22 Feb 2016
Week 24 – 2 Step Equations Project

Week 24 – 2 Step Equations Project

This week in Pre-Algebra, I introduced a two-step equations project to my students.  Just to give a little context, last year I did this, I had students create an equation for every letter of the alphabet where a=1, b=2, c=3, etc.  It was a bear to grade and stressed students out.  You can see it HERE but I recommend against using it unless you plan on doing some big changes to it.  This year, I decided to just let them create 6 two-step equations. THE PROJECT I gave them instructions on how each problem was to be formed.  For example, the…
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12 Feb 2016
Week 23 – Math Magic To Solve 2-Step Equations

Week 23 – Math Magic To Solve 2-Step Equations

This week I've been really been getting a bit of filming done.  Below you'll find a short film I did for my Pre-Algebra classes on a lesson for 2-Step Equations.  I found the lesson on Julie Reulbach's blog, who modified her lesson from Sadie Estrella's idea.  Check both of those links for some in-depth write-ups. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiWvrU81Czo Here is THE SLIDE SHOW I used to guide our game and discussion.  Also, here are the DISCUSSION PROBLEMS they worked on after our lesson. I got most of my ideas for the classroom economy from MYCLASSROOMECONOMY.ORG. They have everything you need to get started.…
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16 Dec 2015
Week 16 (B) – A Day In The Life of a Robotics Teacher

Week 16 (B) – A Day In The Life of a Robotics Teacher

I took my 'day in the life' idea and turned into two videos.  I completed the first one a few days ago.  I've now completed the second one, which was filmed Wednesday, December 9th.  In this episode: Math blogging Battling robots White Elephant Gifts Enjoy :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTNefeqfzSE
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13 Dec 2015
Week 16 (A) – An Atypical Tuesday In The Life of A Teacher / Filmmaker

Week 16 (A) – An Atypical Tuesday In The Life of A Teacher / Filmmaker

I took my 'day in the life' idea and turned into two videos.  This is the first one.  It was all filmed last Tuesday, Dec 8th, 2015.  The holiday video that I refer to in this video will be up very soon! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpUe7LsmqeQ A few things noted in the video: The Waze App (using real-time traffic into to find quickest route) A reflection on discussion based math learning A reflection on blogging in the math classroom A guide to developing mission statements with students: Casey Neistat YouTube channel GibsonEdu Media Voiceover Information
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05 Dec 2015
Week 15 – Hooked Them On A Tuesday, Lost Them On A Thursday

Week 15 – Hooked Them On A Tuesday, Lost Them On A Thursday

It was our first week back from Thanksgiving break.  After this week, we have one more week of class left and a week of mid-terms.  Had some pretty significant high points this week as well as some points of pretty stark disengagement on the students parts, which was partially my fault.   (more…)
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22 Nov 2015
Week 13 – Wishing You Had Planned Differently

Week 13 – Wishing You Had Planned Differently

It's the last day before Thanksgiving Break.  My school gives us the entire week off which is excellent.  I thought about doing a vlog for a 'day in the life' this week but had some testing going on and figured that wouldn't be a very excited day in the life.  A few points of interest for the week are my curriculum choices for my 6th grade math, Jeopardy test review, and post-test math riddles. 6TH GRADE MATH So coming from public school, I was used to sort of being told what to teach and when to teach it.  My previous…
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24 Oct 2015
Week 9 – Student Led Conferences, Ben Franklin, and KenKens

Week 9 – Student Led Conferences, Ben Franklin, and KenKens

Week 9 was a short academic week. At Khabele, we have student-led conferences once in the Fall and once in the spring.  We take two days off of academic classes to create space and time to have these conferences.  This week, I've also started some Ben Franklin-style daily reflections and introduced my students to KenKen math puzzles. STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES A student led conference is quite a bit different from the more traditional parent-teacher conference.  Students prepare to lead a conference with their parents and their advisor for 30-45 minutes.  The philosophy is that it helps the student take more ownership…
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11 Oct 2015
Week 7 – $600 Bouncy Balls, Building Robots, and Decimal Division

Week 7 – $600 Bouncy Balls, Building Robots, and Decimal Division

It's been a fairly good lucky number week 7.  Had our first auction and started to build robots.  Content has been going well for the most part, with exception to some pretty dull 6th grade math lessons. AUCTION We had our first auction in our classroom economy. Each class has an auctioneer who goes around to businesses to fundraise items for the auction.  Didn't have a ton of amazing items on this first one but last year I had students who got the entire Hunger Games hardback trilogy donated, iTunes gift cards, $50 toy robots, and a few dining gift cards.…
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