Election Day Freebies!

It is almost the time...Election Day!  Our kiddos are getting so excited about "voting" tomorrow.  We have set-up our electronic polling stations and have our stickers printed.  We are officially...ready to roll!

We made our ballot using Google Forms 

and augmented these adorable TpT "I Voted" stickers with Aurasma. (Download the Aurasma app and follow "AugmentingSTEM" to see the flag come to life!)

Please feel free to copy any and all!  Enjoy!

Math on the Move (Solving for a Determined Variable)

For the past 8 or 9 years, I have spent my time after hours helping students prepare the math section of the ACT.  Each year I analyze the released tests and update my prep workbook to reflect questions most frequently asked.  I LoVe doing this!  To me, working math problems and seeing trends is so much fun, but it dawned on me that not everyone feels the same:) After talking with a non-math Discovery Educator friend who was hired to teach a prep class with no resource materials, I realized that there is a definite need for ready-to-go lessons.  So, I am in the process of developing all of my tutoring materials into content that can be used during the school day in a traditional classroom.  Since my natural inclination as an educator is to get students up and out of their desks while working, I thought that an ACT Prep Class should be no exception.  Here is a quick 5 question check for solving for a determined variable (Interactive ClassFlow Version) involving combining like terms and distributing...basic stuff for sure, but perfect for older students that may have forgotten over time.  Print out the handouts and place them around the classroom. Students will complete a gallery walk and solve each problem on notebook paper.  After all of the questions are finished, students may check their answers with the key provided.  Enjoy!

It's 6th Grade Day!!!

The 6th grade students came to visit today and I am thrilled to say that it went wonderfully!  I shared my plans for the day this past weekend and added a ready made interest inventory and photo props from the Party Blog.  The Kagan structures (my first time to try these) were awesome.  I highly recommend Kagan P.  If you can't get to training this summer, at least checkout their Cooperative Learning book.  There are tons of ready to roll ideas to make teaching and learning engaging!  The time with our perspective students flew by.  We did not get to all of the activities planned nor did we get to see all of the places students listed on their personalized Campus Tour sheets (which leaves me with ready made ideas for New Student Orientation...yay!)
We took pictures of all of the fun and shared them with parents as a slide show made with Kioza.  It was my first time to use the free, online tool, but it was quick and easy to maneuver.  I was able to add text, edit transitions, and add music to my project.  There were plenty of templates to help get me started and I think the end product turned out great.  I'll post more about this tool later, but until then...enjoy the slide show:)

 

Planning for 6th Grade Day

I am getting to plan for 6th Grade Day visitation this week!  I am so excited (but also a little nervous...there are so many details!!!!).  It is our opportunity to meet and greet potential students, so, of course, I want it to go off without a hitch.  I have worked on the agenda, emailed the parents of the students who are visiting, prepped our student leaders, and let the cafeteria manager know that we will have extra kiddos on campus for lunch.

Now, I am working on the details: filling in what we will do during small group time, making name tags, and props for the photo booth.

I am planning my small group details based upon ideas gleaned from a Kagan Cooperative Learning Workshop I attended last week.  The workshop was phenomenal and I found myself making notes of ideas to use throughout the day.  For an ice breaker, I am using Think-Write-RoundRobin based loosely on a personality test in The Creative Brain by Ned Herrmann.  In this low stress activity, students will think about a shape with which they identify and write down a brief explanation of why they picked the figure.  They will share their written answers with the other 4 members in the group. (When we played at the workshop, everyone in my group (except for me) was a triangle!)

There are no wrong answers and each shape is associated with positive attributes.  So, what does each one say about a person's personality?

To help energize the group and get people laughing, we are using Kagan's "Everyone's It!" game from the book Silly Sports & Goofy Games.  Over the last month, I bought 3 no props - fun games type books to get ideas for this visit.  Kagan's book was by far the best!

To play: 1. Players spread out in a defined playing field.  2. The leader calls, "Everyone's It!"  If the participant is tagged, they must freeze in whatever position they are in until the leader yells, "Everyone's It!" again.  We played it in the workshop, using our "turtle feet" to move around the room.  Even in slow-mo, we were laughing so hard that we were crying.

After hearing about all the school has to offer, the visiting 6th grade students will have the chance to plan their own Campus Tour using an All-Write-RoundRobin.  Students will taking turns identifying places on campus that they would like to see.  As each student shares their response, all members of the team write each location on their own paper.  After time is called students are selected at random to share a location that their team listed.  Other teams add the response (if they don't already have it) to their Campus Tour Sheet. I hope that this creates a more interesting tour for each student my appealing to personal interests.  If they want to see the art room or the field house, I want them to see it - after all, 6th Grade Day is all about our visitors!  What am I missing?  I know that I still need to find or make props for the photo booth, but is there anything else?  Please share links and ideas!

Free Blog Post Planner

Blogging has been one of the best things that I have done as an educator to get organized, create an electronic portfolio of sorts, and improve professionally. When I first started teaching, I tried to collect all of my lesson plans, ancillary materials, and tests into a binder that would become too full too quickly.  So, I moved to floppy discs and felt a bit better about being able to access my lesson materials quickly, but realized that unless my file names were explicit (like Day 1, Day 2, etc.), I would forget what I did from year to year only to find a great activity that I had filed after the lesson was complete.  Once I started blogging and utilizing online storage, I felt like I was able to gain momentum.  Not only was I documenting activities with photos and electronic files by date utilized, but I was also reflecting on what worked and what needed tweaking to make the lesson even better. Over the years, I connected with other educators in the blog-o-sphere through participation in linky parties and educator challenges allowing me to collaborate with teachers around the globe.  This connection helped me grow.

For me, blogging has obvious benefits and when I am not blogging, I miss it.  I have found that when I post in themed categories (#Made4Math, WebtoolWednesday, #MyFavFirday, etc.), I tend to be more consistent in posting. Also, I know that I am more likely to post when I schedule it on my calendar. So, to help stay focused, I created a Blog Post Planner.  It is my first attempt at maintaining a separate calendar for blogging.  The planner will provide a place for me record ideas for future posts and plan by category.  Take it. Use it. Provide feedback. What helps you stay on track with writing your blog?

Analog Twitter Wall

For the last 7 years, I have served as both assistant principal and dual enrollment math teacher.  I have loved doing both, though at times I have wondered how effective I was in either position when each seemed to vie for my time and energy.   About 6 months ago, my principal started advertising for my math position, not because I wanted to hang up my teaching hat forever, but because he wanted me to do a few different tasks during the upcoming school year.  So far, a replacement has not materialized and with only 23 days to go until a final decision must be made, it looks like it might be me again.  So after clearing my walls of anything blue or polka dotted a little over a month ago, I am facing the real possibility that I may be moving my stuff out of son #1's room and back to A-5.  Which leaves me wondering what will I change when I go back?
     I normally start the school year with "About Me in 140 Characters" using Wiffitti, because I have been teaching students both in a face 2 face setting and via video conferencing.  I created the assignment to introduce the kiddos who were sharing the same virtual classroom, but if I go back into the classroom, I know that the principal has me only teaching in a face 2 face environment. Since I want to stay with the assignment, but my situation will be different, I thought I might try an analog wall after being inspired by Two Guys and Some iPads. So, for this week's #Made4Math post, I picked up a pack of sentence strips at Dollar Tree and made the graphics I would need to create my analog Twitter space.

Of course, I had to start with the adorable blue bird which set the color scheme for the rest of the graphics

and then I made the little "t" to glue to the ends of the laminated sentence strips.

The tag line for the space is, "What's on your mind today?" (well, besides the obvious...math!!!)

I will definitely use it for the first assignment, "About Me in 140 Characters", but I am thinking about leaving it up for a few weeks to see what the students will do with it - all the while modeling appropriate tweets:) I/m feeling accomplished...it is the beginning of July and the first bulletin board is done!  Oops!  Almost forgot...here is the publisher file for customizing.

Pinterest-ing Ways to Review

With the 1st test of the school year soon approaching, I am on the look out for new ways to review previously covered material.  Between new blogging friends sharing via #Made4Math, #MyFavFriday, and Pinterest, I have a wealth of ideas to choose from!  On our staff's analog Pinterest board, here is what we are pinning this week:

@Nutterbutter Smith's: Review Games for Students by Students

@Mathtastrophe's: Zap!

Uncommon Teacher to the Core's: Beach Ball Review

@PamJWilson's: Flip 4 Answers

Click for the analog pins' file ready for printing and pinning onto your staff's PD board.

Made 4 Math: Scratch Off Cards

Last week, inspired by someone's Scratch Off cards, I decided to try some of my own.  (Sorry, I scanned all of the posts listed, but couldn't find the source. Please let me know if this was inspired by YOU so that I can link to your blog.)  I had my student workers create an invitation for an upcoming Professional Development using the scratch off idea to make the announcement for PD a bit more interactive.  My student workers, high school juniors and seniors, got so excited about what they had created that they were literally showing everyone who would look.  By the time we put them in the teachers' boxes, we could hardly contain ourselves!

This week's #Made4Math project will hopefully capture the enthusiasm shared by the three workers and re-create it in the classroom.  I have created 4 sets of cards to review content covered over the past few days (exponents and radicals cards).  Each card has 4 questions (actually the same problem types they will see on an upcoming test).  The questions target the same focus skills but actual numbers vary slightly on each card.  I have outlined the 4 questions with a colored box to distinguish between card sets.  I will divide students into 4 groups by color: blue, green, red, yellow.  

The students will work each of the 4 questions in their notebook and compare answers within the group.  When the group settles on the correct answers, they will transfer all work to the question cards. They will then cover their work with clear packing tape and paint the tape with the scratch off solution: 2 parts paint and 1 part dish soap. We will let the paint dry and re-use the cards later to review again for the test.  This time students will trade cards with others from different color groups.  They will work each others' cards and then scratch to see if they are correct.  If answers are incorrect, students will be able to see each problem worked correctly and in detail so that they can discover what went wrong.  I know, I could review the 4 questions in a more traditional way, but I think the scratch off element (which takes all of 2 minutes to complete) will add a delightful twist :)

Use gray paint to cover cards quickly. Top with silver to add sparkle.