July Blogging Challenge Day 15

I am a bit late to the game, but I just found the July Blogging Challenge from Teaching Statistics, and I am joining midmonth.  I've already had a few blogposts this month, but a challenge is way more fun.  I also appreciate the idea of the built in social network, and I've already learned a lot by reading posts by some of the participants.  

A bit of background info about myself is that I am beginning year 2 as a teacher on special assignment for my district. The job is still in development, and I get to wear many hats (new teacher support provider, professional development, technology integration, etc.).  This start-stop-continue post is very specific to my current role, but I expect that my blog posts in the future will be more about classroom activities and strategies.  If you read some of my other posts you will notice that I LOVE Geogebra, but I don't expect to be so Geogebra-centric in the future, since that is more of a summer project in preparation for the work that I will do with teachers in the fall.

Below are some things to work on for next year:

Start

-More classroom observations.  I am hoping to capture many of the wonderful strategies that are already in place, and hopefully create more of a culture where observation is the norm.  Since I am on special assignment and have no classes, I can cover classes so teachers can observe each other. 

-More demo lessons.  Last year was my first year on special assignment as a math support/resource teacher, and while it went well I didn’t have much time to get into the classroom.  I am also hoping some teachers will be willing to let me teach an entire unit with their students. 

-Blogging once a week.  I’m not sure I can pull off a 180 day blog, especially since I don’t have my own class, but if I don’t have something interesting to write about once a week maybe that is a sign that I am not spending enough time with students.

Stop

-Reading math education books/articles without taking notes.  I wish I could remember everything I read, but unfortunately I end up forgetting a lot of details.

-Reviewing homework with students in the traditional manner.  I would love to find a way to review homework that is more active for all students.

For this last one, I was inspired by Robin at Making Math Visible (cool name!).  She says in her “Stop” section,

-Over-booking each lesson. I tend to be overambitious in my lesson planning resulting in us working to the bell (which is good), but I then sacrifice the summary or exit ticket (which is bad). I need to either stop overbooking OR stop things early to get to the summary.

I am guilty of this as well, and I’ve seen how powerful the summary portion of a lesson can be.  I’d also like to focus on ways to make the summary more visible.

Continue

-Planning common lessons with course teams.   This has been an authentic and fun way to integrate common core lessons and lessons that involve technology. 

-Tech lunches.  At one of the schools that I work at we’ve had several informal lunch meetings to learn about a new tool in Geogebra, or to learn a new program.  We even had a lunch to learn how to use Pinterest in the math class! 

-Using mini-whiteboards.  I am making a travel set from sheet protectors, and I recently learned that felt works well as an eraser.  After reading all of these posts, I am also going to buy the red-yellow-green cups to keep in my travel bag.

Interactive Intro to Domain and Range

One of my favorite things about Common Core is the opportunity to learn new ways to introduce content. I have been teaching high school for 7 years, so I haven't had the chance to teach with too many books.  With common core and the impending adoption of new materials, I am finding new ways to teach almost weekly!

I had a chance this week to play around with domain and range using the TI Inspire.  I can't take credit for most of the ideas below, but this introduction is too good not to share!  Check out the Texas Instruments website for free worksheet downloads that go with domain and range presented in this manner, plus many other topics.  The worksheets go with TI calculator activities, but you can still get great ideas from them if you don't have access to the technology.

Drag the gray point in the presentation below over points A, B, C, D and E.  Watch as the domain and range values appear on the axes.  To try a different problem set, hit "clear domain and range", drag each point to a new location, and repeat the activity.

Can you arrange the points so that the domain is {-2,3,5} and the range is {1,2}?  This question has multiple solutions and will give students the opportunity to discuss the mathematics and check answers in real time. They are also practicing with multiple representations.



Students can find domain and range of a line segment below by dragging point C.  Again the domain and range values appear along the axes.  To try a new problem hit "clear trace" and drag the endpoints to a new location.

Can you find the line segment that has domain greater than or equal to -3 and less than 4, and range greater than -1 and less than or equal to 3?  Insert inequality statements into these problems to help students practice with the multiple representations used in this context.



For the presentation below drag point A to create a relation.  Can you graph the relationship with domain and range described below?  Is your relation a function?

To show domain and range for a specific function, enter the function into the input box below. Change the left and right limit of the function to make it piecewise, or to see what the domain and range are for the the function itself change the limits to values that are not on the screen below.  (So -6 and 8 will work).



Links you may find useful:

Geogebra Tools from Making Math Visual blog.
Geogebra Series II: Transforming a Graph With Sliders

Geogebra Series: Inverse Functions

Building Community in the Math Class

It's hard to believe that summer is already half way over.  That means 4 weeks until I return for inservice days, during which I will be both a participant and a leader.  This realization (along with an 8 hour drive from Southern CA to Northern CA) has got me thinking about those first days of school.  I always look forward to the community building and the get to know you activities during the first week of school.  Now that I avidly read blogs, I also look forward to learning some new ideas for the first days of school.  And I thought I would share one of my own.

Week 1 Homework Choiceboard

I don't remember where I got this idea, but it has been a success over the years.  Each year I make some changes, with the goal being to learn as much as possible about my students.  The choice board linked above is from 2011 (more recent versions are on school server).  Initially I asked each student to turn in one or more assignments, but I found that I couldn't go through all of the submissions in a reasonable amount of time.  I also used to offer a choice for students to turn in a burned CD with favorite songs, but then I found myself with 30 CD's to listen to.  So now I ask for one or two assignments from each student, and I allow them to turn in products that have been created for other classes as well.

Below is a quick summary of choices that have been helpful, and those that I would change.

1 page letter:  This choice continues to be a great get-to-know-you option.  I learn so many valuable things about students through a letter.  A letter can tell me what a student values (family, religion, sports, activity), as well as how they feel about school and how they prefer to learn.  A letter is also a popular option amongst students that have special needs.

Sumopaint:  Free online paint software with some fun tools (try the symmetry tool).  This option lets me know who my artists are, and I end up with wall decor!

Biopoem. Powerpoint, Movie, and Collage:  Great options that let me learn about student interests and values.  Students have often done these assignments for other classes, and so they can turn in the same one without having the recreate the wheel, which is definitely appreciated.  These also look great on the walls.

List of 5 favorite songs:  As I mentioned before, don't ask for a burned CD because you will get 30 of them.  A list of favorite songs lets you know who your music fans are, and then you also get to learn who has the best taste in music (classic rock of course!).  As a person that has been out of high school for 10+ years, I also appreciate the update in mainsteam music.

Online bookmarks and smartphone apps:  I will definitely update this option.  In 2011 I was finishing up a 2 week tech training and I was curious to know how many of my students were already using online bookmarks like Diigo.  I didn't learn much from this option.  A top ten apps list also didn't help me learn about students as much as I would like (too general).  If I were to rewrite the choice board for this year I might include an option about favorite TV, movies, or games.  I would also include an option for students to tell me about their favorite community service or leadership activities.  I am always so impressed by student resumes when I write letters of recommendation, and I can't believe that I didn't know how involved in the community some students were prior to me writing the letter.

So why is this type of activity helpful in building classroom community? Mostly it is helpful because it sends a message to students that you care about their interests.  You learn more about them, and so the beginning and end of class interactions are more genuine and interesting.  The more students feel connected to the teacher and the class, the more likely they are to be engaged in learning activities. It also is a big help later on in the year when a student is struggling.  Pull out those assignments and learn more about that student.  Sit the student in the front of the class so you can spend a minute or so each day talking to the student. This can be a great first step in getting a student back on track.

What will you do during the first week of school to build community in your class?  Please share!