MATHCOUNTS
by rrusczyk, May 8, 2009, 8:46 PM
That was great fun -- all of the final four Countdown students are very active AoPSers, as is the coach of the winning team. So, naturally I couldn't root for anyone!!
I thought Lou did a great job again handling the emcee duties.
One aspect of the Countdown Round that I found interesting this year was how much the students were talking to each other in the "holding pen" on the stage. I don't think I've ever seen a Countdown Round in which the students seemed to know each other so well. I think that's an indication of how widespread AoPS and certain summer programs are becoming.
I also think that it's amazing how competitive it's getting at the very top --- there's a lot of noise in the top 30 or so, and there were a lot of *great* students who weren't on that stage.
One more note: there are 100-150 teachers here. There were 15,000 or so at the NCTM Convention. I had significantly more productive and interesting conversations with teachers here than I did at NCTM. Sigh.
I thought Lou did a great job again handling the emcee duties.
One aspect of the Countdown Round that I found interesting this year was how much the students were talking to each other in the "holding pen" on the stage. I don't think I've ever seen a Countdown Round in which the students seemed to know each other so well. I think that's an indication of how widespread AoPS and certain summer programs are becoming.
I also think that it's amazing how competitive it's getting at the very top --- there's a lot of noise in the top 30 or so, and there were a lot of *great* students who weren't on that stage.
One more note: there are 100-150 teachers here. There were 15,000 or so at the NCTM Convention. I had significantly more productive and interesting conversations with teachers here than I did at NCTM. Sigh.
February 2012
January 2012