Delta Math has incredible sets for seeing volume of cross-sections and solids of revolutions. If you instruct your students to click on “show solution“, they can pull a slider to see the region become a solid! For the cross-section set, it shows the shape (square, rectangle, or triangle) growing along the base. For the disks, it includes the radius with the 3D shape. The washer set shows the washer inside the 3D shape. There is also a matching set, where students can practice matching up the 2D region with a resulting 3D shape, and vice versa. The five sets I use are in the image below. I have ..read more

My AP Calculus students had a tough time with volume last year. So this year I wanted an activity where they could actually see the cross sections. I have seen many awesome activities where students actually measure the base between curves, and then create cross sections using paper, like the ones from Bowman and Rebacka. I would love to do these with my students, but unfortunately we are very short on time this year because of our school schedule. So, I decided to try it out using Play-Doh. I had students mold each type of cross section, and then let them slice it with either dental floss or ..read more

I am one of those annoying people who sing everything. I can’t help it, and I can’t stop it. As such, I also love to play music in class. Kids really like it as well, and I love it when they are working hard and singing along. It also seems to help my more talkative classes focus. “Music soothes the savage beast.”  +C Playlist: Some calculus concepts can be easy to forget, especially adding C. So, I created a +C Spotify playlist full of songs with anything that sounded like the letter C in them, see, sea, me,… As we first learn about why we need to add C, I play, and SING, these songs, lo ..read more

Here is the spreadsheet that I used to figure out and keep track of my pacing for AP Calculus throughout the year. The spreadsheet includes AB and BC. I follow the CED (page 27, Course at a Glance) so that I can use the AP Classroom Progress checks throughout the year. I really like using the Progress Checks throughout the year, instead of saving them for review time. It shows how my students are progressing and what they still need to work on. It gives them consistent practice with AP level timed multiplication problems. And, it shows students (and me) what they still need work on, and which ..read more

This year, I taught AP Calculus AB for the first time, ever. I was definitely more terrified than excited when I was offered the class. I had wanted to teach it for a couple of years, but remote learning had been incredibly difficult and time consuming for me, and the thought of teaching a very difficult new course during the pandemic was even more terrifying. Oh, and I hadn’t taught Calculus since 1998. Most of all, I was worried because I wanted to do a really great job for my students. Yes, of course I always feel this way, but I was moving up, again, with the same group of students. I had ..read more