Hudson, T. (2012). English: VHS cassette tape. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VHS_cassette_tape_06.JPG Used with Creative Commons Share-Alike 2.5 Australia License.
For Mrs. Scharenberg's 8th grade math class, my friends and I created a music video to teach others the order of operations. We borrowed my sister's Lion King figures and sang along to a recording of "Hakuna Matata" replacing the lyrics with the order of operations. Much like Miss Dyleski’s refrain, this one still echoes in my memories:
Parenthesis are first.
Then you multiply and divide
From left to right...
This was the first time I used technology to create something (relatively) new. Memorizing the order of operations would not have been as enjoyable as singing a song with my friends. I also appreciated the freedom we had in selecting the mode of our final project. Making the work public by showing the video to our class also motivated us to keep singing and recording until our project was worth sharing. I sang the song to myself throughout high school whenever I needed to remember the order of operations.
From this experience I learned the importance of an authentic audience and for providing students as much latitude as possible in their choices.