My new Fave ... Edmodo!

I used Edmodo for the first time this week to give a quiz.

It's a win-win situation.

• Students receive instant feedback.  
• They can review the quiz questions they missed - right then or later.  
• The program randomizes the questions and answers in case you have wandering eyes in your classroom.  
• The program provides me with graphs of how well students did on each question so I know which ones I might need to spiral back in our conversations.
• I can easily create a 'retake' quiz because when you ask to edit a previously created quiz, the program automatically opens a copy for you.  That copy can be renamed, questions tweaked ... and the retake is ready to go.
• I don't take home 150 papers daily ... fight to grade them all ... so I can return them in a timely manner!

Formative assessment just got easier by a long shot!  I can give a quick check, look at the scores, determine who needs help, create small teaching groups or set up tutoring sessions.

I like to take baby steps when using new platforms.  After we have taken a couple of quizzes and we have that process under control, I want to use the front page ... "notes" very much like the "status" page on Facebook, for class discussion.  I plan to use the Math Munch site as our source of discussion topics.  Hopefully I can report on that in a week or two!

My Fav Friday ... 2 techie tools

I use CamScanner, an app on my phone, almost everyday.  CamScanner will scan a document in as a pdf and from there you can share it to various media.  I simply hold my phone over a document, student work, my notes, a key that needs to be posted; then take the picture, and the app does the rest.  Super easy, and faster than the old scanner I have here at home!

My other favorite tool is a Google Labs app called Canned Response.  Our district uses Gmail.  All of our students have Gmail accounts.  When I am grading papers and a student (or more) doesn't do well, I want to alert them right away because we have a district-wide retake policy.  Canned Response allows me to create a response and save it.  Then when I want to use it, I simply open "compose" and choose the "canned response" I need ... fill in the student's name ... and send.  It saves me from having to copy and paste a typical email.

Here is a sample canned response:

I graded your paper on ... today.

Your grade was below 70.  If you would like to repair this grade, please come to tutoring one morning in the next 5 school days. 

I fill in the blank with the assignment that I graded, fill in students' names in "blind copy" and email.

These 2 techie tools are my favorites this week!

My Fav Friday: Google sites, apps, extensions!

One of my favorite tools for the past few days have been Google and Google Chrome Apps/Extensions!  Last year our district used TeacherWeb for class websites.  This year we have the choice of SharpSchool or Google sites.  I decided to go with Google sites and I'm loving it.  It is sooooo easy to update assignments, announcements, and handouts!  Here is the link to my class website.  It's a work in progress ... but I'm pleased with the way it is coming together!

I'm also learning more about Chrome extensions and apps.  I attended a workshop a week or so ago, and received this handout.  The ones with asterisks came highly recommended.  If you are a Chrome user, check them out!

"can't do without" tools

As soon as I decide what my "favorite Friday" topic is I find out that others have already posted those same things!  So today ... doesn't matter ... I'm posting my "copycat" post!

The first tool I can't do without is the Windows 7 Snipping Tool!  I use it nearly everyday!  I find just the right graph online, or need just a small section of a worksheet, or want to include just a few words from a post ... the Snipping Tool makes all of that possible!  So easy!

The second tool I want to mention is the pdf to word converter.  I often find ideas, work that others have created and shared online ... that have great bones ... and make a wonderful starting place.  BUT that work is posted in pdf format.  I don't have fancy software.  Love working with simple tools.  So I really like the pdf to word converter ... documents appear in my email at just the right moment!

The third tool I use in class often I already mentioned in a blog ... it is the instant online classroom!  I use the random name generator and the group maker quite often!

Our school recently purchased Kuta software ... I don't use it a lot ... but for basic practice it is a good resource.  I like their logo ... "no fluff, no jargon, just math."  If I need 5, 10, 15 plain "naked" math problems, it's the place to go!

Well ... one more tool ... an old algebra book ... copyright 1986.  It has great ideas for routine practice!

 

Partner Practice

I didn't participate in "My Favorite Friday" this past week but as I think back over the week, I find that I really like setting up Partner Practice.  Basically it's a worksheet.  But there are 2 sets of problems.  Each set has the same answers as the other set.  So partners who are completing the practice get immediate feedback if their answers match ... or if their answers don't match.  So on Friday, I heard great conversations about finding slope when the answers didn't match.  My ninth graders are not really into talking math ... so anytime I can structure an activity that creates the opportunity for conversation, I get excited!

This week's Partner Practice was just a simple basic "find the slope from 2 points" activity. It comes at the end of  a unit in which we have developed slope as rate of change; explored slope and its meaning in graphs and tables.  All of this led up to introducing the slope formula.

Partner Slope Activity by Beth Ferguson

All my students completed this activity successfully!

Hats Off to YOU!

To be honest, my Favorite Friday topic is playing with the grandsons on Friday night!   Tonight we did the grandparent spoiling treat ... took the grandsons to McDonalds for a Happy Meal, ice cream cone, and to play on the playscape!  Playing with the grandsons is the very best stress relief after a long week at work!

My Favorite Friday topic is Made4Math, My Favorite Friday, and MS Sunday Funday blog posts!!  These 3 "standing" blog days keep me thinking, reading, and LEARNING!  While I typically struggle with writing for Friday, I still enjoy that list!  Love to hear what's been a hit that week!

Just like to say ... I appreciate the teachers who are putting their thoughts out in blogs, sharing their work, their successes, and yes, even the flops!  Hats off to you all!

Simple lunches

Time to reflect on a favorite thing this week ... no particular math came to mind!  Instead my drive on the speedway, getting to wear jeans, and my simple lunches came to mind!

Simple lunches ... I take my lunch everyday.  The lunchroom on our campus is a mile away ... or at least it seems like a mile to me!  So I use plastic containers (to cut down on plastic baggies) and fill three of them with favorite foods.  Some of my choices are apples with almond butter; multigrain chips with guacamole; spinach with precooked fajita seasoned beef; crackers with tuna; crackers with jam; chips with hummus.  I splurge on individual sized packages of hummus (Tribe All-Natural Hummus Snacker Pack) and guacamole (Wholly Guacamole 100 cal Snack Pack) - both are great!  Everything else I pull off the shelf or out of the fridge ... to dump in a plastic bowl!

And when I don't have time to pull a lunch together .. Perfectly Simple protein bars by ZonePerfect ... are my go - to foods!  I keep them in my desk drawer!

So simple lunches ... what do you pack for lunch???

Our team process

My simple fave for this Friday is our team planning process.  We use a backwards design ...

1. Identifying the unit and the standards in the unit


2. Deconstructing the standards


3. Creating a common assessment


4. Creating a common study guide and "retake" assessment


5. Agreeing on a calendar; Setting the test date


6. Then developing the lessons together.

This process is ongoing - we meet for 90 minutes weekly and we typically have assignments to bring to the meeting so that we can get all that needs to be done accomplished.

The planning we do together provides a solid framework for my teaching.  I can still add my own activities in the lessons; make modifications for my students; but I know from the beginning of the unit what the expectations are and what students will need to know and be able to do.

I appreciate the team I work with ... they are awesome teachers, hardworking and creative!  I appreciate the work we do and the processes we use to get the work done!

Super Tool - random group generator

My new favorite tool is the website "Super Teacher Tools!"  at http://www.superteachertools.com/index.php.

The other day we were working in class ... I needed to put students in groups in a hurry.  I called out names, you know, these four I want you to work together, and so on.  But at the end of doing so ... several students were lost.  "Who did you tell me to work with?"  The time lost was minimal but even that small amount of chaos was unacceptable.

Enter ... Super Teacher Tools!  Simply type in your students' names to make class lists.  It took me less than 30 minutes to type in all 6 classes.  Now I simply click a button and voila!  The program sorts students in to random groups ... and the posting can be on the screen.  Everyone can see what group they are assigned to!

Besides that, the program has a random student generator.  So if I am not using computer for displaying assignments or work, I can use it to select students randomly during class for maximum participation - a good alternative to the popsicle stick option!

There are game templates at the site also ... I haven't explored those yet.  Hopefully there will be time this weekend to create a review game for our equations unit!

I am always looking for online tools to simplify my work.  If you know of one ... please share!

Satisfying moments!

It's been a tough week and yet it had many satisfying moments!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

So ... just a few of my favorite things this week ...

At Open House a mom leaned in as she was leaving to tell me that her son said I was his favorite teacher!  I could have hugged her!

After school, I met with a student who has been behind for weeks due to absences.  We talked and worked together for over an hour ... and as she left she smiled, thanking me for the help!

A teacher dropped in during lunch to ask if I had any candy on hand.  She said it was a student's birthday and she had forgotten to bring him something.  It made my day that she felt comfortable in asking me for help!

About mid-day, a student office worker wheeled in two big boxes on a dolly!  My "DonorChoose" supplies arrived!  The timing couldn't be better!  The supplies are perfect for next week's unit on solving equations!

Two happy teens dropped by my classroom at the end of the day to check to see if I had graded their tests yet!  I loved  their bubbly enthusiasm; their smiles warmed my heart!

There were discouraging moments as well ... the rude comment by a teen, the incorrect answers on questions that I had hoped students would get by now, the long hours in lesson planning.

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

Tonight I'm grateful for the opportunity to made a difference ... slowly but surely ... one, two, three students at a time ... conquering the big ideas in math!