This year I'm taking part in the #teach180 twitter challenge. The challenge is to post one picture from your classroom each day of the school year. I am also writing a biweekly post to share the resources that I tweet out.
Day 51: Today was a quiz day. I give cumulative quizzes every fifth day of class. On this particular quiz, I had quiet a few students attempt to simplify a fraction by "canceling across addition or subtraction." I need to reinforce this again obviously. I've tried doing simply arithmetic examples and showing how the fractions are not equivalent. Any other ideas on how to show students that this does not work?
Day 52: Today in geometry we started reviewing for midterms. The exams are about 2 months away, but I'm starting to build in a review activity several times per week now to help with long term retention. We completed
this activity on Explore Learning.
Day 53: Today in algebra 2 we practiced solving equations with complex solutions by playing a game of
BOOM! Some of my students get really into it since they get to yell "BOOM!" Others are not quite impressed. I found the rules for the game on TPT a few years ago. The question cards just come from a worksheet.
Day 54: Today in geometry we added another review station in preparation for the midterm. We reviewed conditional statements with Explore Learning's gizmo. I really like these activities as they are more hands-on than a worksheet. The subscription is a bit pricey, but worth it in my opinion. I'm lucky to have one year of access at least.
Day 55: Today in algebra 2 we practiced adding and subtracting complex numbers using dice. The kids complained it was too easy. I suppose I can add in multiplying complex numbers next time. I'll have to make a 3 part spinner instead of a two-sided chip to determine the operation. I kind of love that my kids feel comfortable telling me that an assignment was not challenging enough for them. It makes me think that they expect more from me and they are holding me accountable. I'll take that as a win!
Day 56: Another quiz day.
Day 57: Today in geometry we used Explore Learning's Gizmo to review angle relationships such as complementary, supplementary, adjacent, and vertical. This tool has been a life saver for me this year. It is so much quicker to use this that to create something in Geometer's Sketchpad, Geogabra, or some other applet.
Day 58: Today we practiced dividing complex numbers and using conjugates with a board game. I just took a worksheet and put each question on a game card (using slides in PowerPoint). This strategy still allows students to build the same level of fluency as completing the worksheet, but it is a bit more fun.
Day 59: Today my geometry students reviewed biconditional statements with ExploreLearning's
Gizmo . The drag and drop activity provided just enough scaffolding.
Day 60: Today my algebra 2 students practiced completing the square with
this +Desmos activity. The good folks at Desmos even had some recommendations on how I could make the activity better next year. I'm going to try creating several slides with 2 similar problems per page so that students can differentiate sign issues but not have too much clutter to see through.
That's it for this go 'round. Feel free to borrow and edit the resources as well as to join in with #teach180!
