Integrating Technology in the Secondary Math Classroom

It's been a hot minute since I have written a post, but I am back. As teachers, you know how crazy life can get and it has been exactly that for the past few years. Yes. Years.

My goal this past school year was to integrate technology into my daily lessons as often as possible. This ranged from using the TI Nspire calculators with the Navigator system, to ipads, to just booking the computer lab. We are also a "bring your own device" campus, but with 7th graders that can open up a can of worms that I am just not interested in managing, mmkay?

One of my favorite things that I did this year was dive head in with Schoology as a platform to house all course materials. Students still received paper copies of most things, but files were housed on Schoology in our course materials folder in the event it was lost or students wanted to re-do an assignment. This also saved me a lot of time from standing at the copier since I could load a digital copy of a resource on Schoology and students could access on their ipads. Students were more engaged using technology, and I had an extra 10 minutes to drink HOT coffee before school started. I know, I can't believe it either.

Screenshot of my course from the 1st semester 

It was so easy to navigate for students and parents. I am all about things making my life easier and this was it! By the end of the first month of school, I am able to provide simple instructions about where their activity is located and they can find it. It leaves me more time to go work on on one with students who need it most. 

When you put students in purposeful groups, and provide tools to not get bogged down in the math, real magic can happen. Don't get me wrong, I am all about students having the skills they need in order to solve basic math problems without calculation devices. But, if that is not the main skill that I am assessing, I am going to allow my students to have a calculator available to them. Here, they are working on a Pythagorean Theorem task. While they all have a calculator available to them, they chose NOT to use it. That is powerful. 

Many people think that teaching an accelerated course means that your students are all above grade level. That is simply not the case. In my class, I will have students who range from having barely passed the state test to scoring perfectly. There is a lot of differentiation that needs to occur in order to meet my kiddos where they are and grow them all. I want to be able to extend the learning for my truly GT students but also not leave behind my strugglers. Technology allowed me to do that this year. I am looking forward to incorporating it even more next year!

Enhancing Basic Skills Without Losing Class Time

Hello, friends! I hope that you have had a wonderful summer so far. It is about that time for me to start thinking about going back to school (as hard as that is right now!) and I began reflecting upon some things that worked for me last year. If you are in Texas, then you know how hard of a shift we made with new standards this year. I found myself feeling a great need to "fill in all the gaps" that my kiddos had. However, we simply didn't have the time. I had to come up with a way to help them without using class time.

I taught two grades last year: 6th Grade On Level Math, and 7th Grade Pre-AP Math. Needless to say, they had very different gaps. 

On my campus, we have 5 minute passing periods. If you are on an elementary campus or don't have as long of a passing period, you may need to tweak this for your campus.

Here's what I came up with: I made flash cards (using index cards and a sharpie that still had some life left in it!) for whatever skill it was that my kids were severely struggling with. For my 6th graders, it was multiplication facts at first, and for my 7th graders, it was integer operations. (Can I get an AMEN?!)

Anyhow, I made about 60 flashcards of varying difficulty for each set and used different colors so that I could easily identify which set was for which grade level. At the end of each class, I would dismiss my kids, and wait at the door for my next class. They were already trained to wait until I told them they could go in, so this was an easy transition. 

The first kid would get a card that looked like this:

They weren't necessarily this easy, but on the back would be the answer like this:

I had them reversed as well, where a larger factor would appear first.

And, again, the answer was on the back.

If the student got the right answer, they went into class and completed whatever task was on the board for them. If the answer was incorrect, I did one of two things. Sometimes, I let the student take the card with them to the back of the line and when they got back up to the front they would need to explain why the answer is what it is. Other times, I would send them to the back of the line to review their notes and when they came back up, they would get a different card. It was a great way to hold them accountable for skills that they should have mastered. 

If I had hall duty, I would have the first student who answered correctly show the cards to the rest of the class. The kids would compete to get to class first to have this honor. It was hilarious. Who rushes to get to MATH!?

I'm going to be completely honest here. I didn't think this would work as well as it did. I would use the same exact set for a week or two before switching to something a bit more difficult based on what we were learning in class. I had amazing results! The kids cheered each other on, which was great, and were so proud of themselves when they got the answer right on the first try. They enjoyed being challenged. Which made me ecstatic.

The best thing that ever happened was this:

Remember when I said that my 7th graders were struggling with integer operations? Well, that is because it was now a 6th grade standard and it used to be a 7th grade standard. My students unfortunately did not get very much instruction the prior year and were frustrated big time. This was about the time that my 6th graders were learning integer operations and as a 6th grader walks by during the passing period, he sees the card I am showing to a 7th grader and he yells out, "Hey! How come the 7th graders get easier cards than we do?!" This really motivated my 7th graders to master this and move on to a new stack of cards!

So, if you are looking to start something like this in your classroom, but don't have time to make the cards yourself, my first two sets are available for purchase in my TpT store. More sets will be coming soon. If you have any requests, leave me a comment or send me an email and I will add it to my list!

This particular set has 120 cards used to practice multiplication facts complete with answers on the back of the cards. Click the image for more information.

This set has 96 cards (24 for each integer operation) with the answers on the backside. Click the image for more information.

Have a great school year!

It's the TPT Back to School Sale!

I am so excited to announce that I am throwing a sale with a bunch of other secondary sellers on TPT this Monday and Tuesday, August 4th and 5th! Back to school only happens once a year, so it is time to stock up on all of the wonderful activities that you have on your wishlists!

Can we stop and talk about how cute this image is!? Danielle Knight of Study All Knight compiled all of our high school pictures and our store logos to make this. I am in awe of her skills!

Can you find me??

I will be putting my entire store on sale for 20% off, and with the Promo Code of BTS14, you can get an ADDITIONAL 10% off. The promo code is important: I can't tell you how many times I have been so excited to get all of my goodies and I FORGOT the Promo Code! So, don't forget.

Anyhow, I would love to stay and chat, but I am off to fill my shopping cart :)

Here are all of the sellers that are putting their store up to 20% off:

2 Peas and a Dog

21st Century Math Projects

4mulaFun

A Space to Create

Addie Williams

All Things Algebra

Charlene Tess

Connie

Created by Mr. Hughes

Danielle Knight

Darlene Anne

FisherRena Education

For the Love of Teaching Math

James Whitaker

Juggling ELA

Kate’s Classroom Café

Live. Love. Math

Liz’s Lessons

Making it as a Middle School Teacher

Margaret Whisnant

Michele Luck’s Social Studies

Miss Math Dork

Mrs. S

Pamela Kranz

Science Stuff

Secondary Solutions

Teaching FSL

Teaching High School Math

Teaching Math by Hart

The Career Ready Teacher

The Classroom Sparrow

The Creative Classroom

The SuperHERO Teacher

The Tutor House

Tracee Orman

Happy shopping!

Flash Friday Deals! -- Week 3

It is time for week 3 of my Flash Friday Deals!

This week's deal should be a popular one! Many of you have it wishlisted and I thought it would be helpful if any of you have the individual products on your wishlists already. Maybe you teach one grade level, but get moved next year. Or, you want to use one grade level at the beginning of the year and another one at the end of the year. Maybe you teach a regular level class and a Pre-AP level class. This BUNDLE is for you!

This is a bundle of 3 very popular products! Click the image to be taken to the listing. If you go to the individual product listings, you will see each one is $9 a piece. The bundle is normally $21 for all 3, so at 50% off, that brings it down to $10.50! It doesn't get much better than that, y'all!

If you have any questions, please let me know! Have a wonderful Friday!

Currently September

Y'all...it is September...and it is still super hot outside! So much for fall, right? I am linking up with the Fantastic Farley from Oh Boy, 4th Grade for her monthly CURRENTLY!

Listening: When I started typing this, I was watching America's Got Talent...but I got distracted, and now I am watching Love It or List It on HGTV. LOVE this show! It stresses me out every time because there is ALWAYS something that goes wrong...but it mostly has a happy ending...which I love. 

Loving: I am SO thrilled with my decision to move to a new school. Besides being closer to home, the people are great, I love my classroom (reveal coming this week!) and my students are awesome. It sure is nice only driving 7 minutes to get there! I just can't wait to get into a routine so that I don't need to be there at 7 AM. Our contract hours are roughly from 8-4, and I just can't bring myself to leave the house at 7:45! 

Thinking: I have been teaching for 7 years (this is my 8th) and I am blessed to have a student teacher this year! She starts on Wednesday and I am super pumped. Will post more on this after I meet her!

Wanting: This is a no-brainer and I bet every one of you out there reading this agrees with me! This weekend has been glorious...except for...

Needing: A NEW AC UNIT! We came home Friday after a week of work and just wanted to relax. It felt warm in the house, but our AC is essentially turned up during the day and cools down when we get home. We just attributed the warmth to the hot day it was outside. We went for dinner, and when we got home, it was 84 degrees! Our poor dog! After making a few phone calls, we set off to my parents house to stay for the night. Our dog, Banjo, was delighted! He loves going to grandma and grandpa's house and he's never been allowed to have a sleepover!

The next morning, we headed back to our house to meet the AC repairman. He told us that a few things needed to be replaced and then he would be on his way! Music to my ears because it was SO disgustingly hot outside and inside. I was watching the Aggie game when the power went out throughout the entire house! When he flipped the switch, the power tripped! GREAT. Low and behold, he was wrong, and we needed a new compressor. However, our house and unit is 10 years old and because it uses an older kind of freon, it didn't make sense to replace an expensive part. SO, we had to purchase a BRAND. NEW. UNIT. Who knew they cost so much?!? I did...but I thought we would have moved before having to deal with it! Because it is Labor Day weekend...the SOONEST it could be replaced was Tuesday. Awesome. So, we have been at my parents house all weekend long. Technically, we went out of town for the weekend since they live in the next town over :).

I can't wait to go home tomorrow after work! Luckily my hubby will be home to oversee the repair. I'll be in my air conditioned classroom :)

The Marshmallow Challenge - Day 2 Activity

Wow...my hat goes off to those of you who blogged regularly throughout your first week back to school. I literally was lucky to make it home without falling asleep at the wheel! Teaching procedures to 8th graders is SO much easier than teaching them to 6th graders. In fact, since I am new to the school, many of them were super helpful in telling me how things are done there and so on. The bell schedule is a little different than the one I was on last year, so I have new dismissal times to memorize. I would just ask my kids how much time is left and wouldn't you know...most of them ACTUALLY know how to read a clock!? Amazing.

I was so impressed with how my students behaved all week. These are some of the most polite kids I have ever taught. My classes are widely diverse, but the kids don't even acknowledge it, which is awesome. I am so privileged and blessed to have these kiddos to call my own.

After our first day of getting to know you activities (I actually saw all of my classes for about 30 minutes a piece that 1st day!), I knew we were ready for team building on day 2. I had already gone over my syllabus on the first day which I hadn't ever done before, but I felt like I could since I didn't have to give a school tour, etc. I am the one who needed the school tour! (True story...my kids walked me down to the textbook room so that I could issue them textbooks!)

I know I have COMPLETELY rambled, so let me get right to it! I read about The Marshmallow Challenge earlier this summer and KNEW that I wanted to try it in my class! If you want to read more about The Marshmallow Challenge, click here.

I spent about $10 on supplies for 6 classes which equates to about $0.06 per student. I am so willing to spend that on any lesson that students are going to get something out of. Here is the basic challenge:

Students use the following materials:

20 pieces of spaghetti

1 yard of tape

1 yard of string

and 1 marshmallow

I also include scissors for easy cutting

The challenge is that students must create the tallest freestanding structure out of these materials with the marshmallow on top--in 18 minutes or less. It is super easy to do this, but the marshmallow is the key to keeping it upright. Many students build the structure as tall as they can and then put the marshmallow on top...and then watch it collapse before their eyes. We all think of marshmallows as light, airy, and fluffy, but in this challenge, they might as well weigh as much as a brick!

I did have several groups that were successful, but sometimes I was too excited that I forgot to take a picture! The tallest one was in 7th period and it was 22 inches. I did not let the students tape anything to the desks and that is what was harder as well. Here are some of the successful groups:

This was the first one done in 1st period, and they were so proud. They had started doing some large contraption that of course fell right over after putting the marshmallow on top. This must have been Plan B. Or Plan E. Either way, they were only 1 of 2 groups that were successful in that class!

This was the winner in 1st period at 18.75 inches. They said their inspiration was the Eiffel Tower!

I was so shocked that this one stayed up! This one was the 3rd period winner.

This was the winner in 7th period and overall! 22 inches...super proud of these boys!

I can't wait to see what else I can throw at these kids to do this year. They are all begging me to do this again so that they can fix their mistakes--I promised that we would do it in the spring to see how much they had improved!

The best part was the recap at the end of the challenge where we discussed that most everything in life has a "marshmallow aspect" to it where it kind of throws a wrench in the plans and how we can overcome it in math. Did I mention I love my kids?!?

If you made it this far in my post...thank you! If you are looking for an easy way to incorporate this into your classroom without much setup, you might be interested in this product that can be found in my TPT store:

Looking for more Back to School activities to use in your math class? Check these out!

Be sure to drop me a line and tell me how it went in your class!

First day!

I had a GREAT first day! I'll post more about this week later, but I wanted to share with you this activity I did with my kids today. We were with our first period class for two hours this morning while 6th graders got situated in the new building and we went over first day procedures. Teaching 8th grade, that went by pretty fast and I am glad I had this activity on the back burner!

I printed off 6 different statements and had the kids respond in groups on sticky notes. I was unsure of whether they would take it seriously, but they totally did. And, they had some answers that I didn't even think of! 

Some of the questions were: 

What do you want to learn in math this year?

What do you need to do to be successful?

What do you want your teacher to be like?

School is important because...

And a few more that I can't think of because I am so gosh darn tired!

I was fully prepared for the sarcastic "we hate school and we wish it was still summer" answers...but I never saw them! I think this helped them to take ownership of what they need to do to be successful this year. 

Pre Back to School Traditions

Every year since I started teaching in 2006, I have spent the day before relaxing and getting a pedicure! Since my husband is a teacher, too, he started joining in the festivities! So, I love being able to wind down after a crazy week of meetings and feverishly setting up my classroom (which, by the way, is not quite ready for a reveal just yet). 

Can I also say that I love being able to blog from my phone? How fantastic to not have to wait to get home and sit at a computer! 

I am pretty excited about my first day back tomorrow. It's my first year teaching 8th grade and I am at a new school. I absolutely adore everyone in my department. Everyone is so supportive of one another and is so willing to help with anything you need. I love that. 

I'm also super excited that the second week of school I will be getting a student teacher! I can't wait to work with her.

So, what are your back to school traditions? And, if any of you have experience with student teachers, any advice you can give me would be awesome. I hope you all have a GREAT YEAR!

Ready, Set, SHOP!

I have been waiting for this announcement for weeks since my wishlist is SO full! I'm sure many of you have heard from other blogs/facebook posts, but here is the news again:

Teachers pay Teachers is having their annual Back to School sale this Sunday & Monday, August 19-20. Everything in my store will be 20% (except the buy my store option!) + you can get an additional 10% by entering the promo code BTS13 at checkout.

Don't forget, the promo code is good on EVERYTHING, so you can use that to get a discount on the buy my store option if you would like :)

What are you waiting for? Go fill up those carts!

Monday Made It - No Name Board

I wish I had blogged about this last year after I made my no name board...but I needed to make a new one since the old one didn't totally go with my classroom decor. And, we ALL know how important it is to have things coordinate!

I found this pin last summer and thought it was a genius idea. How many times do kids leave your room and there are either papers on the floor that should be in binders OR a test was turned in without a name!? Too many to count I bet! This puts the accountability on the student. I don't grade something unless it has a name, so, if a student wants a grade and didn't get his/her paper back, they check the no name board.

Here is how I made mine:

Start with a wooden plaque (or you could use a piece of foam board that you have laying around) and some acrylic paint. I knew I wanted to paint mine a teal-ish color, but couldn't find the right color. I mixed mine to get the perfect combination. Paint the top and sides completely and let dry. I did 2 1/2 coats or so. You don't want any wood showing through.

While the paint was drying, I made my letters using my cricut and some adhesive backed vinyl. Don't fret if you don't have a way to do this. You can use any sticker letter that is available at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, JoAnn's or any craft store. You could also use cut paper, etc. So many possibilities.

Mark the center of your plaque so that your letters end up being centered. Ideally this is what should happen. Pay no attention to the fact that mine are completely of center because I measured incorrectly. It's going to be fine. In case you are wondering, I used washi tape to mark the center so that it was easily removable and wouldn't leave residue. 

Ok, they aren't SO badly off-center, right? 

Once, they are where you want them to be, apply a layer of mod podge on top. Let it dry completely!

Remember these from the other day? I made 7 of them by taking regular clothespins from Walmart and covering with washi tape. They look designer!

When the mod podge is dry, glue the clothespins to the wood by using either hot glue or wood glue. I used hot glue because I didn't want to wait for it to totally dry... and I kind of wished I had. 

I'll be sure to post a picture of it in my classroom when I finish setting it up!

Can't wait to see what everyone else who linked up with Tara at 4th grade frolics made!

No work = No credit!

I have never met a math teacher that didn't require students to show some sort of work to justify their reasoning on every problem. If your students are anything like mine, they constantly whine about showing their work, especially if it is something they think they can do in their heads. If I had a nickel for every time a student asked me if they had to show work, I could have retired 3-4 years ago!

I am constantly telling them that No work = No credit. Most of them comply, but there are always a handful that will test the waters to see if I am serious. No matter how many times I say it, they are always shocked to see me follow through.

This year...this poster will be up at the very front of my room--so there won't be ANY question as to what will happen if a student refuses to show their work:

Clip art and Graphics used with permission from Lovin' Lit, Sonya Dehart, and Glitter Meets Glue

This poster is available for purchase in my TPT store and can be purchased here. Don't worry...the word "preview" isn't on the actual poster...just here on the preview. If you have any questions, be sure to let me know! Have a great Sunday!

Free (or ALMOST Free) Posters!

   

I am so over posters from the teacher supply store. Maybe that was a little harsh. I like some of the ones geared toward middle/high school because there is just a *hint* of sarcasm in there and frankly, if I am going to have to look at a poster for 9+ months...it better represent my personality!

I have received plenty of e-mails and FB messages lately from people who want to know about the posters I have and if I am making more...I wanted to share with you some of the great ones that I have found through different blogs and just plain old google/pinterest searching. Some of these have been in my classroom this year, and some will be this coming year. Some are specifically for math, and some are really appropriate for all classrooms...a little something for everyone, like a poster buffet!

First up, I LOVE this poster from 4MulaFun! I made mine into a hanging decoration, but it prints beautifully on it's own as well. You can download it from her TPT store here and you can see my blog post that lists out the details of creating this beauty here!

Next, I just adore these...I printed these last year and framed them, but this year, I mounted them on wooden plaques as well to hang in my classroom. This is exactly something that would come out of my mouth and has the perfect hint of sarcasm--just like I like it. You can find out how to purchase these from Farley at Oh Boy, 4th Grade!

This is one that I made and blogged about recently. You can download it for free from my TPT store here.

Mr. Magician has some posters for free in his TPT shop as well. Here is one of my favorites:

I'm sure I will have more to add to this :) Do you have some fun posters you would like to share? Leave links to them in the comments!

Worst Part of August...

The worst part of having to go back to work in August is having to lug all of the things I "had to create" or "had to buy" over the summer when it is super hot outside. This weekend, I had a light bulb moment...normally I am bringing up shopping bag after shopping bag upstairs (I've always had a classroom upstairs) and I'm usually sweaty and gross by the time I get there. And, if you are like me, you won't want to work at all in your room once you are sweaty.

So, I decided to pack all of my stuff (posters and all!) in this:

That's right...I packed a suitcase. It is a genius idea! I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of it, and if I have seen it  before I have no idea where that was. However, I brought it home and am packing it again to bring back to school today. 

I seriously cannot believe that I didn't think I this in any of the past seven years! What is your trick to getting all of your stuff up to school?

Monday Made It!

I have a few things I whipped up on Sunday afternoon to share with you today! I am linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for her Monday Made It linkup.

Before I could start making anything, I had to run a *few* errands! Knowing Monday would be my first day to get into my classroom to start setting up, I needed to get some of these...15 to be exact!

I know I could have found them cheaper somewhere else, but in the grand scheme of things, how much would I have really saved? Probably not enough to warrant me going shopping in this disgusting heat wave we seem to be having! Anyhow, I bought 15 so that each pair of students would have one. I plan to use these as my INB supply boxes. I am going to work on labeling this this week and be back with a post of what goes in them later!

Next up was Target. A friend of mine told me how inexpensive Five-Star Notebooks were at Target and I had to scoop some up. I bought 6, one for each class period so that each class has their own "model notebook." I had trouble keeping up with 3 last year, so I certainly hope I do a better job of keeping up with 6! If you are using these instead of composition books, run--do not walk--to Target. These babies are $1.89!

Also, at Walmart I picked up these deals. The index cards are neon (my fave!) for under $1 per pack. I know the white ones are on sale everywhere...but I love the colored ones! I also found post-it notes cheaper than the dollar store (not much...$0.97) but hey! Every cent counts! Plus, the colors were way brighter...and that makes me want to use more of them.

 I was going to get some plain magnet tape, because I am always putting it on the back of posters that I want to stay on the board, but I hate how it always curls. I found these packs of magnet strips that are pre-cut, and they come 18 in a pack for less than $1! $0.97 seemed to be the magic price at Walmart! I got 3 packs. I have no idea what I will use it for, but I like to be ready :)

Last but not least...my clothespins. I went looking in my craft room for my bag of clothespins the other night and couldn't find them ANYWHERE. Seriously, I know it is a mess in there...but it's like they had runaway from home. Had to buy a new bag. Why? Keep reading :)

HOME MADE IT:

I made this lotion in March and it went over so well with my mom and some friends that I had to make more! I love to use lotion, but hate when it is greasy...and this is perfect! It is light, but thick at the same time and feels so luxurious when you use it. And, it makes 24 ounces of lotion! I did not come up with this recipe on my own...I adapted it from this pin. I swapped the Vaseline for Coconut Oil because I thought it might be greasy...I never tried it, so it may work for you!

Here's what you need:

15 oz of baby lotion (any scent...any brand--mine is from the Dollar Tree)

Twin pack of Vitamin E skin care cream (only found at Walmart on the bottom shelf of the lotion aisle)

2/3 cup of coconut oil (any brand will do...mine is from Sprouts, but I have used from Whole Foods, too)

Pour all ingredients into a bowl and whip with a hand mixer for 2-3 minutes making sure that all is incorporated and evenly blended. I periodically stop and scrape down the sides to be sure that there aren't any chunks of coconut oil floating around.

Then, I store it in airtight containers and pass it out to family and friends! I filled 3 of these today, and my mom was most appreciative of her lotion! In case you are wondering, I get these precious glass jars from Hobby Lobby in the glass section. They are normally $4, so just make sure you go when glass is 50% off, which is every other week!

 SCHOOL MADE IT:

I did make these supply labels to put on my storage containers at school. Well, I actually made them two weeks ago...but, I finally got around to printing and laminating! Like them? You can actually find them in my TPT store here

Also, I decorated my clothespins with some washi tape to go along with another project that will have to wait for next week's Monday Made It!

Aaaaaaand, I just realized how very long this post was! Sorry about that--if you made it to the end, you rock!