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Nexrad

Fantasy Football used for teaching math in school

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It could be a good opportunity for a semester long group project that was revisited every week with new concepts introduced. Lots of ways to make this relevant in math and literacy using cooperative learning and cross curricular teaching.

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When I think back to the math I had in school, there was a lot of emphasis on correct procedures that led to exact answers but precious little dealing with uncertainty and adult life is filled with it. Fantasy football would provide an avenue to discover how math can be used as a tool in grappling with uncertainty.

 

FF can mirror real life, in which there a lot of situations that don’t boil down to one correct answer...even if it’s just family budgeting decisions. So say the students are in a free Yahoo Public League, it’s Week 7, and it’s lineup construction time. Their assignment for this week is to assess of the prospects for their opponent and to write an evaluation of whether they need to emphasize “floor” or “ceiling” in their lineups this week. Or Waiver Wire Wednesday is approaching and the students would submit a cost/benefit type justification for which of the competing priorities among handcuffing, maximizing the prospects for the upcoming week, or positioning themselves for the playoffs they are going to emphasize in their transactions this week.

 

A few summers ago I read one of those Horatio Hornblower novels by C. S. Forester and was struck by how Hornblower leaned upon estimation in the discharging of so many facets of his duties as a naval captain. Estimating and projecting are not something we’re taught to do as students and FF could help fill that gap.

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My 12 year old grandson was in 2 leagues this year with friends, you cant expect all parents to accept fantasy sports as a teaching tool. Take into account most kids need a manager to make change for a buck because the cash register wont work to tell them. Principle times rate and time paid my house off in 20 years on a 30 year loan with no help from Terrell Owens.

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I would agree that it is gambling.

 

Don't see why it needs to be used in schools for teaching.

 

I think teachers need to go back to the fundamentals and teach.

 

I find teachers to be lazy in their work habits today, and looking for an easier way to earn a pay check.

you

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It seems for some, that there's a misconception how a teaching regiment like this can and would be used.

It's not a blanket substitute for math curriculum. It's a fun and engaging activity to show one example of real life aggregate math/statistics usage. It's support work. Teach them the concept, then apply it to a variety of situations.

Like the following: https://www.yummymath.com/wp-content/uploads/Fantasy_Football_2014.pdf

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Schools in Alexandra Virgina will be closed tomorrow because of under staffing.

 

The Techers have requested the day off to march in the A Day Without A Woman.

 

So what will the students be learning that day while the union allows the teachers to miss yet another day from teaching.

 

Sad News.

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Just curious, but what grade level(s) are you thinking of doing this with? In my experience, kids are familiar with fantasy football in general starting in 4th grade, meaning they are starting to play or co-manage with their dad at about age 9-10.

 

Sorry to not respond sooner but I had to take a break. It got a little intense on this thread.

 

This is an activity planed for my fourth and fifth grade intervention (small group instruction). I am trying to think of the logistics still, but I know I want Monday/Tuesday to be for collecting statistics, calculating scores, and charting data, then on Thursday/Friday calculating predictions, making choices and defending choices.

 

I haven't decided on a weekly or year long format, suggestions?

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Long, long, time lurker here. I teach Mandarin and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) at a low income middle school in California. I think using fantasy football or baseball is a good way to get students engaged. They would be able to see that there are real life applications of math in an area that interests them. Perhaps even introduce some simple technology such as using spreadsheets?

 

Or course, no money should be involved and you might want to run it by admin first. Thanks for thinking outside the box, education needs more forward thinkers like you.

 

No money involved just motivation to calculate and use data to make predictions.

 

I think there would be lots of opportunities for information technology. Spreadsheets to collect and analyse data over time, using the search engine to find raw data and stats. What else would you suggestion to incorporate?

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Weepaws...Are you a teacher? You make many blanket statements about educators as if you are an expert on them. In your opinion, what does good teaching look like? Was it how you were taught as a kid? If so, times have changed and educators do much more than your blanket statements reveal. In the teaching profession there are bad teachers, which is like any profession...some good, some bad...but most are very good at their job. Educators have to be very innovative and when teaching struggling, at-risk students or kids in general these days. You need to find creative ways to teach standard skills. This may embrace the use of the stock market or fantasy football and may look nothing like the way you were taught. In your opinion fantasy football is considered gambling, but if money isn't exchanged, what is truly being gambled...the data that can be used to teach math or analytics? The teacher isn't using FF to teach winning or losing...simply math standards in a way that holds students' interests. This isn't a teacher taking the easy way out...they are trying to differentiate their curriculum in a way that meets the needs of their students and that doesn't equate to taking the easy way out as they need to first find ways this would align to the curriculum, develop lessons and support materials to teach it, constantly evaluate student performance and the success of using this unit to teach the chosen aligned content, and make day to day adjustments in order to supplement their teaching for students who need additional support and practice. So before making blanket statements about teachers, you may want to speak to a few quality educators and then find out what the teachers union really does...which isn't making their teaching load easier!

 

From a teacher - thanks for the support and kind words!

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It could be a good opportunity for a semester long group project that was revisited every week with new concepts introduced. Lots of ways to make this relevant in math and literacy using cooperative learning and cross curricular teaching.

 

You have so many great ideas. Do you mind if I include some of your thoughts as a testimonial, when I present the project to parents?

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When I think back to the math I had in school, there was a lot of emphasis on correct procedures that led to exact answers but precious little dealing with uncertainty and adult life is filled with it. Fantasy football would provide an avenue to discover how math can be used as a tool in grappling with uncertainty.

 

FF can mirror real life, in which there a lot of situations that don’t boil down to one correct answer...even if it’s just family budgeting decisions. So say the students are in a free Yahoo Public League, it’s Week 7, and it’s lineup construction time. Their assignment for this week is to assess of the prospects for their opponent and to write an evaluation of whether they need to emphasize “floor” or “ceiling” in their lineups this week. Or Waiver Wire Wednesday is approaching and the students would submit a cost/benefit type justification for which of the competing priorities among handcuffing, maximizing the prospects for the upcoming week, or positioning themselves for the playoffs they are going to emphasize in their transactions this week.

 

A few summers ago I read one of those Horatio Hornblower novels by C. S. Forester and was struck by how Hornblower leaned upon estimation in the discharging of so many facets of his duties as a naval captain. Estimating and projecting are not something we’re taught to do as students and FF could help fill that gap.

 

Thank you for sharing, would you mind if I included your thoughts as a testimonial when I present this project to parents?

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It seems for some, that there's a misconception how a teaching regiment like this can and would be used.

 

It's not a blanket substitute for math curriculum. It's a fun and engaging activity to show one example of real life aggregate math/statistics usage. It's support work. Teach them the concept, then apply it to a variety of situations.

Like the following: https://www.yummymath.com/wp-content/uploads/Fantasy_Football_2014.pdf

 

Right you hit the nail on the head. This is an extension of the math curriculum that will give students motivation to practice the skills from the curriculum.

 

Thanks for sharing that resource, I had not see it.

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So you really didn't want everyones opinion about this issue, where you just fishing for those that would support you?

 

So will you report to the parents and the board that not everyone is on the same side of this issue?

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So you really didn't want everyones opinion about this issue, where you just fishing for those that would support you?

 

So will you report to the parents and the board that not everyone is on the same side of this issue?

 

What's with the junkyard dog routine?

 

It's bordering on harrassment.

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its funny tiny hands; I agree with your perspective in the Mixon thread but here I just think you're being the worst sort of troll.

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I'm saying what I'm seeing.

 

I don't agree with this person view of bringing ff into the classroom.

 

And I bet the OP won't present all of the views that have been posted about this issue.

 

I know it's not popular to have an opposite view of things in today's world, but I think it still is.

 

You can see it anyway you want.

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You have so many great ideas. Do you mind if I include some of your thoughts as a testimonial, when I present the project to parents?

Please do--I'd love to see you do something like this and maybe let us know how it works out!

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I personally think Weepaws has some valid points. While I'm ok with fantasy sports being utilized in the classroom, it shouldn't be a focus, just a point of reference to get kids to see how the math (or science... or marketing et al), can be utulized outside the classroom and in their personal lives. I don't think the OP was meaning for fantasy sports to be a major component of the process, which is why I'm in favor of it.


Also, his points on teaching are in fact valid. The education system is declining and has been for years, to think that teachers share no blame in this, is quite ignorant. In my opinion, failures in the classroom fall on 4 parties, with 3 being the biggest parties responsible. I put Parents at 30%, Politicians at 30%, Teachers at 30%, and the students themselves at 10%. I am a BIG proponent of persoanl accountability but it's hard to put a lot of the blame on the students when all their lives their either being babied by their parents, the teachers blaming everyone else (in front of the kids), about why their job is so hard, and "big brother" always lying. To Paws' comments, he's not saying "ALL" teachers, he's just saying that there are teachers who slack... and he is right. While teachers can be fired, it is a very hard process, and it rarely does happen unless the teacher is just absolutely dreadful.

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And your going to grade these kids how ? Just give them all participation trophies? There is no science or formula for a right answer and i would debate any you could use biasly against a kid. You could use strenth of schedule and have 5 guys configure it 5 ways. Stick to a right and wrong answer and quit confusing the kids because you have your own agenda.

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Its not about grading the kids on their teams or their sit/start decisions!!

 

Its about putting math to work in an exercise with subject matter the students like and relate to - making math fun and using real world situations as examples where math applies. Kinda like the batting averages previously mentioned that were used to great benefit.

 

While you're worried about the improper introduction of gambling into coursework (despite your own gambling) or participation trophies (the pssyfication of murica!) this guy is in the trenches.

 

Yer on the internet passing judgement when you could be volunteering in the classroom. If your opinions are that strong get off yer asz and go help them out.

 

OP - your asking for people's thoughts and its the internet so you're going to get both sides. It's all just information and ultimately all information is useful. Good luck and I hope to read about how this goes in class and wish you continued success.

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I don't agree with this person view of bringing ff into the classroom.

 

And I bet the OP won't present all of the views that have been posted about this issue.

 

 

 

Hello,

 

I am collecting information from players of fantasy football about using fantasy football as a math activity on a fantasy football discussion board. I never thought it would cause so much drama. But this is the internet and so now that it has I am not surprised.

 

I am going to share positive testimonial from ff players with parents to reassure them about the decisions I have made about the education of their children. I know that I don't have all the answers so I am open to criticism of my idea, I do not, however, plan on using criticism as testimonial to parents. I see criticism as potential areas that parents will push-back against my plan, I have seen already that the concern of gambling is going to come up right away and know that I will need a response showing that ff is a game not gambling.

 

I also think that there might be a reason, that I have not thought of, why that this is a bad idea. If a poster shares that quality reason supported with facts and convinces me that I should not use ff, I will not need to present anything to parents because I will drop the project. I have not heard that reason supported with facts, yet. You supported using baseball stats for math class and I agreed that the stats from any sporting event are what makes those sports useful as a tools in a math class, and in my math class students do not only calculate answers, they using calculations to make decisions and support those actions - like setting a fantasy football lineup. I am still open to the reason that ff in math class is not a good idea but I am not going to consider to unsubstantiated attacks.

 

You have made it very clear that you dislike teachers and consider them lazy, you comments did not seem directed at me personally but universally to all teachers, as a teacher I take offence to your repeated insults. They may come form a place of ignorance or you may have been deeply hurt by a teacher in the past, and if this is the case I am truly sorry. Your attacks on teachers, however, have not moved me to change my mind about my project. In fact I want to employ ff into my classroom more now, so my students understand that their teachers want them engaged in learning and don't grow up hating teachers.

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I personally think Weepaws has some valid points. While I'm ok with fantasy sports being utilized in the classroom, it shouldn't be a focus, just a point of reference to get kids to see how the math (or science... or marketing et al), can be utulized outside the classroom and in their personal lives. I don't think the OP was meaning for fantasy sports to be a major component of the process, which is why I'm in favor of it.
Also, his points on teaching are in fact valid. The education system is declining and has been for years, to think that teachers share no blame in this, is quite ignorant. In my opinion, failures in the classroom fall on 4 parties, with 3 being the biggest parties responsible. I put Parents at 30%, Politicians at 30%, Teachers at 30%, and the students themselves at 10%. I am a BIG proponent of persoanl accountability but it's hard to put a lot of the blame on the students when all their lives their either being babied by their parents, the teachers blaming everyone else (in front of the kids), about why their job is so hard, and "big brother" always lying. To Paws' comments, he's not saying "ALL" teachers, he's just saying that there are teachers who slack... and he is right. While teachers can be fired, it is a very hard process, and it rarely does happen unless the teacher is just absolutely dreadful.

 

 

Thank you for the input, I am working with struggling math students and I do not see ff as a replacement for their math curriculum, just a fun and engaging way to practice calculations and making predictions a few times a week. My philosophy is to teach the skills then motivate the students to apply the skills.

 

Also, thank you for your balanced view on American education. I think that teachers with their eyes open would agree that our system is not all that it could be and are willing to accept that teachers themselves have a share in the responsibility for what has gone wrong. I do my best from within the system to make sure I have my students needs and motivations at the forefront of my planning and to support/encourage my peers to do the same.

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And your going to grade these kids how ? Just give them all participation trophies? There is no science or formula for a right answer and i would debate any you could use biasly against a kid. You could use strenth of schedule and have 5 guys configure it 5 ways. Stick to a right and wrong answer and quit confusing the kids because you have your own agenda.

 

No participation trophies, just friendly competition, which is a motivating factor for my students who are good sports and compete with each other well. Also "grading" with be on if students can take the raw stats from the weekends games for a player and accurately calculate player/overall scores. For example is your quarterback throws for 326 yards and yards are worth .15 then you need to be able to multiply 326 x .15, then you need to add up all the quarterback's scoring categorizes (touchdowns, rush yards, negatives for fumbles or interceptions) to get your QB score and then add all your players to get your weekly total. Lots of great math practice in calculating ff scores by hand!

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What's with the junkyard dog routine?

 

It's bordering on harrassment.

I am a teacher, it comes with the territory, if I wanted respect in my profession I could have been a lawyer.

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OP - your asking for people's thoughts and its the internet so you're going to get both sides. It's all just information and ultimately all information is useful. Good luck and I hope to read about how this goes in class and wish you continued success.

 

I knew that there was the possibility of negativity from this idea, I asked for both positive and negative feelings about the project. I thought that because we are all ff players that the concept of ff in math itself would be supported but I posted on the internet, so I should not have been surprised by the backlash. I do think that there might be a valid reason, out there, to not use ff in math and I have not heard it yet I am open to people's ideas. That said I feel that I have had a lot of support and some great testimonials, that I will use to reassure parents who are worried when I launch in the fall. I'll make sure to keep the FF Today community updated with my studies progress.

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I think it's going to be done, I still think it's gambling and gambling doesn't belong in the classroom.

 

And I do think their are teachers in the teaching community that will find the lazy way of using this teaching method for their own gain.

 

I still think that using Stats to teach math is a great ideal, stats don't equal to gambling.

 

Hey thanks for this question and I appreciate you posting it.

 

I'll be praying for you and for this new ideal to work.

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This type of education has proven to succeed in the past:

http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat162.shtml

http://www.espn.com/espn/news/story?id=2680335

The common denominator involved in the aforementioned stories...is that the material relates to children that are struggling understanding it. A teacher's job is to help children understand the material. By any measure necessary. There is no such thing as "correct curriculum" in a classroom.

The primary issue you will inevitably run into is not gambling, which this is clearly not....it's the ability to maintain a similar interest between the boys and girls in the classroom. At that age in particular, many of the girls (and some boys) will not have a vested interest in sports or athletics of any sort.

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So what happens when they come up with their predictions and their predictions are all wrong?

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I think it's going to be done, I still think it's gambling and gambling doesn't belong in the classroom.

 

And I do think their are teachers in the teaching community that will find the lazy way of using this teaching method for their own gain.

 

Johnny could only sing one note

And the note that he sang was this:

"Ah!"

Poor Johnny one-note sang out with gusto

And just overlorded the place

Poor Johnny one-note yelled willy nilly

Until he was blue in the face

For holding one note was his ace;

Couldn't hear the brass

Couldn't hear the drum

He was in a class

By himself, by gum!

 

:music_guitarred:

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Thank you for sharing, would you mind if I included your thoughts as a testimonial when I present this project to parents?

 

Not at all, go ahead.

 

- - -

 

I'd seen some recent discussion about grading students' answers and wanted to reply. What's important is not the answers but how they arrived at them. If this were my project, I'd try to construct it in such a way that paper trails are left behind in support of those answers and my goal for the season would be to see that the processes employed by each student to arrive at his/her FF decisions would grow in sophistication and complexity by the time the season finished. I look at the way I was slicing and dicing statistics in 2016 and think back to my first FF season in 2014 with chagrin because I didn't realize such ways of efficiently attacking the data were available

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I am very interested in the outcome of this on a personal level. I would love to teach my kid math based off fantasy baseball. I Assure you it would have helped me. Without a doubt.

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Hello,

 

I am a school teacher and an avid FF player. Next year I want to start he year off with using fantasy football to support arithmetic practice and to make predictions based off of collected data.

 

I have some ideas already about what it would look like and how to create meaningful scoring for students to practice arithmetic while making decision about who to start in the next week, but am open to suggestions if you have creative ways you think that FF could support math instruction.

 

What I would love to get from this community are personal antidotes (maybe from professionals who use math, stats, probability in their careers) that I could use, when pitching it to parents and administrators, to support this idea (or reasons not to incorporate FF). I will not share anything from this board without permission, but thought this could be a place to get the ball rolling.

 

Thank you and have a great day!

 

what grade?

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what grade?

 

Fourth and fifth grade, but I work in small group setting with students who struggle with math or have fallen behind, students that need something to make math practice more meaningful.

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This type of education has proven to succeed in the past:

http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat162.shtml

http://www.espn.com/espn/news/story?id=2680335

The common denominator involved in the aforementioned stories...is that the material relates to children that are struggling understanding it. A teacher's job is to help children understand the material. By any measure necessary. There is no such thing as "correct curriculum" in a classroom.

 

The primary issue you will inevitably run into is not gambling, which this is clearly not....it's the ability to maintain a similar interest between the boys and girls in the classroom. At that age in particular, many of the girls (and some boys) will not have a vested interest in sports or athletics of any sort.

 

 

Thank you for the resources.

 

About your concerns about different interests, I am working with small groups in math intervention. I have already identified the group that I would incorporate FF into first - they all come to group wanting to talk football anyway. If I were to use FF in a whole group I would make it an activity students could choose for enrichment or to extend their studies.

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So what happens when they come up with their predictions and their predictions are all wrong?

 

They have the opportunity to reflect on the decisions they made, and decide how to adjust their choices going forward. I think that these are lessons that all fantasy players are faced with at times, because nobody make perfect predictions. We make the wrong prediction, we adjust our playing habits, and grow as fantasy players. Learning that even the best predictions can turn out to be wrong is a life lesson that can be transferred from a fantasy football game.

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Sounds like it's more about teaching them how to play ff to me.

 

That's where I have a problem with it.

 

Stats is a good method of teaching math, not making decisions of building a winning ff team

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