Getting a little better at math history

I've changed my Mathematician Spotlight routine a bit this year for PreCalculus after seeing what @Fouss did with it in her class (here).

This year, instead of having kids write a report on the mathematician, I give them a quote from the mathematician and three tasks:

1. Rephrase the quote in your own words.
2. Write a paragraph describing why you agree or disagree with the quote.
3. Find three facts on the mathematician; write one on the board.

These papers are waaaaaay more interesting to read than last year's.  After reading the papers last year, I was like, "Ok, I know the guy was born in 1596, for the love of all that is holy, please tell me something I haven't read 43 times already."  With this format, the kids are giving me opinions, which is one of my goals for math class, so I'm enjoying it much more.  Hopefully they are, too.

I change the mathematician once a unit, so this counts as their bonus for the chapter test.

Here's our first one!

I love how they wrote their facts in columns...