Slope Dude

Slope Dude
This adventurous young man can teach us the important terms behind learning slope, including the dreaded algebra term ... undefined, all the while being on a ski slope, high on a mountaintop. Intriguing? Interesting? Designed to capture a student's attention? Perhaps, if you have never heard of the slope concept before, like in a pre-algebra class, this video might be the perfect, goofy way to grab the student's attention.

While preparing for a SDAEI Lesson in my ELL class, my colleagues and I found this funny YouTube video on Slope. At the beginning of the math lesson on slope, this video was used to grab the student's attention. A ski slope with a skier demonstrated positive, negative, zero and undefined slope while learning the key terms around this important part of Linear Functions. As part of the NDNU program, we have been taught to use a "hook" to draw the students into your lesson. YouTube videos serve this purpose because they allow teachers to be creative by giving them access to all sorts of materials. YouTube videos also help students, by giving them options to learning. For example, Khan Academy started as uploads to YouTube and there are also many other online and video tutorials for math including songs and games. Recently, while teaching a lesson on Distance, I found a rap song on the equation of Distance=Rate x Time. This was taught to a 6th grade class and they loved the song and remembered the equation easily. Students need to learn and we, as teachers, need to teach. Keep it creative and get your students hooked.