Day 3 (10/02/13)

River Dell Regional High School

(7:30-12:00)

            Today, Mr. Sincak and I prepared a domino circuit activity to demonstrate logical operators and their effects on statements. Specifically, we designed a circuit for the logical statement “If P or Q is true, and if R or S is true, then T is true.” Although I felt that the business-casual outfit made me feel a bit out of place, the class and the domino exercise were enjoyable as a whole. After the class, I spent the day constructing methods of teaching indirect proofs and their applications to geometry. Mr. Sincak and I researched optimal strategies from various teaching textbooks, and he lent me a copy of one of the textbooks for me to study further if I chose to do so. I am very appreciative of how much Mr. Sincak cares about my career goal of becoming a teacher or professor, by constantly giving me advice and explanations on the best methods of teaching and working with other students. I feel like I am already attending a teaching school!

Fairleigh Dickinson University

(1:00-3:00)

            Today in class, Professor Farag taught about a special kind of maps from groups to groups called “homomorphisms.” We also learned about several branches of groups that revolve around these functions, as well as different kinds of homomorphisms. We began to discuss the importance of “isomorphisms,” or maps that relate each item in the first group to a unique element in the second group. He showed us that this is an especially important concept, as groups that are “isomorphic” to each other are essentially the same group. 

            After the class, my temporary office was moved to a new building, but the rest of the day was routine. I finished typing up the class notes and solutions for the past week accordingly, with ample time left for revisions.