Its the maths

This week we're supposed to learn about counting problems and the multiplication principle of counting.

What does that mean?

Here's a sample: Johnny has to pick out an outfit for his upcoming date. He can choose to wear a red shirt, a blue shirt, or a plaid shirt. He can wear jeans, shorts, or dress pants. For an accessory, he can wear a crown, a cowboy hat, or a baseball cap. If he wears a shirt, bottoms, and a hat, how many different outfits does he have to choose from?

Well, you could draw a tree diagram. Which is what we learned today. Or you could use the multiplication principle of counting (3 x 3 x 3) and eventually end up with 27.

Either way, we're taking a week to discover how to solve these, find the patterns, explain the multiplication principle of counting, and constructing our own scenarios.

So, I'm a great teacher or my kids are geniuses, because the back half of my room solved the problems and discovered the MPC in 30 minutes. WTF? All my experience with teaching this math crap to the kids (many years people, many times have I taught this) is that it takes a while to get it. A while to connect the tree to numbers. (Unless you are gifted. But these kids are not.)

30 minutes. To figure it out for themselves.

So what did I do? Put them in "discovery groups" in the back, and throw them the 7th grade counting problems I used to use. They had to solve the problems in 2 ways and show their work. I worked with the rest of the class on drawing countless tree diagrams.

This is how I know I made it.

A kid raises his hand, and I walk to his "discovery group." He asks, "Can we show you how to solve the problem in MORE than 2 ways? Like 3? Or 4?" (be still my heart. I love you, kiddo. Love love love that you want to over-solve a problem)

My reply: "Why yes you can. Show me as MANY as you want." (Because you have another 50 minutes to work since our friends in the front cannot even remember how to add.)