TEACHER/STUDENT BLOGS

Welcome to a place to share your thoughts, teaching experiences, and feelings as the new school year begins. It is my hope that this page will be a writing and sharing tool for all of us to learn and grow with our students. Poetry,  excerpts from your days, humor, concerns, and celebrations of your teaching and learning will be welcomed.

If you have a suggestion for a full post or a blog that you would like to share on this site, please contact me

Tom Hakim’s Dream House Project for Secondary Math

On Friday, September17, I took my students to visit a real “dream home” as a reward for their hard work on their Dream House project in my math class.  Indianapolis Monthly Magazine donated the tickets for us to visit the 2010 Dream Home in Zionsville and Dr. Silverman paid for us to go to dinner at a great pizzeria afterward.  While visiting the home, the students were complimented numerous times for their behavior and their interest in the beautiful design, architecture, and decoration of the home.  The students really appreciated the trip because it brought to life the project that they worked so hard in in math class just a few months prior.

The project required them to design their own “Dream House” floor plan using geometric shapes and measurements.  They had to calculate floor space and wall space in order to figure out the cost of flooring and paint for each room in the house.  They also were given an imaginary $25,000 budget for furnishings.  They shopped for their furnishings on the internet and then kept a running budget to ensure they did not run out of money.  Finally, 100% of the class completed the entire project, which included a full binder, a poster, and a presentation.  As a reward for their hard work, the students were promised the great field trip that took place last Friday.

Attached are some pictures of their posters from the project, the information packet describing the project, and some pictures from Friday’s field trip.  This project was a great example of the students having the opportunity to make real-world connections with mathematics and have it come to life with an outstanding field trip.

Please let me know if you would like any more information about our experiences with this project and trip!

Mr. Hakim