Math

Awesome Explanation

AdminLeave a comment

I LOVE math! I really do. To me it makes so much sense. So for years I have asked my students to explain how they arrived at a certain answer in math. I know, totally doing Common Core before my time. Anyway, I was impressed by the use of academic language and the ease in which this student was able to explain her reasoning. What was more impressive, is that she wrote down her explanation before verbalizing it.

Here is Brooke telling me why there are more zeros in the product of 500 x 8 than 400 x 8

And to add to the awesomeness that is Brooke, she is our class’ first Aurasma Aura! If you’re not familiar with Augmented Reality (AR) or Aurasma, check them out! We took a photo of her & then overlayed the video. So parents & staff can subscribe to our channel and view our Auras, which will soon be all over the school!

To subscribe:

Pretty easy, and a great way to show off student work!

Inspiration

AdminLeave a comment

I love it when I am in the middle of a lesson and I get a ‘brainstorm’. My students are so used to it at this point in the year. Today was another ‘brainstorm’ kind of day. We were just beginning a lesson on Geometry. Today was the review of 3-D shapes — sphere, cone, rectangular prism, pyramid, cube, and cylinder. So there I am ‘blah, blah, blahing’ away, when it hits me… Have the kids make ’em… Out of pipe cleaners and paper and whatever else! Brilliant! And of course I stop the lesson to write it down. Wouldn’t want to forget my own brillance!

When I am finally finished, sounding much like Charlie Brown’s teacher I’m sure, I share my idea with the students. Together — because most of my great ideas are just a base, and not fully formed — we worked out the specifics. So in the end, groups worked together on how to make the shape assigned, find out how many vertices, edges, and faces AND then make a short video. They did a great job. Here is a sample video.

And tomorrow I will try that whole flip the classroom thing again. Hope it goes better than last time.