Mathsational

I try to use technology both to make my classroom job easier and to engage students. I use technology in my daily presentations via Doceri.  It is one of the few paid resources that I use.  I wrote about it here .  The main way that I use Doceri is as an interactive whiteboard and as a document camera in conjunction with Reflector .  I also use Doceri to create instructional (flipped style) videos for my independent station. Another resource that I like is puzzle makers.  I like to create these activities in Tarsia.   Tarsia  is a free resource that I wrote about before. The main ways that my students use technology is through my LMS of choice, Schoology and for self paced instruction via EDpuzzle .  Schoology is just the resource that I use to post assignments and resources.  EDpuzzle allows you to assign video lessons to students and receive feedback through embedded questions. I also like to use DESMOS and Gizmos .  DE...

Group work, whether formal or informal are a very important part of learning.  This is the part of class where students really get to talk through their problem solving strategies.  Students explain their thinking and learn from each other.  Misconceptions become visible and can be addressed. I use informal grouping almost daily.  For informal groups, I typically use pairs only.  This might take the form of "Talk to your neighbor about ... " or a Kagan strategy.  My favorite Kagan strategy is Boss/Secretary.  The secretary does nothing but write what the boss tells them to write.  The boss tells the secretary how to write the solution to the assigned problem.  This is great for getting kids to show work, explain their reasoning, and practice vocabulary/notation. I use formal grouping during each rotation in my hybrid classroom.  This equates to every other instructional day.  For formal groups I prefer to assign groups of 3...

Our parents' night is always a marathon.  Our contract runs from 7am until 3pm.  Historically, I have kids stay after school most days until 4pm.  Parent's night ran from 6:30-9pm in the past.  Then we have a regular 7-3 school day the following day.  This year, I'm under the impression that it will run from 6:30-8pm.  This means we will go from having 15 minute 'classes' with the parents to having 10 minute classes. Some teachers who live close to the school go home between the school day and parent's night.  This is most likely if they have young children.  Depending on whether or not my husband is traveling for business, I might need to go home and let our 3 adopted dogs out.  I prefer not to go home because it's a 30 minute drive each way.  If I can, I just pack lunch and dinner that day and spend the 2.5 hours of free time having dinner and working on the lesson plans or grading that I would have done at home that night anywa...

What makes a rich task?  It needs to be accessible to many students (have a low floor) yet offer enough extension to challenge advanced learners (have a high ceiling).  Often, the task will have some sort of context or application.  The task should be open enough that students could solve the problem in several ways and may even be able to come up with follow-up questions.  The task may be solvable in an eloquent stream lined way and may be solved in unusual and creative ways.  The task should encourage collaboration.  It might result in a discovery of a new concept and it should certainly be a positive experience for students. One of my favorite resources for rich tasks is the Mathematics Assessment Project.  I wrote about it here about a year ago. Another source that I like, but have not used quite as extensively as MAP is Illustrative Mathematics.  They offer course blueprints aligned with the national Common Core standards.  Here is t...

Engagement in Algebra 2 can be tough.  The scope and sequence is brutal, even for me as someone who really enjoys math.  I wrote about the objectives of my algebra 2 class here .  Seriously, if you have a great application project or activity for the following, please let me know: multiplying/dividing polynomials (long division), working with radical and complex numbers, rational functions, polynomial functions, conic sections, inverse functions, sequences and series & truth tables.  Ugh, I'm bored just typing that list of unbearable content. So, what I attempt to do is 1) gamify as much as I can and 2) Kagan the rest. I wrote several posts about the games that I try to incorporate: Dice Breakout Edu Chains Tarsia Board Games My Ship Sails Color by Number Old Maid TIC TAC TOE and Go Fish Rummy For more info on Kagan strategies you can start here .  Kagan strategies are methods of having students work collaboratively.  Each person ha...