Desktop Learning Adventures

I love holiday traditions, and while I have many of my own, today, I'm sharing one of my friend's new family traditions. This friend's family is one that walks the talk and I absolutely love what they decided to do. As their family grew (both kids married, one with two small children of their own and the other with a new one on the way), their kids wanted to teach their children what the spirit of the holidays is all about, and that giving is more important than receiving. For the last three years, as a family, they've adopted a family in need. They would get together on a Saturday or Sunday, go shopping with the list they got from the at-risk school where their daughter taught and went shopping. Taking all the gifts back to my friend's house, they'd have a wrapping party and finish with a special brunch or late lunch. Then, on Monday, their daughter would take everything to school to be delivered to the family just before holiday break. One year, ...

I've been trying to hook up with the Math IS Real Life Linky for quite some time. It makes me crazy when my students don't see that math is everywhere and that they use it regularly; so I like to point out these real-life examples whenever I can. For my maiden voyage, I want to share how much fun you can have with palindromes, one of my favorite number patterns! Palindromes are numbers (or words- race car) that are the same regardless of which direction you read them- forward or backwards. We can find them on our grocery receipts, our digital clocks, anywhere there is (at least) a two digit number.  (EX:  The date, 12/21, a friend's birthday, is a palindrome. 1221 is the same read either direction.  I'm sure that's good luck for her!) One of my all-time favorite games to play is Odometer Palindrome , a great way to pass time at stop lights or on a road trip. Here's how it works- Read the mileage on the odometer and figure out how many miles it will be ...