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!

Flash Friday Deals!

Hello, readers!

I am mourning the fact that I have only 5 more Fridays until I go back to work. Which really means 4 more full weeks! And, to be honest, I have done NOTHING to prepare for back to school. Well, I bought some sharpies and white out yesterday, but I don't even think that counts.

If you have followed this blog for a while, you know I love a good sale. And, there is something about getting a good deal that makes you want to shout it to everyone you know! So, I am going to be celebrating the last 5 Fridays that I have off from work by choosing 1 product from my TPT store each week to mark 50% off the regular price. Is that crazy?! Probably...but I LOVE all of my readers and since I own the store I can do what I want.

This week's sale item is none other than my Middle School Math Writing Prompts!

Click the image above to be taken to my TPT shop and purchase for $7.50 (Regular price is $15!) These are great to pre-assess where your kids are or to even see if they have mastered the concepts you have taught. I use them as formative assessment all the time and they work well as exit tickets. 

Looking for a specific product to be marked down next week? Here is what you need to do:

1. Pin this blog post on pinterest!

2. Leave a comment on THIS POST with the name of the product that you would like to see discounted next week!

Be sure to share this with your friends as this product will only be discounted TODAY!

Happy Friday,

Teachers Pay Teachers FIRST EVER Sellers' Conference!

I am still recuperating from all the fun and excitement that was the FIRST EVER TPT Conference! I will admit that I was a little nervous going to Vegas by myself without meeting anyone in person before, but it was seriously no big deal. Everyone was nicer than the person before and we just had a blast. I had so much fun that I forgot to take many pictures, so we will just make do with what I've got!

I arrived at the Palazzo Hotel and Casino on Thursday, and my room was fantastic! I had a king suite on the 37th floor. I literally have never slept so far off the ground before! Just look at this room!

I mean, come on. It was ridiculously awesome. Confession time--I love my husband more than anything, but I had the best two nights of sleep ever. Or, at least in a really long time. Sharing a queen bed with a dog who takes up half of it just doesn't compare to being able to spread out in a king size by yourself! 

The next morning, bright and early at 7 AM, it was time for the conference. About 800 of us entered this humongous ballroom where were able to eat breakfast and meet other sellers. I sat with a great group of women, some even from TX! It was so fun. 

At 8 AM, it was time for the kickoff/keynote speakers. We first heard from Amy, who is just amazing! I got a picture later with her. She is just so down to earth and so super sweet.

Then, we heard from Paul, the founder of TpT. What a journey the site has had! I knew it started a few years before I joined, but I didn't know that it started back in 2006! I signed up as a buyer before signing up as a seller, and boy am I glad I signed up when I did. 

I can't thank this man enough for following his dream after being in the classroom himself, especially when everyone said, "It couldn't be done.." Well, who's laughing now!? What a humble guy. I absolutely LOVE that he wore jeans and a plaid button-down shirt. This is totally the type of guy that he is. Totally true to himself and I think that is just awesome. I was so honored to meet him in person and take a picture with him after the sessions yesterday. 

Now for the sessions themselves. I went to two sessions in the morning and two in the afternoon. 

First up was a TpT A to Z Session presented by Tammy and Christy from Fluttering through First Grade. They covered a lot of good information. A lot of it I knew, but definitely good to refresh my memory and get re-inspired. They had some awesome giveaways, and in true fashion I didn't win! But, I was so excited for everyone else because I am not a sore loser. No matter what you've heard. Nope. Not me.

My next session was the one I was most excited about: making clip art. It was presented by Nikki of Melonheadz! She was so nice and definitely opened my eyes to the fact that ANYONE can draw. Really. She said it. I actually drew an elephant in her session (following her step by step directions, of course!) 

We even got some swag for attending!

Don't worry, I'm not going to become a clip art artist any time soon...I'll stick to what I am good at--buying clip art! 

I ate lunch with a few other sellers who actually had heard of my store so that was exciting.

For the afternoon sessions, I attended a session about making sensational secondary products (4mulafun and Michele Luck) and accelerating your store's success (Lovin' Lit). Both were really good and got me thinking about some things that I should change in my store. I can't wait to have time at home to revise some of my older products!

I left the sessions having met several people that I "knew" already and some that I didn't. It was cool to be able to put faces with logos. This is a small pile of business cards that I left with:

I can't wait to start following these blogs and seeing the wonderful ideas and products these sellers come up with.

After the sessions, TPT hosted a happy hour so we could all relax and really interact with each other.

I had two glasses of wine while chatting with all of these fantastic secondary sellers!

And last, but certainly not least, the sellers presented Paul and all of team TPT with a few gifts. You can see what Paul's looks like. It is a giant canvas and a mosaic of many of our store logos as a collage. Then, the TPT apple logo is placed on top with a sweet message.

I am so glad that I started my TPT journey just over a year ago. I am blessed to not only share my resources with all of you, but to impact the lives of kids all over the world. It gives me chills just thinking about it! 

#TpTVegas14

Five for Saturday?

Is this even allowed? I feel like I'll be the 3,475th person to link up this week but I have a VERY good excuse for being late to the party...I spent all day yesterday at the TPT conference and I knew that I would want to include a little tidbit about that in this week's edition of Five for Friday hosted by the wonderful Doodlebugs Teaching!

Since I am on my iPad still in the hotel, I don't have cute graphics to number each one, but math people know how to count to five in their heads, right? Good. Try to keep up, it was a busy week!

On Monday, my very best friend from fourth grade (no I am not going to tell you how long ago that was, but let's just say we have been friends for way longer than we have not been friends) took the day off from work and we spent the day together. I took her out to where we are building our house and she was able to see the progress, and then we shopped and had lunch nearby. It was a great day and I bought those cute earrings from Charming Charlie (pictured above) and I am waiting to put together the perfect outfit to wear them!

On Wednesday, I flew to Las Vegas to attend the first ever TPT Sellers' Conference! I was excited to get wifi on the plane, because I have been shamefully obsessed with watching the show Weeds on Netflix. After shelling out $8, I realized that Netflix is blocked on their wifi because they want you to pay for movies through their service. Super sneaky, Southwest Airlines! It was still cool to follow the flight and see where we were in the sky.

In addition to being in Vegas for the conference, I have family that lives here so I am extending the trip a bit to be able to visit! This is my cousin's son, and I met his cute self for the first time on Thursday! I can't believe that he is almost crawling already. He is so sweet and loves to smile!

I checked into the Palazzo on Thursday afternoon and had a drink at the bar in one of the restaurants. I know this may seem insignificant, but this was no ordinary drink. 

Oh no.

This changed my life. Maybe I am exaggerating. Then again, maybe not.

All I know is that this blueberry mojito of deliciousness was the best drink I have EVER had. Aside from my favorite wines. If you live near a Grand Lux Cafe, RUN there during happy hour because they are only $5! And, there are real blueberries, so it totally counts as a fruit, right?

The best part of being in Vegas is reuniting with blogging/TPT buddies! Jennifer from 4mulafun and I gambled the night away in the casino. I'm not going to talk about who had the better luck. Nope. Not a competition.

Except she totally won lots of money and I lost. 

There. I said it. And, no I am not jealous, why would you think that? That's a lie, I totally was.

And, now I am out of things for this week. I guess I will have a separate post regarding all things TPT conference tomorrow/Monday!

How was your week?

TPT Loves Teacher Sale

I'm sure you don't need another blog post letting you know about the TPT sale this week or that it is Teacher Appreciation Week for that matter, yet here I am letting you know anyway!

I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. I love it because state testing is over, the summer is in sight, and I get to do more "fun" things than I would normally get to do during the year. I hate this time of year because although we have 5 weeks left, it seems like it will go way too fast and way too slow at the same time. I hate having to say goodbye to my sweet students after I have formed solid relationships with them all. Because they are 8th graders, I won't see them next year. I also hate HATE to pack, and we have to take everything off of our walls and pack it/put it in a cabinet for next year. With the amount of stuff I have, this gives me great anxiety.

I am currently in panic mode.

Not to fear! For the next couple of days, I will spend my time looking for some new resources to use next school year and to finish out this year. It is the perfect time to buy during the TPT sale! In my store you can receive 20% off plus an additional 10% off at checkout (must use promo code TPTXO)! The sale runs May 6th-7th.

Here are a bunch of other secondary sellers that have teamed up:

Happy shopping!

TPT 3 Million Strong Sale!

I'm so excited to announce that there is a site-wide sale this Thursday and Friday on Teachers pay Teachers!

I am joining in with others to highlight some of my most wishlisted items in my TPT store as well as show you what I plan on purchasing as well!

My set of 70 middle school math writing prompts are my number 1 wishlisted item in my TPT store. These are great as exit tickets, formative assessment, or just good questions to check for understanding. I will be adding to this pack, and the price will go up when that happens. Lock in the great value during this sale!

This is such a FUN game! Similar to the game Taboo, Unthinkable! is a game to promote conceptual understanding of the vocabulary we know is so important in math! This is a bundle of 5 individual games. This is a great value during the site-wide sale!

This was so popular this summer, and people are still buying these! I have a blog post where I talk about how to make one of these, or you can find one of the hundreds of tutorials on Pinterest!

Here are a few things that I cannot WAIT to purchase!

Start making your wishlists now! 

My favorite INB pages so far...

This is just a quick post since I started writing this post back in October and quite frankly having it sit in the drafts is stressing me out!

Moving to 8th grade this year has been awesome. I love the age group, love my school, and most of all I love my staff. My department has been so supportive of all the "changes" I wanted to make to the way 8th grade had been done in the past. The only problem was that I had so many resources for 6th and 7th grade, not so much for 8th grade. I knew I didn't have enough time over the summer to create new resources for my kids and finish the projects that I was already working on. 

I knew that I would need to peruse TPT for some help. I already had some favorite sellers that I could go to and I have to say that the best purchase I made was Lisa Davenport's ultimate foldable bundle. It has over 80 foldables ready to go for 8th grade and algebra 1. I still have to fill in some of my own here and there, but I have some other templates that I have purchased to help me with that. 

Here are just a few pages that I think turned out great. These are "my" pages and not the kids. Since I do most everything on the smart board, I don't always go back and write in the notebook. It's mostly for me to keep up with what page we are on. I know I need to do a better job of this!

Everyone's notebook starts with this page. They read the "rules" and then they sign it. Anytime they ask, "do we have to write this?" I always respond with, "what's rule number 6?" And they usually groan and write down whatever it is that they were protesting in the first place. 

This is the first table of contents page. I have them write the title of the page, the page number, and the date.  It makes it a lot easier when I reference an old page for review or when they have questions. 

This is one of the foldables from Lisa's bundle and it does a great job of illustrating the real number system so that kids understand. I should have taken a picture of the inside. Oops. 

This is one to teach scientific notation. It has four flaps to illustrate the four different types of problems involving scientific notation. We reference this foldable A LOT. 

This is one that I created on a whim because I realized my kids didn't remember from 7th grade about absolute value. I was including it in order of operations so this was a quick 10 minute mini-lesson that I made using 4mulaFun's flippable pack. 

I have been looking for different, fun ways to incorporate vocabulary in my classes this year. I have been trying something different each unit just to keep it fresh. For this unit, every student got an envelope and 10 index cards. We created our own frayer models and the kids loved it. 

And, finally, this was one of the most useful foldables that we have used so far. My kids LOVED evaluating algebraic expressions with square roots. Here's why: I told them we were doing Algebra. There is something about telling kids that we are working on something that is supposedly above their grade level! They eat it up and totally pay attention. Go figure. 

And there ya have it! I do apologize for not having links and is there is something misspelled. I'm on my iPad and it is difficult to edit!

How has your week been?

Halloween Activity for Middle School Math

Hi everyone!

I don't normally have time to post during the week, so this is just a quick post to let you know of my newest product in my store for Halloween! It is a set of comparing and ordering rational numbers cards that you can use in so many ways!

Some options are:

1. print out several sets and have students play war
2. print out one set and give each student 1-2 cards. Group them with others to put in order from least to greatest or greatest to least. 
3. have the students line up in the hall silently from least to greatest while holding a card in front of them
4. have students draw cards at random and add the values

And those are just to name a few! Click the image below to view the product on TPT!