Mr. Purdy Math

It’s over. 📐

Yesterday, 10/24/26, was the last Pythagorean Theorem Day of the century.

The next date that’s a Pythagorean triple? 3/4/2105.
3² + 4² = 5²

That’s 28,619 days from today. ⏳

Why so long? The month can’t go past 12 and the day can’t go past 31, so the year can’t go past √(12² + 31²) ≈ 33. Nothing from 27 to 33 works, so we have to wait for a whole new century.

How old will you be on 3/4/2105? Let me know in the comments. 👇

I'm excited to be presenting at NCSM: Leadership in Mathematics Education in Denver ⛰️ ! 🎉

Data Stories for Justice: Empowering K–12 Students to Investigate Their World Through Data Science

Every data point is a person, and every graph tells a story. In this interactive session, we'll explore how data science can turn K–12 math classrooms into places where students ask real questions about their communities, cultures, and lives, and use math to answer them.

You'll leave with:
📊 Ready-to-use data tasks
🧭 A simple planning framework and graphic organizers
🗣️ Routines that deepen reasoning, elevate student voice, and build agency

📅 Tuesday, October 27, 2026
🕒 3:15-4:15 PM
📍 Governors Square 15

Come join the conversation, and bring a colleague!

Denver is the Mile High City, but which step is actually a mile high? 🏔️

The Capitol has marked three different ones. That’s fact #1 of 5 in this Mile High Math carousel. Each slide has a real Denver fact and a math question:

1️⃣ The moving mile-high step
2️⃣ An airport bigger than Manhattan
3️⃣ “300 days of sunshine”… sort of
4️⃣ Why water boils at 202°F
5️⃣ The purple seats at Coors Field

Try each question before you swipe to the answers. Which fact surprised you most? Tell me below 👇

Headed to NCTM Denver (Oct 28–31)? Come find me at my Notice and Wonder session on Thursday, Oct 29.

Thank you to everyone who joined my NCTM webinar, Beyond the Graph: Building Data Literacy Through Classroom Routines! 📊💙
Here’s what we covered:

📈 Data talks: notice, wonder, and ask what math questions a graph raises
🗺️ A map of Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” and the questions data can raise about justice
🔍 Slow reveal graphs that build curiosity one piece at a time
🤔 Spurious correlations, because correlation isn’t causation
🚁 Collecting our own data with paper helicopters and exploring it in CODAP
✍️ Real student work and the statistical questions they asked
The big idea: every data point is a person. When students see themselves and their communities in the data, they stop just reading graphs and start asking questions that matter.
If you joined, which routine will you try first? Let me know in the comments!

And I hope to see you in Denver for my NCSM and NCTM sessions. 🏔️

I'm re-sharing an article I co-authored with Chad Uyehara and Megan Vosk for AMLE: Five Ways to Support LGBTQIA+ Students This Pride Month and Beyond.

As educators, we have the opportunity—and responsibility—to create learning environments where every student feels seen, valued, safe, and empowered to be their authentic selves. In this article, we explore practical strategies for fostering belonging and supporting LGBTQIA+ students throughout the year, not just during Pride Month.

I hope you'll take a few moments to read, reflect, and consider how we can continue building more inclusive and affirming schools for all learners.

Read the article here: https://bit.ly/3yJbAtH

Five Ways to Support LGBTQIA+ Students this Pride Month and Beyond - AMLE Pride Month provides educators with an opportunity to reflect on current policies and practices in our schools and how we can best serve our LGBTQIA+ students. As teacher leaders, we believe we can do more to support our students. In this article we share five suggestions on how we can work toward a...