David Mitchell: the singing mathematician: math and Christian education become fun when you learn them through singing.Why is it that kids can reel off 50 advertising jingles or three albums of The Tragically Hip lyrics, yet they cannot recall yesterday's math lesson?
Dave Mitchell ''
James David Mitchell (born October 4, 1947 in Wichita Falls, Texas) better known as "Dave Mitchell" is an American radio personality and voice-over artist who has appeared on over 100 radio stations in Texas, Mississippi, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. has the answer. He's the head of mathematics at Cameron Heights Collegiate in Kitchener, Ontario Coordinates: The City of Kitchener (IPA [ˈkɪ.tʃə.nɝ]) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. . He teaches grades 9, 10 and 13 using some unconventional teaching methods. When someone cannot remember a rule in mathematics, he breaks out into song.
"It helps people remember," he explains. "Kids have a real problem with `memorization' but they can remember baseball statistics Statistics are very important to baseball, perhaps as much as they are for cricket, and more than almost any other sport. Since the flow of baseball has natural breaks to it, the game lends itself to easy record keeping and statistics. or the lyrics to pop songs without any trouble."
So, rather than trying to change the kids, Dave changed his teaching techniques. When his students have trouble remembering what to do with a fraction, he launches into his fraction rap:
A fraction is a division
So you don't have to make a decision
You just take the numerator numerator
the upper part of a fraction.
see additive genetic relationship.
numerator Epidemiology The upper part of a fraction
And divide by the denominator
And then sooner or later
You get a repeater or terminator
'Cause a fraction is a division
So you don't have to make a decision!
When he teaches the rules of circles, Dave sings: "Pi r squared sounds like area to me; when I need a circumference, I'll just use pi d."
Or division: "Never divide by zero, if you do you will be sad, getting a crazy answer, making your report look bad" (to the tune of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is a popular Christmas story about Santa Claus' ninth and lead reindeer who possesses an unusually red colored nose that gives off its own light that is powerful enough to illuminate the team's path through inclement weather. ").
"I've been involved in song-writing since high school," Dave comments. "It's natural to use my musical ability in other contexts. When [the students] don't know Don't know (DK, DKed)
"Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. me, they wonder what this guy is doing; but, soon, we establish a rapport."
Dave is also in demand on the morning announcements at his school. He produces announcements for various clubs, all set to catchy tunes: "Come on, come on, come on, Descartes" ("Twist and Shout"); "Math league Math League is a mathematics competition for elementary, middle, and high school students in the United States. The Math League was founded in 1977 by two high school mathematics teachers, Steven R. Conrad and Daniel Flegler. Math Leagues, Inc. , there's a practice for math league" ("Memories" from the musical Cuts); "Wednesday morning: it is time, it's Pascal, Cayley, Fermat time" ("William Tell Overture The overture to the opera William Tell, especially its high-energy finale, is a very familiar work composed by Gioachino Rossini. There has been repeated use (and sometimes parody) of this overture in the popular media, most famously for being the theme music for the "); and "I see nouns and verbs, adjectives, too ... I see my teacher-mentor, in the writing centre, and I think to myself, these are wonderful words" ("What a Wonderful World").
Because of his teaching techniques, Dave won the 1994 Stewart Award for Teacher Excellence, the most prestigious award given to a secondary school teacher in Waterloo County. But Dave's talents aren't limited to teaching. He performed a puppet show for teachers to liven up a staff meeting. He put the Lion's Club treasurer's report to music and presented it to the annual meeting of the Lion's Club. And he won an Ontario Cable Television producers' award for excellence in programming for his one-time show How Do You Do That?
In co-operation with Rev. Bill Lamont, Dave writes songs and puppet shows for St. Andrew's Church St. Andrew's Church, Church of St Andrew, or variations on the name, may refer to:
In the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, the parents of the human race. Genesis gives two versions of their creation. In the first, God creates “male and female in his own image” on the sixth day. puppet show; and created a tape, Today's the Day to Start, a collection of songs for use in Christian education.
With his wife, Heather, Dave runs a part-time business called A Song for You. They write and sing personalized songs for weddings, anniversaries or any other special occasion. To date, they have written over 350 personalized songs set to original keyboard melodies in styles which range from calypso Calypso, in Greek mythology
Calypso (kəlĭp`sō), nymph, daughter of Atlas, in Homer's Odyssey. She lived on the island of Ogygia and there entertained Odysseus for seven years. to country.
But Dave insists that no matter how big his business grows, it will always be a sideline. Teaching is his real love. "When a teacher enjoys and appreciates the students as human beings, it's a lot of fun," he says. "Being a fair and decent person sets an example. Most of the time, teaching is very enjoyable."
Lately, however, with the de-streaming of Grade 9 in Ontario, Dave has found teaching more difficult. "Grade 9 seems to be a difficult year," he explains. "Especially since de-streaming, it's been a real problem from a motivational standpoint. Even with techniques like music and rap, it's a struggle. You can deal with it, but you end up conducting a three-ring circus."
Still, Dave says, he is thankful to have the opportunity to work with young people and to be a positive influence. At present, he is working on an album of math songs and activities that could be used for students of Grade 8 level and up, trying to motivate them to learn. His love of music and math comes through in every verse. Like this one to the tune of "American Pie":
Why, why, don't you learn about pi,
Get ecstatic 'bout quadratics quad·rat·ics
n. (used with a sing. verb)
The branch of algebra that deals with quadratic equations.
quadratics and let calculus fly,
Take a swing of trig and you will be on a high
Singin' this'll be the day that I tried,
This'll be the day that I tried.