Conquering Volume!

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. 

  

How was your week?

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! 

Tried it Tuesday: Think Through Math!

I am so excited to link up with Holly from 4th Grade Flipper for her weekly linky: Tried it Tuesday!

I always intend on linking up with some grandiose idea, but then Tuesday comes and goes and alas, no blog post. I have a hard time blogging during the week and I am trying the whole "set your blog posts up in advance" thing. I am technically setting this up on Saturday, so I guess I am sticking to my goal!

Anyhow, our Campus Improvement Specialist was introduced to this online math program that is FREE for educators in Texas. It may be available in other states, but I can only speak for Texas. It is intended to get the kids prepared for the STAAR test. I know that is is free for grades 3-8, and Algebra 1 costs money. However, our Algebra kids are using it at the 8th grade math level since right now that have to take not only the End of Course exam AND the 8th grade STAAR test. Gotta love the Federal Government. This is totally NOT the point of this post, so let me get on with it.

I hate introducing things mid-year, because I feel like when January comes around we are finally in a groove and kids FINALLY understand my expectations. I felt like introducing this was going to throw a wrench in everything, but then I thought about this: sometimes during halftime of a football game, the coach has to make some halftime adjustments in order to win the game. That is precisely what I did the first day we arrived back in school. The kids were resistant at first, but I kept at it and I am glad that I did. 

The website that we are using is called Think Through Math (or TTM for short). Basically, the kids are all given a user name and password. They take a placement test to determine what level they should start with. Based on the grade level that is selected for them ahead of time (in my case, everyone got 8th grade math since that is the test they will take). Then, based on the result of the placement test, the students are given lessons to complete in a certain order. Those above level will not have to do some of the more basic lessons like those below level students. It also give the kids a chance to "place-out" of the lesson via a pre-quiz. I think they have to score an 80% or higher on those. If they don't get that, they go through the lesson and take a post-test. They have to get 70% correct in order to "pass" that lesson. 

Now, why would kids enjoy doing this? Because for every lesson completed, you get points, and the kids see who has earned the most points for that week. Who wouldn't want to be on top?? Also, you can set up a class goal. Each of my class periods are set up to receive a pizza party when they have 500,000 points total. The kids can choose to add their points to the classroom goal, or donate to a charity of their choice. For every 10,000 points donated, TTM will donate a certain dollar amount on the kid's behalf. 

Can you tell that I am loving this?? Check it out!

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?

Ahh, Wednesday!

Yesterday, also known as the day I wrote my third post of the week, I thought about saying something like, "be sure to check back tomorrow for post #4!" But then I felt like I was "committing" to writing a post today and I just can't deal with that kind of pressure. So I deleted that line. 

But, I am sitting in a pedicure chair and all I could think about what I would put in today's post. 

And, as luck would have it, it hit me. 

I am exhausted and it is ONLY Wednesday. Why? Because I have spent two days with my crazy 8th graders on the computer lab. I need a drink, I tell you. A strong one. 

Now, remember, I am not one of those teachers who never uses technology and then those days that are spent in the computer lab you feel like a fish out of the water. No. That is not me. HOWEVER, my kids act like they don't know what double-clicking on something will do when we enter the computer lab. As if they don't know what technology is. It literally blows. my. mind. 

So, I sit here, in my nail salon getting a WELL-DESERVED pedicure because I have been on my feet answering a million questions for the past two days. I'm not sure why this makes it all better, but it does. 

Oh, and I have a team leader meeting tomorrow, and that's kinda like having a day off. Not really, but it is a change of scenery!

And then I'll be back on Friday, and then it will be the weekend and then it's like, "where did this week go??"

How is your week going?

Valentine's Day Task Cards -- FREEBIE!

I don't know what has gotten into me, frankly. I am a blogging machine. Three posts three days in a row! I should probably go take my temperature.

I am so excited that I have my first "seasonal" product in my store! AND...it is free! I wanted to make something that could be used this time of year and I know that in my district, we will have just finished our percents unit in 7th and 8th grade, and this would be a nice little activity. I don't think it would take my kids more than 20-25 minutes to do, and because of the nature of the problems, I would only have to check the last answer!

Each problem builds on the previous answer. This means that the answer from number 1 is used to solve number 2 and so on...In the end, they can only get number 8 correct if they get all other questions correct. Of course, I will check their work as well, but at a quick glance I can see if they were on track or even close!

Click on the image to grab your very own copy of my Valentine's Day task cards!

Be sure to follow my shop so that you can be notified when I upload more seasonal activities!

A Case of the Mondays...

Two posts two days in a row?? Are pigs flying?? Just kidding...but after my 2 month hiatus from blogging I am super proud of myself that I am getting two blog posts in this week! Since I like to live on the edge, I just might get a third in. Hold on to your hats, people. You just never know what to expect with me.

Today is Monday. I don't know one teacher that loves Mondays. I certainly don't love them more than, say, Saturday. See, I love to wear yoga pants and other pants without buttons. For some reason, that is frowned upon (who made these rules?) at work. I know, right? Just think about how much more productive I would be in yoga pants or even flannel pajama pants. Ahh, one can dream right?

At least in our district they are pushing the college and career readiness stuff and all staff can wear jeans with college shirts on Mondays! That is something to look forward to for sure. But, I wish it could be college themed pajama pants. Because, that is one well put together outfit. Maybe with a collegiate snuggie. I am out of control I tell you. If only I ruled the world!

There, I am in a better mood now. Why? Because it is time to put my PJs on :)

Have a wonderful week!