Math in the Middle

A Year is....

2012-02-06T14:53:00.001-06:00

A Year is 3 1/2 cans (38.5 oz.) of hairspray.

A Year is 89,725 laughs.

A Year is 54,750 Text Messages.

A Year is 204,840 Steps at School.

A Year is 5.2 x 10^2 Hours of Grey's Anatomy.

A Year is 45,120,000 seconds spent with Ms. Roitz learning Algebra!

A Year is 162,000 Algebra Problems.

Another fun project that I used from Mary Beth Runyon and Lynn Smith from King Phillip Middle School. I started off 2012 by having students select an everyday activity and extrapolating it out for the entire year using a unique measure. I hung the student posters throughout the school. It was fun seeing students from all the grades stopping at individual posters and checking them out...(I think they got a big kick out of my 10 yards of wrinkle cream that I use annually!) Just another fun way to use math to learn a little bit more about your students. I found out a lot about time my students spent doing chores, gaming, homework, and more!

Candy Guess

2011-12-14T07:36:00.001-06:00

I got the idea for this activity from two teachers, Mary Beth Runyun and Lynn Smith, who presented at the NCTM Regional Math Conference in St. Louis this fall. It is simple to do and takes little planning and gives a nice review of math vocabulary and number sense. I hung one of those big plastic candy canes full of candy that you can find at the store and put up the first clue..."Win this candy cane when you can guess this 3 digit number." I didn't make any big announcement about the activity- just waited to see if my algebra students would notice and ask questions on their own- and they did! I explained the only rule that I had for the contest was that they would only get one guess which they needed to write down on a piece of paper and turn in to me. Each day I added another clue getting more specific each day, i.e. Composite number, multiple of 5, an integer, etc. I knew they were hooked when I noticed two of my algebra students checking out the bulletin board for the next clues as soon as the bus dropped them off at school- before they were supposed to even be in the hallways in the morning! Several students had sheets with possible numbers that they would cross off each day after viewing the new clue. I have to admit I was pretty amazed. I was not sure that 8th grade students would care all that much about winning candy. Yesterday a student guessed the correct number, -645. They weren't expecting the number to be negative! Around 75% of my students had turned in a guess before the end of the contest. The best part of the activity was seeing them argue with each other about the possible solutions to the contest- using their math vocabulary.

First Snowfall of the Year

2011-12-06T11:43:00.001-06:00

I have been waiting for our first snowfall ever since the first day of school. Instructor Magazine had shared a "get to know you" activity for the first day of school having students write down five things about themselves and then wadding up the paper and having a snowball fight with classmates. When the fight was concluded, students could open up the snowball they ended up with and read five things about one of their classmates...getting to know each other a little bit better. I loved the idea- but not for the first day of school. I decided then that I would save the activity for the first snowfall of the year. We are currently working on systems of equations, so as a warm-up activity I had students put their name on a clean sheet of paper along with a couple of systems of equations for a friend to solve from a certain page in their Algebra Books. When the students completed this I told them how much I loved snowball fights and that we were going to have one right in the classroom. Their eyes lit up right away. I shared the rules- 3 chances to throw a "snowball" at a friend. After their third throw they were to pick up a snowball close by and sit down and then solve their systems of equations. How many times does a teacher hear, "That was fun. Let's do that again!"? The best part of all (besides the smiles on their faces) was the fun practice we had doing our math...and I didn't mind tossing a few snowballs myself!

Mix-It-Up

2011-10-17T19:55:00.000-05:00

National Mix-It-Up at Lunch Day is tomorrow. My school's Student Advisory Council has a fun activity planned for how to separate up the tables and students tomorrow. We had an activity earlier this month about labeling and name-calling and how these labels stay with us for a long time and for many of us for the rest of our lives. Tomorrow we will be using labels of empowerment to separate our students- giving them labels such as "smart", "hard-worker", "friend", etc. to match up with corresponding labels at the tables and hopefully meet some new people at lunch. Keeping with the mix-it-up theme and in preparation for tomorrow, I had my students get up and move around a bit in math class today. We are working on finding slope between two ordered pairs using the Slope Formula. I had each student write down their favorite ordered pair on a whiteboard and pair up with various students around the room, finding the slope between their two ordered pairs. The nice part about this activity was that it was somewhat self-checking. Partners should have gotten the same answer- so if they didn't, they knew that one of them had made a mistake and they could look things over and make corrections together. It is always fun to shake things up and move around a bit- especially in math class!

Proportions

2011-10-16T13:33:00.000-05:00

Send your students to the grocery store with their parents to do a little more investigating on their own using proportions to find the unit price of items they purchase. What is the price per hot dog bun? If you could purchase just the amount of hot dog buns that you needed for your family, what would that cost? Extend the activity to include more food items such as cookies, pop tarts, instant oatmeal or hot chocolate...the list goes on. How would the total amount you spend on your groceries differ if you were allowed to purchase just the amount you needed to feed your family? Give students some time to process their information for sharing with the class. Encourage them to share their results in creative ways such as Glogster, Blabberize, or Juxio. Both students and their families will have fun with their discoveries on this trip to the grocery store!

Knovio

2011-10-12T21:55:00.000-05:00

Want to spice up a powerpoint for your math class? Knovio might be something you want to check out. Knovio is a free site that allows you to turn your powerpoints into video presentations. Simply upload your powerpoint and then record yourself as you narrate your class through the powerpoint presentation. If your computer has a Web camera you will have a video of yourself to the side of the powerpoint. while the powerpoint lesson progresses. I shared this site on my Technology blog but thought I should share it here as well because there are all sorts of possibilities for this in the math classroom. I created a video using a powerpoint and Knovio and left it for a substitute to use for my classes one afternoon. You could also upload your video to a blog or class website- really nice for kids that are absent to watch on their own and catch up. Not a whole lot of extra work involved and my students liked it.

To Blog or Not to Blog

2011-10-07T20:08:00.000-05:00

This year school seems busier than ever. I have a great group of students and they come to class with positive attitudes ready to learn. They seem to enjoy class and the activities I plan to reinforce my math lessons. I am still trying out new things. As far as technology goes, I find myself spending more time working on the technology that is available to the pupils and teachers in my district such as Moodle as well as supporting the other teachers in my district with their learning. At the end of the day I go home happy. I walk my dog, go to my yoga class and catch up on the news of the day. I have not made the time to blog like I have in the past. I have been beginning to question whether blogging is a good use of my time- if I should move on to other things, Then this week I decided to check out some blogs I follow that I haven't taken the time to check out in a while and I remembered why I fell in love with blogging in the first place. Miss Calculate had a great post about algebra writing prompts. Dy/Dan is still at it with a great post on the shower vs. bath. I am enjoying reading Old Math Dog Learning New Tricks. My creative juices are flowing and my fellow bloggers are the reason why. A fellow teacher at my school asked me last week where I had gotten the idea I was using that day for practicing function notation. We were "playing" a survivor type activity. Students were divided into groups of four and worked on problems together as a team. When they all agreed to an answer they would have me come by to check their work. If they had the correct answer they could erase one of another teams' "treasures". The team left at the end with the most treasures won a prize. Students had so much fun trying to take out other teams- creating alliances. One class even worked it out at the end to have everyone win. Luckily I had enough pencils, pennies and stickers! The amount of work and review the students were doing in their survivor teams was amazing- but the most amazing thing of all was the amount of fun the students had learning/practicing their function notation skills. I guess this is why I really blog. To learn and be inspired by other bloggers as well as to share what goes on in my classroom... and to get my creative juices flowing!

Starting Out on the Right Foot

2011-08-30T14:57:00.000-05:00

It is already the end of August and school has been in session for a couple of weeks. I was feeling bad about not posting anything new on my math blog but really have nothing new to report. I haven't done anything unusual so far this year to share. I am still busy trying to learn all of my student's names (which seems to get more difficult every year) and getting used to the routine of being back in school ready to go by 7 in the morning. One thing that I did accomplish that was tons of fun was organize a flash mob to start off our school's anti-bullying campaign. The most impressive part about the whole thing was that we pulled it off on the morning of the 4th day of school. I can't tell you how pleased I was that the students learned the dance and kept the flash mob a secret from everyone. This definitely got my year off on the right foot!

Teacher Reflections

2011-06-17T19:37:00.003-05:00

Where did the school year go? Summer is perfect for looking back and reflecting over the year and making plans for next year- setting new goals- doing research- and catching up on my reading. This summer also includes teaching a "Thinking with Technology" course for my district as well as attending a class on the new Common Core Standards. So much for just relaxing by the pool all day! Looking back, I had a great group of students this year- and we covered more material than I usually get around to. For the most part my students had positive attitudes for just about every activity or lesson we covered. I noticed that students talked about what they did in math class that day over lunch- that's pretty cool! I also got one of the nicest compliments that I have ever received from one of my students in his letter to next year's 8th graders they wrote at the end of the year. He said he loved coming to math class because he never knew what to expect- everyday was different. I have all my fellow bloggers to thank for that. I am always finding great ideas and strategies to use in my classroom reading and learning from all of your blogs. I managed to incorporate a lot more differentiated instruction than in years past. I also incorporated a lot more technology and multi-media into the classroom this year which students seemed to enjoy. I have to admit when I run into students from a few years back I have a somewhat guilty feeling inside. I truly feel that I am a much better teacher now than I used to be. I guess that really is a good way to feel. I hope I continue to keep getting better each year.

What didn't go so well? I had a goal this year of being "less helpful" (dy/dan)allowing more opportunities for kids to discover the math- breaking down the math themselves- time for more student-directed learning. I had a really hard time accomplishing this goal in my 40 minute class period. In order to cover the required standards/indicators that I needed to as well as allowing for the time to practice the skills, my classroom was more teacher directed than I had hoped. I am not sure how I can get around this either. Lessons that allowed for students to discover the math themselves were hard to fit into the 40 minute period. What I would do for at least 10 more minutes added to my classes everyday! This is something that I plan on looking into more over the summer. There has to be a way to accomplish this in a 40 minute block of time. If anyone has any ideas feel free to share!

Multiplication with Vi Hart

2011-06-11T15:41:00.002-05:00

This is why Vi Hart is one of my favorite math blogs. If you don't follow her and share her with your students...you don't know what you are missing! Check out her video on Visual Multiplication.

Math in the Music

2011-06-02T19:54:00.003-05:00

This is for all my math students that love music. Really clever! I love to tell my students that math is in everything we do. This proves math is in music! This video would be fun to use when studying fractions.

Math Vocabulary Projects

2011-05-16T20:45:00.040-05:00

A fun vocabulary project by some of my algebra students...Half-Past Pi video.

A candy box filled with an accordion of math vocabulary.

This was a super great poem using our math vocabulary in a creative way. Click on the picture to enlarge so you can get a good look at their creative use of vocabulary.

A windsock using our math vocabulary in our school colors. It looks great hanging in my room!

Shift Happens

2011-05-06T21:48:00.002-05:00

A funny thing happened in my algebra class this week. We were learning about Sine, Cosine and Tangent and talking about how to use the correct calculator keys for finding the ratio of the sides vs. finding the measure of a missing angle. I was using my document camera to demonstrate to the students the correct calculator keys to use. Not all of my students use the same type of calculator and I referred to the 2nd key as the "shift" key. Students struggled with the lesson all day. It was difficult for them to understand when they needed to use their shift key, when one of them said, "You mean the 2nd key?" I told them that I would call it the 2nd key if that would help, and just a couple of problems later caught myself referring to the shift key again- stopped myself mid-sentence- and you can guess what came out of my mouth. I apologized and we all had a good laugh about the whole situation. I ended with the comment "sometimes shift happens"! Before I knew it they were all chiming in with funny comments like, "Ms Roitz, you need to get your shift together!" After a few minutes of this things settled down, but together we came up with a real easy way to remember when to use the shift key and when not to. When you are looking for the ratio of the sides of a right triangle just hit the sine, cosine or tangent key, When you need to find the measure of an angle of a right triangle using Sine, Cosine and Tangent, that's when Shift happens!

I Know

2011-05-06T13:44:00.002-05:00

Here is a variation on Bingo to use as a math review activity. I haven't played it in a couple of years, and I forgot how fun it can be. It is super simple to prepare for and best of all it requires every student to participate in the review. I create game cards with IKNOW replacing Bingo at the top. Students fill in the "I Know" game card with numbers 1-24 and a free space in any order that they want. Once students have their game cards prepared, I put review problems on the board for students to solve on their whiteboards. Students leave their boards on their desk until I ask for students to show if they "Know" the answer. Only students who get the answer correct can cross out a number that I call out. The nice thing about having students "show what they Know" on whiteboards is that I get a really good idea of what students understand and what they might need additional work on before the test.When students get five boxes in a row on their game card they call out "I Know!" I always keep a bunch of fun rewards and prizes around to pass out to the winners. This game will keep everyone involved and allow for plenty of quality review at the same time.

Apologies to Lady Gaga

2011-05-06T09:07:00.032-05:00

Our district has put a focus on vocabulary development this year using the Building Academic Vocabulary strategies of Marzano and Pickering. With the school year winding down, I thought it would be fun to see just how well my students have all retained their vocabulary from the year by working on a vocabulary project of their choice. I created a Tic-Tac-Toe sheet to allow for differentiated learning with possible project ideas for my students to choose from and thought I would introduce the project next week with a song with apologies to Lady Gaga: "I Was Born to do Math"! Now I just need to come up with some kind of crazy head piece to set the right mood!

Multimedia Math Project

2011-03-27T19:41:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year.... state assessments.... and I wanted to do something different. This year I had students pick from a hat to select one of the tested indicators in the state assessment. Students were instructed to create a slide covering their indicator using google docs for their classmates to have to solve in a review activity. Here are some of the fun slides that students came up with. For the most part they did a pretty nice job. I plan on using the slides in a review game the week before testing. I was pleasantly surprised with how excited they were about creating a slide. It was also an easy way for me to tell whether or not the students had a good understanding of the tested indicator before testing begins!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

2011-02-08T14:56:00.003-06:00

Just something fun to watch. What about creating a flash mob for a school assembly...getting ready for state assessments? This could be fun!

Doing "The Claw"

2011-01-15T12:25:00.002-06:00

Man- time has gotten away from me. We are already well into January and I have not posted to my blog in a month! I enjoyed Christmas Break with my family and welcomed my 6th grandchild just last weekend. Throw in a couple of snow days, and time is just flying by. My students did a great job on their Feltron Projects from first semester, and several are currently hanging in the front office and along the hallway to the principal's office. The second semester always includes stress for me as we begin to prepare to take the state assessment tests. I am not sure if I will ever figure out a way to not get stressed over this annual event. If anyone knows of a strategy for this please share!

Students are working on Polynomials currently, and seem to be progressing quite nicely. In the past, when multiplying polynomials, I have taught the FOIL method, smiling man, etc., but this year decided to teach multiplication of polynomials using the term Distributive Property only- because this is the term we have used all year as well as a term they will be using in their assessments. Besides, FOIL or the smiling man is just another name for the Distributive Property anyway. Basically, I thought it would be one less thing that students would have to remember. When multiplying with trinomials and binomials using arcs to connect the terms you are multiplying, a "claw" readily appears. I have heard of other teachers using the claw term, and while I was trying to

stick using the term distributive property only...it is just too tempting to not use the term...and do something fun with it as well. Anyway, I wrote lyrics using the tune to The Monster Mash calling my song "Do the Claw", and my 8th graders were up twisting and singing the claw... Letting go of our worries on a cold Kansas day!

Do the Claw

“The Monster Mash”

by Christy Roitz

I was working on my math late one night

When my eyes beheld a scary sight

Multiplying polynomials my problems start to arise

When suddenly to my surprise!

I did the Claw

I did the Distributive Claw

I did the Claw

Just work left to right

I did the Claw

It was easy to do

I did the Claw

I did the Distributive Claw!

It is easy to do working left to right

Distribute each term to all terms inside

When you connect each term with an arc to the next

Your claw will appear right on your text!

So do the Claw

Do the Distributive Claw
Do the Claw

Just work left to right

Do the Claw

It’s easy to do

Just do the Claw

Do the Distributive Claw!

Race to the Top

2010-12-14T14:28:00.001-06:00

Race to the Top is a fun computation activity to use when you want to start off class with a small review from the day before or you have just a few minutes of time to use up before the end of class. This is a picture of one of the completed review triangles from muliplying with monomials I used the other day. Start off with the blank worksheet that I have attached. The teacher fills in the bottom row with different values. I chose monomials since that is what we were working on, but you can use integers, fractions, whatever you happen to be working on. You can use this to practice mulitplication, addition facts- whatever your students need more practice with. Make enough copies of this sheet for each row in the classroom. Students in each row start at the bottom of the triangle solving one problem at a time by performing the operation on two triangles next to each other and placing the answer in the triangle above them before passing the paper down the row to the next person in the row. I had students muliply the monomials in this example sheet. As you can see, the problems get more difficult as you work up to the top. The first row with the correct answer wins. If they have the wrong answer, I have them go back to find their mistake and make corrections as needed still working in their rows.

Showdown

2010-12-02T18:59:00.002-06:00

Looking for another review activity before the end of the semester that keeps all students involved and provides lots of practice opportunities? Have a Showdown! Create a set of review problems for the class to solve ahead of time. I usually just project the problems onto the whiteboard, but you could also make decks of cards with the review problems on them instead. Divide your class into groups of 4 or so and select a team captain in each group.(This job can be rotated around if you like.) Each group will need to determine a quiet signal to show their team captain that they have completed the math problem. i.e. Tug their ear, thumbs up,...students come up with some pretty clever signals! Each member of every team works on the math problem. Once they solve it, they give their captain their team signal. Once all team members have given the signal, they share their answers with each other. This can be pretty comical, but the nice thing about their signals is that the room is nice and quiet! If the team disagrees on the answer, the team members coach each other until they agree on one answer. Once the team agrees on an answer, the captain says, "Showdown"! The first team that says "showdown" with the correct answer earns a point for their team. The team with the most points at the end of the review wins a fun prize. I give out a free homework pass...doesn't cost me anything, and I hand these out so rarely, the students think it is a real treat. I guarantee your entire class will be involved in the review, and probably have a good time while they are at it.

Slope-Intercept Form Line Art

2010-11-16T14:46:00.002-06:00

The following assignment is one that comes at the end of our chapter on graphing linear equations. I ask students to design a picture on graph paper using 10 lines with positive slope, 10 lines with negative slope, 5 lines with zero slope, and 5 lines with undefined slope. Students are to give the equation for the line in slope-intercept form, but you could use Standard form, or point-slope form if desired. Here are just a few of my students' final projects.

The project above, #44, really touched my heart. Our district lost a student during a high school football game just a couple of weeks ago. You might have heard about it on the national news. The young man, Nathan Stiles, was one of my former students. I had him for both Pre-Algebra and Algebra. He was one of the finest young men I have ever had the opportunity to teach. His life touched many others. Nathan was one of those kids that everyone looked up to and admired...and he had a kind word for everyone that he saw. One of my students designed her line art for Nathan, using his football jersey number. Nathan loved to read his bible, and his parents have started up The Nathan Project in his honor. It's nice to see a little of Nathan rubbing off on the rest of us left behind.

I am a huge Kansas Jayhawk fan, so I was tickled with the above project. ROCK CHALK!

I wish you could see all the detail in this one...all I can say is amazing! This assignment gives students a great chance to show their knowledge of Slope-Intercept Form and their creativity as well.

Study Jams

2010-11-04T08:24:00.000-05:00

Study Jams is a fun math site to check out for cool videos as well as Karaoke songs. Check out the video and song for Problem Solving and creating equations from word problems. I was so impressed I added this site to my favorite links on my blog. Think I will add the video about lines to my homework calendar today for my students while we are in the middle of linear equations and inequalities!

Why I Love Blogging

2010-10-29T08:57:00.002-05:00

Yesterday my classroom was a fun place to be thanks to MathTales from the Spring, one of the blogs I follow. I was planning on a review day for an upcoming test in Algebra, and she happened to share her Ghosts in the Graveyard review. Perfect timing! I decorated my whiteboard with funny tombstones hidden behind my projector screen and got everything prepared. I wish you could have seen the smiles on their faces when I lifted the screen and explained what we were about to do! I changed things around a little bit to fit my needs. Instead of dividing students into groups, I had students work individually on whiteboards. Instead of putting problems on ghosts, I created six different review sheets that I had copied on different color paper. Each sheet had a different Halloween character with two or three review problems on the sheet depending on the difficulty. When students solved their problems they brought their whiteboards up to me. If all work was correct, they got to sign their name on a ghost and put it into a trick-or-treat bag. If they had made a mistake, I was able to visit with them and offer suggestions so that they could go back and correct things. After completing a card, they could then select another card (using different colored paper, and different characters kept this simple) and continue on. The more cards completed correctly, the more opportunities to earn a ghost to put in the bag. I was amazed at how excited students got about earning a ghost. Students who finished all cards before the end of class (only a few) could help other students who were stuck on a problem if asked. At the end of class I drew ghosts from the bag for prizes that students could pick from...some of my homemade cookies...pencils...little junk I keep for times just like this. We got some good review in, but the the smiles and laughs from the students was the best part of all.

Comic Strip Graphs

2010-10-08T14:51:00.003-05:00

I love to share my student work. I have some really creative thinkers this year, and it's fun to give them the type of assignment where they can show off their creativity! This assignment involved creating a comic strip teaching someone how to graph a linear equation in Standard Form.

Spirolaterals...No Name the Same!

2010-10-01T08:49:00.002-05:00

Spirolaterals are geometric designs that are created from number sequences through the iterative procedures...right, down, left, up...repeated over and over again until your pencil meets up to your starting place. This activity ties to symmetry, transformations, patterns, rules, and coordinate geometry...and the students love it. I ask each student to take their name and transpose into numbers using this chart:

A-J-S = 1

B-K-T = 2

C-L-U = 3
D-M-V = 4
E-N-W = 5
F-O-X = 6
G-P-Y = 7
H-Q-Z = 8
I-R = 9

On a sheet of graph paper have students pick a starting point and move the first number of units to the right. Turn 90 degrees clockwise and move the second number of units down. Turn and move the third number left. Turn again and move up. Keep going and see what occurs. You can have students identify ordered pairs, rotations, reflections, translations, etc. Just lots of fun. I went thru 200 sheets of graph paper for just 60 Algebra 1 students in a day. They loved creating them and trying out different words besides their name. Here are a few samples that are hanging in the room now. This is a great way to get ready to start working with the coordinate plane.

Time is Flying By

2010-10-01T08:24:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that today is October 1st and Parent-Teacher Conferences and the end of the first quarter are just two weeks away. My algebra kids have been really busy so far this year. We have flown through Order of Operations, Properties, Statistics: Displaying and Analyzing Data, Simple Probability, Multi-Step Equations, and we are taking our time with Linear Equations and graphing. Our Feltron Project seems to be coming along nicely. I am doing the project along with them and am amazed at all the miles I am racking up walking my dog Henry. (175 so far with 2 months to go!) My classroom walls were full of math projects like Tarsia and "Facing Math" from Multi-step equation practice. I was taking things down today to make room for our graphing projects and just thought I would share a few of my Facing Math projects done by students. They loved doing them, and like me, were amazed at how easy it was to "grade" the assignment. Wrong answers really stand out and are easy to detect because the final project ends up looking different from these.

Real Number System

2010-09-15T18:24:00.003-05:00

SpicyNodes is the site that I used to create this project on the Real Number System. I think Students would have fun using this site for a variety of math topics. Free and easy to do, but sign-up is necessary. At the very least, it is a fun way to create and share information with your students for a change of pace. Easy to embed in your school blogs or website.

Facing Math

2010-09-08T13:51:00.001-05:00

Dan Meyer's blog is one I follow religiously. Measures of Central Tendency are tested indicators for 8th graders here in Kansas, so I am using his Feltron Project idea, with modifications of my own for a project to start off the year and work with these state standards. I plan on tying in Proportions, Percents, and possibly some linear equation work in with the project as well. So far, things are going great, and the students are really into it. I can hardly wait to see their own reports at the end of the semester. I will share student's projects later on this year.

Dan's last post was about a topic that all math teachers fall back on at one time or another: " The best learning begins with a good worksheet." He wrote this as a beginning teacher, and he talks about how his thinking has changed in the years since. I myself use worksheets rarely....but there are a couple of sources for worksheets that are just plain fun and students love. Tarsia is a free program to download on your computer that creates fun math puzzles. Teachers can put in their own math problems along with answers, and the program will create a puzzle, that when put together creates a fun geometric shape...sort of self-checking for the students too! Another worksheet that I like to use occasionally is Facing Math by Kristin DeWit. Students solve problems and depending on the answer they get, draw a part of a face on a head, creating different characters. Fun for students...and a great tool for teachers who might need to leave a review worksheet for a sub that will keep students plenty busy, as well as provide fun practice opportunities at the same time.

A Great Start

2010-08-20T15:14:00.001-05:00

This year I started off my algebra class using an idea I borrowed from dy/dan. I had read about it last year and have been waiting ever since to try it out! I created a powerpoint that had a sentence written in several different languages and the students had to guess the language. This was fun and caught the students' interest right away. I followed up this activity with asking them for the language of a final sentence....it was a mathematical equation...and of course the language was math! Their eyes opened wide and lots of connections were made. We talked about how the English language has parts of speech and rules that we follow for punctuation, etc., and this lead right into Order of Operations, Properties, and integer rules. For our assignment we created a number line that now hangs at the front of our class, an idea I got from Math Stories. And we are off....a great beginning for a new school year!

Do the Integer Hustle

2010-08-12T19:40:00.000-05:00

This idea for working with integers came from my teaching partner's daughter, who is also a middle school math teacher in another district. She is just beginning her teaching career and is off to an awesome start. I am sure her students love this math lesson that she shared... The integer hustle sounds like just the perfect idea for learning about integers in a middle school classroom. All students have a number line on a floor and start on zero. To the tune of "The Hustle", the teacher will give different values such as positive 3. Students will move from zero to the right til they get to 3, and say "Do the Hustle!" when they get there. Students move to the left for negative numbers. Let's say a student is on 3 and is given the number negative 7. The students will move from 3 to the left 7 spaces (always spin in a circle when you pass over zero!), and will end up on negative 4. I'm ready to get out my 70's music right now and start dancing. Sounds like a fun and active lesson for the beginning of the school year to me!

Working with Slope and Fractions

2010-08-06T23:08:00.008-05:00

If you get a chance, check out NCTM's August 2010 edition of Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. Ivan Cheng has written an article "Fractions: A New Slant on Slope", about using slope to add, subtract, and multiply and divide fractions that I think is an interesting and fun read. Basically, when you graph a line with a slope of 1/2 (y=1/2x) starting from the origin, all the coordinates on that line will be equivalent to 1/2. i.e. 3/6, 5/10, etc. The fun starts when you start adding and subtracting fractions using slope. Graph another line such as y=2/3x ...you will notice that the lattice points of the two lines will line up on the common denominators (the x-coordinates or 6 in this case). From there the adding and subtracting is pretty easy. Not necessarily a method I would use to introduce adding and subtracting with fractions - fraction bars, number lines, and manipulatives are what I prefer- but this method using slope was sure fun to do! I have never thought about teaching fractions with slope before- but this year when we work with slope, I plan on having my students get out their whiteboards and do some fraction work as well! It will be a fun review of fractions with a twist, and hopefully deepen their understanding of slope as well!

1/2 + 2/3 = 3/6 + 4/6 or 7/6

This method reminded me of something one of my algebra students came up with a couple of years ago to order fractions from least to greatest which I wrote a post about earlier. He graphed the fractions on the coordinate grid (y/x) and extended a line from the origin to the point. Going from left to right, the fractions were in order.

Top 25 Blogs For Math in the Classroom

2010-08-05T08:25:00.000-05:00

When I started my blog a few months ago I used lists like The Top 25 Blogs for Math in the Classroom to find other math blogs to follow. Blogging has opened up my world to all sorts of new ideas and strategies that I use in my classroom. I have a list of new things I want to do this year already! I have learned more from my fellow bloggers than I could ever have imagined. I would encourage any teacher to find blogs that interest them and inspire them to be better. I can guarantee that your learning will grow exponentially when you start following blogs that interest you.

This morning when I checked my email I was notified that my math blog was on the list. What a nice surprise and an honor to even be included in the list...Even better, I have found some other blogs on this list to check out!

Dear 8th Grader,

2010-07-29T13:45:00.001-05:00

"Welcome to Algebra 1. You are in for an amazing year! By the end of the year you will be so surprised at all you have learned. Be ready for..."

On the last day of school each year I always give my Algebra students a writing assignment. They are to write a note to the next year's 8th graders that includes hints for how to be successful in my math classroom, along with naming topics that were their favorite or maybe gave them the most trouble, as well as suggestions on how to get along with me! I save these letters and put them on the desks of my new students on their very first day of school. It is nice to give the new students something to read on that first day while everyone is getting settled in...their very own individual letter. Hopefully the letters make them less worried about the coming year and maybe even smile a bit. I have had students who hold on to these letters all year long! I myself am having a fun time reading over my former students' thoughts and recommendations for my incoming students. I love reading what my former students had to say about their year in my class. It is a good way to reflect over my teaching when making plans for the new year as well as remembering the group of students I have sent on to the high school this year. I know they are ready!

Summer Plans

2010-06-08T13:28:00.002-05:00

I have just completed my 25th year of teaching and I have discovered that some things never change. Whether as a student or a teacher, I have always looked forward to the end of the school year and summer vacation. It is nice to reflect at the end of the year my students' progress throughout the school year as well as to review the activities/lessons that were successful or needed improvement. What better place to reflect than sitting by the pool or in the comfort of my air-conditioned home with the smell of something great coming from the kitchen...on my own schedule?! This last week I have "unplugged" myself from my blog and have just enjoyed the peace and quiet- and my grandbabies. I love summer! Summer plans include spending time with my family, friends, and hopefully some travel- but my summer vacation also includes planning for next year. I have already started putting together my classroom "makeover" ideas for next year. Part of this will include spending time digging into some of the blogs I love to follow. I am still new to blogging- I just started my own blog this last fall- and I have so much to learn! I want to spend more time planning problem solving activities that empower my students' thinking, using media like I see in dy/dan, Dan Meyer's math blog. I really want to spend more time checking out all the great ideas/lessons included in Sweeney Math, The Exponential Curve, and Math Teacher Mambo. All three of these blogs are my very favorites. They seem to have just what I need for use in my classroom. With more time on my hands this summer, I will be able to dig a little deeper into their blogs for ideas that I might have missed over this past year...Awesome! I also love to read Kate Nowak's f(t) blog. I am jealous that she has been teaching for only five years and is such an incredible teacher already. Speaking of young teachers, I love Miss Calcul8's Blog too. She has a great teaching career ahead of her, and her students are lucky to have her. I might find some new blogs to follow or math sites for my classroom as well. It is nice to have time to review, renew, and create "math makeover" ideas over the summer. I think I know that when I stop looking forward to planning for next year and my new students, it will be time to look for another line of work.

Busy Work

2010-05-19T20:11:00.000-05:00

When your students are finished with their math final, the math texts are collected, library books are turned in, and you know that it will be hard for your students to just sit quietly waiting for math class to end, have this Foxtrot handout ready and waiting. I love how Bill Amend occasionally uses math in his comic strip Foxtrot, especially when Paige Fox's little brother gives her a hard time about her math skills! This handout is a favorite of mine because it is a nice review of computation skills and my students love it.

The Future Awaits

2010-05-16T20:25:00.002-05:00

Check out this fun website Indexed. It is full of fun graphs and charts on all sorts of topics. The author of site uses index cards to make fun or sense of things relationally "without resorting to using real math". Funny and thought provoking. This index card here is perfect to share with students ready to graduate.

It's Okay to Think Different

2010-05-14T22:33:00.001-05:00

Most middle school students want to be just like everyone else. This short video is a nice reminder that it is okay to be different, and to think differently than your peers. In fact, being different can change the world!

Motivational Posters

2010-05-09T13:04:00.007-05:00

Cathy Nelson's Techno Tuesdays post today about creating motivational posters using Big Huge Labs came out at just the right time for me. Just yesterday I had posted my favorite teacher quotes. I love Big Huge Labs and have used it for several things, but had never created the motivational posters. At this time of year, both my students and I need some motivation to do our best. How nice to create some fun posters in just a matter of minutes to hang up just before finals week!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week

2010-05-07T21:29:00.002-05:00

Here is a collection of great education quotes that I have collected and added to over the years and made into a powerpoint. I have used this powerpoint at teacher in-services and like to have it playing as teachers walk into the room before meetings start. In fact, that is how my powerpoint collection got started. I arrived early at a seminar one day, and the speaker had a powerpoint of quotes going across the screen. It kept me entertained, and some of the quotes made me reflect on why I became a teacher in the first place. Sometimes it helps to think back on what we do and why we do it. Sometimes we just need to smile. Regardless, I am sure you will find a quote or two that you will love in this collection. Want to know one of my favorite teacher quotes of all time? You will not see it in the powerpoint, but I have kept it on the front of my gradebook ever since I began teaching back in 1977..."All students are gifted- they just open their packages at different times!" Author Unknown

Algebra Final Study Tips

2010-05-07T18:08:00.001-05:00

Just something fun with my Flip Camera and Animoto.

Mathmaticious

2010-05-05T17:35:00.001-05:00

Let's Play Math!, a blog that I follow, shared their favorite YouTube videos about Calculus students preparing for finals. Check out the post if you teach calculus....some really clever videos. It is nice to be able to get a laugh out of your students at this time of year. Anyway, this got me to think about sharing my favorite math YouTube video- Mathmaticious. I found it around 3 years ago. I loved it so much I even bought a shirt from the kid that made the video! Enjoy.

Math Cartoons

2010-04-27T15:20:00.004-05:00

Some times you just need to start off class with a little laugh....especially at this time of year. Here are some of my favorites.

Math Curriculum Makeover

2010-04-18T13:34:00.001-05:00

Dan Meyer just put his TEDx talk from a conference he presented at in New York City this spring up on his math blog. I love his blog because I think he helps math make sense to high school students and because he teaches students the importance of math in our everyday lives encouraging them to not be afraid to come up with their own problem solving strategies. His blog encourages teachers like me to do the same. If you have 12 minutes, you might want to listen to his talk on our current math curriculum in our schools and how we can make math better for our students with just a little effort.

Professor Weathers and April Fool's 2010

2010-04-11T12:38:00.002-05:00

I found this Youtube video in Mathing, a blog that I follow, of an April Fool's joke that Professor Weathers' from Biola University pulled on his college math students. He did something so cool that it has me thinking about something to try on my class to catch them off guard and add a little bit of fun to class...in fact I lost sleep last night trying to come up with some idea to use before the end of the school year. Take a peek at this video. When you are done it gives a link to a "how-to video" in which Weathers explains how he created the special effects. You might also want to take a look at the professor's Halloween video from last year. This one has special effects that seem a little easier to pull off on my own. Regardless, how cool would it be to have a teacher that puts this much thought and time into what he does in the classroom? I am sure he makes learning enjoyable on a daily basis!

Spread the News

2010-04-09T06:14:00.004-05:00

The testing is over and my students did great! I am so proud of their efforts. Several of my students showed lots of growth from the previous years' test...several over 25%. Needless to say I am really proud of them. The newspaper headlines above are fake. Fodey allows you to create fake newspaper clippings in no time at all. Try it out! I plan on displaying this article on my projecter as students walk into class today and see if anyone notices.

Mathletic All-School Review

2010-04-05T22:13:00.037-05:00

Tomorrow my eigth graders will begin their state assessment testing. Technology has really made a big difference helping to make review activities fun. This past week we played Are You Smarter than an 8th Grader?, 20 Questions, and Big Board Review, giving students some fun practice using released items from the state, along with some other fun review games. (Feel free to change names, questions, or add to the games attached.) A favorite review activity of mine and my students is our annual all-school mathletic review. We hold it in the gym. All you need is a collection of review questions. We have our contest during homeroom at the end of the day, and each homeroom participates. Classes are divided into groups of 3-4 students each. I create enough review booklets of about 14-16 questions with one review question per page for each student group. Students leave the booklets upside down until I tell them to tear off one of the questions, one at a time. I give them a certain amount of time to answer the question before my graders run around collecting from each homeroom. I share the correct answer, talk about testing strategies...maybe even sing a song or two. Winning homerooms are announced. It is lots of work, but it is worth the effort, and students love it. This year students' results were the best ever... Now let's see how they do on the assessment!

What To Learn

2010-03-30T11:35:00.007-05:00

What 2 Learn is an award-winning games-based learning website. Sign up and create your own review games like I did or choose from over 25,000 learning games on the site. It is easy to embed or link your games to your blog or school webpage. Teachers can even see the results of their students efforts when they play the game online. Here is a simple game one of my students made for a KSA Review Practice Activity using released items for the assessment. I plan on attaching these games to my on-line homework calendar.
Play this game on the what2learn site

Math in Nature

2010-03-24T20:47:00.001-05:00

@TeachScience had this YouTube video on Math in Nature on their site. I love to tell my students that math is in everything that we do... Where has the month of March gone?

Face the Expert Review

2010-03-02T15:53:00.001-06:00

I got the idea for this review activity from Kate Nowak, in her blog, f(t). I think she called it "Speed Dating", so I changed the name but not much else so my middle schoolers could handle it. The review activity was such a success I thought that I would share it in my blog just in case people coming to my blog might not have seen Kate's blog. If you get a chance- take a look at f(t). I think Kate's blog is one of the best. Make out a series of notecards ahead of time with a math problem on the front, and the answer for the problem on the back. You should have enough for each student to have a card. The only other thing you need to do is set up your classroom with a row of desks facing another row of desks to create a section. (I have an odd shaped room, so I made 3 sections with 5 students sitting directly across from another 5 students to complete a section.) Give each student a card. They should answer the card on a separate sheet of paper and then check their answer with the correct answer on the back of the card. If they need help, they can ask for it from me, or students can look up how to solve the problem in their notes. Basically, they need to become the "expert" for their card, and be able to explain how to solve it to another student. Once this first step of the game is complete, the fun begins for the students, and you the teacher can watch! Students sitting across from each other will solve each other's math card. If they need help the "expert" student helps out. After a few minutes, I call for half of students in the section to move. To do this in an organized fashion, half of the section stays put (i.e. the kids facing the door), and the other half of the student section moves over one desk (i.e. the students facing the window). You can have one section of students move to another section in order to allow students to move completely around the room and gets lots of questions reviewed. Students take their question with them that they are the expert on. The whole process repeats with each other solving the other student's card. At the end of the class period, the students will be an expert on their review question as well as a few others. Students should also have gotten lots of practice on other review questions with help from the "expert" sitting across from them. My students actually came up with the name...I called it "Ask the Expert"...and they suggested "Face Off"...and then they blended the two together. Whatever you decide to call it, try it out. Not much work for the teacher, but big rewards for the students with practice and fun.

Pi Day- March 14

2010-02-26T11:49:00.003-06:00

This video is a clip of a young man who holds the record for reciting 22,514 digits of Pi visiting with David Letterman. He is an autistic savant, and he discussed with David Letterman how it took 5 hours and 9 minutes to recite all of the digits. He really does an amazing job on the interview, and while he does not recite digits of pi, he gave interesting information on how his brain works different from most others. High school students might find it pretty fascinating.
At my school we hold Pi Day Contests where students sign up to recite as many digits of pi as they can. We've had students recite over 150 digits! The winner wins a real pie, and the runners up earn a "Little Debbie" pie. We sing Pi songs, and we write "Pi-ku" poetry. Other Pi 3.14 Poems are made with the first line consisting of 3 words, a second line with one word, and the final line made up of 4 words, all describing pi. Teach Pi , and The Joy of Pi have lots of ideas to use in your classroom as well....and we can't forget Pi Diddy! (see youtube below)

Math Whammy Review

2010-02-22T14:48:00.000-06:00

Math Whammy is a review game created my Heather Hart. She presented it at a NCTM conference some years ago, and it has been a favorite of mine ever since. All you need is a Whammy Game Board, and a set of dice labeled 1-6, and A thru F. You will also need lots of junk to use for prizes when you play. You will notice on the game board that the game calls for prizes of pencils, pens, papers, stickers, candy, etc. I just use the old pencils and pens, left behind in my classroom...paper that I want to recycle...real pennies....candy or gum...paper clips...old school pictures of myself...and any fun things I pick up at conferences as fun prizes. Divide your class up into teams made up of 3-4 students each. I put review problems on the screen and students work together in their group to solve. All students are to work out the problem and agree on an answer before one of the team members comes to my desk. They take turns doing this. If correct, the students roll the dice for prizes. Prizes are saved until the end of class in case a team has to return a prize. If their answer is wrong, they have to give one of their prizes back- and they get to choose which one to give back. The fun thing about this game is that if a person lands on Whammy, the team has to give all of the prizes back that their team has accumulated throughout the class. There are lots of "Whammys" on the board, so there is lots of risk involved. When they land on Prize, they get to select any prize that I have put out. Lots of fun for everyone- and a great chance to review for tests.

March Madness Review

2010-02-20T08:09:00.000-06:00

I have been in a funk lately. Too much snow...too many overcast days...too much stress over how my students will do on the state assessment test this year. I think only teachers that are responsible for teaching a class that is tested every year knows what I mean about the pressure you feel about this time of the school year. All this snow is just making it worse! I have several strategies that I use to help my students prepare for the state assessments. Starting in January, we review one tested indicator for about the first 5 minutes or so of class everyday before moving on to our regular math lesson. Students keep notes and samples of these reviews in a foldable that they can use as a study guide to review on their own when possible. It usually takes me right up to the beginning of March to cover all of the tested indicators in this fashion. I usually get pretty serious about review after Spring Break. This is when I will take one day out of the week for some type of review activity. "March Madness Review" is one of my favorites. Students have to do all the work, they get to move a little, and they have lots of fun reviewing. I get around 10-15 released questions from the state and make copies of these on separate sheets of paper for the game. Pass out just one question to start off. When students have solved their problem, they come up to me to check it. If they have missed it, I give them suggestions and they go back to correct their work. If the student gets the answer correct, they get to wad up their paper into a basketball and toss it into the trash can. I have a 1-point, 2-point, and 3-point mark for students to stand at. They keep track of their scores. After tossing, students pick up another review problem and continue on until the end of class. The "goal" of course is to have a classroom of "champions". I just want the assessment to be over and done with...but this game makes me smile everytime!

Football Sports Science Video

2010-02-07T10:27:00.002-06:00

I found this video in the Free Technology for Teachers blog. It showcases the accuracy of the Saints quarterback Drew Brees. The video compares his accuracy to the accuracy of Olympic archers. Byrne says in his blog that the information given on the archery aspect of the video is misleading, but I still like how the video demonstrates the use of math in the art of passing a football...something that would definitely grab the attention of my middle school students. This could be used when discussing parabolas, and a variety of other topics covered in the math classroom.

Systems of Equations Using the Comics

2010-01-26T16:49:00.002-06:00

Foxtrot, by Bill Amend, is one of my favorite comic strips to check on Sunday mornings because he will often times include math situations that involve middle school and high school age kids, and his humor appeals to my students. Here is a copy of one of his comics that I used in my algebra class today when we were talking about solving systems of equations. Students were to prove the solution that the character Paige in the cartoon came up with by solving it with graphing, substitution, or elimination. It was fun to discuss in class how people often think they are not good at math, when in reality they are good at math. It's all about your individual learning style and learning how to use what you're good at.

Parabola Project using "Minty Catapults"

2010-01-26T11:19:00.001-06:00

Pocket Sized Minty Catapult - More DIY How To Projects
Here is a fairly simple and fun project when working with parabolas and quadratic equations in your algebra calss. I have made catapults before, but plan on trying this one out this year just to try something new. I found this at a great site called Instructables. The site actually has lots of ideas for all sorts of DIY projects in school and at home as well. You might want to check it out.

What is Your Sentence?

2010-01-16T08:41:00.003-06:00

I came upon this video today and I immediately wanted to add it to my blog. So often as a teacher, I find myself pulled in several directions. There never seems to be enough hours in the day for all that I want to accomplish. At this time of the year when setting goals, this video can be used to help you find your focus by asking just two questions. Watch it and share it with your students too if you like.

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

What is my sentence? I want to make a difference in students' lives by creating a love of learning in my classroom. What is your sentence?

Brightstorm

2010-01-10T12:23:00.002-06:00

Brightstorm is a free site full of math videos that I found out about on Free Technology for Teachers. It is a great place to find videos covering most any topic in your math class. I plan to use these as review lessons that I attach on to my district on-line homework calendar for those students who might have been absent or for those students who might not have understood the lesson I taught in class. I checked out several videos and was really impressed with the amount of topics available as well as the instruction. I think students would benefit from this site as well as make things easier for myself especially at this time of year when students miss school because of illness.

Snap Game for Factoring Trinomials

2010-01-05T20:38:00.001-06:00

This game of Snap is one that your students can play on the computer to practice factoring trinomials. One card displaying a quadratic equation is shown, and the other pile of cards is made up of factors of quadratic equations. Cards from this pile are flipped over. You "snap" when the factors from a card in this pile match up to the quadratic equation shown. This would be easy to make up several decks of cards for different students to play on their own for extra practice and a little fun competition.

Making Math Real

2010-01-04T21:22:00.006-06:00

This year one of my goals in my math classroom is to make stronger connections between math and the real world for my students. The Futures Channel is a site that my principal shared with me about 4 or 5 years ago, and it is perfect for this task. The site is a collection of videos that connect math and science to careers in the real world...and they are really interesting for students! I used it a lot with my students when I first learned about the site, and would even link some of their videos to my homework calendar for my students to watch at home. The site makes it easy to find topics that go along with the math instruction in your classroom. With all the new technology that has come out in the last year or two, I have gotten away from incorporating these videos in my math lessons. I am going to try this year to get at least one in every week and work harder at making connections to math and the real world with my students. I think it is important for students to see that math is a necessary tool for just about any career that they might be interested in and that math can be fun too! The cell phones were a big item on many of my students' Christmas lists this year. This video is a good example of how they tie math in to cell phone design.

Simple Trick for Factoring any Trinomial ax^2 + bx + c = 0

2009-12-26T12:52:00.004-06:00

Most students find it easy to factor trinomials when the leading coefficient is 1, but a whole other story when the leading coefficient is another number. I learned this trick at a math conference I went to in Oklahoma City a couple of years ago. By following the steps mentioned, it is easy to change any trinomial into a trinomial that has 1 as it's leading coefficient, making the rest of the process fairly easy for most students.

How to factor any trinomial as a trinomial with a leading coefficient of 1.

1) Multiply a * c to get the new "c" value and give "a", a value of 1. i.e. 2x^2 + 7x + 6 = 0. Multiply 2 * 6 = 12. Put in 12 for "c" and 1 for "a".
                       Your new trinomial is; x^2 + 7x + 12 = 0

2) Factor with leading coefficient having a value of 1 and solve for x. (factors for c that add up to equal b)
                              i.e. (x + 3) (x + 4) = 0, x = { -3, -4}

3) Divide solutions by the original leading coefficient ( In this example the original value for "a" was 2). You’re done!
                               i.e.   x = {-3/2, -2} (2x +3) (x + 2)

Factoring Trinomials using Tic-Tac-Toe Method

2009-12-26T12:39:00.004-06:00

Factoring Trinomials can be difficult for middle school students...lots of guess and check. Many times they will give up. I have found that using a tic-tac-toe graphic organizer chart helps students to select their factors for the trinomial and makes factoring a breeze. I have never seen this method in any math textbook, so I am attaching my factor direction worksheet that I give to my students. The tic-tac-toe organizer has made teaching middle school students to factor trinomials easy for me, and much less painful for them as well. Let me know if you have questions about how to factor using this method.

Measures of Central Tendency

2009-12-20T12:30:00.001-06:00

It is easy for many middle school students to get Mean, Median, and Mode mixed up. Since it is a tested indicator for 8th graders in Kansas, my teaching partner and I wanted to come up with something that kids would remember come testing time. She came up with these three little cheers and I love them as do our students. They are short and easy to remember. Here you go-

Mean, Median, and Mode

Mean (Say in really mean voice and face throughout!)
Add all the numbers (Have hand go from waist to neck in increments.)
And Divide! (Have same hand slice across the neck!)

Median …Middle
Order numbers least to greatest (motion hand left to right)
Find the middle. (move both hands to middle and clap)

When I say mode you say Most
Mode….Most
Mode….Most!
Mode is the number that appears most often
Mode…Most often
Mode…Most often!

Students love it when I get really "mean" with them...the meaner the better! I have found that they remember to put their numbers in order to find the median on a regular basis now...a step that many students left out previously. Believe me, they will remember the differences between the measures of central tendency for tests with these cheers running through their heads.

Station-to-Station Math Review

2009-12-17T20:00:00.001-06:00

This is a super review activity for the end of a chapter or for the end of the semester. It is also a great activity to leave for a sub because it keeps your class busy and out of trouble. I have tried this station review numerous times and have shared this activity with the other math teachers at my school. We are always amazed at how well the students work together, how much they get done during class, and how quiet and well behaved the students are while moving from station to station. Just a little bit of preparation ahead of time by the teacher and you will be set. I generally make around 6-7 folders, with enough problems inside to keep students busy for about 5-7 minutes on each folder. Included in each folder should be the answers from the previous station. (i.e. Station 2 will have station 1 answers, Station 3 will have station 2 answers, etc.-Station 1 will have the last stations' answers.) Number the folders and place them around the room. Assign students to groups of 3-4 depending on how many folders you have made for the activity, and assign each group to start at a certain station. After about 5 or so minutes have the student groups move to the next station. When they begin work at the next station, students should correct their work from the station they just completed before they start the work at their new station. This way, students can check their work and see those areas they might need to review that night before the test . By the end of the class period, students will have had a good review of the material and had quite a bit of practice for the upcoming test. They will also have a pretty good idea of how well they know the material because they will have already checked their work as they move from station to station. Having the answers inside the folder at the next station keeps students honest and helps encourage them to work with their partners or group to help them solve the problem instead of just looking up the answer. By the end of class, both the student and the teacher will know what areas they might need to review or study for the test. Try it- I am positive that you will like it. I have had subs thank me for leaving this activity...and my students like it too!

Improper Fractions

2009-12-14T20:43:00.001-06:00

My block class of Pre-Algebra students bombed their fraction test last week. We have worked so hard on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of fractions for over 2 weeks now. Needless to say I was pretty depressed about it. One of the things that my students consistently failed to do on their test was to change their improper fractions into mixed numbers. Today I asked one of the smallest students in the class to come to the front of the room. I pulled a chair up next to him and proceeded to climb up on the chair. I began to throw one leg over the student's shoulder and while their mouths were hanging open I asked what would happen if I expected this poor student to support my weight- would this student be able to support me? Wouldn't that be improper of me to expect him to do this? I think the light came on in several of their brains...at least for today. I am hoping that they will do well on their final fraction test this Friday!

Tarsia

2009-12-12T08:12:00.003-06:00

Tarsia is a great tool for vocabulary development, problem-solving, etc. Basically, it is a program in which the teacher creates a puzzle that the student cuts up and matches the answers to the questions. It is easy to check for the teacher because when students match up the question with the correct answer, the puzzle will make a new overall shape such as an octogon, triangle, or some other unusual shape. Just another great way to practice vocabulary or review for a test that helps bring variety into the classroom. I just made one for finding the slope between two points. Students were given sets of two ordered pairs, and they had to match up the correct slope for the ordered pairs. Tarsia makes this an effortless job for the teacher. You do have to download the program on to your computer, but it is free.

Graphing Linear Equations

2009-12-12T07:30:00.002-06:00

This past week I covered for another math teacher at my school. I introduced myself to the class and before I could start the lesson one of the students said, "Oh you are the singing math teacher!". Well, I am not the only one. Both my partner and I sing a lot and have found the benefits for our students in the classroom. Not only are students remembering the information better, but they seem to enjoy class just a bit more. I have heard humming in my class when students are working on their homework- (I love that!), and I have had several former students email me asking me to send my songs to them or their teacher. Here is a graphing song that I picked up at a conference that my students love. They love to keep the beat by clapping on their desks.

We Will Graph You

(We Will Rock You)
Buddy you’re tryin’ to draw the line
For the m and the b that we’re assigned:
Ain’t hard you see, put your pencil on the b,
One more point will guarantee that …

We will, we will, graph you!
We will, we will, graph you!

So now you know the y-intercept;
Here’s how we find the rest of it:
Up with rise, across for run,
Plot another point and when your done sing…
We have, we have graphed you!
We have, we have graphed you!

Of course I have to include the Slope-Intercept song sung to YMCA. My students love to stand to sing this one and we motion to the Y is M X plus B. Girls start out singing to the guys, and then the guys sing to the girls. We all join in for the motions and the chorus.

Slope-Intercept Song
(YMCA)
Young man, are you ready to learn?

I said, young man, you’ll sing or you’ll burn
I said, young man, now it’s your turn.
Let’s do the Slope-Intercept form!

Young girl, we need to graph a straight line.
Young girl, we will have a great time.
I said young girl, there’s no reason to whine.
There’s no reason to be unhappy!

It’s fun to graph
Y= MX + B,
Y = MX + B,
The bigger m is, the steeper the line,
You’ll learn about it ev-er-y time.

2nd Chorus:

Slope is rise over run,
It’s just way too much fun.
You’ll cry about it when we are done!

The Real Number System

2009-12-10T20:55:00.005-06:00

To help students remember how to identify numbers in the real number system my teaching partner and I came up with the saying, "Now What Is Real?". The "N" stands for natural, or counting numbers; 1,2,3,...No zero. "W" represents whole numbers; 0,1,2,3,...With zero. "I" stands for integers;...-1,0,1,...numbers found In the number line. "R" represents rational numbers, any number that can be written as a fraction. Rational is "fractional". We also explain how fractions can be written as decimals. Numbers that do not fall into any of the above categories are Irrational numbers such as Pi.

The above letters are placed in a triangle with the Natural Numbers at the top going in order with the Rational Numbers on the bottom. This visual tool shows for example that all natural numbers are rational, but not all rational numbers are natural.

I Have/ Who Has? Review Activities

2009-12-01T22:36:00.001-06:00

Math Wire has a nice selection of already made "I have/Who has?" cards ready to print off and use in the classroom. I have found that this is a nice way to start out class to review basic facts, math vocabulary, etc., because it takes just 5-10 minutes to complete and helps to get the class focused and ready for the day. My teaching partner came up with a great variation of this activity to use as another way to review for an upcoming test. This activity takes up the whole class period, is self-checking, and keeps students on task with little effort from the teacher. Basically, you create around twenty or so "I Have/ Who Has?" type folders with an answer on the outside of the folder, and an equation to solve inside the folder. You can get these problems from the chapter review in your math text. Folders are displayed around the room with the answers showing and the students are given a sheet of paper each with one of the answers on the top of their paper. The student will start out at the folder with the answer that is on their paper. They open up the folder and then solve the problem inside the folder and show the work on their paper. When they solve the problem, the answer to the problem should be on the outside of another folder in the room and they will move on to that folder next. If they do not see the answer on one of the folders, they will know that they must have made a mistake in their calculations and will need to go back and re-work the problem. What is so nice about this activity is that it gets students up and moving around the room, and it has them working quietly on their own and getting lots of math done at the same time. Everyone is busy and occupied trying to get all of the problems completed before the end of class. The teacher can basically sit back and help those students who might be having problems. Just make sure that when you make the folders, that your answers lead to another folder, and that the last problem to solve takes you back to the first answer you start with.

Singing in Math Class

2009-11-20T13:42:00.004-06:00

After attending a workshop a couple of years ago on using music to support learning in the classroom, I was hooked. I immediately began writing songs of my own to cover topics in the math classroom. I have found that the songs that students remember the most are those that are sung to familiar tunes such as "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". Using these types of tunes helps to keep your song short and focused on the topic as well as easy to remember for the students. Last night on the way to a KU basketball game, I heard the song "Macho Man" playing on the radio. We have been studying Powers and Exponents in class, and so I wrote this song. Students love singing and adding in motions to songs. Can't you imagine how much fun middle school students will have with this one?

Macho Math
“Macho Man"
By Christy Roitz

Refrain: Macho, Macho Math

I just want to do Macho Math

Macho, Macho Math

I just want to be Macho!

Powers with same bases that you need to multiply,

Use Power of Products Property, add exponents to get it right.

When you get those powers but you need to divide,

Just subtract exponents and you will do fine.

Negative Exponents are things math teachers hate,

Make exponents positive when you reciprocate.

The Zero Power Property fools almost everyone

Remember powers to a zero Always equals ONE!

Hey-Hey-Hey, Hey, Hey!

Refrain

I now have over twenty-one pages of songs that I have written for topics such as integer operations, properties, slope, quadratic equations, inequalities, formulas, etc. Former students often comment on how singing helped them to remember their math and made math fun. Beware...you may hear humming when students are working on homework in the classroom! Check out my Glog.

Math Poker

2009-11-17T17:35:00.001-06:00

Looking for something easy yet fun to do in math class? Math Poker is an activity that takes little to no preparation. Students love to play and it is a great use of class time! I generally use this as a review activity and get math problems from the chapter review in the textbook for the game. All the students need is a piece of paper divided into three columns. The first column is labeled "Bets". The middle column is labeled "Show me the Math". The third column is labeled "Total Earnings".

Students start the activity with $100. They must make a bet of at least $1, and can not place a bet for more money than what they have in their account. I ask students to place their bet before I place the problem up on the smartboard to view. Students must show their work in the middle column. If they get the answer correct, they double their bet and add it to their total earnings. If they miss the problem the student must subtract the bet from their previous total. If students run out of money, they come to the front of the class to earn $10. I might ask them to give me a math formula, or solve a problem to earn the money. At the end of the game, students with the most money can get a prize. The great part about this activity is that win or lose, every student gets a nice review of the material that will be on the test!

Roll That Graph

2009-11-14T08:03:00.001-06:00

Just a small amount of preparation for this fun activity is needed. Students can do this activity either alone or in groups of two. I give each student a sheet of graph paper along with several equations. Each group of students will also need a set of dice. In this example, I use a red die for the slope and a green die for the y-intercept. After studying Slope-Intercept form, I would give equations such as the following: y = ?/3x + b , or y = -5/?x - 2/?
Students roll the dice to create the problem they are to solve. Each students fills in the values for their equation and graphs them. After graphing their equations, students can compare answers and coach one another if necessary.This is a fairly easy way to check for students understanding and they have fun at the same time!

For variation, you can use 3 die for quadratic equations. You can also graph inequalities by throwing in a die that has the inequality symbols on it.

Tool for Multiplying and Dividing with Integers

2009-11-12T13:43:00.002-06:00

This is a simple visual tool to help struggling students when multiplying and dividing with integers. I have students create a tic-tac-toe board in the upper corner of their papers. On the diagonal, students put in + signs, and the rest is filled in with - signs as shown. Reading along the top line for example, is a visual tool for students to see that a positive number times a negative number equals a negative number. It works for division too. Going down from the upper left corner, you will see that a positive number divided by a negative number equals a negative number. Reading along the diagonal you will notice that a positive times a positive equals a positive. This works reading the tool backwards/upside down too! The top row backwards would indicate that a negative number times another negative number equals a positive number. Most of my students have found this simple visual strategy helpful when working with integers. I notice it on homework assignments all the time.

Teaching Slope with Stained Glass

2009-11-10T14:19:00.001-06:00

This is a simple idea and lots of fun for students. Give the class a list of linear equations to graph. This list should include any type of linear equations that you like that make a nice design. I generally give students about 10-15 lines to graph on the same piece of graph paper. Have students color in their graphs to display in the classroom. Makes a nice room decoration for the holidays...or any time of the year. The best thing about the assignment is that it is self-checking, as all students should end up with the same design- they will have just colored it in differently!

For variation, I have students then create a list of their own equations for a friend to graph and color. They love this.

Rate of Change/ Finding Slope

2009-11-08T19:05:00.002-06:00

When getting ready to introduce slope, it is fun to start out with an activity that demonstrates slope as the rate of change. The activity that I am going to share with you today is simple to do and gets the point across quite nicely. You will need beakers filled up halfway with water, centimeter cubes, graph paper and rulers. Students are introduced to an Aesop's Fable telling the story of the Raven, who during a great drought, was able to access water in a well by dropping pebbles into the well until the water rose high enough for him to reach it with his bill.
Students act out the story by dropping centimeter cubes into their beakers, and keeping track of the water level in the beaker depending on the amount of cubes dropped into it. Students can take their table of information which compares the number of cubes dropped in to the water and the water level, and graph the results on their graph paper. Students should notice a linear correlation that demonstrates rate of change. It is easy to then introduce slope (rise/run), as the rate of change following this activity. You can then tie in "real life" rate of change/slope activities such as monthly cell phone bills, etc.

Graphing Ordered Pairs/ Finding Slope

2009-11-06T11:26:00.008-06:00

Here is a fun activity for graphing ordered pairs. Students get lots of practice graphing ordered pairs and have so much fun creating different designs that they don’t realize that they are actually doing more work than they would normally have done in their math book! Students are asked to create a linear design that covers all four quadrants of the Coordinate Plane. Once students have done this, they are to list at least 20 ordered pairs from their design. Students then give this list of ordered pairs to a friend to graph. If the friend’s graph matches their original design on their graph, they are done and the design can be displayed on the board. Students’ personalities are displayed in the fun designs that they create.

This activity can easily be turned into an Algebra activity by having students find the slope between two points in their designs and labeling the slopes on their graph pictures.

Putting Fractions in Order from Least to Greatest

2009-11-05T14:06:00.004-06:00

This is an awesome idea that you won't see in any textbook for putting fractions in order from least to greatest. While teaching students to compare fractions by finding common denominators to put the fractions in order, one of my former students came up with the following discovery. His creative idea blew me away, and I have enjoyed sharing his method for ordering fractions with classes ever since!
Let's say that you are given some fractions such as 7/1, 2/3, 1/5, -1/2, 3/8, and you are asked to put them in order. My former student discovered that if you graphed the fractions on a coordinate grid with the numerator as the "x" value and the denominator as the "y" value, you would automatically get fractions into the correct order! Draw a line from the origin to the ordered pair (fraction), start reading your graph from the left to the right, and you have your fractions in the correct order from least to greatest: -1/2, 1/5, 3/8, 2/3, 7/1!
Thanks Aaron for sharing your wonderful ideas. Students like you make teaching fun and rewarding!

Finding the GCF and LCM

2009-11-04T21:22:00.003-06:00

After students have mastered Prime Factorization, it is nice to move into finding the Greatest Common Factors and Least Common Multiples of numbers. I like to do this using a Venn Diagram. The Venn Diagram is a nice way to organize all of the information in a really easy to understand way for students. Let's say that you are trying to find the GCF and LCM of the numbers 24 and 52. Use the Composite/Prime line to find the Prime Factorization of each number as described in yesterday's blog. 24 = 2^3 * 3, and 52 = 2^2 * 13. Put the prime factors that 24 and 52 have in common into the intersection portion of the Venn Diagram, and fill in the remaining numbers in the rest of the circle for each number.

The middle portion of the Venn Diagram contains the GCF....(for numbers 24 and 52, that would be 2^2 or 4), and the remaining numbers along with the GCF multiplied together equals the LCM...(for 24 and 52 that would be 2 * 3 * 13 * 4 = 282). Easy to see and do for most students!

Prime Factorization

2009-11-03T20:01:00.011-06:00

Today in Pre-Algebra we studied Prime Factorization. I use a method that I picked up from another teacher at the Kauffman Foundation a couple of years ago. It is so much better than using factor trees! When giving students a choice between factor trees or this method, students always select the method I am going to share with you here. This method is so awesome it should be used in all math books! It is great for struggling learners...but even my advanced math students prefer it. I call it Prime Factorization using the Composite/Prime Line. I like the fact that it uses the vocabulary words composite and prime...two words that they need to know for state assessments! Here is how it works...

Let's say you have the # 48. You start by drawing a vertical line down your paper. Composite numbers go on the left side of the line, and prime numbers go on the right side. 48 is a composite number so it goes on the left side. Since it is an even number, students know that the prime number 2 will go into it. Place the number 2 (a prime number) on the right side of the vertical line- then take 2 into 48- it goes into 48, 24 times. Twenty-four is a composite number, so it will be on the left side of the composite/prime line. Keep going until you have taken the number down to only it's prime factors.

The Prime Factorization for 48= 2^4 * 3. Is this cool or what? No longer do my students loose one of the prime factors in the branches of the factor tree!

Getting Started

2009-11-03T18:18:00.005-06:00

This is my very first attempt at "blogging", so writing about math in this venue is all quite new to me. I just returned from a technology conference in Denver last week and have decided to jump into the whole Web 2.0 Learning with both feet. To be honest, I am really excited about it all. I feel that the collaboration that is involved in the whole process can only make me a better teacher and my students better for it!

Today in some of my spare time I revisited a site that I shared with another teacher at the elementary level. It is a really good one! Math Wire is a site that is created by teachers for teachers...lots of creative ideas and all related to the math standards. You will actually be able to spend quite a bit of time exploring this site. While it is geared more for elementary students, I have found several activities that I can use with my 8th graders with just a little bit of tweeking. Try it out and let me know what you think!