Showing posts with label Blogosphere Good Ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogosphere Good Ideas. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Blogosphere Good Ideas Curated with elink!
Today I learned about a new tool ... super easy to learn! I like it because instead of just sharing links to great ideas, I can add visual appeal! Check out https://elink.io/ ... and think about how you can use it with your students! Also check out the SIX great sites curated here! You won't be disappointed!
Monday, July 17, 2017
Reposting ... 5 Websites You Need to Visit!!
5 websites you need to spend an hour at and steal amazing resources for your classroom this fall.
I have not used a math textbook with my students since returning to teaching 4 years ago. My curriculum is the Minnesota State Math Standards. (we have never been a common core state). I follow my district’s pacing of units, unit length and common assessments. Beyond that I collect the resources I use from a variety of places. You may not be like me and follow a textbook. No matter who you are, there are a ton of resources for math educators online that we will all find useful.
I have known about the following 5 sites for years and during the busy school year I find my self thinking “I need to spend an hour here and ‘right click, copy and save’ so many things from this site.” So this summer I am spending 1 hour at each of the 5 websites below. I have 8 word docs…
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Saturday, July 15, 2017
10 First Day, First Week Blogs that Inspire Me!
10 First Day, First Week Blogs that Inspire Me!
You'll notice a theme throughout these 10 blog posts. Start the year, the very first day engaging students in discussion about math, about growth mindset, and doing math! Doing math on the first day makes a statement about how every day in your classroom is about math, but it also emphasizes that they will be doing math ... not just hearing the teacher explain math.
I work for an online university now and then; recently I was working with a group of teachers on classroom management. We reviewed 8 models of handling management and behavior ... all of which stated to explicitly attend to rules the first day of school.
I submit that if you are teaching middle/high school, students already know the rules. I like one rule - We are here to learn together. Don't disrupt or distract us from learning!
Spending a few minutes eliciting from students the common expectations in schools, discussing how all of those expectations boil down to the concept of respect is enough. Then over the first week, walk students through your routine ... while doing math!
Or create a math activity that involves students reading the syllabus!
If you need a math activity, a resource for growth mindset, or just encouragement as you are planning your first days ... check out these 10 blogs!
Our First Day Message from Easing the Hurry Syndrome
First Day with Make It Stick, Jo Boaler and Plickers from I Speak Math
Why I Give My Students a System of 6 Equations to Solve on the First Day from Sara Vanderwerf
100 Numbers to Get Students Talking from Sara Vanderwerf
First Day of School from My Math Education Blog
Week 1 Talking Points Math Mindset from Math Minds
Spiralling Grade 9 Math from Mr. Orr is a Geek
What Do You Do on the First Day from dy/dan (the comments are a goldmine of ideas!)
Day One AP Stats and Honors Alg2 from Success
Guess My Rule from Math = Love
Other first week resources:
Algebra's Friend post on What To Do the First Week
Algebra's Friend First Week Bundle, TPT
You'll notice a theme throughout these 10 blog posts. Start the year, the very first day engaging students in discussion about math, about growth mindset, and doing math! Doing math on the first day makes a statement about how every day in your classroom is about math, but it also emphasizes that they will be doing math ... not just hearing the teacher explain math.
I work for an online university now and then; recently I was working with a group of teachers on classroom management. We reviewed 8 models of handling management and behavior ... all of which stated to explicitly attend to rules the first day of school.
I submit that if you are teaching middle/high school, students already know the rules. I like one rule - We are here to learn together. Don't disrupt or distract us from learning!
Spending a few minutes eliciting from students the common expectations in schools, discussing how all of those expectations boil down to the concept of respect is enough. Then over the first week, walk students through your routine ... while doing math!
Or create a math activity that involves students reading the syllabus!
If you need a math activity, a resource for growth mindset, or just encouragement as you are planning your first days ... check out these 10 blogs!
Our First Day Message from Easing the Hurry Syndrome
First Day with Make It Stick, Jo Boaler and Plickers from I Speak Math
Why I Give My Students a System of 6 Equations to Solve on the First Day from Sara Vanderwerf
100 Numbers to Get Students Talking from Sara Vanderwerf
First Day of School from My Math Education Blog
Week 1 Talking Points Math Mindset from Math Minds
Spiralling Grade 9 Math from Mr. Orr is a Geek
What Do You Do on the First Day from dy/dan (the comments are a goldmine of ideas!)
Day One AP Stats and Honors Alg2 from Success
Guess My Rule from Math = Love
Other first week resources:
Algebra's Friend post on What To Do the First Week
Algebra's Friend First Week Bundle, TPT
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
#MTBoSBlaugust ... a Trip around the Blogosphere 2
I'm mentioning favorite blog posts today ... great ideas abound ... and the challenge is on!
First up is Rockstar Math Teacher's Google Form quizzes. What caught my eye is that she made five short quizzes on the same topic - a topic her students are struggling with! That means she can work those students over time and they can keep taking quizzes until they show mastery! The quizzes are done, they are easy to grade, and the progress is available in a spreadsheet! In my algebra 2 class, I might do this with solving equations and factoring the simpler quadratics - skills I need students to have but don't have time to practice in class! How could you use Google Forms to help students who need extra practice? Or what do you use instead?
While we are mentioning Google Forms ... Alice Keeler (all things Google guru) posted that you can now put images in as answer choices in Google Forms! That's a huge help to math teachers who might want to use graphs or images of equations in multiple choice questions! Check out the details here. Will images in answer choices be a help to you?
If you are wondering how you will keep up with blogging during the school year, try the Sunday Summary! I loved reading Shelli's summary this past week. It's honest, newsy, has a teaching idea in it ... it's inspiring to peek into other's teaching lives! How might you summarize your week at school?
And thinking about a peek into how other folks teach ... check out this post about Meg ... Dave Sabol has started a series, "How I Teach!" And Meg is first up! Find out what she has in her hand when she is teaching ... and her favorite "life" hacks!
For the real deal ... why not join the "Observe Me" movement! Check out the call to action on Robert Kaplinsky's post! Observe, be observed, and grow!
First up is Rockstar Math Teacher's Google Form quizzes. What caught my eye is that she made five short quizzes on the same topic - a topic her students are struggling with! That means she can work those students over time and they can keep taking quizzes until they show mastery! The quizzes are done, they are easy to grade, and the progress is available in a spreadsheet! In my algebra 2 class, I might do this with solving equations and factoring the simpler quadratics - skills I need students to have but don't have time to practice in class! How could you use Google Forms to help students who need extra practice? Or what do you use instead?
While we are mentioning Google Forms ... Alice Keeler (all things Google guru) posted that you can now put images in as answer choices in Google Forms! That's a huge help to math teachers who might want to use graphs or images of equations in multiple choice questions! Check out the details here. Will images in answer choices be a help to you?
If you are wondering how you will keep up with blogging during the school year, try the Sunday Summary! I loved reading Shelli's summary this past week. It's honest, newsy, has a teaching idea in it ... it's inspiring to peek into other's teaching lives! How might you summarize your week at school?
And thinking about a peek into how other folks teach ... check out this post about Meg ... Dave Sabol has started a series, "How I Teach!" And Meg is first up! Find out what she has in her hand when she is teaching ... and her favorite "life" hacks!
For the real deal ... why not join the "Observe Me" movement! Check out the call to action on Robert Kaplinsky's post! Observe, be observed, and grow!
Monday, August 22, 2016
#MTBoSBlaugust ... a Trip around the Blogosphere
Today I'm highlighting #MTBoSBlaugust posts that resonate with me! I'll post others later in the week ... there are so many!
First ... I love to work with teachers on lesson planning, finding the ideas, ordering them so they link together. I know we don't have time for detailed written lesson plans, but taking the time to think through the week is important. So Jonathan's post at Hilbert's Hotel resonated with me! Check out his week's plan.
If you've been on Twitter in the past few days, you may have seen Math by the Mountain's poster on writing inequality vs interval notation. I loved the discussion about the colors on her poster; love how she asked and received feedback. She's written a post about the poster and offered it as a free download! Check it out!
High fives were huge last year as we prepared for the 2015 - 2016 school year. Glenn Waddell's challenge struck a chord in many of us. I can't say I was there with high fives every day last year, but on many days, especially in the first semester, I greeted students with them! So when I read Jennifer's post about how high fives changed the culture of her classroom, I had to smile! Read her post and send her a virtual high five!
Last one for today ... I love Pam's digital hall pass! I'm thinking students might find it a bit tedious ... but maybe that would slow down the need to leave the room? Most of my students have a phone. So I would definitely put the QR code near the door ... check out her idea ... complete with Google Form!
Thursday, December 31, 2015
#MTBoS2015 Favorite Blog Posts
Identifying favorite blog posts from the past year is a challenge. I read many, think about them, but I don't necessarily save the blog posts.
First ... the ongoing conversations through Twitter and blogging that have had the most impact on my instruction this year have been around the book Make It Stick. Type in that title in the MTBoS search engine and many posts will pop up! Read them all ... informative and inspiring!
The post that I wrote that I like the best wasn't seen by the most (or fewest) people ... but it still resonates with me! The prompt was what is one significant practice in teaching? I focused on planning. With that in mind ... here are a few posts from other folks that helped me in lesson planning this year ...
17GoldenFish shares thoughts on starting with completing the square in quadratics!
Five Twelve Thirteen's post on polynomial tasks is rich with ideas!
Ms. Z Teaches in Mathland also posted on polynomials.
Infinite Sums posted a "how-to" on rational functions.
I used many more ideas written in previous years!
Last - from my own collection, the post that had the most hits, was seen by the most people, was on creative thinking in math based on PD from this past summer. I'm curious how these ideas might have been used in classrooms! If you used them, or created your own, please share in the comments!
First ... the ongoing conversations through Twitter and blogging that have had the most impact on my instruction this year have been around the book Make It Stick. Type in that title in the MTBoS search engine and many posts will pop up! Read them all ... informative and inspiring!
The post that I wrote that I like the best wasn't seen by the most (or fewest) people ... but it still resonates with me! The prompt was what is one significant practice in teaching? I focused on planning. With that in mind ... here are a few posts from other folks that helped me in lesson planning this year ...
17GoldenFish shares thoughts on starting with completing the square in quadratics!
Five Twelve Thirteen's post on polynomial tasks is rich with ideas!
Ms. Z Teaches in Mathland also posted on polynomials.
Infinite Sums posted a "how-to" on rational functions.
I used many more ideas written in previous years!
Last - from my own collection, the post that had the most hits, was seen by the most people, was on creative thinking in math based on PD from this past summer. I'm curious how these ideas might have been used in classrooms! If you used them, or created your own, please share in the comments!
Friday, June 27, 2014
#70Days: Clicking on Resources 6
22/70
Devotional phrase: "to the praise of his glory!"
Everything takes place "to the praise of his glory." "Praise" is grateful celebration. "Glory" is the bright presence of God. This is our destiny, this is what we are made for: a grand celebration in the full presence of God. Praise and glory. (Peterson, Practice Resurrection)
Life really isn't about two categories - the secular and the spiritual. Instead it's about the one life, the unified life, the life that glorifies God moment by moment. And so in my teaching, purpose is to glorify God while illuminating the concepts and the beauty of mathematics. No, I don't preach or teach scripture ... but all that I do, I do to his glory!
This morning I have so many tabs open ... so much fun to click through resources. It all started with this tweet ... early this morning ...
I wanted to see how "crowdsourcing" was used in this context. The tweet took me to a new blogger - Making Math Visual - adding her to my list! The activity she described illlustrated exponential functions using dice, google spreadsheet, and geogebra ... all tools that interest me!
Next I noticed Shelley has a virtual filing cabinet - always intriguing! And from there I found two more resources to share this morning. The first one I read was Seven (Sneaky) Activities To Get Your Students Talking Mathematically. The ideas shared, card sorts, odd man out, truthiness (always, sometimes, never) prompted me to want to explore my first unit of instruction to see which of those activities would fit best! The other resource coincided with both blogs ... Swan's document, Improving learning in mathematics:
challenges and strategies, where I will spend some time today reading!
A second tweet sent me on another adventure. Notice the article is about asking the right questions ... an interest of mine ... but the catchy part ... "in the right way!"
You would think that's enough clicking for one morning but I have to tell you about 2 more!
I noticed someone new followed me on Twitter this morning ... and being the curious sort, I clicked on his profile and went to his website. I haven't read the first chapter available yet, but the title of his book makes me want to explore more: The Curiosity Cycle: Preparing Your Child for the Ongoing Technological Explosion.
Last, Mary, at Curiouser and Curiouser suggested a resource that she is planning to explore with students in the coming year. It's called Exploding Dots! Check it out ... if you teach place value the first lessons are invaluable! That's as far as I previewed today ... looking forward to watching more his videos!
Dark clouds in the sky ... might be a great day for reading/studying/planning!
Devotional phrase: "to the praise of his glory!"
Everything takes place "to the praise of his glory." "Praise" is grateful celebration. "Glory" is the bright presence of God. This is our destiny, this is what we are made for: a grand celebration in the full presence of God. Praise and glory. (Peterson, Practice Resurrection)
Life really isn't about two categories - the secular and the spiritual. Instead it's about the one life, the unified life, the life that glorifies God moment by moment. And so in my teaching, purpose is to glorify God while illuminating the concepts and the beauty of mathematics. No, I don't preach or teach scripture ... but all that I do, I do to his glory!
This morning I have so many tabs open ... so much fun to click through resources. It all started with this tweet ... early this morning ...
I wanted to see how "crowdsourcing" was used in this context. The tweet took me to a new blogger - Making Math Visual - adding her to my list! The activity she described illlustrated exponential functions using dice, google spreadsheet, and geogebra ... all tools that interest me!
Next I noticed Shelley has a virtual filing cabinet - always intriguing! And from there I found two more resources to share this morning. The first one I read was Seven (Sneaky) Activities To Get Your Students Talking Mathematically. The ideas shared, card sorts, odd man out, truthiness (always, sometimes, never) prompted me to want to explore my first unit of instruction to see which of those activities would fit best! The other resource coincided with both blogs ... Swan's document, Improving learning in mathematics:
challenges and strategies, where I will spend some time today reading!
A second tweet sent me on another adventure. Notice the article is about asking the right questions ... an interest of mine ... but the catchy part ... "in the right way!"
So I had to read that article and I highly recommend it! One idea that caught my attention is this: One way to make questions suitable for any student is to pose them in a way that allows students to engage with the question at a number of different levels. For example, rather than asking students to answer a math question, the teacher could pose two questions of differing difficulty on the board and ask, "Which of these two questions is harder and why?" The ensuing discussion will raise all the important mathematical issues that the teacher needs to cover, but the question has been posed in an inclusive way that enables more students to contribute, thus supporting differentiated instruction.
You would think that's enough clicking for one morning but I have to tell you about 2 more!
I noticed someone new followed me on Twitter this morning ... and being the curious sort, I clicked on his profile and went to his website. I haven't read the first chapter available yet, but the title of his book makes me want to explore more: The Curiosity Cycle: Preparing Your Child for the Ongoing Technological Explosion.
Last, Mary, at Curiouser and Curiouser suggested a resource that she is planning to explore with students in the coming year. It's called Exploding Dots! Check it out ... if you teach place value the first lessons are invaluable! That's as far as I previewed today ... looking forward to watching more his videos!
Dark clouds in the sky ... might be a great day for reading/studying/planning!
Thursday, June 26, 2014
#70Days: Clicking on Resources 5
21/70
Devotional phrase today ... there is nothing in this life of growing into maturity that takes place impersonally or generally or in abstraction.
Peterson says in Practice Resurrection: We depersonalize God to an idea to be discussed. We reduce people around us to resources to be used. We define ourselves as consumers to be satisfied ... We avoid the personal in order to avoid responsibility.
But in Ephesians 1:3-14, notice the people, the personal pronouns. We are called into relationships. In verse 10, the scripture says that God's plan is to unite all things ... [He planned] for the maturity of the times and the climax of the ages to unify all things and head them up and consummate them in Christ, [both] things in heaven and things on the earth.
We have "organic unity" ... we are all members of one body of which Christ is the head.
Professionally speaking ... check out these amazing resources!
If you missed the #EduRead chat last night about differentiating instruction in math class, check out the archive! There are several ideas and articles suggested!
With differentiation in mind, tic-tac-toe boards are a great way to give students choice. Check out @mathsfeedback's post on circle theorem's choice board!
This morning @Samjshah posted his "Explore Math" website. It's an opportunity to turn students loose in exploring a set of math websites, some of my favorites for sure. The idea is that students will realize that math isn't only about the curriculum we teach and that in exploring students will find how exciting math can be! And yet another idea for differentiating ... allowing students to explore their own interests!
One more site for video exploration in math topics can be found at the Royal Institution of Great Britain! Check out this short video on the Greeks and their impact on math!
@NatBanting wrote a blog post about problem posing. The process he describes is fascinating - all about conjectures. In his post he mentions a book, The Art of Problem Posing, and a website, Stella's Stunners. Check them out! Stella's Stunners are a set of non-routine problems suitable for middle and high school math!
Devotional phrase today ... there is nothing in this life of growing into maturity that takes place impersonally or generally or in abstraction.
Peterson says in Practice Resurrection: We depersonalize God to an idea to be discussed. We reduce people around us to resources to be used. We define ourselves as consumers to be satisfied ... We avoid the personal in order to avoid responsibility.
But in Ephesians 1:3-14, notice the people, the personal pronouns. We are called into relationships. In verse 10, the scripture says that God's plan is to unite all things ... [He planned] for the maturity of the times and the climax of the ages to unify all things and head them up and consummate them in Christ, [both] things in heaven and things on the earth.
We have "organic unity" ... we are all members of one body of which Christ is the head.
Professionally speaking ... check out these amazing resources!
If you missed the #EduRead chat last night about differentiating instruction in math class, check out the archive! There are several ideas and articles suggested!
With differentiation in mind, tic-tac-toe boards are a great way to give students choice. Check out @mathsfeedback's post on circle theorem's choice board!
This morning @Samjshah posted his "Explore Math" website. It's an opportunity to turn students loose in exploring a set of math websites, some of my favorites for sure. The idea is that students will realize that math isn't only about the curriculum we teach and that in exploring students will find how exciting math can be! And yet another idea for differentiating ... allowing students to explore their own interests!
One more site for video exploration in math topics can be found at the Royal Institution of Great Britain! Check out this short video on the Greeks and their impact on math!
@NatBanting wrote a blog post about problem posing. The process he describes is fascinating - all about conjectures. In his post he mentions a book, The Art of Problem Posing, and a website, Stella's Stunners. Check them out! Stella's Stunners are a set of non-routine problems suitable for middle and high school math!
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
#70Days: Clicking on Resources 4
20/70
Devotional phrase this morning comes from our community Bible study last night: There is no spiritual growth without choice.
This summer I decided to blog the 70 days of summer break. I also decided to share a glimpse of my spiritual journey as well as my professional one. This choice I made to share a bit of my spiritual journey is more about the discipline of making a daily note than anything else.
Spiritual growth doesn't just happen. It has to be nurtured. I read a lot about health, well-being, and whole foods so that I have the knowledge needed to care for my physical self. Spiritual growth requires a similar effort.
I've been studying Ephesians 1:3-14 for several days. Today the verb that catches my attention is "made known." God has made known the mystery of his will. We have insight into this mystery as our relationship to the Father grows. What was once covered has now been uncovered and available to us!
Professionally I've been collecting resources this week. There are too many of them to catalogue completely but at least I'll have a few to review during the school year when I am feeling the need for help!
Mathequalslove has been blogging about the workshops she is attending. She provides a number of interesting resources in her latest blog but the one I am bookmarking excitedly is "Contrasting Cases." She provides the link to a whole set of exercises! I can't wait to use these in my classroom!
@druinok has also been blogging about the workshops she is attending! This week she is attending AVID training. Yesterday she blogged about summarization. I was intrigued enough to google summarizing in math class. This resource popped up in my search. I like having lists of activities to try ... keeping this list with my planning materials.
One of the hot topics in our school is problem based learning. This summer I am collecting short problem-based learning ideas - starter problems to incorporate in our curriculum. Emergent Math has already put together some excellent ideas!
I'm enjoying the ThingLink Challenge this summer, learning to use this tool, pondering how best to use it with students. Here is my latest creation - about the vocabulary of an ellipse. What I like about it is I can embed not only links to informative websites, but also to interactive tools like online quizzes, flash cards, and even more open-ended tools like padlet.
Today is Wednesday ... be sure to join us for #EduRead tonight at 8 pm central time! Check out Read, Chat, Reflect for the link to the article we are discussing.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
#70Days: Clicking on Resources 3
19/70
Devotional phrase today from Ephesians 1: In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.
Merriam Webster says about "lavish" ... expending or bestowing profusely; expended or produced in abundance; marked by profusion or excess.
Devotional phrase today from Ephesians 1: In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.
Grace lavished grace on us! Imagine that :)
He pours grace into our lives ... with profusion, excessively
That's just fun to think about! And to be grateful for ... Thank you, Father, for your amazing grace!
Last night and today I've continued to click my way through blogs, Twitter, Pinterest, and more!
I love to read about others' experiences in conferences. We should all blog our notes! Last night @druinok shared her Day 1 notes from AVID training. The sentence stem idea is such a great one for helping students write more clearly in class ... a way to provide support. We had a short training at school this past year where we used these frames for writing.
Here is another set of sentence frames ...
Yesterday I discovered Plus Magazine! What a treat ... and a great place to find articles for students to read in math class!
On Twitter, someone shared Dylan Wiliams free resources - journal articles, lessons on problem solving - an awesome resource!
This summer I'm looking for real-world connections to tie into my math lessons. I love Mathalicious! And I"m thinking about getting a subscription to The Futures Channel. One other free source that looks interesting is at Get the Math!
Last up for today ... check out Matheme and note the MTBoS google search ... amazing way to find ideas and support!
That's just fun to think about! And to be grateful for ... Thank you, Father, for your amazing grace!
Last night and today I've continued to click my way through blogs, Twitter, Pinterest, and more!
I love to read about others' experiences in conferences. We should all blog our notes! Last night @druinok shared her Day 1 notes from AVID training. The sentence stem idea is such a great one for helping students write more clearly in class ... a way to provide support. We had a short training at school this past year where we used these frames for writing.
Here is another set of sentence frames ...
Yesterday I discovered Plus Magazine! What a treat ... and a great place to find articles for students to read in math class!
On Twitter, someone shared Dylan Wiliams free resources - journal articles, lessons on problem solving - an awesome resource!
This summer I'm looking for real-world connections to tie into my math lessons. I love Mathalicious! And I"m thinking about getting a subscription to The Futures Channel. One other free source that looks interesting is at Get the Math!
Last up for today ... check out Matheme and note the MTBoS google search ... amazing way to find ideas and support!
Monday, June 23, 2014
#70Days Clicking on Resources 2
Day 18/70
Loving the lazy morning of summer vacation!
Today's devotional phrase: Every action, circumstance, movement in our lives ... God's grace activated, God's grace in motion!
"God bestows grace, his favor, his pleasure in us, his delight in giving what we could never imagine or guess."
Peterson, in Practice Resurrection (a study of Ephesians) says the Greek word for "bestow" is in the New Testament only twice and never in classical Greek writings. He says that bestow is the word "grace" as a verb. And in this book of Ephesians some form of grace occurs at least 20 times.
This morning, drawing near to the throne of grace, grateful for the outpouring of grace ... grace bestowed!
This week I'm catching up on Internet time - reading Tweets, blogs, following links to see what I can see!
You know the tune ... the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain to see what he could see! (I have preschool grandchildren ... life can often be summed up in nursery songs!)
A few weeks ago I wrote about discussing favorite numbers with students. Today while skimming through tweets, I found the Mathematical Association of America’s Number A Day blog. Today's number happens to be 9908. I can't wait to use this blog in my classroom for researching interesting facts about numbers!
In those tweets, I also saw an interesting discussion about learning styles and the questions that we want to clarify with students. The Twitter conversation started with a reading of Creating a Differentiated Mathematics Classroom. This is the article we are discussing on Wednesday evening in #EduRead! From the preview conversations we should have a lively discussion! Check out Read ... Chat ... Reflect blog for more information about our weekly chats! And definitely join us in discussing learning styles and differentiation in math class!
One last interesting site for today ... Visualizing.Org ... a site all about data and design. Printing off the graphics as posters would make for a colorful classroom and offer opportunities for question posing!
Loving the lazy morning of summer vacation!
Today's devotional phrase: Every action, circumstance, movement in our lives ... God's grace activated, God's grace in motion!
"God bestows grace, his favor, his pleasure in us, his delight in giving what we could never imagine or guess."
Peterson, in Practice Resurrection (a study of Ephesians) says the Greek word for "bestow" is in the New Testament only twice and never in classical Greek writings. He says that bestow is the word "grace" as a verb. And in this book of Ephesians some form of grace occurs at least 20 times.
This morning, drawing near to the throne of grace, grateful for the outpouring of grace ... grace bestowed!
This week I'm catching up on Internet time - reading Tweets, blogs, following links to see what I can see!
You know the tune ... the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain to see what he could see! (I have preschool grandchildren ... life can often be summed up in nursery songs!)
A few weeks ago I wrote about discussing favorite numbers with students. Today while skimming through tweets, I found the Mathematical Association of America’s Number A Day blog. Today's number happens to be 9908. I can't wait to use this blog in my classroom for researching interesting facts about numbers!
In those tweets, I also saw an interesting discussion about learning styles and the questions that we want to clarify with students. The Twitter conversation started with a reading of Creating a Differentiated Mathematics Classroom. This is the article we are discussing on Wednesday evening in #EduRead! From the preview conversations we should have a lively discussion! Check out Read ... Chat ... Reflect blog for more information about our weekly chats! And definitely join us in discussing learning styles and differentiation in math class!
One last interesting site for today ... Visualizing.Org ... a site all about data and design. Printing off the graphics as posters would make for a colorful classroom and offer opportunities for question posing!
Sunday, June 22, 2014
#70Days Clicking on Resources!
Day 17/70
Devotional phrase this morning: God blesses us as he himself is blessed!
In verse 3 of Ephesians 1, we see "blessed be ... blessed us ... spiritual blessings." To bless means to consecrate, to give a gift, to acknowledge a favored status. We bless God by kneeling in his presence, literally or figuratively, recognizing his worthiness as creator and redeemer. He blesses us with gifts - both temporal and spiritual.
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Devotional phrase this morning: God blesses us as he himself is blessed!
In verse 3 of Ephesians 1, we see "blessed be ... blessed us ... spiritual blessings." To bless means to consecrate, to give a gift, to acknowledge a favored status. We bless God by kneeling in his presence, literally or figuratively, recognizing his worthiness as creator and redeemer. He blesses us with gifts - both temporal and spiritual.
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
This morning I've been touring math blogs ... clicking from one thing to the next. It started here:
The pinterest link is a group activity for developing better responses to questions. Students each respond to a question on a sticky note. Three or 4 students combine the best parts of each of their sticky responses to create a well-developed response!
From that link I explored Pinterest a bit more, and clicked on this pin: a video on exponents. I chose to follow YayMath on Youtube. I like to have options to offer my students when they need additional examples/instruction on specific topics! That trip took me to this teacher's website for secondary math - an excellent resource!
One more pin caught my eye. It's an interactive notebook piece on parent functions. I'm not in love with INBs but sometimes I wonder if they would be helpful to my students. This year I want to teach students how to use Cornell notes effectively. I can't do both the cute, cut/paste notes and Cornell notes. BUT this foldable on parent functions is a good example of how to organize so much information! And looking at the foldable took me to Learning with Tape, another secondary math blogger! I added her work to my Feedly!
I know I clicked more ... but didn't stop to record those ideas. I'm sure they are in the "history" and will hopefully find them again!
One more fun deed this morning ... I signed up for a Stanford course this morning, a MOOC, on statistics. My knowledge of statistics won't fill a thimble; it's been way too many years since I took an educational statistics course. But I have #MTBOS support and learning something new is a good way to keep this old brain vibrant! Hopefully I will learn ideas and information to share with my students this fall! Check out MedStats: Statistics in Medicine!
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Blogosphere ... Good Ideas Round 5
In the last week or two, I've run across so many interesting sites! Here are just a few of them ...
Colleen Young is a mathematics specialist with a strong interest in IT as well. She has created two amazing websites ... one is her blog, and the other is a collection of mathematics starters and plenaries (ending activities!). Fair warning ... her sites are chock full of ideas, activities, and links to more ... reserve some time for exploration :)
Vi Hart calls herself a mathemusician! Her website has numerous pictures and videos of mathematic amusements! When students are saying math is just boring, they need an opportunity to see math at play. This website is a good place to explore!
Last, many of us are participating in Jo Boaler's course, How to Learn Math. I found some helpful information, documents to use in planning, and surveys and such to use with students at these two sites: InspiringLearners and MindsetWorks. At InpsiringLearners there is an awesome poster illustrating a fixed vs a growth mindset that could be used in classrooms. At MindsetWorks there is a "growth mindset framing tool" ... a list of statements to help frame instruction and feedback using a growth mindset. I plan to put the document in my planbook/calendar to use in preparing for classes.
OK ... I said "Last" in the last paragraph ... but one more resource that I found yesterday is Brilliant.org. "Brilliant.org provides a challenging intellectual environment to anyone with internet access and a passion for mathematics or physics. Brilliant.org aims to become a hub of the world's most promising minds, where motivated thinkers can connect to each other and to opportunities to apply their talents." Registration is free. At registration you take a "test" to determine your level of algebra and physics skill. Each week you are presented with challenges to engage in math problem solving. This site would be especially helpful if you work with gifted and talented students, a math club, or any group of students who just want to dig deeper in problem solving!
As you can see, I've spent way too much time this week surfing along various math webs. I may need to unplug for a while but I love the exploration!
Vi Hart calls herself a mathemusician! Her website has numerous pictures and videos of mathematic amusements! When students are saying math is just boring, they need an opportunity to see math at play. This website is a good place to explore!
As you can see, I've spent way too much time this week surfing along various math webs. I may need to unplug for a while but I love the exploration!
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Blogosphere ... Good Ideas Round 4
I haven't had as much time as I'd like for reading around the blogosphere in the past week. But even short visits reveal such awesome ideas!
Mary Doom shares ideas for the first days of school. I had created a few stations that I want to use early on, but Mary's ideas are so very creative. She has 5 days of seating ideas in order to watch students interact with one another. She also has nonroutine problems that she has adapted from her travels around the blogosphere! I look forward to reading more about the various plans for the first days of school!
Rationalizing Denominators isn't the most engaging of topics. Pam's intro to this lesson caught my eye, "It gives students opportunities to notice patterns on their own, a chance to share and discuss those ideas as well as consider ideas from their classmates." I love the idea of an open sort, inviting students to justify their groupings, and building from there. And she finishes with a super idea for routine practice ... she requires a few specific problems and then asks students to choose a few more on their own. Both the open sort and choices for routine practice are great strategies for differentiating instruction. I'm thinking about our first two units ... characteristics of functions and systems of equations ... I'm sure there are applications to those units!
Last, I've been reading Teach Like a Pirate ... a very popular book right now. I decided to read it when I read Finding Joy in 6th Grade's post. Then I discovered that quite a few elementary teachers have been reading the book and linking their posts at this site. Even though I teach high school, I find reading the elementary posts very inspiring. (By the way, as I read the book, one of the concepts jumped out at me ... immersion! When the students are in the room, be engaged with them 100%. I know that I am most of the time ... but I can think back to days last year when I had other tasks to do, and I just wanted the students to work on their own. It would be much better to stay engaged with them and save the "other stuff" for later!)
Much thanks to all the teachers who share their journeys online!
What treasures have you discovered online in the past week or two?
Mary Doom shares ideas for the first days of school. I had created a few stations that I want to use early on, but Mary's ideas are so very creative. She has 5 days of seating ideas in order to watch students interact with one another. She also has nonroutine problems that she has adapted from her travels around the blogosphere! I look forward to reading more about the various plans for the first days of school!
Last, I've been reading Teach Like a Pirate ... a very popular book right now. I decided to read it when I read Finding Joy in 6th Grade's post. Then I discovered that quite a few elementary teachers have been reading the book and linking their posts at this site. Even though I teach high school, I find reading the elementary posts very inspiring. (By the way, as I read the book, one of the concepts jumped out at me ... immersion! When the students are in the room, be engaged with them 100%. I know that I am most of the time ... but I can think back to days last year when I had other tasks to do, and I just wanted the students to work on their own. It would be much better to stay engaged with them and save the "other stuff" for later!)
Much thanks to all the teachers who share their journeys online!
What treasures have you discovered online in the past week or two?
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Blogosphere ... Good Ideas Round 3
As I have been reading around the blogosphere, I am in awe of the many excellent ideas shared among educators!
Here are 3 ideas that caught my eye!
Our school is fortunate to have a 1:1 initiative for 9th and 10th grades. (Last year only freshmen were issued laptops). I am always on the lookout for meaningful ways to embed technology in my algebra classes. I ran across Education Rethink: Fifteen Paperless Math Strategies. I notice that several of the strategies involve a blog and/or a shared document. I've already committed to learning how to use Google products more effectively - thinking the shared document will work. One more note at this blog ... this team of two offer their visuals for free ... which may be helpful as I create materials for class!
Mary Dooms writes a poignant post about students and curiosity in response to Dan Meyer's post on The Unengageables. She says, "Students are curious. We just have to give ourselves permission to allow them to pose questions and wonder." Mary goes on to talk about how we use the summer to recalibrate; this resonated with me! Mary mentions the Annenberg series and Fostering Algebraic Thinking. My stack of books is growing and the time I'm spending reading them is shrinking! Her post inspires me to keep at the work of developing good problems - worthy of students' curiosity! Check out her 7th grade textbook revision problem!
To follow up on developing good problems, a third site I found interesting is Inquiry maths! As we discuss textbook revisions at #MakeOverMonday and read professional books, developing rich worthwhile mathematical discourse is essential! I'm looking at the inquiries suggested for algebra and considering how I might use these to stimulate creative and analytical thinking. The author at Inquiry Maths says "Inquiry is built on inquisitiveness and curiosity. And for those to be articulated, students need to learn how to ask questions. When students inquire into their own questions, levels of motivation, engagement and confidence rise. Students become self-starters who take responsibility for their own learning. Importantly, they lose the fear of giving the wrong answer because they control the question under consideration."
So much to think about ... so little time ... even in the summertime! The math blogosphere is an amazing source for professional development!
Here are 3 ideas that caught my eye!
So much to think about ... so little time ... even in the summertime! The math blogosphere is an amazing source for professional development!
Friday, June 14, 2013
Blogosphere ... Good Ideas Round 2
I love summertime! I love the sunshine, the down-time, swimming, reading ... and surfing! Surfing the blogs, of course!
Here are 3 great ideas shared by bloggers recently!
Alwilda's Daughter writes about the game of spoons. I had to read to figure out what she meant by spoons! Turns out there is a card game by that name. Sarah blogs about an adaptation to the card game that provides routine practice for students. I like the game because it sounds like fun and doesn't require much set up. In fact, you could use those ready made worksheets to make the game!
Speaking of ready made worksheets, Simplifying Radicals compiles several great online resources for creating a ready-made worksheet. Sometimes students need extra practice. We all know that worksheets are not for everyday/all the time. As Marcia Tate, author/speaker says, worksheets don't grow dendrites! But to build students facility with basic algebra skills, extra practice is warranted! Anyway, check out her awesome list ... including math-aid, kuta, and more!
Since we spend so much of the year on linear equations, I appreciated I Hope This Old Train Breaks Down's recent post on using visual patterns to introduce linear equations. She provides a number of dot patterns from which her middle school students learned to write equations. I'm thinking that this would be a great introduction ... and then I could follow up by using Visual Patterns regularly to keep those skills sharp!
As you visit the blogosphere, what great ideas are you discovering? How are you organizing those finds??
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Here are 3 great ideas shared by bloggers recently!
Alwilda's Daughter writes about the game of spoons. I had to read to figure out what she meant by spoons! Turns out there is a card game by that name. Sarah blogs about an adaptation to the card game that provides routine practice for students. I like the game because it sounds like fun and doesn't require much set up. In fact, you could use those ready made worksheets to make the game!
Since we spend so much of the year on linear equations, I appreciated I Hope This Old Train Breaks Down's recent post on using visual patterns to introduce linear equations. She provides a number of dot patterns from which her middle school students learned to write equations. I'm thinking that this would be a great introduction ... and then I could follow up by using Visual Patterns regularly to keep those skills sharp!
As you visit the blogosphere, what great ideas are you discovering? How are you organizing those finds??
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Monday, June 10, 2013
Blogosphere ... Good Ideas!
As I was working on my Feedly list, I visited a number of blogs today. I am really bad about remembering good ideas that I see around the blogosphere. So I was delighted when I happened up the radical rational ... where she mentions reading three blogs a day. She blogged about the three great ideas that she found today ... which sent me on my own hunt for three ideas to use next year!
One of my goals for next year is to do more with math vocabulary. So I was delighted to find this simple self-reflection on vocabulary at Math = Love! I remember reading about this strategy in Marzano's book on vocabulary but I didn't put it into practice this past year. Creating a master list for each unit, rating before, in the middle and at the end of the unit will be helpful in getting students to think about their own understanding of math terms. (And ... Sarah mentioned a book I might need to add to my summer reading list ... Styles and Strategies for Teaching High School Mathematics: 21 Techniques for Differentiating Instruction and Assessment!
I was not satisfied with my math notebooking efforts this past year. I value keeping a well-organized notebook but doing so is not one of my skills! I am afraid that I passed on my lack of organization to my students this past year. So I was glad to run across Borsht with Anna's post on math notebooking in a 3-ring binder! Our print shop will copy assignments on hole punched paper. Hole punching is so much easier than gluing and pasting! I'm hoping that with this plan in place I can teach myself and my ninth graders how to keep each unit organized!
Last but not least, I visited Math Munch today. Wow! So many possibilities! I love the numeric design project. I had some doodlers this year that would have loved to created graphic design numbers for me! The Math Munch folks highlighted a TED video presented by Nina Fetterman on epidemics. I can imagine using this video (or a clip of it) as I introduce exponential numbers - talking about the spread of disease! An ongoing effort is capturing students' attention and interest. I'm thinking there will be ways to use Math Munch next year ... maybe even "math munch Mondays!"
As you peruse the Internet this summer, how are you organizing the good ideas you find? Please share!
One of my goals for next year is to do more with math vocabulary. So I was delighted to find this simple self-reflection on vocabulary at Math = Love! I remember reading about this strategy in Marzano's book on vocabulary but I didn't put it into practice this past year. Creating a master list for each unit, rating before, in the middle and at the end of the unit will be helpful in getting students to think about their own understanding of math terms. (And ... Sarah mentioned a book I might need to add to my summer reading list ... Styles and Strategies for Teaching High School Mathematics: 21 Techniques for Differentiating Instruction and Assessment!
I was not satisfied with my math notebooking efforts this past year. I value keeping a well-organized notebook but doing so is not one of my skills! I am afraid that I passed on my lack of organization to my students this past year. So I was glad to run across Borsht with Anna's post on math notebooking in a 3-ring binder! Our print shop will copy assignments on hole punched paper. Hole punching is so much easier than gluing and pasting! I'm hoping that with this plan in place I can teach myself and my ninth graders how to keep each unit organized!
Last but not least, I visited Math Munch today. Wow! So many possibilities! I love the numeric design project. I had some doodlers this year that would have loved to created graphic design numbers for me! The Math Munch folks highlighted a TED video presented by Nina Fetterman on epidemics. I can imagine using this video (or a clip of it) as I introduce exponential numbers - talking about the spread of disease! An ongoing effort is capturing students' attention and interest. I'm thinking there will be ways to use Math Munch next year ... maybe even "math munch Mondays!"
As you peruse the Internet this summer, how are you organizing the good ideas you find? Please share!
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