I am so excited for the new school year! We are in person and I WANT to see my kids! Yesterday afternoon, though, as I was getting everything in my classroom "just right", I was overwhelmed with grief. Grief for the new policies that cause a more rigid atmosphere, grief for school experiences that will not be happening this year, grief for the sense of anxiety that new COVID policies my cause in these kiddos. Grace and Mercy will be my theme for this year. I will love these kids from 6 feet away or with a mask covering my smile. It is emotional for me, and I have adult coping skills. These kids need Grace and Mercy, now more than ever.
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I've been using Edpuzzle lately and love it. If you aren't familiar, it is a video delivery platform for classrooms. When delivering videos to students through Edpuzzle, students cannot skip or speed up the video and you can embed questions or notes in the video. I do small groups in my Middle School Math classes and I love to have students watch videos while I am with groups. I have had the problem of students letting the videos run but not pay attention, play them quickly, or simply not watch them at all. Now, I can see who watched them and what their score was on the questions. It has made a huge difference! If you are interested, use my referal code and we can both get extra storage space: https://edpuzzle.com/signup/teacher?rc=v3jhoo
As the hussle and bussle in the halls gets increasingly real, I have finished decorating my room and I love it! I am really trying to focus on a growth mindset this year and accepting that we all make mistakes. I am also trying to help students understand math in a more meaningful way. This year, I really wanted my decorations to be meaningful. I got some great ideas from this blog. I also got a great printable bulletin board that focuses on finding the mistakes in math. I usually go for the free stuff, but this was inexpensive and has a lot in it. I have used my word wall for a few years now and love it! It is visual, colorful, and CCS aligned. Again, I did pay for it, but I've gotten a lot of use out of it. I have displayed it in different ways, but this year I decided to put the words into categories so the students can see how they go together. I was trying to figure out which wall to put it on and it was my husband's amazing idea to put them around the top of the wall. It is a great use of wasted space. I am also trying something new this year with the daily supplies that we use for our Interactive Notebooks. In years past, I have had a basket on each table. This year, I have a supply box for each student, they are numbered so they will have the same number for their Chromebooks, supplies, and calculators. I am so excited to get started with the new year!
This week, I have embarked on navigating the confusing language of education. There are three words that are sometimes confusing and can cause even the brightest of scholars to get confused. These words are pedagogy, andragogy, and heutagogy. You may be scratching your head at this point, as was I but it is not to tricky to understand. Simply put, "pedagogy" refers to teaching a child (Taylor, 2009), "andragogy" refers to teaching an adult (Taylor, 2009), and heutagogy refers to teaching oneself (Maykut, 2019). As I read articles related to education, I can now be assured that I know what the author is talking about rather than simply hoping I understand. As an adult learner, I have been blessed to have professors that understand the difference between child and adult learning. As a teacher, it is important for me to understand the difference. This aspect of teaching is different for all areas of teaching and an understanding of these differences can make all the difference in the receptiveness of the learners involved. Maykut, C., Wild, C., & May, N. (2019). Heutagogy: Enacting Caring Science Practices. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 12(1), 11–17. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=136698166&site=eds-live&scope=site Taylor, B., & Kroth, M. (2009). A Single Conversation with a Wise Man Is Better than Ten Years of Study: A Model for Testing Methodologies for Pedagogy or Andragogy. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(2), 42–56. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ854895&site=eds-live&scope=site Today, my advanced 7th graders started making their own End-of-the-Year review. They each picked out a 7th grade standard and created a digital teaching resource for that standard. The idea is that I will put the links onto a document and they can explore and review by learning from each other. They are using everything from Google Slides to Canva to Screencastify. These students are so creative and are really excited to teach each other! Update: Here is their finished product
My 7th graders are learning how to find the Area and Circumference of circles. This can be a bit mundane so I incorporated a little fun. The students went around the room in groups, solving task cards. When they got an answer, they checked it with a QR code. They were all word problems which they normally despise, but this time they did not care. They thought the QR codes were so fun! I love the way they were up and moving, working together, AND the instant feedback! I got them here for FREE! I simply printed them, put them around the room and let the kids loose with white boards and chromebooks.
I am totally stuck on Flipgrid right now. It is so much fun for me and my students! For those of you who do not know, Flipgrid is a group video response platform. The teacher poses a topic and students respond with short videos. It is all password protected, so my students stay safe. I have one for each of my classes. Sometimes I post math related questions, sometimes it is just fun stuff to help build a community setting within our classroom. Today, I got some great news! I have been named a Flipgrid Ambassador!
My students tend to struggle with adding and subtracting integers and I don't think I am in the minority on this one. It seems to be such a hard concept for some students to grasp. Today, my 8th grade Pre-Algebra class had a Skype lesson with Jason Kazar of Watertank Math. He was AMAZING! He really connected with the students, he is fun and fresh and has some great visualizations. Equating math and toilets for middle school students is just what they need to remember all about integers. Check his stuff out his website is: watertankmath.com, he is also on Twitter and Instagram as watertankmath and has Facebook and a YouTube channel. On his site he has links to resources that he has developed and sells through Nasco that would be a great addition to the classroom.
Today, my Geometry class did a CSI math investigation from clarkcreativeeducation.com/. This site has a ton of really cool stuff. I had to pay for the packet but it was worth it. I printed it all in color and plan on laminating it so I can reuse it. I put the packets in manila folders labeled "Evidence" and gave them to groups of 3 or 4. The students struggled some but it was so good. This was a low prep, high quality activity and I will definitely be purchasing more.
I love hands-on learning, whether it is technology based or not. This year, all of my classes are doing Interactive Notebooks. School started Monday, and I forgot how much upkeep this can all be. Previously, my 8th grade class has always done Interactive Notebooks but this year I expanded, BIG TIME! I get a lot of my inspiration from Jennifer Smith Jochen, here is her site: smithcurriculumconsulting.com/ if you subscribe to her newsletter, she has great tips and gives some amazing freebies. She focuses on the middle grades but I have found that a lot of it can be adapted to the high school classes as well and the older kids love it just as much as the younger ones.
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Tara HutchensLooking for ways to incorporate technology into my math classes on a regular basis. Sometimes its scary, but it is also so exciting! Archives
August 2020
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