a few faves! #MTBoS30 - 12

Here are a few faves from around the Internet ... go-to sites that I use just about every week!





Need to spruce up your Google Slides?   Check out this site for great free templates!









Need "creative commons zero" photos to upgrade your slides, your blog, various projects?  Check out Pexels or Pixabay or StockSnap!







Need a video or two for the student who missed a key lesson?  Check out PatrickJMT's free math videos!

Need help with planning, a lesson hook, a lesson activity, or just encouragement?  Use the MTBoS Search Engine ... search hundreds of math blogs for help!






And for the quick warm-up ideas ... oh my ... so many choices!  But one I like for the challenge often presented is Median by Don Steward.

#EXPLOREMTBOS2016 My Favorite

This year I have several favorite tools that I use in every unit.

BrainGenie 

It's a free practice website.
It has math through pre-calculus.
Topics are broken down into skills that match our curriculum nicely.
To "pass" a skill, a student has to get four problems correct.
There is an instructional video explaining each skill.
The data tells me what problems students missed, how long they spent on the work, as well as the ones they got correct.
I use BrainGenie as extra practice on skill-based work.  I assign 1 - 6 skills per unit.  Students complete the work independently outside of class.  The work is typically due on test day.
BrainGenie provides immediate feedback and tutorials for students ... and easy grading for me.


Teacher Desmos Activities  

Our curriculum is set up to explore a function graphically, then to explore applications.  We work through about 8 functions during the year.  Polygraph, and now Marble Slides are go-to activities as we tackle one function after another!  In addition I use the opportunity to create my own activities.   Being able to set up lessons in Desmos is helpful.  I can monitor student responses, provide help to students who are stuck, while other students are able to work through the tasks on their own.  We pause on certain slides for class discussion.  Desmos activities capture students' interest.  They like the use of sliders to examine how parameters affect functions.  They l-o-v-e the game aspect of Polygraph.  And next week when they get to play with MarbleSlides they are going to have fun!

Quizizz  

My favorite web-based game tool is Quizizz!  Students told me about this one first because their chemistry teacher was using it.  Then I had the opportunity to talk with the chemistry teacher in a PD session - to learn more about the tool.  Students like it better than Kahoot because the questions are on their screen.  They get to move at their own pace.  And there is a leaderboard where they track their progress.  I like it because students can move at their own pace.  The questions are scrambled - students are all working on different questions.  I also like that I can use questions from public Quizzes ... just by selecting the individual questions that work for our content.  I can also use Quizizz as homework - although I have not tried that feature yet.  Students keep track of their progress but I get detailed reports about their work.  I rarely use Quizizz data for grades - instead I use it as informal data to help me plan the next lessons.  I can see what questions are giving kids fits!


One other favorite is ClassKick, my favorite iPad app.  I wrote about it here! 

I use these four tools as bones on which I build lessons!

#MTBoS12day "Yule Blog" Challenge ... Yuletide favorites

This holiday I took a break from school ... haven't read blogs, Twitter, etc ... until tonight!  And that's when I discovered the Yule Blog Challenge.  Great fun!  On one hand ... sorry to be late to the blogging party, and on the other hand, glad to have made a clean break for a bit.

So ... I may not get in 12 posts ... but I'll post a few :)

I chose Yuletide favorites as my first post ...

I'm writing from a hotel room, situated on the gulf ... balcony with ocean view, sounds of the surf and salt air blowing!  My favorite way to relax is to walk on the beach.  And no, I don't live close.  But being able to escape to the beach now and then is one way I clear my head, ponder the great universe, and feed my soul.  This holiday Ron and I were able to get away for a few days!

A second Yuletide favorite is reading!  During the school year I focus mostly on professional reading. But beginning with Thanksgiving break I look for books that will inspire me spiritually.  This year I chose these books to read ... Ann Voskamp's book, The Greatest Gift, an advent devotional; Parker Palmer's, A Hidden Wholeness; and Adam McHugh, The Listening Life.  I can recommend all three - they are thought-provoking, challenging ... and hopefully will help shape my personal growth over the new few months!

A third Yuletide favorite is making sweet rolls - sticky buns for Christmas morning.  This year's batch turned out quite tasty!  I love to cook but don't cook very often ... too little time and energy!  I like this recipe because it's easy ... the rolls are made the night before ... and they are easy to pop into the oven in the morning!  The recipe is not original with me!  You can find it online here ... make some for your New Year's breakfast!

To my blogging friends, I hope you are having a wonderfully relaxing break!  Merry Christmas!

Favorite Resources

I am looking forward to reading about everyone's favorite resources!

I'm not sure I know where to start ...

The past two weeks I've posted about some favorite techie type resources ...

I use my PHONE everyday!  What did we do without them!  I take pictures, I use CamScanner to create pdfs to post online.

I've just started using Edmodo.  Our administration introduced Edmodo last spring but I was too overwhelmed then to start anything new.  This year, I am finding out what a bonus it can be.  I love giving my quizzes online.  Obviously it means I take home less papers to grade.  BUT it benefits the students ... they get instant feedback and they can easily review the questions when they need to.  We have a writing across disciplines initiative this year.  I plan for students to write reflections, thoughts in Edmodo.  I am hoping that will be more appealing to them than writing "papers" in math ... and it gives us all the opportunity to respond to one another's ideas.  Math Munch will be my go to site for reflection and discussion!

I've had several parents thank me for creating YouTube videos this year.  They are nothing special ... and I need to get better at them.  I use my document camera, laptop, and Movie Maker to capture the work on a single problem (sometimes 2).  I use the videos to multiply my tutoring power.  I can only stay after school so many hours, and I want students to have help when they need it.  So the short (3 - 5 minutes) explanations of homework problems or extensions from our classwork have the potential to be powerful in student learning.  My parents/students are saying this is a favorite resource!

I use my list of Super Sites in lesson planning ... checking each of those sites to see how I can transform "plain" lessons into engaging opportunities for thinking, discussing and learning.  I'm adding Mathagogy to the list ... Julie blogs about a lesson that sounds awesome!  I look forward to watching the 2 minute videos!

And of course, I visit the MTBoS blogs, making note of questioning strategies, projects, foldables, and more ... amazingly great ideas!  I use Feedly and Bloglovin to keep track of the blogs I read, marking them when I need to save ideas.

A new resource I've bookmarked is YouCubed.  Jo Boaler is putting together the site with information she shared in the course How to Learn Math this summer.  I know how easy it is to participate in excellent professional development only to get caught up in the hectic daily work ... and let the good ideas slip away.

There are so many resources, that I sometimes find myself lost in the reading and learning ... the noticing and wondering ... and when I look up ... way too much time has elapsed!

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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Favorites from 2012

Well - 2012 was a big year for me!

1.  I completed 30 years in education - the last 12 in administration.
2.  I moved across states to live close to my sons, their wives, and their children.
3.  I decided to continue teaching ... went back into a high school classroom ... teaching 9th grade algebra!

The retiring, the leaving dear teachers, students and parents, the selling of a house, the buying of another, the move ... and then oh my ... putting together a resume for 30 years of experience, finding work records from the 70s ... well these were challenging tasks!  All along the way, the excitement of a new adventure, a twist in my life journey fueled my energy ... enthusiasm has been high!

Adapting to the culture shift in high school has been interesting to say the least.

What I have so thoroughly enjoyed in this teaching adventure is finding an amazing community of math teachers online that share the good, bad, and ugly ... I am learning so much from them!  I have always considered myself a leader in education and not a novice with technology.  I facilitate university classes online and enjoy working with teachers across our  nation.  But I had no idea of the networking available among bloggers!  I have been blogging for a while - reflective posts, inspirational writing.  I had a few followers.  Quite definitely, my math blogs have been read much more than any of my previous writings!  I am so excited to share my thoughts and work ... and benefit greatly from the posts of others.  The teaching of Algebra has changed some in the last 15 years!  The emphasis is different.  The expectations a bit different.  The changes keep me searching, thinking and planning!  The online math community has been my primary source for professional learning!

I have a long list of math blogs in my Google Reader.  And I appreciate every author!  Early in the summer, when I learned I would teach Algebra, I found Dan Meyer's site first.  Just amazing!  And then I participated in the Math Blogging Initiative as a way to get started in writing about my work.  I find that I return over and over again to a specific few blogs ... especially these compilations ... these are rich with humor, passion, and ideas!

• MS Sunday Fundays
• Made 4 Math Mondays
• My Favorite Friday

These sites inspire me to keep learning and growing!

In the future I hope to participate more in the Global Math conferences.  I listened in on one ... it was great!  Hopefully I can arrange my schedule to catch up with the next ones!

Whew!  Can't imagine what 2013 will hold!