Mathsational

Last summer I got the crazy idea in my head that I should incorporate robotics into my high school math classroom.  I did a ton of research and narrowed down my first choice of robot to  +OZOBOT .  Then, by just being very very lucky, I learned that  +Tryazon  was doing a party/giveaway opportunity.  I won one Ozobot bit for myself and one to given away to a party guest.  I wrote about that initial experience here . After this experience, I decided to apply for a grant through our local education foundation .  Again, I was lucky enough to be chosen.  MTEF bought a class set of Ozobots for my classroom.  Here is what I've done with the Ozobots so far. I knew that I wanted the end product to be a path that the Ozobots would follow.  This year I'm teaching geometry and algebra 2, so I decided to do this assignment with transformations in geometry and as a cumulative review of graphing lots of types of functions for algebra 2. ...

This year I've taken on the #teach180 challenge.  The challenge is to post one tweet per day showing a glimpse inside your classroom.  I'm also putting the tweets together in a biweekly blog so that I can share the resources that I'm tweeting about. Day 111:  Today was another one of our weekly quizzes. Testing today #teach180 . Just saw one kid do a fist pump, so it must be going well :) pic.twitter.com/IKFbB6q1pt — Jennifer Abel (@abel_jennifer) February 23, 2017 Day 112:  Today my geometry students finished up their transformations project using  +OZOBOT s.  The kids cheered as the bots successfully completed their courses :) Wrapping up our #geometrychat @OZOBOT transformations project today #teach180 . Thanks to MTEF @ManheimTownship pic.twitter.com/FqHEjt4yH5 — Jennifer Abel (@abel_jennifer) February 24, 2017 Day 113:  Today my algebra 2 classes used ExploreLearning's Gizmo to practice graphing and writing equations of circl...

This year I've taken on the #teach180 challenge.  The challenge is to post one tweet per day showing a glimpse inside your classroom.  I'm also putting the tweets together in a biweekly blog so that I can share the resources that I'm tweeting about. Day 91:  My classes are all finished taking their exams, but I have 3 kids doing make-up exams today since they were out sick last week.  Tomorrow is the last day of exams and the new semester starts on Wednesday.  Looking forward to a (somewhat) fresh start.  We have year long classes, but after the break for exams it can feel new. More grading of midterm exams today. Hoping to be able to finish by the end of the day #teach180 pic.twitter.com/BqR5hkuw5T — Jennifer Abel (@abel_jennifer) January 23, 2017 Day 92:  Today is our last day of midterm exams.  I'm wrapping up final grades for the semester and working on lesson plans for the first few days of third marking period.  I'm also collect...

This year I've taken on the #teach180 challenge.  The challenge is to post one tweet per day showing a glimpse inside your classroom.  I'm also putting the tweets together in a biweekly blog so that I can share the resources that I'm tweeting about. Day 101:  Today was a quiz day.  I give weekly cumulative quizzes as part of #SBG. Today we had our weekly cumulative quiz #teach180 pic.twitter.com/3m0OSFfDsT — Jennifer Abel (@abel_jennifer) February 7, 2017 Day 102:  Today we used the Ozoblocky game to learn some introductory programming skills.  We'll use Ozobots for a tansformations project in about 2 more weeks. Today we started @OZOBOT blockly training in prep for our transformations project in 2 weeks. Thanks to MTEF @ManheimTownship #teach180 pic.twitter.com/qCAB6KHAX9 — Jennifer Abel (@abel_jennifer) February 8, 2017 Day 103:  Today in algebra 2 we practiced determining the end behavior of functions.  We were a little short o...

This month I'm joining in the #MTBoSBlogsplosion by @ExploreMTBoS.  The final week's prompt is to write about failure.  So many of us blog about our successes.  This is so important because we feel validated and we share great lessons.  We all grow together by sharing our best lessons.  We can make advancements in our teaching working collectively than we can working alone.  That said, as an outsider, it can be deceiving.  Math teachers all over the world are posting awesome lessons every day and it can make you feel inferior.  Maybe you only have one blog/tweet worthy lesson per week or month.  The truth is.  Many of us teach 3 or 4 different classes, so to blog about 1 lesson out of 80 is not really representative of our daily work. This week, I've decided to keep a list of all the mistakes I make.  This is a great week to do it, because my mistakes should be minimized.  We are giving midterms on Monday and Tuesda...

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...

I recently wrote about how I would like to incorporate robotics into my geometry classroom.  I followed all of the classroom robot companies on twitter and started asking questions.  The folks at  @OZOBOT  were quick to reply and they became one of my top contenders.  Several weeks later, Ozobot tweeted that they were partnering with  @Tryazon  to sponsor 200 parties.  Of course I jumped at this opportunity and was fortunate enough to be chosen to host. I have never hosted a Tryazon party before but they are a company that matches innovative new products with potential customers.  As a host, I had to host a party where adults would get to play with and experience Ozobot.  In exchange, I received an Ozobot Starter Pack .  I also received a second robot to give away as a door prize.  Additionally, I was provided with a detailed party planning guide, coupons, and support along the way to ensure that I was able to pull o...