Do you speak Geometry?

I had 3 of my own children go through the public school system in my town.  Great schools overall.  But two things drove me absolutely crazy about their Math education.

Two things that drove me crazy when I was a parent who had kids in high school.

1. Students were not allowed to keep their tests.  As a math teacher this was particularly frustrating because I so wanted to go over my child’s test with them to see what kind of mistakes they were making.  I also wanted to help them go over the problems they got wrong.  If parents ask me what was most important thing they could do with their child to help them with math, I would say it was to go over their mistakes with them (or have a teacher/tutor do it) so they can learn from their mistakes.  I often assign test corrections (for big tests) as an extra assignment because it is so critical to do this for a subject like math that builds upon prior knowledge.
2. My children’s Geometry teacher (we had the same teacher for 2 of my children) was sloppy about her Geometry notation.  I diligently prepped my children how to properly write line segment names, angle names, congruency statements, etc. when they started Geometry.   But when I reviewed her worksheets, handouts, and notes that they brought home –  she was inconsistent with notations.  Math is difficult enough to begin with.  If you are sloppy about how you write things for students, it makes it that much more difficult for them to follow.  You are teaching them to speak a language called Math.

Here is the worksheet we use in the first Geometry unit that showcases all of the subtleties of proper notation in Geometry .  It includes and answer key with explanations.  We find it a great tool to help students learn how to properly write these foundation expressions that we use throughout the year.

A worksheet we use to teach proper Geometry notation