So it was done. I'm now blond. Personally, I don't understand why people go through what it takes to do dye their hair, but that is another matter. What matters is that when I come back from spring break, my students will see that I have kept up by end of the challenge and did it.
What is even more amazing is that my students are incredible! One third of the students in the 5th grade have recited 20 or more digits of pi from memory, with about 12 of them hitting 50 or more digits! And, as if all of these exclamation points were not justified, here's another: One kid recited pi to 617 digits from memory yesterday!!! (yes, I think that deserves the extra !'s)
I don't know exactly what drives this urge, but I hope that it somehow transfers to them understanding that with a little bit of effort, they can do anything they set their minds to. Jaime called up the local paper, The Gazette, and a reporter wrote an article about it! (yes, another !)
[note: The article mentions that I said that pi goes out to 1 trillion digits, which is a significant misquote. I said that computers have calculated pi through that range, but as far as we know, since it is an irrational number, it goes on forever.]
4 comments:
Did you have a different article written about you? Noticed the trillion comment but just thought I'd let it slide!! Congrats to you and your student! (Though, come on, 612?! enough is enough!!!)
Hi moshposh -- I can see the confusion there -- no, it is only one article. The parenthetical (another) was meant for the "!"
The top kid said he was going to finish off the page I gave him of numbers by the time we get back from spring break. I think if I counted correctly, there are 950 digits on the page. I told him that was crazy talk.
After a pause, he asked me what would I give him if he pulled it off. I said, "Are you kidding, I'm already dying my hair blond and (taking them out to dinner with the principal), what more did he want? He thought about it for a moment and said, "How about 2 homework passes?"
"Deal." (wow, only 2?)
"Done. I'm doing it. I'm so doing it."
Another kid next to him said he'd do it too.
We'll see.
You're starting to write like me with all your !!!
You'll have to let us know if blondes have more fun... Lookin' good!
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