Christmas brings back so many great memories. It always has been my favorite holiday. And, long vacations from school helped make it my favorite as well.
I think of trips on Christmas to be with family members - especially to Bethlehem, Harrisburg, Sunbury and Ephrata. They were such special times. I remember caroling and cantatas and Christmas meals. Ironically I remember family members, many now in heaven, but I don't remember any of the presents I received, especially as a child. I guess that might prove that people are more important than things.
Now this might surprise you, but one of the things that I miss the most are my classroom experiences the last day we met before Christmas break. For many years I had a special routine that allowed me to share my faith with my students in a very unusual way.
On that day I taught my classes dressed as Santa Claus. The class involved a number of special activities such as one which I will describe a little later. I read parts of several Christmas classics to my class, including some things about Hanukkah, ending with the Christmas story from Luke. I always had the full attention of my students, some of which had never heard these readings before. I then shared what Christmas meant to me personally - a special opportunity probably unheard of in a public school. Over the years several students thanked me for this and I pray that somehow this time has had an effect on someone's life. This is an opportunity which I miss each Christmas since I've retired.
Now the class also included the singing of several of the math carols that I had written over the years. Actually I have had a few students remind me of these years later. Maybe that is all they remember from my math classes. And after sharing these with other teachers including at a national math conference, I've heard that they have also been shared in other schools throughout the country. Maybe I should have gotten then copyrighted.
So let me close this Christmas blog with a few of them. Try singing them - even if you've forgotten the mathematics.
OH ALGEBRA (OH CHRISTMAS TREE)
Oh algebra, oh algebra, how lovely are your properties, Oh algebra, oh algebra, how lovely are your properties. They show us how to operate, our feeble minds they stimulate. Oh algebra, oh algebra, how lovely are your properties.
BINOMIALS (JINGLE BELLS)
Binomials, binomials, add and multiply. Are the terms alike, or are they different? Oh my! Binomials, binomials, to multiply we toil, Distribute the monomial or multiply by FOIL.
TRICKY OLD TRIG-NOMETRY (JOLLY OLD SAINT NICHOLAS)
Tricky old trig-nometry, it's a useful art, Helps you find an angle, especially if you're smart. You can use the tangent or the cosine law, Careful with the 'rithmetic, so you don't have a flaw.
Use the secant ratio for a right triangle, Draw a picture first of all to help your thoughts untangle. Patience with your efforts, precision in your task, Soon the answer you will find, success will come at last.
MATHEMATICS, MY FAVORITE SUBJECT (RUDOLPH)
Mathematics, my favorite subject, is a very challenging class. And, if you ever take it, you will learn to love it fast.
In it we learn equations, linear, quadratic and more, We always do our homework, it will never become a bore.
For some future college day, professor just might say, "Students with your minds so bright, solve this problem right tonight!"
Then you will use this background, that some other kids have missed, With math you'll solve the problem and be named to the Dean's List!
I'M DREAMING OF A NICE PARABOLA (I'M DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS) I'm dreaming of a nice parabola, just like the ones we used to draw,
With a fixed directrix, a single focus, a vertex which on the graph doth fall. I'm dreaming of a nice parabola, with every quadratic that I see,
May your thoughts be second degree, as you sketch a parabola for me.
Have a very merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous 2021!
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