Wednesday, November 09, 2005

One Liner Plus ...

In calculus we started talking about antiderivatives yesterday. One student said that it sounded like a vaccine and asked hopefully, "is that something that will make derivatives go away?"

After school I was writing a pass for a student for Wednesday morning, and I was working out what the date would be, so I started counting from Friday, whose date I knew by heart. In my mind I picture the 7 days of the week sort of making an elliptical loop with Saturday and Sunday at the bottom, so in the air, I was kind of pointing to the days and counting forward until I got to Wednesday. The student asked what I was doing, so I explained and then asked how he pictured the days of the week (straight line). That reminded me of my periodically-remembered quest to see if anyone else sees the days of the week in their mind as being in a loop or does everyone see them (if they do at all) in a straight line.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:00 AM

    I don't think I see the days of the week at all. :(

    I'm trying to think, but I don't use my imagination at all, just my knowledge.

    Most people don't seem to realise there's a difference. :)

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  2. I see the days of the week in a similar way but in my visual image, on the ellipse, Monday through Friday all fit on the top half going in a clockwise direction and Saturday and Sunday stretch out to fill the lower half. Interesting topic. Thanks.

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