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!

My Take on Interactive Notebooks

Happy Friday Eve! Doesn't that sound a lot better than dreary old Thursday?? After the week I have had...I need Saturday to be here stat! I always love to escape after a long day and reflect on something great that is happening amid all the other stuff that can make you crazy if you let it. For me, that is using Interactive Notebooks in my math classes.

I am linking up with several other like-minded teachers who are great consumers of interactive notebooks in their own classrooms. I am thrilled to be part of the same blog hop hosted by 4mulafun!

Let me first start by telling you what INBs are NOT: I was in a professional development hosted by my regional service center here about this time last year. I was so excited to see composition notebooks on the tables when we walked in and were told to take one. I was even MORE excited to find that mine had grid paper inside. Am I a nerd or what? I was the only person stoked to be at a PD at 7:30 AM on a random Thursday. Because of grid paper. It really is the little things. Anyhow, long story short, all we did was glue random worksheets that we did in our notebook. I feel like it would have been better suited for a folder.

Or a trash can.

Needless to say, I didn't keep that notebook long. I like spirals better anyhow!

So, let me tell you what works in my classroom. And let me also state FOR THE RECORD that just because something works in my room doesn't mean that it will be a best fit for you and vice versa. Only you know your kids and what will work. I will tell you what DOES work for every classroom if the budget allows it--and that, my friends, is colored paper. Oh, mylanta. When the kids see that they get SO EXCITED. For real. One student said to me just today, "I just want to thank you for making our foldables on colored paper. It makes me look forward to your class."

They almost had to pick me up off of the floor.

Colored paper was the trigger. This, of course, I already knew. I mean, I love colored paper, so why wouldn't they?! But, I digress.

The point is that you have to find something that kids will look forward to each day. Something that keeps them on their toes.

We are just 8 days into the school year, and we are going strong with our notebooks. I have 6th grade regular math and 7th grade Pre-AP math this year, so I am keeping a notebook for each class. I am going to share with you what we have done so far in 7th grade so you can get an idea of how I set up my notebooks at the beginning of the year.

First page is always the table of contents. I printed all year on one legal size sheet of paper to save time each day.

Next, I had them put their syllabus in so that they have it to reference.

We are a goal-setting campus! Students can set anywhere from 3-5 math goals for the year, but they must follow up each one with an action plan. I was so proud of how serious they were with their goals. We have a big conversation about making them reasonable as well as attainable.

 

So, unfortunately, my Pre-AP babies didn't come to me with all of the skills that they need to be successful. Some did, some didn't. It depended on their placement last year. SO--we made some cheat sheets that they can reference. I know that this is way more teacher input than output, but sometimes curriculum pacing guides don't allow time for reflection or student output for everything!

Actually, giving them these cheat sheets has made them accountable for pre-requisite skills and they have already deemed their notebooks as their math bibles! A teacher's dream :)

We start every unit with vocabulary. The first unit, I model how I want them to do it, and then for subsequent units, they come up with the way that they want to display it themselves. In this case, I chose a simple tab foldable. Underneath, students write a definition and provide examples. 

This one here...I am particularly proud of! We had to classify numbers and although it seems like an easy task, I could tell by conversation the previous day that this was going to be an issue for some. This solved it all, and it was so easy to do! Layering the circles helped the students see which groups the values belonged to.

These are just SOME examples that I have used this week in my class. Stay tuned throughout the year to see more ideas. Whatever you do, the key here is to make it interactive. The best thing is when you see students pull out their notebooks instead of asking you a question. Not that I don't like the questions, but sometimes it gives me (as well as the student) so much more pleasure to find the answer themselves. 

One other thing that I love the INBs for is organization. In order for it to be truly useful for the kiddos, I try to make things easy to find. I LOVE these tabs:

Doesn't that just make you want to go to math class?!?

Check out these awesome posts for more ideas:

An InLinkz Link-up

Loved that Lesson! - Volume of Prisms

Thank goodness for the ability of scheduling posts, am I right? For those of you who have been keeping up with me over the summer, you know that we are building a house and we are actually scheduled to close on MONDAY! So, today we are spending time packing up everything at my parents house so that we are ready to go when we get those keys. This however is not the real purpose of my post...

I am linking up with Meg from The Teacher Studio to share a lesson that I loved! You know the lessons that I am talking about...the one that went better than you ever thought it could. The kids were engaged, asking great questions, helping each other out, not one student was texting under their desk, and IN WALKS THE PRINCIPAL to do an informal walkthrough.

The heavens literally opened up and sang, "Hallelujah!" Things couldn't have been going better. That is the lesson that I am going to share with you today.

Yes, it is a past post, but since it is the summer, I haven't had any kids to teach. I tried to teach my dog how to lay down, but that didn't work so well--so I cannot blog about that. So without further ado...it is time for:

Y'all, teaching middle school math can be hard some days! Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but there are some things that kids just have a plain old tough time understanding. One of those things is the difference between volume and surface area. They don't understand conceptually where the formulas come from, therefore can't figure out how to solve the problems. I don't want to be that teacher who just tells them to use the chart and plug in the values, I want them to understand WHY that formula makes sense.

I SO wish that students aren't told to find volume by multiplying length x width x height. It takes me a full day to explain the formula V = Bh is the real formula for prisms. The one that they learn in elementary school only works for rectangular prisms, so that is fine until they get to my class, but most students feel like their whole life was a lie when that is no longer on the formula chart! I feel like I have to start from scratch and tell them that volume is a stack of 2D objects. We need to find the area of the base first. If I had a nickel every time I corrected a student regarding "b" (which is just base) or "B" (which is AREA of the base), I could have retired this week.

Literally, I am emotionally exhausted from saying, "what does big B stand for?"

Students respond with, "BASE!"

Me: "No. You don't get to say base loudly because it is a capital letter."

Students: "Oh, right! AREA of the base!"

My lord. I hope they still remember next week when we have a test.

One thing I wanted to share that they were JUST NOT GETTING was why we multiply by 1/3 for volume of a pyramid (and cones for that matter). I had finally sold them on the formulas for prisms and cylinders and they totally understood it conceptually. YES! But, then we hit a wall with pyramids. They wanted to know why we multiply by 1/3. Or divide by 3. Yes, we had a conversation that those were the same thing. Minds were blown. It wasn't enough for me to tell them that it takes the volume of 3 pyramids to make a prism. I had to show them.

I started with one of these:

Then, we made 2 more and taped them together at their apexes.

And, folded them up!

This TOTALLY helped them to visualize what I was saying. I love being able to let them PROVE things. It's the best. Love being able to use my washi tape too. It's the little things, right?

Here are some foldables that I created to use this week as well and are now in my TPT store! Click the pictures to go to the listing. 

  

Flash Friday Deals! Week 2

Did you snatch up last week's deal in time? It's time for Week 2!

Without further ado, here it is!

My Fold it Up! Bundle of Foldables to use in Middle School!

Right now, there are 13 different Fold it Ups! that are included. As more are added, the price will go up, but you will be able to download for free. Click the image or the link above to be taken to my store where you can purchase this for 50% off!

Here are some examples that are included:

Just to give you an idea of what is included!

Same as last week...if you have an item that you would like to be included for next week, leave a comment and I may add it to the list!

CAMT Reflections -- Day 2

Today was just as great but for different reasons. Due to the slim pickins for some afternoon sessions, we cut our day short and went to the exhibit hall. It always cracks me up to see the various booths that people have. Most of them are content-related, but some of them are just out of place. I was happy to see some people that I have purchased things from in the past, both at CAMT in previous years and online.

First, I had to pick up two t-shirts that I had customized from Claire Lynn T-shirt Designs. Do y'all know these people? They make the CUTEST teacher t-shirts! I have 3 and these 2 will make 5! I don't even like wearing t-shirts, but these are just the best.

If you don't already, go follow them on facebook. They have flash deals all the time and such cute stuff. Have I said that already? Their stuff is the CUTEST! Go. Do it now. 

Yesterday, my friend and I went to the Texas Instruments booth because we saw they were giving away free t-shirts. I don't know what it is, but when something is being given away for free, I have to have it. I will feel anxiety as if they will run out before I get there. I know, I have a problem. I'm working on it. Needless to say, I am glad we picked these up yesterday, because today they were GONE! 

Gone, I said! As in, they had run out completely. So, you see, I was rightfully feeling some anxiety.

We made it our mission to go through the booths today and not make eye contact so as to not be sucked in if it wasn't something I was totally interested in. Like a beacon in the night, I saw these books. Now, there is a back story here. About a year ago, I was in a training during the school day with other math teachers. I was sitting next to someone I used to teach with and during a break she was grading papers. I saw that it looked like a coloring/drawing activity and needed to know more. As someone who loves to color all the time, I was hooked. I ordered a copy online for myself before we were done with our 10 minute break. And you know what? MY KIDS LOVED THESE ACTIVITIES! So, when I saw the booth today, I made sure to get two more. Being that I am moving back down to 6th and 7th grade next year, I wanted something a little different than the pre-algebra book. I also like the "Create your own" books because you can insert your own problems. Want to know more? Check out their website here. Just come back and finish reading!

We stopped by the Carnegie Learning booth. This was one of the textbooks that were up for adoption in our district and sadly it wasn't chosen. The teachers on our textbook committee chose something different, but I still wanted to go talk to them. We didn't leave without getting some CAMT swag! How cool is this?

No, no. Not the tote bag. I mean it is cool that it folds up neatly so it can be stored in what I can only assume would be another tote bag. Which, by the way, I think I have scored 4-5 tote bags in two days. But that is neither here nor there. 

Look at that pen. It isn't just a pen! It is a stylus, too! How cool is that? I want to go back tomorrow and get another in case I lose this one! See? Anxiety. Maybe I should see a doctor about that.

Lastly, I want to share with you one last purchase. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is in fact Tupperware. There actually was a lady there selling Tupperware! I LOVED it! This brought back such memories of my mom selling it when my sister and I were kids. My mom has had hers forever and I have a few pieces. I bought a few extra things just because they were good deals. I still thought it was hilarious to buy food storage containers at a math conference. I felt even sillier walking into my session carrying a bag of plasticware that clanked every which way I walked. Excuse me, pardon me. Don't mind me and my Tupperware. 

My sister and I were in the booth yesterday looking at the Tupperware that we had used as little kids that had obviously been updated, but was still so cool to look at. Does anyone remember these?? We played with this as kids and they still look EXACTLY the same!

I mean, how cute are we?!

Bingo Baker

I am currently en route to Las Vegas for the TPT Conference! I am so excited to meet other sellers that I feel like I know because I follow their blogs or like them on FB, but I don't really know them so I still need to meet them, you know? The beauty of the online world!

Anyhow, I wanted to share something with you that I think will make your life SO much easier!

Do you like to play bingo in your classroom? I LOVE to use it as an engaging way to review a topic and keep everyone on task with the hopes of winning a jolly rancher or something. Problem is--I NEVER have enough time to create bingo cards ahead of time and I like to have the kids make them up themselves by giving them a list of the possible choices and then they get to decide where they go. I feel it gives them ownership. Really, it just saves me time and gives me a few minutes to get attendance done and other housekeeping items at the beginning of class.

Here is the problem: There is always one kid who never knows what to do or has to erase their board a thousand times because they didn't follow directions. In a 50 minute class period, time is precious, and when it comes down to it, I just want them to do some math before they leave the room.

Enter BingoBaker.com!

It is a great way to enter in all of the possible answer choices and randomly generate as many cards as you need. You can either print directly from the site, or you can have kids use their iPads or other devices and play virtually.

I think you can print from the website for free, but if you want an account to keep track of what you create on the site and to play online, you will need to purchase a lifetime membership for under $10. I figure if I use it a few times a year, it will pay for itself in saved headaches!