We’re excited to share this lesson from Thomas Trocco from La Guardia Community College in Queens, NY. As you will see in his teacher notes, students use data on the circumference and diameter of various household objects to calculate pi. Thomas adds a nice touch by having students enter their measurements in a spreadsheet which automatically calculates a ratio…

Thomas introduces his lesson with some reflection on teaching online:

In a recent interview with Sarah Kendzior on the Gaslight Nation podcast, musician Tori Amos discussed her new book, what inspires her, and being touched by the muses. Amos said that much of her work as a musician is “chopping wood and carrying water,” i.e., the day-to-day work. This got me thinking of the work I do as an instructor, especially these last 11 weeks as I have been taking my lessons designed for a classroom of adult ed students and transforming them to online, Zoom versions. All of us educators, from pre-school through higher ed, do double-duty as instructors and instructional designers.

I teach high school equivalency to adult students in the Bridge to College and Careers program at LaGuardia Community College, and much of my work is chopping wood: preparing students to pass the four subjects tested on the HSE exam: science, social studies, math, language arts (reading/writing). But my role goes beyond that, especially now that I’m working with students stuck at home, often with school-age children, sharing devices, and trying to stay engaged in this weird Zoom room experience.

In between carrying water, I wait for the muses to strike, and sometimes they do. Sometimes they grab my hand and lead me on a path that both inspires and surprises me. The muses helped me turn a simple lesson on pi, the ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle, into an interactive lesson involving family members measuring objects at home, calculating ratios, entering data in a shared Google spreadsheet, and having small-group and whole class discussions.

As we all face Zoom fatigue—students and me—I’ll continue to try to invoke the muses so lessons are more interactive, utilize found objects at home, and involve family members, too.

Thomas Trocco (Mr. T)
Bridge to College and Careers Program Instructor
Pre-College Academic Programming Department
LaGuardia Community College

Follow the link above to download or copy the lesson’s Google files. This lesson is similar to the Discovering Pi lesson.