stuff like that, so the kids were always, usually there was something pretty exciting for them for the end of the year to get to, so they stayed engaged in that way. But yeah, it always has this weird feeling. It hasn't happened here yet, but, the weather would get nice, so then the kids would all just be totally distracted by the weather and things like that. So it, but it is the last. It's the last episode for our season two of the podcast. We'll start season three in May. So it feels like the end of the year for us as

Joel:

Right. That's true.

Misty:

Yeah. So we decided today we'd talk a little bit about closure. what are some thoughts and things about how to close up the year and start thinking about next year. I know when I'm doing learning events, teachers are definitely in that place of yep, I'm thinking about next year and what I'm gonna do differently or better or again and how to close up. So what were some of the ways, Joel that you thought about closure in your.

Joel:

well it was, and I'm sure many teachers are going through this right now. It's the testing time of the year. It's the, how far did I get? In the book and where am I gonna continue? That sort of thing. So my mind was a little stressed this time of year with, around all those things. But then coming out of it for closing the year, it really felt like that opportunity one to I did a lot of self-reflection on my lesson planning, on my how I was presenting or using study team and teaching strategies. So I felt for whatever reason, I felt less pressure, I felt that relief and I felt able to engage more in those experiments, or let's just try this one today, which I always encourage teachers to do at all points in the year, but sometimes, It doesn't feel quite as easy as that sounds. And at the end of the year, I felt that it was time that I could practice those things. So at the start of next year, I would have something to build upon or work it over the summer, things to build on for the next year.

Misty:

that makes sense cuz I, at the end of the year if it goes horribly wrong Right. The impact is smaller, shorter, less somehow. So I can see that. Yeah. So did you do, did you have any process of Writing things down, doing some formal reflection for yourself of making a list of the things that you were gonna do differently the next year or try the next year, or did it, was it all informal for you?

Joel:

It was pretty informal for me. I would jot down notes in my teacher materials things like that. But it was overall pretty informal. How about. have a process?

Misty:

I really try to, there's, so a couple things impacted how I thought about what I was gonna do next time, right? For my science stuff. I did things on a three year cycle, so I wouldn't come back to this unit for three years. And so I got really, really stringent for myself about making sure I made notes about what to change. That, before I put the lesson away, whatever it was, right, if it was in my binder or whatever before, I would like close my binder and put it away to the next day, or put the lesson back in my folder. I would make sure that I put some notes on stickies about what needed to be different or what I needed to change because I knew that. There was always in my head I was like, oh yeah, I'll remember. And then I learned, I did not remember very well at all actually. So I tried to do that every single as much as I could every day. During my prep, before I put my stuff away or at the end of the day before I put'em away. If not, then, then the next day when I was getting ready, I would try to, make some notes on those things and it, the sooner I could do it, the better. Cuz then I wouldn't forget any of the little pieces and bits. So I tried to do that and then at, I think at the end of the year, I started to really think about systems. What were some of the systems that I had put in place that year that I wanted to improve,

Joel:

okay.

Misty:

Maybe it was how we did homework checking, or how I did my points assignment for grading, as that I wanted to tweak or something like that. Cuz I would really start thinking about how did they work over the course of the year, how had my kids grown or developed with them? And where were some places that I could improve them, make them better, clarify them for the next year so that I could start with that. Right? So I was always looking more at those like larger overarching pieces at that point. And that was what I would make some notes about, or start, thinking about. So then when I came back in August, I could. Get those systems

Joel:

Get Get it. Yeah.

Misty:

Oh, the next year I'm gonna have, different, I'm gonna have composition notebooks instead of this kind of notebooks or whatever. So that I could have those things ready or make sure these were labeled or whatever. So that was more system wide stuff that I take a look at. But yeah, and then I usually asked my kids to do some reflecting particularly for math. Because. Because of the mixed space practice. And it happens for all of us and all the things we do, but to have that moment to sit down and go oh, what did I get better at? What did I learn? What did I improve on? Both from a math skills wise, but also maybe as a team member or as as a student or in my social circles or whatever, I'd have my kids think about those things and In our school, in our middle school, we would have the kids do that and think about that. So that was really useful for them, and then what things they wanted to do next year. Right? Whether they did'em or not, I mean, I worked with middle schoolers, they have a grandiose ideas of what they think they're gonna do better. I'm like, well, okay. And I'm glad you're thinking big. But yeah, I think that I usually try to have the kids do something like that too.

Joel:

I think that's a great idea. We say that all the time in a daily practice to have some reflection but to have a grander reflection of the year, of maybe what were the highlights for you? What were the low times, what were, what worked well and what didn't?

Misty:

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Joel:

have some acknowledgement

Misty:

Yeah.

Joel:

how that process went.

Misty:

Yeah. So I think that definitely I, know, I would encourage teachers at this time to think about where you are. Think about, if it's your first year implementing, first of all, pat yourself on the back.

Joel:

Yeah. Yes.

Misty:

through it, it's that the first year of implementing is, it is hard. It's a lot of things to

Joel:

is, there's a lot of things.

Misty:

So, I think that some part of it is making sure you recognize how far you've come and that it will be easier next year and you'll add on more things to do, which will also make it harder. Right. So, and think about where you are and what things you've done and where you wanna go.

Joel:

Absolutely. So I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everybody of some CPM events that are happening as we are mid-April here going into May. A series of new opportunities for professional development are happening, so as just as a reminder, The Academy of Best Practices, which is a five day institute designed to help new math teachers develop into future leaders, as well as aid current math teachers in their professional growth, both in the classroom and in the field of education. So if you go to cpm.org hosted events, you can click on the Academy of Best Practices to find out more, as well as apply for the program. Also the CPM Residential Institute, which is happening at the end of June. You can find at the same place on our website to learn more about it, At the Residential Institute, CPM brings all of our professional learning events to one location, which is Salt Lake City and provides a lot of opportunities, not only for teachers, but site administrators and coaches as well to become involved. CPMs math curriculum. And then I'd like to remind everybody about the teacher research core. Which is a program designed for teachers in the classroom. There's something that they want to research in their own classroom. Maybe there's a a problem that they wanna face and see if they can come up with a solution. And again, if cpm.org, you can find the Teacher Research core and you could apply for that program as well. All three of these opportunities are really great program. And if you have the opportunity to take advantage, I highly recommend it. And then also keep your eye open for all of our regional events. So we'll have regional events hosted throughout the country this summer. And you can find that through the professional learning portal. We hope to see you there. Thanks.

Master Outro Season 2:

So that's a wrap for this episode of The More Math For More People podcast, for more information and to stay connected. You can find CPM on both Twitter and Facebook. The music for the podcast was created by Julius h and can be found on pxa bay.com. Join us for the next episode of More Math for More People. What day will that be, Joel?

Joel:

It'll be the first episode of season three on May 2nd, national player Ukulele Day. And in preparation, as I was thinking about National Player Ukulele Day, I needed to replace the strings on my ukulele. And I, I have a six string ukulele that I like to play, and I've been ordering some strings on Amazon, and I just cannot seem to find the right set of strings every time it comes in. I can't get it. And so I've been trying. this for quite some time now. And as we're getting close to the beginning of our new season, I finally, I left the house and instead of just ordering online and I went to a local guitar store and they didn't have'em either. They said we could make you some, but they didn't have'em any. And so I've been really looking for these strings and so we're down to the wire cuz I wanted to play a little ukulele outro here, but that's just not gonna work out this time because I can't find the right set of strings.