What Are The Chances?

We started our probability unit last week. I was dreading this unit being added in 7th grade because I knew I was going to be starting from scratch...well at least that's what I thought. However, we've got awesome 6th grade teachers at Carrington who shared a wealth of resources with me AND Steph and I made a full unit on probability in college together.

Now you see, we Steph was great at taking a sentence and turning it into a paper that sounded amazing. We easily got an A on the project and it has been collecting dust on my shelf ever since. Thanks to my dad, I feel the need to hold onto things for forever...I'm just more organized with my hoarding.

At the point in our college days when we made this unit, we had been in the classroom some and knew a little bit, but for the most part bs'ed our way through it. We pulled a bunch of resources, arranged them in a chronological order, typed some awesome rationales, and turned it in with little thought to the practicality of it all.

I had no clue what was in this unit, but figured I might as well check it out since I was starting out with very little. And, what do ya know...it looks like Steph and I might have known what we talking about after all. I have pretty much taught this entire unit the way we designed it 4+ years ago (has it really been that long already?!?).

What are the chances??

We played this game to introduce experimental probability.  You could pretty much use it for every part of the probability unit and we have referenced it on a regular basis.

The kids loved it! In the game, the turtle is trying to catch the rabbit and the rabbit is trying to catch the turtle. You roll two dice and the sum determines who gets to move. Just looking at it, it looks like the turtle will easily win because he has more sums, but really the rabbit has a better chance of winning because there are more combinations for his sums than the turtle's. (This leads into a great discussion on fairness and outcomes)

It was hilarious because my students were convinced the turtle was going to win and were pulling hard for him.

"Come on turtle!" "No rabbit...go away" "Yes the turtle won!" 

As we played more games, they began to realize they weren't pulling for the winner. It was so funny to listen to them slowly switch sides and begin to pull for the rabbit.

Then, those who wouldn't abandon their allegiance to the turtle had some great excuses...
"I think the rabbit is tripping the turtle."
"Are we sure the rabbit isn't on steroids?"

In the confusion of all of the switching sides one boy said, "Wait! Who are we pulling for?!?"

We spent this week working on a project where they got to create their own probability game. I gave them some guidelines (I limited the supplies they could use and told them whether or not they needed to create a fair or unfair). I was really impressed with the games they came up with. It was a crazy week with group work everyday and 14 different games going on in every class, but I think they enjoyed it.

Lastly, if you know me well, you know I hate throw up. If a student even claims to feel sick, I'm sending him/her out of my room immediately. Well, what are the chances that now that the bathrooms are locked during classes, I have had two students almost throw up in my classroom?

Because of some behavior issues, we've had to lock the 7th grade bathrooms during classes. Don't worry...they still have plenty of chances to use the bathroom. They just can't go during or between classes because they were abusing that freedom.

Well, the other day, one of my high flier behavior problems had the trash can beside her desk. She's not one to be dramatic and she'll tell you like it is. So, when she told me she had the trash can beside her because she didn't feel well, I knew I needed a solution. There was no way I was sending her to the bathroom. She gets in enough trouble in class...she can not be trusted to leave. She was acting fine so I didn't worry about it. Then, I looked over and she was starting to get fidgety and was leaning towards the trash can and fanning herself. I knew we didn't have much time. So, I made her sit out in the hallway where a student in the class could see her through the window. I told that student to tell me if she left the bench where she was sitting. She sat there for a while, threw up, and then came back in and finished out the day.

Then, this past week I had a boy come in and say he didn't feel good. I could tell by his body language that he really didn't feel well. He can be trusted so I told him if he needed to, to use the 8th grade bathrooms. He said he was fine, but then a few minutes later he came up and asked to go. He walked on out, I kept teaching, and then another teacher knocked on my door to let me know this particular student had gotten sick in the hall. He hadn't even made it around the corner towards the 8th grade bathrooms. That was a major close call. I seriously thanked God that he sent that boy out of my room.

I'm just not ready for that yet...

Well, I hope I haven't bored you with two weeks worth of updates. Stay tuned for more coming soon.

PS Isn't it crazy that February is already over?? We have four weeks left in our third nine weeks. We are in the home stretch of school for the year. It is flying by!

Happy Friday!