Made 4 Math: Celebrating Black History Month

 Disclaimer: This post was actually drafted in February, but due to my pesky need to have everything 'just right', I didn't publish it because I couldn't find pics of the activity.  As the year draws to a close, I wanted to share it, because it was really fun and it is something I will continue this summer as I create Math Questions of the Month for the 2013-2014 school year.

 I am so excited to share this week's #Made4Math idea, because it motivated tons of random kids to do math problems for something other than a grade!!!  In fact, students were literally running down the hallways (sorry, Principal Dean:) to check their answers...okay, I promised the "first one with the correct answer" a candy bar, but all of the others were curious just to see if they worked the problems right.  Yay, score one for the Math Department!!!

     So, let me back up...every February our school celebrates Black History Month through a program filled with songs and praise dances. This year, the event organizers asked departments to furnish a Fact of the Day honoring an African-American who made significant contributions in each content area.  The facts were read during the morning announcements. Each department was responsible for only one day of the week and since we were out one week for Winter Break, each department had to furnish only 3 facts for the month.  The math department's day was Thursday.

     As the first Thursday rolled around, I knew I wanted our's to be different, interactive, and contain something about math.  I researched African-American mathematicians and stumbled upon Benjamin Banneker, who, besides studying engineering and astronomy, wrote math riddles in his personal journals.  Very cool and the inspiration for our 'math facts' announcements.  I wrote the announcements introducing Mr. Banneker and then included a math riddle at the end.  Here are a couple that we shared:
Announcement 1:  Benjamin Banneker, American scientist, author and mathematician, was a self taught inventor and engineer. After studying a neighbor's pocket watch, Benjamin Banneker constructed a working wooden clock that kept accurate time for 50 years.  Assuming there a 365 days in a year, how many minutes did Mr. Banneker's clock tick? Be the first to A-5 with the correct answer and win!

Announcement 2: Last week, we introduced Benjamin Banneker, a son of a former slave, who was born on a farm near Baltimore. From books loaned to him by a neighbor, Banneker taught himself surveying, astronomy, and mathematics. Later, he published several almanacs of his own containing astronomical observations.  He also kept a journal.  In his diaries, Banneker wrote mathematical puzzles, one of which we are featuring today.  So here is the math question of the week:  A farmer had $100 to spend on 100 animals.  If bulls cost $5, cows cost $1, and sheep cost a nickel, how many of each type of animal was the farmer able to purchase?  Be the first to A-5 with the correct answer and win!

I created table tents featuring the math riddles for each of the cafeteria tables in case someone missed the details during the morning announcement (I figured the students might as well do math while eating their fish sticks).  Finally, I created a candy bar wrapper which was wrapped around a giant candy bar and given as a prize.

Next year, Math Question of the Month...something to work on this summer:)

       The first person with the correct answer won the Banneker Bar and everyone else received coupons for a free hamburger at the local fast food restaurant near the school.  Truly, kids ran to my classroom to check-in with their answers.  If the answers were incorrect, it provided me with an opportunity to ask them to explain their mathematical thinking and help redirect them to the correct answer.  I loved seeing students that are not in my class this year and watching them get excited about solving problems.  So why should math facts make the announcements only in February?  Why not throw in a challenge question randomly through out the school year?  I promise, it's fun!!! 

Favorite Find Friday: Bloom's Taxonomy and Technology Guide

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I love to get my geek on as I explore cool tech tools for the classroom.  This week, I am (as we say here in the South) in hog heaven.  I am just pulling in from a road trip to New Orleans where I met with some of the top technology using educators in Louisiana at this year's LACUE conference.  The Classroom Cafe' Gals, Kathleen and I, presented on projects our students have completed using iPhone apps.  We shared project descriptions, rubrics, and student samples in our #AppyHour presentation.  It was so much fun!  We even made a theme song:)

     While at the conference, we had a chance to reconnect with old friends, see new products in the vendor area, and hear fantastic presenters like Lisa Dick and Dr. Tammy Seneca!  Both Lisa's and Tammy's presentations were tied to curriculum changes resulting from the implementation of Common Core.   I learned so much from each of them and I am eager to revisit their presentations again to catch anything I might have missed.  Lisa maintains a Wiki filled with professional development resources, effective teaching strategies, and ideas for technology integration into various content areas and Tammy has posted numerous resources on West Baton Rouge Schools' website including information on content trailers, geocaching, Google Lit Trips, and #MyFavFriday, Bloom's Technology Taxonomy.  I choose it as #MyFavFriday out of all of the things I saw and heard at the two-day conference, because I love the concrete ideas provided in the Technology Taxonomy and think it will be especially helpful for planning future classroom activities.

Larger View

#MyFavFriday: Classroom Happies for Thanksgiving

 It is the last day before Thanksgiving break.  While the kids are excited about being out for a week, they have continued to focus on finishing the semester strong and I am so proud of their effort. We hosted a Thanksgiving celebration yesterday at school and it was wonderful seeing whole families of middle and high school students coming to feast on turkey and dressing and watch a program featuring many of our talented kids.  Maybe it is the cold snap we have had or the fact that "the baby" is headed home from college, but I have been eagerly anticipating the holidays for quite some weeks.

     Those who know me best, know I love classroom happies and the holidays are the perfect excuse to pull out the best ideas.  I honestly can't help myself.  I get so excited finding funny and colorful tiny gifts to give my students throughout the year.  During my first year of teaching after receiving one such gift, one of my 8th grade students respectfully asked, "Have you ever taught anyone as old as us?"  Hahaha! 13 years later and not much has changed.  I am partial to Thanksgiving treats, because this was actually the first thing my husband sent to me when we were seniors in high school.  Our school sold Turkey Grams way back when copies were made in purple ink and big hair was still in.  When I received the Turkey Gram adorned with a piece of candy and a note which read, "Happy Thanksgiving, Mike", I knew then... he loved me:D  We actually started dating one month later and the rest is history!  I share the story every year in my classroom as I help pedal Turkey Grams for our school's Student Council, but I can promise you, Turkey Grams have come a long way since I was in high school.  #MyFavFriday is a nod to the memory from years ago, a plethora of ideas for Thanksgiving classroom treats.  Enjoy!

From The Party Animal

From MRMS PTSO

From Inking Idaho

From Lucky Boy

From Studio Marcy

From Mama B

From Pebbles in my Pocket

Made 4 Math: Totally Awesome Prizes

This week's #Made4Math: Totally Awesome Prizes was made up on the spot...out of the blue...off the top of my head and it was oh, so much fun:)  One of my favorite ways to review for a test other than a Study Guide is to use dry erase boards.  Now, that doesn't mean I don't like to use student clickers or cell phones, but some days I just prefer the dry erase.  Too often, I tell the students that I am awarding make believe points with make believe prizes (lame, I know.)  This week, I thought it would be fun to award real points and have real prizes for the students to "buy" after the review.  But where to get the prizes for ALL of my students without spending tons?  This is where this week's #Made4Math came in...I simply asked the kids to bring in a "White Elephant" prize, something from their home, locker, or car that was cool, but that they didn't want anymore.
I had baskets with point values on them in which students could place their items.  Items were valued as the students wished with none of the prizes valued for more than the potential points available during the review session.  They brought in everything from a pink flamingo pen to a wooden nesting doll (which surprisingly someone wanted). I added in candy, items from local colleges, and hand sanitizer compliments from the school counselors.  We had plenty of items in each category and the students scouted out the prizes before class started.
Our tests typically have 25 questions that count 4 points each with partial credit awarded for work demonstrating a partly right answer.  I used tickets from Dollar Tree to represent the number of points their response might have been awarded had it been written on the test.  Red tickets represented full credit at 4 points, green tickets counted for 3 points, and yellow tickets were 2 points each.  I had questions (and answers) prepared for Review Day which i wrote on sticky notes and hung on the whiteboard and I placed strips of each of the colored tickets on the students' desks.  As the students showed their answers on the dry erase boards, they were awarded a point value.  The students pulled off the correct ticket from one of the strips on their desk.  The students pulled tickets with great integrity probably because they are juniors and seniors and the prizes were....well, let's just say the six pack of Reese's that cost a whopping $1 was considered a top win:)
     Several students stopped by the next day to tell me how much fun they had (working math problems) on the Review Day.  They weren't alone; I had fun, too.   We laughed alot on Review Day...at the prizes we brought and the prizes we picked...but with the laughter they relaxed about their second "College test" and they identified and corrected misconceptions.  The test grades were the proof...13 out of 20 made A's!!!

Favorite Find Friday:: IPad Case

One of my favorite bloggers, Dr. Wesley Fryer, wrote some months ago about #MyFavFriday, the Makyama iPad Case.  I knew then that if he recommended it, I had to have one.  I promptly pointed it out to hubby and marked it as a definite birthday wish (it still took precious son, Mr. 21, to remind him the day of that I had asked for it...ey yi yi) .  It arrived some weeks ago and I have not been disappointed.  The sturdy plastic molded case fits snugly on my iPad and screws securely onto a tripod.  There are slots and spaces on the case for lights, lenses, and microphones, but I am certainly not there yet as a videographer.

Original Image

So why order the pricey case?  I wanted a way for my students to confidently use my (personal...one and only...the one I camped out to get) iPad in class to create our math movies.  By placing the iOS device in the case and on the tripod, students no longer have to hold the iPad while trying to operate the different apps.  It provides a secure, hands free way to take the shots they need for their original works.  I relax a bit too and the thought "I hope they don't drop it...I hope they don't drop it." is silenced for a while:)  When I say, I absolutely love this case, I mean I absolutely LOOOOOOVE this case.  In my opinion, it is a must have for the classroom implementing iPad projects involving pictures or video creations.

Made 4 Math: Geting Our Groove On

This week is Homecoming at our school which brings dress up days, senior activities, lots of enthusiasm and the unique challenge of keeping students moving forward academically in the midst of the week long celebration.  Our senior students are in class for only two days this week and their minds are on their community service/fun day, kings' and queens' presentation, and of course, the big dance - the inspiration for this week's #Made4Math project.  Tomorrow, we will GeT OUr GrOOvE oN in math with RM Easiteach's Dance to Advance and their Dance, Dance, Revolution-like mats.  I've used the RM Easiteach software to create a matching game focused on graphs and their equations.

The RM mats work as directional mouse pads and are controlled by students stepping on them to select a correct match to the problem displayed in the center of the screen.  I have 8 dance mats which I will connect to 4 computers.  Students will play two at a time to try to achieve the highest score by correctly matching the most functions to their corresponding graphs.  I plan to use a "dance-off" bracket to determine the winner in hopes of getting in some extra practice disguised as friendly competition.

 I was able to customize the game board quickly.  For the graph choices, I uploaded pics that were created in my Promethean ActivInspire software.  I inserted images of the functions as well, so that the equations would be clear and easy for the students to read in the fast pace game. (I didn't want funny syntax to slow them down.)

I love that before the game begins students can select the background and the music.  I know that it is silly, but somehow I would like to think I could  match graphs better if I were at the beach:)

Classroom Cafe Gals Headed to LACUE

A few months ago, my friend, Kathleen, and I teamed up to create The Classroom Cafe, a free website where we share ideas to take teaching and learning from worksheets to wonderful! It wasn't that we thought worksheets were terrible or that we thought that we were 'all that'; we actually wanted to challenge OuRSeLVes to grow professionally and find more engaging and creative ways to assess, reinforce, and deliver instruction.  We thought that by establishing The Classroom Cafe together, we would be accountable not only to each other, but also to those who stopped by to read our blog:) 
In June, Kathleen and I started also working together to plan and deliver professional development sessions for teachers at our school.  (It is actually part of my normal job, but Kathleen is just as passionate as I am about PD and volunteered to help.) More accountability!  The timing was perfect; our school had just made the switch to 4x4 block.  We were all looking for activities for the new 90 minute periods.  This gave us the perfect focus for this fall's monthly PD meetings and The Classroom Cafe's weekly video segments.  I never would have guessed how much fun it would be to dream up topics for the sessions with Kathleen and the rest of our teacher friends.  From black light to qr codes, we have touched on a bit of everything (complete with invitations, decorations, and costumes:).  Through this process, we have stretched ourselves, moved beyond our comfort zone, and looked for inspiration from many of you!

While Kathleen and I had blogged, tweeted, and presented independently prior to working together, we have found that it is so much more rewarding when we collaborate.  So, now what?  It's road trip time... our LACUE conference proposal was accepted!!! In 5 short weeks, we are headed to our state's technology conference to host #AppyHour where we are serving up our iMenu in true, southern CafeGal style.  I'm so excited!  What could be better than friends AND technology all in one place???