Hybrid: Stuff that Worked for Me

My school was in hybrid for about 3 weeks before we move to fully distance on Monday. By no means did I figure everything out to be an amazing hybrid teacher, but I did learn some things to make my life easier. I thought I’d share in case it helps someone else.

A little about my hybrid schedule. Classes were 90 minutes every other day. Monday and Tuesday students with last names A-M were at school, and N-Z was at home. Thursday and Friday, those groups switched. Wednesday was a distance learning day for everyone. Students worked on assignments that were given Monday/Tuesday, and teachers were available for office hours. With the exception of Wednesdays, classes were taught synchronously, and I saw students in person once per week. We also use Google Meet as our way of having online students join the class.

• Extended Screen: I don’t know why it took me this long to figure out how to use extended screen with my projector, but it was a game changer. I had always thought it was too confusing, but I tried it that first day with my first class, and it was so easy. Students in my room and at home could see my SMART Board slides, and I was able to see the Google Meet, take attendance, check email in case students at home were struggling to log in, etc.

• Start of Class: On Monday and Tuesday my warm-up was a Desmos Check-In and on Thursday and Friday the warm-up was SET (their online website is currently unavailable. Search setgame.com. I’ll try to remember to come back and link it when it’s working again). These were tasks that all students could participate in regardless of how confident they felt with the math we were doing right now. It was consistent. Students knew what to expect and do, so I had time to take attendance. (I can’t be the only who is looking forward to how easy taking attendance will be when all of this is over, right?!)

• Desmos Check-Ins: I doing LOVE these each week and look forward to seeing students’ responses. It gave me great insight as to where my students were at each week. I learned things about them, especially my students online that I would not have known otherwise. How they were feeling about hybrid, how their family’s heath was, things they were excited about, etc.

• Breakout Rooms: This was a game changer for me. Students loved working in breakout rooms with each other. Because many students were at home by themselves learning, and the students at school had to maintain 6 feet from everyone, they got excited to be put in groups and work with other students. I LOVED hearing all the conversations about math students had while working on this. It almost felt like I had all my students in the classroom. I never got very efficient at setting these up, but here’s what I did.
  • I made sure that each breakout room had 1 student who was physically in my classroom in the group. This person acted as the link between me and the students online. If there was a question the group, or someone in the group had, I could go by this person’s Chromebook and help them out vs. joining that breakout room on my laptop. When it was time to join the main room again, I’d tell the students in my class, who would tell their partners online.
  • To set this up, when students were working on the warm-up, I counted the number of students in my classroom and set up that many breakout rooms ahead of time. Then when it was time to work in groups, I had the students in the classroom join the Google Meet and added them into the breakout rooms that I’d already made. This took a little bit of time, so during that time I encouraged students to write down the problems they’d be working on since once they joined the breakout room they would no longer see the screen that I had shared.
  • Depending on the class and the students, sometimes I had groups of 2, other times it was groups of 3-5. I saw success in all sizes of groups, but overall, I got more talking in groups of 3-5. That way if one student wasn’t participating, in most cases there were at least 2 who were. In other cases, groups of 2 were great because one of them would call the other one out, “Turn on your mic so we can talk about this problem.”
  • Sometimes I also gave a quick Desmos survey after group work to find out how things went. Who participated? Who didn’t? Anything I should know?

One of the positives I’ve seen this year is that students are getting SO much better at talking through problems! In previous years, when students would be working together and one would have a question, one person would just hand their partner their paper and show them what they did without explaining it. Because they can’t do that this year, they are talking through the problem. It’s AMAZING to listen to!

• I had students work in Jamboard, Desmos, and just on practice problems in breakout rooms.
  • Jamboard: This took a little bit of time to set up and teach students the routine. After the second time of doing it with students, I saw huge improvements in the time it took them to get started and working on this. (I’ll blog about some of the activities I had students do in Jamboard in another post).
  • Desmos: I almost always have students work 2 students to 1 Chromebook when we do Desmos activities. In order to replicate that when in hybrid, I had students work in breakout rooms and had one student open the activity in Desmos and share their screen with their group. I encouraged groups to have a person in their group who had good internet connection/the person in the classroom to be the one to share their screen. I did a lot of self check card sorts in the activities because students could better monitor on their own how they were doing, but it didn’t tell them exactly which cards/groups they had wrong so there was still discussion that happened in the groups.
  • Problems: Students worked through problems together in groups. Because students wouldn’t see my shared screen when they were in breakout rooms, I kept my screen shared and had them return to the main call when they needed to get a new problem and then return to their breakout room.

• Misc: Other things I discovered, and a couple great ideas from coworkers too.
  • A coworker shared this with me, and I tried to remember it as I was teaching. Focus on the students online when asking questions. It was easy to forget about all the students online and only ask for responses from students in my classroom. By focusing on the students online, they had to participate and the students in my room saw what would be expected of them when they were at home.
  • Google Meet Polls: I tried using this one day to give students the option of working on their own or in a breakout room. I discovered that I could see how many students picked each one, I couldn’t tell which students picked once. We redid the poll in Desmos.
  • Seating Charts: A coworker had a great idea of how to set up seating charts for hybrid that saved me so much time when taking attendance.
    • When I made the seating charts I set them up in 3 groups. On the left side (green box) of the page I made a seating chart for students who were physically in school Monday/Tuesday. This was lucky, but I put them in alphabetical order by FIRST NAME because when they sign in to Google Meet, they show up in order that way. Then when I was taking attendance Thursday/Friday it was quicker for me to go through the list.
    • In the middle (blue box), put the students who were distance learning full time. I knew to look for those students online both days.
    • On the right (red box), I made the seating chart for students who were in school Thursday/Friday. Again, I put them in order by 1st name, and it made taking attendance when they were online so much easier.

Little Things

I started out the school year fully in person. We made it 7 weeks before we make the switch to hybrid tomorrow. We had a teacher prep day on Friday, so my last day with students last week was Thursday. During my first class, my students were working on a puzzle, and as I was walking around the room, I realized that it was likely the last day I would be in the classroom with all of my students in a while and that it was going to be the last normal day (well, as normal as you can get this year) for a while.

I’m so thankful I had that thought. It set me up to notice and be thankful for several other things throughout the day. It truly helped me to savor that day even with the stress of the changes that were to come. (I wrote about this idea in this post –Savor This.)

---

We Worked Together

Even though we’ve been fully in person all year, in each of my classes I’ve had a few students who join us on Google Meet for one reason or another. Up until now, when I plan my lessons, I plan with my in person students in mind first and then attempt to find ways to make it work for my online students. I had the students in my room working at the whiteboards and the students online were working on the same problems. I was checking in with those students one one turned on their mic and said, “Student A and I worked on these, and this is what we got.” and then another student, “Yeah, Student B and I worked on these together too.” After going through their answers with them, I said, “Let’s back up a little here. You said you worked on these together? I could hear that you didn’t turn on your mics, so how did you do that?” They FaceTimed each other, worked through the problems together, and showed each other their work. Bless them. Middle schoolers never cease to amaze me.

---

Puzzle

My students were working on the following puzzles this week, and I just love watching them work through them and to listen in on their conversation. (I shared more about the puzzles here.)

---

Snow

We got a decent amount of snow this past week, and I just wasn’t ready for it yet. My students on the other hand LOVED it! I love seeing their excitement about it.

---

Desmos Transformation Golf

I had an extra day with half of my students due to our switch to hybrid, so a couple of my classes spent part of the class period working on this Desmos activity. It was awesome! Students were having fun. They were working on something math related, even if it wasn’t part of the current unit. Desmos has been a lifesaver during the past 8 months.

---

Trick-or-Treaters?

A couple high school student council members dropped something off for Homecoming this coming week. They didn’t fully come into my room, so my students didn’t see them. After I closed my door, one of my 6th graders asked, “Where those Trick-or-Treaters?!” 🤣🙃❤️ I just love 6th graders!

---

Cars 3

During my homeroom, one of my students asked if they could watch a movie. I NEVER let them do this, but it was the last day before the switch, and it was one of the classes that had an extra day. They’re my only group of high schoolers, and they are SUCH a good group of kids. They had worked hard on their work the 45 minutes before lunch, so I said sure -as long as it was school appropriate. It was so fun for me to sit back and watch as they all worked together to figure out a way to hook up a Chromebook to the projector, find a site they could watch the movie on, and get everything set up. The movie they picked? Cars 3. They got it started and one of them even said, “That’s too loud.” It was truly a joy for me to watch this group work together and enjoy an animated movie.

---

Each of those things are pretty small, but looking back on the week they are such a big part of why I love what I do and what I miss about being in the classroom with my students. In a time when sometimes those good things seem few and far between and the tough stuff happens hourly (or more), I’m clinging to those little things.

Math Sidewalk Art

I tried a new project for the first week of school this year, and I really liked how it went. I got the idea from seeing all of the cool sidewalk art people were creating during quarantine, and I thought that I could tie in some of the math my students already know to create a first week project.

---

I started by having students Notice and Wonder about the two images below. In hindsight, I think I would have had one of the images include shapes other than rectangles.

Students noticed that the image on the right is symmetrical, minus the coloring, and that they were made up of rectangles, that half of the shapes in the right image were shaded. They were using vocab they hadn’t used in a classroom in almost 6th months -exactly what I had hoped for when putting those pictures on the board on the first day of school! In our conversation, if no one mentioned something about 25% of the area being orange, I would prompt students to see that.

---

Then I shared with them that they were going to create something sort of like that on the sidewalk outside the school. I shared with them this example that I had made with my cousin’s daughters.

I told them I was going to put them in small groups and each group got one rectangle of cement outside. They had to use the entire rectangle. I gave them a list of criteria, and they had to select at least 3 items from the list to include in their design.

When I put the list of criteria together I wanted to include both fractions and percents, a variety of different polygons, some of the items talking about total area while others were about number of shapes. I also wanted some of the items to be impossible to happen at the same time.

Here’s the list I gave my 6th graders.

Here’s the list I gave my 7th and 8th graders.

Pro Tip: If you decide to do this with your students, change the colors for each class. We ran out of red and blue chalk by the end! (Also, I learned chalk doesn’t really come in red, so we ended up using pink or orange.)

After giving students time to read through this list, I put up a set of questions for them to discuss with the person sitting across from them.

I really wanted to give them time to think about the list and talk about it with someone before they picked their 3 for their design.

---

Once students were in their groups, they decided together which 3 from the list they were going to pick. Then they created their design, and finally they explained how their design satisfied each item from the list they chose.

Jess Breur had a great idea for me that if students were struggling to come up with a design with 3 from the list, I could encourage them to start by selecting 2 from the list.

One of the things I learned from this is that we have some work to do when it comes to “convince me”. I saw many answers like “Exactly 1/4 of the area is blue.” as their explanation to convince me that “exactly 1/4 of the area is blue.”

---

The next class period, after giving students a few minutes to finalize things, we went outside for the students to create their designs!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

---

We do have 90 minute class periods this year, which made this much more feasible for me. This could maybe work in a 50 minute class period, but it would be pushing it, especially for the start of the year. I wish I would have kept better track of how long the planning process took for students. Once students were in their groups working to pick 3 from the list and create their design, it took them around 20 minutes to do that, some groups took much longer than that. Outside, groups took anywhere from 20-40 minutes to execute their design. I had students bring a book to read outside when they finished.

I had hoped to talk about scale with my 7th and 8th graders and have them figure out how to scale their design from the paper I gave them to the rectangle of cement. I ended up not doing this for a couple reasons. One, I realized that not all of the rectangles of cement on our sidewalk were the same size. In order for each group to do that accurately, it would have take more time -which was the other main reason I ended up skipping this part. I wanted to finish this in the first two class periods, and that just didn’t fit in the time we had.

---

I overheard students, “I’m going to take a picture of this and show my mom!”

I saw high school classes checking out the artwork done by my middle schoolers.

One day as I was driving home, I saw a staff member walking out to her car smiling the entire way as she looked at the mathy chalk designs.

This project did exactly what I had hoped it would. It got students talking about math and working together, and it made people smile. A definite success in my book!

Student Marbleslides 2019-2020

I’ve shared my students’ marbleslides the last few years (2016-2017 and 2017-2018 and 2018-2019).  Going through their creations was more fun this year than the previous years.  It made me miss being in the classroom with my students SO much!  I smiled thinking of each of my students as I looked at what they had created.

---

If you haven’t checked out the previous years’ posts, I highly recommend it.  My students are SO creative!

If you want to do this with your own students, have them go to teacher.desmos.com and walk them through the steps of how to create a custom activity, how to pull up the Marbleslides screen, and start creating.

---

Here is a link to their creations!

One of the things I love most about seeing all their projects is they aren’t perfect.  The math is messy, and it’s awesome!  The math that my students were taught prior to this was how to graph lines in slope-intercept form.  They did do the Marbleslides activity from Desmos, so they learned about restricting the domain through that activity.  Other than that, everything they figured out was on their own.  I do very little to “teach” them how to create what they want.  I will point them in the right direction from time to time, but for the most part they Google things if they want to learn something new.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Favorite Tweets of the 2019-2020 School Year | Part 3

You can find my previous year’s favorite tweets by clicking links for the posts below.

• 2016-2017
• 2017-2018
• 2018-2019
• 2019-2020 (Distance Learning)
• 2019-2020 | Part 2

---

 

Got to combine my 2 faves this morning in Mr. @avanconas 's class with Pythagorean theorem: math and football. We started with video of Ben Watson's awesome run and used Cheez-It crackers for the lesson. @RioVistaMS https://t.co/WVt8noT8OU pic.twitter.com/vbj1iHtgmU

— Fawn Nguyen (@fawnpnguyen) February 25, 2020

New game: Teams are given the stems of Qs from past ACT exams. They work to find the correct answer & generate 4 distractors. 10 pts for each correct answer. 5 bonus pts for each distractor that matches the ACT. Much more interesting than usual test prep! #mtbos #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/H0SschsBJe

— Sarah Carter (@mathequalslove) February 27, 2020

Saw this quote this morning… so applicable!

"If you're not asking for help, you're probably not challenging yourself enough. If you have all the answers, you're not learning new skills, trying new things or moving forward and out of your comfort zone."

— Druin (@druinok) February 27, 2020

Go to https://t.co/d0SHGxHfuY and type:

betchacant

Enjoy. Thanks to @Desmos for keeping it fun.#mtbos

— John Stevens (@Jstevens009) February 27, 2020

The only time I worry about the correct answer is in the summative assessment. The rest of the time I’m interested in the crockpot of thinking. — @gfletchy #wsmi pic.twitter.com/TSULqZDHnf

— Fawn Nguyen (@fawnpnguyen) February 28, 2020

Makes me think of @johnberray and how can we carry on his legacy https://t.co/XL7uAlndai

— Casey McTeach (@cmmteach) March 2, 2020

Chapter 7 math/art installation 2020: Ceiling tile tessellation for the @SouthHighMpls Math Center! pic.twitter.com/O7txiNngG1

— Stephanie (@mrswoldum) March 7, 2020

Mazes are made from two sets of walls. Highlighting them makes the path from start to finish the path between the two walls. This is why you can stick your hand on one wall and keep walking from entrance to exit. #mtbos #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/umNbHjv3pH

— Alex ~ VicMathsNotes (@VMN_alex) March 9, 2020

First time I’ve ever seen triangle crayons! My kid got these at a restaurant. What do you #noticewonder? #MTBoS pic.twitter.com/SZYCT9nicE

— Tracy Conte (@PlayingWithDice) March 9, 2020

I wrote a NEW post: Math Worksheetshttps://t.co/1N5cLJnPYe#MTBoS #iteachmath

— Fawn Nguyen (@fawnpnguyen) March 14, 2020

https://t.co/0V9VaKSat5

— chris nho (@nhoskee) March 14, 2020

Really proud of my wife and eldest daughters’ #mathart today while I was video chatting with Ss. She looked up #QuarantineLife projects and we have tape and chalk ready to go! 😅 pic.twitter.com/qDSWuWeD3T

— Martin Joyce (@martinsean) March 19, 2020

I love this child. https://t.co/E4UaHvwZrT

— Christopher Danielson (@Trianglemancsd) March 27, 2020

Boxes due to arrive tomorrow. Getting ready to pack and ship a week ahead of schedule! Shout out to @nhoskee for the amazing graphic design work on box and insert. https://t.co/dNlXpUPIf5 pic.twitter.com/JhSXYsk4Bp

— Christopher Danielson (@Trianglemancsd) March 27, 2020

@mrchowmath overhear blowing my mind https://t.co/IjrL4DnxUp

— Jennifer White (@JennSWhite) March 27, 2020

@saravdwerf math fail. #MTBoS pic.twitter.com/Ef0OtJcsso

— Katie VanDam (@vandam_katie) March 31, 2020

I put math on the sidewalk last night and the amazon delivery guy had a great time with it! (I stepped outside and chatted with him – he has an associates in Math!) pic.twitter.com/9p5i5PtLfu

— Danielle Reycer (@daniellereycer) March 31, 2020

Exactly! https://t.co/yNXfwm2cN7

— Brenda Payne (@brendapayne84) March 31, 2020

I made this one.

Now, your turn to make a bunch of these and share. (Same rule: same number to fit into each blank.) pic.twitter.com/pWwzkqxuWy

— Fawn Nguyen (@fawnpnguyen) March 1, 2020

https://t.co/cLUou9RD6H #MTBoS

— Eric Hayes (@mr_hayes) March 9, 2020

Lovely question from @mathsjem #mathsconf22 pic.twitter.com/PU3P8ty051

— Craig Barton (@mrbartonmaths) March 14, 2020

Blokus: https://t.co/a7LQJRRNV3

Blokus: https://t.co/EGe7xB48Nq

Otrio: https://t.co/BohLIOhqYI (Requires a log in)

Set: https://t.co/LPgsVcM8Y2

Mancala: https://t.co/8ekO1gWpk0

Mastermind (simple version) https://t.co/B8bk4LKmRm

Mastermind: https://t.co/OruN6PSDoR

— Lisa Lunney Borden (@LLB_315) March 18, 2020

So I tried an Open Middle problem on Desmos… https://t.co/fFQNmrkILY 🙂

— Druin (@druinok) March 26, 2020

So now they are a reality and we are living in strange times.

If you need some beauty in your life, and you have a few extra dollars kicking around to spend on them, they are available and will ship in just a couple of weeks. pic.twitter.com/fiAm3lf5bB

— Christopher Danielson (@Trianglemancsd) March 20, 2020

Was debating whether I should tag #MTBoS because they’d all get it correct anyway. …right?… #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/bZB7kkA9vo

— Richard Velasco, PhD (@rclvelasco) March 29, 2020

Here it is in @Desmos:https://t.co/jHGFW8WBMT#playwithmath #mathartchallenge #MTBoS #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/TZy9tKcuO2

— Mark Kaercher (@shskaercher) March 29, 2020

Check out this graph! What do you notice and wonder? #iteachmath #mtbos #stats #data pic.twitter.com/Lj62lf7zUK

— Brian Marks (@Yummymath) April 1, 2020

Art and maths project from visual maths pic.twitter.com/PynYqaOQDP

— Mrs Lister (@MrsListerDHS) April 1, 2020

If you ever find yourself in need of. Right triangle/Pythagorean Thm problem. I present to you the need for a 5’ hose extender brought to you by the addition of a new potato bed in the garden 😂 pic.twitter.com/v49hBRnpeX

— Jennifer White (@JennSWhite) April 7, 2020

Just dug out an old #standandtalk for tomorrow's async remote lesson. I guess we'll make it a sit-and-type?! @saravdwerf #mtbos #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/5771M98FeO

— Ms. Mac (@MsMacsMath) April 8, 2020

Notice anything strange here?#unitchat #MTBoS #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/niHz2hepRo

— Ethan Weker (@Ethan_MidPen) April 12, 2020

Read the s/s reasoning for this fraction. What would you say/do next? #MTBoS pic.twitter.com/OYicwaJpu6

— Carla Dawson (@CDawson18) April 16, 2020

What books do y'all recommend for middle school classroom management? #MTBoS #classroommanagement #middleschool #newteacher

— Ms. Messineo (@MsMessineo) April 19, 2020

Ok, I got thoroughly nerd-sniped by @mpershan, @mburnsmath, and @MathMinds. Here are some editable starter screens with spinners (sorted and randomized) and dice (regular or sides with fractions):https://t.co/0oLnvGuPLO

[edit: sorry! original had a bad URL]

— Eli Luberoff (@eluberoff) April 19, 2020

I created another website called CHEWABLE MATH at https://t.co/aMCse07ujp. Work in progress. It's math-lite, focuses more on getting teens to be more mindful of the foods we eat.
Please check it out!#remotelearning

— Fawn Nguyen (@fawnpnguyen) April 20, 2020

My dad sent me this. I’m stuck on about half of them. I’m not sure if that has to do with my math knowledge or movie knowledge, but I thought it was fun! #MTBoS #iteachmath #mathchat pic.twitter.com/aXSGfJ5c0S

— Rebecca (@rebeccajrucker) May 10, 2020

If anyone is looking for a project to end a unit on sequences, then this blog post is for you! #iteachmath #MTBoS #mathartchallenge https://t.co/ZzWn1Xvwg4

— Jessica Strom (@strom_win) May 11, 2020

One of the more useful things I learned in teachers' college was to organize my lesson plan into 2 columns:
(1) What am I doing?
(2) What are students doing?

Early on I would have these detailed teacher notes and long stretches of *empty space* in the adjacent student column >

— Idil A. (@Idil_A_) May 11, 2020

Secondary Math Teachers – I recommend YOU play with this app. The more we play with numbers the more we understand how our students develop numeracy. We become better with Number Talks and identifying the needs of our students. https://t.co/Y7N6LhuDPn

— Sara VanDerWerf (@saravdwerf) May 14, 2020

I was watching TV last night and this was a great math question that came up! How would YOU solve it? Show me below!! #iteachmath #mtbos pic.twitter.com/AZFWQsrEAg

— Audrey, Math by the Mountain (@MathByTheMt) May 17, 2020

More #laughablegraphs.

Look out grads. #MTBoS pic.twitter.com/qXUwPSh20F

— Lauren Baucom (@LBmathemagician) May 20, 2020

#mathwithmeMN "How Many", "WODB", and Logic Puzzles from found objects. These are mine, but next ones will be from my students. Can't wait to see what they come up with! pic.twitter.com/All7MA3yRL

— Jodie Rose-Harkness (@JodieHark) May 20, 2020

Really enjoying my first summer read #mtbos #iteachmath "Depriving some Ss of experiencing struggle robs them of valuable learning opportunities. All Ss deserve the right to struggle. It cannot be reserved for the Ss who appeared to need extra challenge or enrichment." (P3) pic.twitter.com/yujite3dxy

— Crystal Kirch (@crystalkirch) May 30, 2020

Realest-world math. https://t.co/LtRt8DA3LH

— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) April 5, 2020

Check out this #howmany I’m still not sure it’s real. pic.twitter.com/ADkuOHZQr4

— Lauren Johnson (@mrsjohnsonCA) April 6, 2020

Thanks ⁦@JennSWhite⁩ for the ⁦@Desmos⁩ code that enabled me to make my matching activities self-checking!! 😍 pic.twitter.com/dRLFtyCohu

— Julie (@jreulbach) April 7, 2020

Enjoying the sidewalk math this afternoon. #primeclimb #mtbos pic.twitter.com/QzK5vxENCO

— Matt Coaty (@Mcoaty) April 7, 2020

I feel like there is a great Geometry Task in this image. #mtbos #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/IqGYqpqfni

— Sara VanDerWerf (@saravdwerf) April 15, 2020

✨ Popular Screen Remixes ✨

Now you can copy some of our fanciest interactive screens and use them in your own activities.https://t.co/vJgAzdiWLN pic.twitter.com/7QlSdvQIRC

— Desmos.com (@Desmos) April 15, 2020

I love perfect squares and this 8th-grade @openmiddle problem by @TheErickLee is a great challenge – there are 12 unique solutions! Check it out at:https://t.co/ujGdKpyQuI pic.twitter.com/wwwbR76gqr

— Dan Shuster (@DanShuster) April 17, 2020

What do you notice? How many ways do you see 1/4? What if 1=teal+yellow? What fraction is gray? What other questions could you ask? #mathwalk @takemathoutside ⁦@FractionTalks⁩ pic.twitter.com/8W7aYSEvvo

— Trish Kepler (@KeplerTrish) April 25, 2020

Offering math problems to the neighborhood with @RandySwift9 #sidewalkmath #apcalc pic.twitter.com/pgAWjXhJBt

— Karen Swift (@karenaswift) April 28, 2020

r/theydidthemath — top tier Pythagorean related graffiti pic.twitter.com/syzuV3kfT8

— Ani Xu (@AniDoesMath) April 28, 2020

I just learned how to bold words in @desmos CL! `\mathbf{word}`. I may be embarrassingly excited about that.

— Kristen Fouss (@Fouss) April 30, 2020

Remember this for the weekend!! pic.twitter.com/1NpvJEKIun

— Beth Kelly 🍉 (@ChalktalkKelly) May 1, 2020

New postcards have arrived! What will you make with your set of Truchet Tiles?

Receive one at https://t.co/0LicZwnQ7G pic.twitter.com/HcNv2xEjWU

— Public Math (@Public_Math) May 5, 2020

You all need to follow @mathwithmeMN and the hashtag #mathwithmeMN! Such great stuff being shared & not just for those of us in MN. (I'm a bit biased 'cause all involved are some of my FAV MN math peeps. @mathbymalaney @MsFierst @SophieKasahara @vangmay1 @Racquel21…) Love SPPS! https://t.co/59L3MVCkBI

— Sara VanDerWerf (@saravdwerf) May 12, 2020

Hello educator friends. A quick word about our language.

I suggest that we discontinue the use of "stealing" to mean "using" or "being influenced by" the ideas of others.

— Christopher Danielson (@Trianglemancsd) August 8, 2019

Oh this is wonderful. https://t.co/UueS9h2JMo

— Annie Perkins (@anniek_p) May 19, 2020

Sounds like a good #Estimation180 prompt. #mtbos #msmathchat #chinookmath https://t.co/4Gd4ZKkATL

— Ron King (@mthman) June 11, 2020

Was in the studio this afternoon, beginning to pack up for the year and reflecting on our focus of “who does math?” – hoping that these discussions, often inspired by children’s books, created openings for anti-racism discussions with friends & families. #sd38learn #MathPhoto20 pic.twitter.com/r9mwOYmRZw

— Janice Novakowski (@jnovakowski38) June 12, 2020

Math is important. pic.twitter.com/N0NfZtg7jg

— Allison Yokeley (@allisonyokeley) June 21, 2020

Saw this making the "math puzzle" rounds on Facebook again. The person posting strongly fights for 38 as the answer.
SMH
This is why we teach kids the difference between "digits" and "numbers" pic.twitter.com/e9gscNGFgI

— Denis Sheeran (@MathDenisNJ) May 30, 2020

For those looking to build up their "Anti-Racism in Math Education" list (ahem, that's all of us… right?), @mathhombre is curating quite the list:https://t.co/pxd32BYLKb

— Classroom Chef (@classroomchef) June 9, 2020

I don't think people really understand what privilege means, so please join me in making a thread of some examples:

— Howie Hua (@howie_hua) June 9, 2020

Hey #MTBoS. Random question. What is the most mathy thing you’ve decorated with in your house? I have lots of contenders. Here is one corner of my living room. Do you have a giant compass on your wall? Or N&W about the numbers in the window frame? (Odd #s on top…) pic.twitter.com/BDwyOEDbDG

— Sara VanDerWerf (@saravdwerf) June 20, 2020

Here is the link to #TheWholeEnchilada #gbl #iteachmath #mtbos https://t.co/VtCnbobKFJ pic.twitter.com/KdwnvjNwfJ

— Kate Selkirk-Litman (@kate_selkirk) July 11, 2020

Most recent notes are here: https://t.co/xZPBPq7GFq
If you mean the practice questions I wrote a couple of years ago, they are here: https://t.co/itQOshFkSS

— Shaun Carter (@theshauncarter) July 17, 2020

I enjoyed reading & learning from this thread! https://t.co/Cw9NdRMQvb

— Sara VanDerWerf (@saravdwerf) July 22, 2020

I have put all the @desmos Algebra activities I have created so far into this collection: https://t.co/m4oVeEfZhm

I have also added another lesson & practice. @AlgebraDesmos #iteachmath #Mtbos #improvemyAB pic.twitter.com/4gItR4h2Wp

— Kurt Salisbury (@kurt_salisbury) July 30, 2020

Hey #MTBoS #iteachmath, I've spent some time organizing @Desmos Activities!

Check out https://t.co/G0rG9tOAqw to access these creations, collaborations, and collections, organized by Math 8 and Algebra 1 unit/concept(s).

Did I miss a MUST-DO Activity? Suggestions welcome! pic.twitter.com/ny2Zgn3aNs

— Cathy Yenca (@mathycathy) July 1, 2020

Here’s my entry in the “signs showing 6 ft in different units” category. #unitchat pic.twitter.com/kwDWp4MZjx

— Casey McTeach (@cmmteach) July 4, 2020

How many grapes? How did you count them? pic.twitter.com/JOg2ToXr4n

— Christopher Danielson (@Trianglemancsd) July 2, 2020

Odd has an odd number of letters.
Even has an even number of letters.
Prime has a prime number of letters.

— chris nho (@nhoskee) July 17, 2020

I fixed this sign at work today. How long until someone notices? #becausepythagoreantheorem pic.twitter.com/b0XVnNb8yK

— Chrissy Newell (@MrsNewell22) July 29, 2020

"The problem does not end when you get the answer." @robertkaplinsky @openmiddle #mtbos #iteachmath

— Ali Grace Eiland (@AGEiland) July 28, 2020

This could be a nice little warm-up for students.

Draw a shape with…#iteachmath #mtbos pic.twitter.com/0aef0Zosef

— John Rowe 👨🏽‍🚀 (@MrJohnRowe) July 30, 2020

Favorite Tweets of the 2019-2020 School Year | Part 2

You can find my previous year’s favorite tweets by clicking links for the posts below.

• 2016-2017
• 2017-2018
• 2018-2019
• 2019-2020 (Distance Learning)

 

*There were too many Tweets to fit it all in one post.  Look for Part 3 coming soon.

---

Nice problem ⏰ #MTBoS #iTeachMath https://t.co/PJUtrfW8z5

— John Rowe 👨🏽‍🚀 (@MrJohnRowe) June 27, 2019

Yes! Stealing this! #iteachmath #MTBoS https://t.co/aNPSYFvr4c

— Cathy Yenca (@mathycathy) June 29, 2019

A quick blog post describing how I teach people to play SET on the fly during a game in progress. You might find it useful. #MTBoS #mathschat https://t.co/w3MBfnM0TL pic.twitter.com/2FSwZjI11a

— David Butler (@DavidKButlerUoA) June 4, 2019

What do you notice? What do you wonder? pic.twitter.com/mlFH1O7n5p

— Andre Sasser (@MrsSasser) June 8, 2019

Hey #MTBoS – What are some low-lift/high-reward ways you build community in your classes? Thinking things like high fives or Friday letters or name tents.

— Mattie B 🏳️‍🌈 (@stoodle) June 11, 2019

I’d love to hear your process for attempting this @openmiddle problem I just created.#MTBoS #iTeachMath pic.twitter.com/ulhtQLAZMw

— John Rowe 👨🏽‍🚀 (@MrJohnRowe) July 9, 2019

Marbleslides – Derivatives coming at you! Feedback welcome. Check it out!
[Warning: I hope it's addicting…] #desmosfellows #iteachmath #calculus @Desmos https://t.co/RpAZ2LSYyd pic.twitter.com/IVS6WcYWHt

— Chris Bolognese (@EulersNephew) July 17, 2019

What is one small to medium change you have made in your teaching that had made a positive difference?

{I need a focus for the year that doesn’t make me want to redo everything I’ve ever done.}

— Elissa Miller 🦄 (@misscalcul8) July 21, 2019

19. Mountain Ranges https://t.co/OgjfHnsY35 pic.twitter.com/n0cknjZJew

— Play With Your Math (@playwyourmath) August 3, 2019

Here's a heptagonut. It's created from seven regular heptagons.

What other polygonuts exist?#MTBoS #iTeachMath #iEatMath 🍩 pic.twitter.com/FMhHOQ9Rnr

— John Rowe 👨🏽‍🚀 (@MrJohnRowe) August 6, 2019

Introduced systems of linear inequalities today in summer school algebra. Students worked in pairs, using sharpies and page protectors. Each graphed an inequality, then considered their system together. #mtbos #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/JuIOiMuRnR

— Cara Daley (@DaleyMathTweets) July 18, 2019

🍦😋 pic.twitter.com/NELWHwwhG8

— WeAreTeachers (@WeAreTeachers) August 2, 2019

My first time sharing an AB on Twitter. Thanks @mrchowmath and @jocedage with CL help. Please let me know if something isn’t right. Check out this @Desmos activity: Adding Integers Splat!!!! https://t.co/b5LK4Emx0a #iteachmath #MTbos

— Robin Kubasiak (@KubasiakRobin) August 4, 2019

So excited about my new power posters! I have a feeling they are going to come in super handy for exponentials, logarithms, and radicals in Algebra 2. #mtbos #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/rDjOogLVZO

— Sarah Carter (@mathequalslove) August 6, 2019

What a great message to give your students! https://t.co/5EcVd7P1VZ

— Pam Harris (@pwharris) August 10, 2019

#unitchat https://t.co/HsZtbsSA6i

— Lisa Bejarano (@lisa_bej) August 10, 2019

This is brilliant. #mtbos #iteachmath https://t.co/YM3vpsLGMY

— Sarah Carter (@mathequalslove) August 10, 2019

I'm loving how @mrscousins5 adapted the bottom ups hundreds chart to include decimals. #elemmathchat https://t.co/AnzdyadAtl

— Graham Fletcher (@gfletchy) August 9, 2019

How many white cubes are missing? #MTBoS #iTeachMath pic.twitter.com/isPku21baH

— John Rowe 👨🏽‍🚀 (@MrJohnRowe) August 12, 2019

One of my favorite things to do:
Find out when the teachers near me has a test, stand in hall during passing of that class period and tell students going into the room “good luck on your test today!” Faces change! #community #weareinittogether @saravdwerf

— Marcy Kickhafer (@Mkickhafer) August 16, 2019

Thanks for sharing these awesome resources @math_rickard @k8nowak @jreulbach #MTBoS #iteachmath!

Row Games {self-checking partner practice}:https://t.co/6K6ka7ldvs

Desmos activities {tabs at the bottom for grades 6, 7, 8, Alg 1}: https://t.co/94S8kcNiXC

— Cathy Yenca (@mathycathy) August 20, 2019

pic.twitter.com/98pZcpSxYR

— pamjwilson, nbct (@pamjwilson) August 17, 2019

3 days into the new school year… 3 amazing e-mails from parents & a former student / future MATH TEACHER! I'm collecting these kind notes in a #Keynote file entitled #LivingMyWhy. When challenging days come, I'll read them with gratitude & for perspective. #iteachmath #MTBoS pic.twitter.com/GKxOjLZtac

— Cathy Yenca (@mathycathy) August 25, 2019

Day 12 (part 2): My freshmen completed two Rubik’s cube mosaics! #Teach180 @YouCanDoRubiks pic.twitter.com/Cy9UJETbNT

— Andre Sasser (@MrsSasser) August 27, 2019

Hey #mtbos anyone remember who made these originally and if they were willing to share the file? 🙏🏻 https://t.co/1GIumH8bQF

— Casey McTeach (@cmmteach) September 1, 2019

Would love to hear the story of your attempt to solve this @openmiddle problem.#MTBoS #iTeachMath 🔺 pic.twitter.com/NzSBwdRZjw

— John Rowe 👨🏽‍🚀 (@MrJohnRowe) September 2, 2019

ok #mtbos this is why you ROCK!!! I saw this warmup routine last year and OMG is it amazing!!!! I call it last, last, last, challenge 🤩🤩 #itsworthit #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/keZYGBoeAt

— stephanie minor (@minor_math) August 26, 2019

Today was a day of “Making 4” on our triangular pyramids. No side could use the same method. Ss did a good job, and are scrambling on our “Making 6” or “Making 8” polyhedra. #msmathchat #mtbos pic.twitter.com/lnIxlQZmSW

— Bryan Anderson (@And02B) September 4, 2019

Excited to give the 20 x 9 Challenge a try tomorrow! #mtbos #iteachmath #puzzlingclassroom pic.twitter.com/XJCP2vdswn

— Sarah Carter (@mathequalslove) September 6, 2019

Thank you @amazon and @mathequalslove for the great graphing lesson today! #fridayfunday #iteachmath #showercurtaingrid pic.twitter.com/5kRZf29O9Y

— Karen Curran (@KCMathRocks) September 6, 2019

Take time to do something that truly feeds your soul. Even if you think you don’t have the time. It will restore you and give you more energy and peace than you had by just doing more items on your todo list. This is your daily reflection from Anna.

— Anna Vance (@TypeAMathLand) September 10, 2019

I've started a new "Exit Routine" that has really helped my Ss strengthen their mental math skills. Everyday as the Team's Resource Monitor cleans up, the rest of the Ss do "Emoji Math". We usually get in 3 puzzles each day. The Ss ❤️ it. :o) #iteachmath. #teach180 pic.twitter.com/6PdJTNLTGR

— Rockstar MathTeacher (@RoxyGirlTeacher) September 10, 2019

Dusting off the old blog with a post about what I do after name tents to keep the conversation going. https://t.co/PRM60J9Bic

— Mary Bourassa (@MaryBourassa) September 9, 2019

Today when looking at 9 – (-4) a S said “oh, I get it. The difference between 9 & -4 is 13” Nothing memorized, just discovered. Lots of “oh yeah. I get it now” Thx @IllustrateMath #iteachmath @OrdeanEastMS

— Jane Tellekson Juten (@JTJuten) September 19, 2019

This is fantastic! Check it out @vangmay1 I think this is another thing I will try with homework (per our conversation earlier). https://t.co/XOJt9ngVQo

— Kristen Helland (@KristenHelland) September 19, 2019

One of my teammates at @lhmsroar reframed “attention-seeking” behavior as “connection-seeking,” and it’s totally changed how I view students with challenging behaviors.

They’re crying out for a ^connection^ with other people.#Bonitians

— Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) September 21, 2019

I was doing PD with #adultedu at @HamlineU Anderson Center today. I parked in Andersons parking lot. When i got out to go up to the event. I noticed something really exciting to this math teacher at the elevator. I was excited that MN gets it right again. #publicmath pic.twitter.com/AQPfCxLlcp

— Sara VanDerWerf (@saravdwerf) September 21, 2019

I love this idea. Thanks for sharing. #mctmmath https://t.co/e0FIf0fes5

— Tony Riehl (@riehlt) September 22, 2019

Thinking about shapes and symmetry with this #wodb using #patternblocks. Suggestions for improvement? @WODBMath #ITeachMath pic.twitter.com/RcQYtILsMn

— Erick Lee HRCE Math (@TheErickLee) September 21, 2019

Updated: pic.twitter.com/r4Am33Kj6U

— Jennifer White (@JennSWhite) September 22, 2019

It's Dot Day! We thought we'd try and decide which group of dots don't belong. @KathyrnSchool @WODBMath #rvsed #rvsnumeracy pic.twitter.com/IqQuqpU31j

— MrsHassett (@MrsHassett4) September 16, 2019

The hardest #openmiddle problem I ever came across (I actually made it up as a challenge for my 5th graders). I can only find one solution so far, and I can't think of a hint that would be helpful without giving it away. @robertkaplinsky @tracyjoproffitt #iteachmath #mtbos pic.twitter.com/ao1CGvxxkG

— Adina R (@adinam225) September 27, 2019

“I give my students a mental health day today; I told them they could do whatever they wanted to recharge, but they couldn’t disturb the people around them.
Some of them read, some did homework, one student even put his head down and took a nap the entire period.”#Bonitians

— Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) September 28, 2019

Hey #mtbos #iteachmath what are you favorite activities to do with students when your lesson runs short and you need to fill about 5-10 minutes? I’m afraid that might happen today 😂 But it’s also Friday so I want to keep it low key!

— Paige (@MrsSheehanMath) September 13, 2019

A phrase I still remember using in student teaching (and still use today) that makes a difference is, "It will be manageable even if it's difficult."

— Tom Hall (@trigoTOMetry) September 14, 2019

Thinking about assessment this afternoon. Is it possible to move away from retakes by assessing previous learning targets on subsequent quizzes and tests? How do you track student progress other than by hand?

I’m looking for ‘real life’ not ‘pie in the sky’ answers. #mtbos

— Andrew Busch (@abusch38) September 21, 2019

Decided to make these tonight.https://t.co/Dq1jd7ovKThttps://t.co/fkhixEjtPH
And put them in an activity builder.https://t.co/ZhQlddrkIV

Thank you @mr_stadel and @NatBanting for the resources and ideas.#msmathchat #mtbos #iteachmath #wismath pic.twitter.com/UVMMOB13dD

— Adrianne Burns (@a_schindy) October 11, 2019

Two things I need to hear from PD today:

1. We are here to serve kids and not necessarily please them.
2. A kids behavior isn’t causing me stress, my reaction to it is causing me stress.

— Elissa Miller 🦄 (@misscalcul8) October 11, 2019

Calculators don’t have number sense. #iteachmath #mtbos pic.twitter.com/ds3xXNLIKE

— Berkeley Everett (@BerkeleyEverett) October 7, 2019

A teacher wrote four positive numbers on the board and invited his students to calculate the product of any two. The students calculated only five of six products and these are the results: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

What is the last product?
What are the original four numbers?

— Benjamin Leis (@benjamin_leis) October 13, 2019

If you liked the colored dot problems I posted earlier, you can make a copy for yourself. I also created colorless dots so students can create their own to challenge each other! https://t.co/vHBhKAG8ap #iTeachMath #iTeach4th #mtbos #mathchat #elemmathchat pic.twitter.com/fQ7YpXVoJk

— Shawn Seeley (@shawnseeley) October 13, 2019

Playing “I Spy a Sum” with Ten Frame playing cards. #Iteachmath #mtbos pic.twitter.com/n9JnY3RsvX

— Erick Lee HRCE Math (@TheErickLee) October 20, 2019

Today was our first day fully implementing "simplifying early." Game changer – the kids totally got what they were doing &THEY could choose the time – early or at the end. They even used the vocab right away while they worked & shared. Thanks @themathjedi! #mtbos

— Debbie Hurtado (@DebbieHurtado) October 1, 2019

One of the things we say to each other in our math department (we all really, really like each other!) is “we would rather have your 80% than anyone else’s 100.” That is, we know it’s tough and you won’t have your A game every time, but we support you and we’re with you!

— Jonathan Osters (@callmejosters) October 2, 2019

Day 36: Used @GraspableMath to help introduce Literal Equations today. Thanks #mtbos for the idea! #teach180 @RCEMiddle pic.twitter.com/kvALtGo659

— LC (@clemsoncory) October 9, 2019

First: Yes, I would eat this.
Next: No, I wouldn't regret it.
Last: What do you notice about this? What do you wonder?
What #math question would you like answered about this?#mathchat #makeitreal #iteachmath #mtbos #mathstratchat #satchat #hackingmath @reeses pic.twitter.com/OL9woVUDsJ

— Denis Sheeran (@MathDenisNJ) October 12, 2019

Buenos días, mi gente.

Who got you in this way? Who do you got in this way?

pic.twitter.com/uRES8zsNYL

— José Vilson (@TheJLV) October 12, 2019

I love @Desmos. Most of my students do too, but some think they aren't "learning." I've decided to incorporate our activities on assessments this year. Explicitly linking how we spend our class minutes with what they see on the test is, I hope, a good idea? 🤔 #MTBoS #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/jojsGwT8QQ

— Jessica (@mizzdurand) October 13, 2019

I think @Qantas needs a ≤ sign here, but if it HAD to be an = sign…

What is the biggest each bag can be?
Is it possible to have two bags of the same capacity?#MTBoS #iTeachMath #MTBOz 🦘 pic.twitter.com/biqvoNBS5j

— John Rowe 👨🏽‍🚀 (@MrJohnRowe) October 13, 2019

Unpopular Observation:
Those who say "find what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" are grossly underestimating what someone will do for what they love.

Everything I do deserves my best, and yes, is exhausting and sometimes feels like work. And it's worth it.

— John Stevens (@Jstevens009) October 15, 2019

Introducing two step equations today, they didn’t even realize they were solving math problems. #iteachmath #mtbos pic.twitter.com/ALeohzdxt5

— madnessinthemiddle (@tw1489) October 16, 2019

So much fun today!!! 😍😍😍 we operated on patients…their ailments? Solving and representing 1&2 step problems involving addition and subtraction!! #FIS #Fairfield #MTBoS #ElemMathChat @fairfield_int pic.twitter.com/QXNp9nfiZL

— Randi Mitchael (@randimitchael) October 17, 2019

What do you notice? What do you wonder? #mtbos #iteachmath https://t.co/AkKFmwbra8

— Bobson Wong (@bobsonwong) October 17, 2019

Peanut math. #mtbos https://t.co/WXfqyU8Who

— Kathy H (@kathyhen_) October 22, 2019

Maybe a nostalgic spirograph can lighten up your Monday… and if you don't like mine, make your own! 🙂https://t.co/1uoRCd3l3d #desmos #mtbos #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/EubKJROKam

— Vincent Panetta (he/him/they/them) (@PanettaMath) October 21, 2019

How many jumping jacks can you do in one minute? Working on finding and applying unit rates by getting out of our seats to do some math #movinginmath #funfriday #pohatpride #mtbos @NCTMIllum pic.twitter.com/oUY46S0PfI

— Aʙʙʏ LᴀBᴀʀ (@MrsLaBar) October 20, 2019

Here's an @openmiddle problem I created while on the flight to #AAMT2019#iTeachMath #MTBoS @aamtinc 🦘 #MTBOz pic.twitter.com/6rVH5dbUlp

— John Rowe 👨🏽‍🚀 (@MrJohnRowe) July 8, 2019

I had such fun in 4th again today 😊 I left them my strategy when I had to go and told them to find me during the week and see if they could explain what I was thinking about! (Bottom right). Many already excitedly did so on the way to music! pic.twitter.com/qVlsfZLw3e

— Casey McTeach (@cmmteach) October 29, 2019

Look at this #debatemath example! https://t.co/OO797fMseD

— Chris Luzniak (@cluzniak) October 29, 2019

One of the first articles I share with paras is, Never Say Anything a Kid Can say by Steven Reinhart. #ElemMathChat https://t.co/FgPMh02kuG

— Mike Flynn (@MikeFlynn55) November 22, 2019

Which is a better question (a) or (b)?

Why?

How could the problem be improved?

Thoughts and feedback appreciated.@mathsjem @mrbartonmaths @colinfoster77 @robertkaplinsky @jemmaths pic.twitter.com/nMSeYaGofw

— Jacob Bollen (@MrBollenMaths) November 28, 2019

An idea I hope I'm wrong about –

The most essential teacher changes are almost impossible without simultaneous and massive personal changes.

— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) December 4, 2019

If I were teaching middle schoolers about percentages right now, we would definitely do some strategizing around this offer. pic.twitter.com/S52u5sIHAV

— Christopher Danielson (@Trianglemancsd) December 8, 2019

New toys. pic.twitter.com/CTQt3BULZE

— Christopher Danielson (@Trianglemancsd) November 6, 2019

Been having the same thing going on over here…. pic.twitter.com/RvtHFvRbe0

— Paula Beardell Krieg (@PaulaKrieg) November 9, 2019

#tmwyk https://t.co/bQUV7suWta

— Christopher Danielson (@Trianglemancsd) November 17, 2019

It's that time for our annual @Desmos challenge of using polar, parametric, and Cartesian equations to graph a winter themed coloring book design. Check these out these awesome student-made designs, some of which took over 100 equations! #iteachmath @ColumbusAcademy pic.twitter.com/kzvgFATU8O

— Chris Bolognese (@EulersNephew) November 21, 2019

#mtbos by chance, has anyone created this file, already? Willing to share? https://t.co/vf4Pez50Kq

— pamjwilson, nbct (@pamjwilson) November 22, 2019

My slope dude poster (that has been a great tool in my classroom for years! Thanks @mathequalslove ) got some awesome 8th grade teachers added to it today 😆 @Bitmoji pic.twitter.com/CpHCuV3mH8

— Lauren Casias (@mrscasiasmath) November 22, 2019

The Post-It Note Challenge from @mrsforest

– fold the post-it
– make a single hole punch to produce a hole pattern

There are some "happy accidents" in this collection.#playwithmath pic.twitter.com/tcV7mm4K0T

— Mark Kaercher (@shskaercher) November 26, 2019

Done with my first semester concept maps/brain dump outlines for #alg2chat – feel free to copy and modify if they'd be helpful for you. #MTBoS #makeitstick #retrievalpractice #elaboration https://t.co/ZeAWcgfX8g pic.twitter.com/MMh68hYAUT

— Anna Vance (@TypeAMathLand) November 27, 2019

Day 5: a former coworker taught me the importance of referring to mistakes as gifts. The small switch in wording makes a big difference with getting students comfortable revising work. #ICTMchat #12DaysofTwitter

— Tom Hall (@trigoTOMetry) December 9, 2019

You guys. Jeff and I found this over lunch today. We legitimately don’t know what this images means, but we’re so intrigued. What are your wonderings? #mtbos #iteachmath https://t.co/na91oG2Riq

— Zak Champagne (@Zakchamp) December 9, 2019

My dad always taught me to respect people who were working. He would make way while driving for trucks and taxis, was respectful to people working in stores and restaurants. Didn't matter what they were doing, he did his best to make sure their job wasn't harder because of him.

— Tom Rademacher (@MrTomRad) December 10, 2019

These are awesome! https://t.co/QRtth5k77h

— Mark Kaercher (@shskaercher) December 11, 2019

Found this pic again and had to share. pic.twitter.com/NxGXi2rMxG

— Barb Everhart (@beRealcoach) December 14, 2019

One of my students spent 6 hours making me the very coolest Christmas gift ever! He measured and folded over 200 pages to make π appear in the edge of a math textbook! #iteachmath #ruaclipper pic.twitter.com/wlDpBvbgV1

— Melissa Madrigal (@MMadrigalGMS) December 16, 2019

What do you #noticewonder?
Which one doesn’t belong? #WODB
What’s the same? Different?
How Many? #unitchat

Snow day designs #tmwyk

Can you figure out which was the hardest to build? pic.twitter.com/VVNkmUDB5I

— Molly Rawding (@RawdingMolly) December 17, 2019

Visual patterns on vertical non-permanent surfaces… 🎶 these are a few of my favorite things 🎶 Thanks #mtbos @fawnpnguyen @saravdwerf @pgliljedahl #vnps #rmmsfam pic.twitter.com/PpFDFPMsnH

— Jessica Borah (@JessicaBorah) December 20, 2019

What would the centred square look like if I used even cuisenaire rods? Odd rods? How would it tile? pic.twitter.com/NTKYfdZiws

— Hana Murray (@MurrayH83) December 30, 2019

New post on the dusty blog:

☝️Don’t email outside of work hours; Nobody cares.
✌️Start the day with short tasks. Then, text your mum.
🤟Marie Kondo your laptop. Close ‘dem tabs.#MTBoS #iTeachMath https://t.co/xzUSRFu5xK

— John Rowe 👨🏽‍🚀 (@MrJohnRowe) December 30, 2019

You may not remember this @maxrayriek, but at #tmc17 you realised that you shouldn’t ask a game designer “Have you considered…?”, but “Can you tell me how you decided…?” As a designer I appreciated it, but as a teacher I have applied it to working with my students. Thank you.

— David Butler (@DavidKButlerUoA) December 31, 2019

This is a great idea for any mixed practice activity! Retweeting for future reference. https://t.co/m1A9k5D6VP

— Tom Hall (@trigoTOMetry) January 2, 2020

We grow where we’re loved.

— Bob Goff (@bobgoff) December 30, 2019

Not the temperature I expected to see. pic.twitter.com/n4WXvYqX3L

— Emma Veach (@emmaveach) January 8, 2020

We call this ‘interesting math’ – when you don’t agree with your buddy. It’s when the best learning starts. #MTBoS pic.twitter.com/v4V7xklhWK

— Debbie Hurtado (@DebbieHurtado) January 16, 2020

Done is better than perfect, because perfect never gets done…

Done is better than perfect, because perfect never gets done…

Done is better than perfect, because perfect never gets done…

Done is better than perfect, because perfect never gets done…

— Anna Vance (@TypeAMathLand) January 25, 2020

I wish I could retweet this 👇 10 million times!#MTBoS #iTeachMath #longlivemath #cmcmath https://t.co/kkllC6kNVZ

— Sarah Galasso (@SarahGMath) January 25, 2020

@Trianglemancsd #unitchat https://t.co/m3XtMowroc

— Nicole Bridge (@NicoleBridge1) January 28, 2020

Quote found in hallway. #NoteToSelf pic.twitter.com/5jRcQpm7vn

— Jane Tellekson Juten (@JTJuten) January 29, 2020

Hey @saravdwerf our department adapted your Name Tents to look like a text message conversation 🙂

Google doc here, for folks on a late semester turnover like us.#iteachmath #MTBoS https://t.co/PhBMg2WGxW pic.twitter.com/GNWI74LYz6

— Idil A. (@Idil_A_) January 30, 2020

This topic is coming up soon for my students! Yours too? –> Pythagorean Theorem Resource Round-Up | MathyCathy's Blog @Desmos @GetKahoot @Socrative #KeynoteForMath @StandandTalks #iteachmath #MTBoS https://t.co/uuHTiEJwXG via @mathycathy pic.twitter.com/K8jArb2WHa

— Cathy Yenca (@mathycathy) January 11, 2020

This modified @Desmos activity (thanks to Josh Giesbrecht) was a FANTASTIC introduction to rational exponents for my Algebra 1 crew yesterday! Go get it! —> Check out this @Desmos activity: Fractional Exponents ! https://t.co/cwwaNNCM8R

— Cathy Yenca (@mathycathy) January 17, 2020

These are phenomenal! Thank you so much for sharing!!! https://t.co/4orI2kjeSl

— Lisa Moore (@lisamooredc) January 20, 2020

https://t.co/XSeZfo7oej

— Liz Caffrey (@AsymptoticLiz) January 23, 2020

Algebra teachers…some resources to check out. #742math https://t.co/3m8DPzOc9C

— Marcy Kickhafer (@Mkickhafer) February 1, 2020

This is my favourite John Berray blog post. I was fortunate to be his friend as he made this world a better place in so many ways. https://t.co/LAYHWOV3Fj

— Mary Bourassa (@MaryBourassa) February 14, 2020

Finally! All the information you need to make your own Pattern Machine in one place.

Share widely!https://t.co/xY4Ck6ixvM

— Christopher Danielson (@Trianglemancsd) February 2, 2020

No document camera, no problem 👇 https://t.co/DT4IbjvYFy

— Zack Miller (@zmill415) February 19, 2020

made a little checklist of what I think are critical non-content skills to go through with parents at conferences tonight. anything you think i’m missing? #mtbos #dcsdpln #teach180 pic.twitter.com/up9ewe1urR

— Liz Mastalio (@MissMastalio) February 19, 2020

Preach 🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/NCPR2zXLMF

— Jamie Spinato (@MsSpinato) February 20, 2020

Thanks to my @Target for this gem. My students need a #unitrate review. #MTBos. pic.twitter.com/Wc4tuKOnJO

— Bernadette Scheetz (@Bescheetz_NBCT) May 7, 2017

I'm sure this is what the directions meant. 😁 pic.twitter.com/Cu2UdXpgmt

— Adrianne Burns (@a_schindy) January 31, 2020

This works every time. Associative property allows you to change the grouping without changing the result in multiplication. pic.twitter.com/lNcXCYUFMf

— Robin Bridgeman (@AuntieRobbie) February 1, 2020

✅ Say, “ask me in 5 minutes” to weed out students who didn’t need a break
✅ Offer reflection time and walks to calm down Ss with behavior challenging to me
✅ Break up instruction with music and walking around
✅ 1-on-1 conversations to GIVE respect
✅ Minimal HW

— Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) February 2, 2020

If I get a small soft serve and pay with a penny, how much change should I get back? #unitsfail #MTBoS pic.twitter.com/XREYxUFv0l

— Jesus Diaz (@diazjesus_slug) February 2, 2020

Goodbye ice cream combinatorics problems, hello @Pringles counting problems! #publicmath https://t.co/nvurWgAC3v

— chris nho (@nhoskee) February 3, 2020

Exponents Day 1 and Day 2! https://t.co/SAzX4FSS8I #iteachmath #MTBoS #alg1chat pic.twitter.com/8bzTqGhwXr

— Katrina Newell (@MrsNewellsMath) February 3, 2020

When your @openmiddle morning warm up has your students begging to trade recess for more time to work on the problem! #iteachmath #MTBoS #elementarymath pic.twitter.com/enBoTdRlXT

— Lyndsay Reynolds (@MsReynoldsTeach) February 6, 2020

Square tiling with dice. pic.twitter.com/11qiLuH5Hv

— Hana Murray (@MurrayH83) February 7, 2020

Thanks @ChuckStoffle for introducing me to this really fun project! #playwithmath #mathart pic.twitter.com/FQNd69QTOd

— Mark Kaercher (@shskaercher) February 7, 2020

A slide I made for quadratics for after break. This is the answer slide after I ask Ss to look at the 3 equations: Love the thicker line export option in @desmos #desmos pic.twitter.com/g74hiLO3i1

— Jennifer Fairbanks (@JenFairbanks8) February 12, 2020

How did I not know about this before: https://t.co/g5kEBISxsE? For all of those who have been asking about virtual manipulatives? Check it out https://t.co/v3Ae1BEZn5
Thank you @Mathgarden for sharing this (and your knowledge and time) with me! #mtbos

— Kevin Davis (@mr_davis_math) February 17, 2020

 

Favorite Tweets of the 2019-2020 School Year | Distance Learning

You can find my previous year’s favorite tweets by clicking links for the posts below.

• 2016-2017
• 2017-2018
• 2018-2019

2020 has been a weird year so far, and it just felt right to have a separate post for stuff related to Distance Learning.

---

Take a moment to thank your kid’s school teacher for their hard work during this tough time. It takes a toll on them too. I attached this note to an extra box of kleenex for my kids classroom. #edchat #MTBoS #iteachmath pic.twitter.com/uHFBwjugkt

— Jonathan Osters (@callmejosters) March 13, 2020

THIS is what we need more of. May we all find time to center inquiry as a value and elevate the natural curiosity of the children in our lives. Be like Aly! (and so many other amazing parents out there) https://t.co/u7bYmHnGWL

— Sara VanDerWerf (@saravdwerf) March 14, 2020

My Favorite Desmos Activities for Distance Learning #MTBoS https://t.co/PtDKUSGCkI pic.twitter.com/XkNMNBGXCk

— Julie (@jreulbach) March 17, 2020

Just made my first doc cam video using a locker shelf. Thank you clever internet teachers. 😂😘 pic.twitter.com/9mh3cB93yc

— Julie (@jreulbach) March 25, 2020

A2: I'm setting a daily schedule with boundaries of when I will be working & letting students know too. It allows me to take time away without feeling guilty. I also have a set area for when I'm officially working & one when I am working for fun on creating activities. #WCSEdchat

— Jennifer Williams (@jlwilliams314) March 31, 2020

Because of flipping my class over the years, I have a lot of videos I’ve created. Not saying 1) they are the best 2) they are perfect (#human) 3) are exactly how you’d teach it – but thought I’d share my YouTube link if you need videos to help https://t.co/BZfzPhTgyE #MTBoS

— Anna Vance (@TypeAMathLand) March 13, 2020

They cover Algebra 1 and 8th Grade.
Maybe they will be helpful to someone. https://t.co/4RZhWvU6sm #mtbos #Iteachmath #flipclasschat

— Mickie Gibbs (@MickieGibbs2) March 14, 2020

More coming soon, but a couple things right now for you to use yourself and/or share with parents who want or need to support playful math learning at home right now… 1/3

— Christopher Danielson (@Trianglemancsd) March 16, 2020

Okay #MTBoS #GeomChat family,

I made a @Desmos AB template for self-checking practice problems. It isn't that fancy, but I tried to make it editable for those new to CL.

AB Link:https://t.co/XeoJiybXSN

Blog Post:https://t.co/smi6rnlxS1

— Jennifer White (@JennSWhite) March 17, 2020

Teacher in the Desmos FB group says:

"It takes a heck of a lot more time and energy to prepare lessons to do online versus teaching in class."

Has that been your experience? Any time-saving tips to share?

— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) March 20, 2020

Zoom Directions for Students! Created by @the_techie_teacher
Make a copy: https://t.co/11iLiDX6aI @zoom_us #elearning pic.twitter.com/CsquLpWWGh

— Andrea Lance (@andie_lance) March 21, 2020

I've spent the last 2 hours testing every free virtual whiteboard in existence and I conclude https://t.co/MZwu2Z3gf1 is the best for working on math together. You can create a grid background, easily drop in photos of work, and annotate AND have each group work on their own page

— Anna Blinstein (@ablinstein) March 22, 2020

You can create an AB with a blank graph screen. Then kids can upload a pic they take of their work into the graph. Also, @Desmos has feedback now! 🙂 Here is an example, https://t.co/53nOijpqmz Creds to @JennSWhite for the idea!!

— Julie (@jreulbach) March 25, 2020

Use Desmos as remote white board!

Create a blank sketch screen, input prompt that allows other responses to show, and embed the sci-calc.

In my live streaming, I gave students a problem. As they worked, I gave feedback. They could type back to me in the input prompt, too. pic.twitter.com/DaQIvppoMm

— Luke Walsh (@LukeSelfwalker) March 25, 2020

Two more @Desmos Grade 6 Menu Activities for Remote Learning:
Math 6 Menu for 3/25/20 (sharing) https://t.co/89fQyb7ybS
Math 6 Menu For 3/26/20 (sharing) https://t.co/KA7HwQRTLa
Thanks so much to: @fawnpnguyen (Visual Patterns), @CmonMattTHINK (Number Snakes), AND . . .

— Cindy Whitehead (@finding_EMU) March 27, 2020

PLEASE add your @Desmos self-checking activity to my doc! https://t.co/tC0kUPoNGg
All collections are being complied here: https://t.co/XaLjLbboJl #MTBoS #iTeachMath

Thank you @a_mcsquared for adding your log activity!

— Julie (@jreulbach) March 29, 2020

Good God, I'm finally done with our Mathematics K-8
Remote Learning Activities. I'd grateful for your help with the answer key (link is on the same page).https://t.co/21UlG1bDUF

— Fawn Nguyen (@fawnpnguyen) March 30, 2020

Math Teachers! We've had a bit of time to start teaching students virtually. I'd love to collect your best ideas so far. What is your best TIP for teaching math in a DISTANCE LEARNING environment? Be specific – I love visuals – small ideas or big! #mtbos #iteachmath (thanks!) pic.twitter.com/UsajRJFDZX

— Sara VanDerWerf (@saravdwerf) April 8, 2020

Yes!!! #742Math @742LnT https://t.co/Dg8mHAcLhR

— Marcy Kickhafer (@Mkickhafer) April 16, 2020

This is a beautiful, heart-wrenching post. If you're still teaching right now, I see you. I see how hard you're working to keep it together for both your own kids and your student kids. https://t.co/7lDJUlk02t

— Shelby Strong 💗💜💙 (@Sneffleupagus) April 28, 2020

Hi #MTBoS, in case you are trying to figure out what to do in virtual advisory, here's what I've been doing: https://t.co/1bhuWwlmGQ

(Context: Probably good for MS and HS kiddos. I have 8 kids in my advisory. We have 15 minutes at the start of every day. We use zoom.)

— samjshah2 (@samjshah2) May 9, 2020

Messed up my 7th gr warmup today so instead I asked them to name their favorite memory of the year and I'm replying with my favorite memory of each of them and it's breaking me.

— Susan Russo (@Dsrussosusan) April 2, 2020

Time to "steal" from what the students feel is working from their other distance learning classes. End of week 3 feedback form: pic.twitter.com/AGcCv4MzKM

— Dan Anderson (@dandersod) April 4, 2020

Small good thing: making these slides to explain "office hours" to my grade 9s.

Getting a lot of mileage out of this emoji 🧕🏾 these days.

Emergency distance learning launches in #OntEd for real tomorrow. Prayers up for us all. pic.twitter.com/IOUdcD6Cso

— Idil A. (@Idil_A_) April 5, 2020

Grade 6s @PortWellerPS finished their third #LearnFromHome week with some #Math on their driveways. Here are some samples of how they performed #Transformations with their chosen #Polygon with #SidewalkChalk. #Geometry #MathArt #LearnOutside @joshburker @MarkChubb3 @TeatherBoard pic.twitter.com/WS5LZPu5qE

— 🅼🆁. 🅳🆈🅲🅺 (@MrKSDyck) April 18, 2020

I planned a low key day with students today. Some review, a short @Desmos lesson, then optional reassessments on @MrDeltaMath.

It was SO nice “slowing down”. I had a chance to leisurely work w students who needed it. And everyone got a break.

We need to do this more right now.

— Julie (@jreulbach) April 24, 2020

Long time without a post, but this one was needed. Hope everyone is finding small reminders to keep them going during this strange time. #msmathchat https://t.co/l28KLQrUJ4

— Tom Hall (@trigoTOMetry) April 28, 2020

#NoteToSelf #hopeful pic.twitter.com/ZfcGqvh2gz

— Jane Tellekson Juten (@JTJuten) April 28, 2020

A little sneak peak at one of my end of year projects to finish the sequence unit. My daughter says I am cringy, but she helped film, direct, and produce while the other one performed her part perfectly. 😆 #iteachmath #MTBoS https://t.co/mK1ISw2ztb

— Jessica Strom (@strom_win) May 8, 2020

Mail on the way to all my darling kiddos! Thanks @Public_Math pic.twitter.com/NdP9jt5RWL

— Casey McTeach (@cmmteach) May 7, 2020

A little sneak peak at one of my end of year projects to finish the sequence unit. My daughter says I am cringy, but she helped film, direct, and produce while the other one performed her part perfectly. 😆 #iteachmath #MTBoS https://t.co/mK1ISw2ztb

— Jessica Strom (@strom_win) May 8, 2020

adding an "insert a meme to describe how you feel today" blank graph page to my weekly check in was basically the best thing ever.

— Casey McTeach (@cmmteach) May 15, 2020

Students probably wont remember what was taught specifically during this pandemic, but they will remember how their teachers cared for them and checked on them. Much like how I still remember my teachers from decades ago.

— 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 (@DrBradJohnson) May 16, 2020

I love this post by @ddmeyer.

When I assessed w @desmos pre-covid, I used self-checking features more to reduce student stress while they were testing, than as a grading tool for me.

I have appreciated self-checking while we are remote, but that is not the beauty of Desmos. https://t.co/geg62i3KNb

— Julie (@jreulbach) May 22, 2020

Any #MTBoS folks users of edpuzzle for interactive videos? I'm just learning about it and excited to try it out. Any feedback or advice?

— Chris Luzniak (@cluzniak) June 25, 2020

What apps would you pay for if remote this fall (that SHOULD be compensated for by your school)? I’ve had free lots of things but if I have to upgrade what are musts?

— Susan Russo (@Dsrussosusan) July 12, 2020

School starts soon… There are still many unknowns… I had to make a plan… Here is my blog post on what I created for a Hybrid Learning Schedule or Full Distance Learning. I hope it inspires you… :o) https://t.co/TZnudRvThv pic.twitter.com/HiVyYARfag

— Rockstar MathTeacher (@RoxyGirlTeacher) July 15, 2020

Math Ts – I do a LOT of quick, structured partner/group talk during a lesson (6th grade) while I walk around and listen in for Ss to warm call. Thoughts on the best way to do this during a virtual lesson w/out using breakout rooms every 2 minutes? #mtbos #iteachmath #msmathchat

— Jessica Borah (@JessicaBorah) July 21, 2020

Love this idea from @MathDenisNJ for using #wodb during remote learning. #edcampMATH @WODBMath pic.twitter.com/ID8IIsS86P

— Jami D Packer (@JamiDanielle) July 22, 2020

Question for the #mtbos, I see a lot of suggestions for student work remotely that seems to infer they have touchscreens. How are you handling students that don't have the ability to write on their screens during the learning process (I'm not a big fan of just take a pic & send)?

— Damion Beth (@DamionBeth) July 25, 2020

Good Things

I’ve done Sara Van Der Werf‘s name tents the last several years and have really enjoyed hearing from every student every day the first week.  However, after that week, I wasn’t nearly as intentional about this.  This year I started asking a non-math question at the end of every test, and I respond to every student like I did on the name tents.  I shared briefly about that in this post.  This has been one of my absolute favorite things I’ve implemented this year.  I look forward to test day because of this, and as I walk around while students are testing, I notice that when they get to the back page of the test, they skip ahead and answer that question first, so I think they like it too.

The first few tests I asked random things like “If you could live anywhere, where would you live?”  “If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would it be?”

Then I remembered Rebecka Peterson has her students write down One Good Thing in a notebook every time they take a quiz.  Rebecka never reads these from her students; it’s just for the students.  I thought about using that as the prompt for students, but I admit, I was a little bit hesitant.  I wondered how this would go with my middle schoolers compared to Rebecka’s pre-calc and calc students.  I wondered if I would get a ton of “nothings”.  I was worried about what they would think knowing that I would be reading them or if this should be something just for them.

My goodness.  Their responses were incredible.  I decided after that first time to never ask another question all year.

I heard about students who helped another student pick up their stuff, who realized they paid attention in class more that week, or who couldn’t think of a bad thing that has happened in a long time (Man, reading that response from the student knowing some of what’s going on outside of school stopped me in my tracks.  That student is going through some tough stuff right now, yet couldn’t think of a bad thing.  Wow!).  Another response started, “Bad thing first…” and then the student went on to say how that bad thing turned into a good thing.  How often do I not take the time to see that the bad/difficult thing, ended up being something pretty great?

My students taught me more than I taught them that week.

Did I get some “I don’t know” or “nothing” responses?  Yes.  Even then, it gave me the opportunity to think back on the week and try to point out a good thing that the student did or that happened to the student.

I’m also really enjoying the opportunity to check in with students and ask about their good things while they are working on test corrections.

And some of their responses just make me smile.  I love that they are taking the time to recognize these good things in their lives.

 

Movement

This past week was one of the best weeks I’ve had with my 6th graders in a long time.  Sara Van Der Werf has said during PD to take note of the good moments in your classroom, the moments when students are engaged, because we want to recreate those moments!

When I think back on this past week in 6th grade, one thing stands out to me.  Movement.

Nearly every day this past week, a good portion of the class my students were out of their desks practicing problems.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

This is something I *know* I need to be doing, but I’ll be honest, I had gotten out of the habit of intentionally putting it in my lesson plans.  Last year I had class sizes of around 33, and it was definitely more difficult to do these types of things both because of space as well as for behavior reasons.  Because I hadn’t been using these types of things last year, I had sort of forgotten to be intentional about this, even with much smaller class sizes this year.

Here’s some of the activities we did this week to practice problems using greatest common factor and least common multiple.

---

Every student had a card with a different number on it.  The numbers did not go in order and were random.  Half of the numbers were printed on one color paper, the other half on another.  Students were to pair up with someone who had the opposite color card as them, find the greatest common factor of the two numbers, check their answer using Desmos (Did you know you can type in gcf(24,32), and it will give you the greatest common factor?!), switch cards, and then find a new partner.

I did have a few cards left over so that if a group of students finished and there weren’t any other groups close to being ready, I could give them a new number so they could keep working.

---

VNPS.  I admit, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve tried using Vertical Non-Permanent Surfaces with 6th graders, and the times that I have used it, I’ve used it with one of my sections that I thought could handle it, or with only a handful of students who had finished their other work.  This was the first time I had tried it with all students in all of my sections.  It was great!  I will definitely be doing this again!

---

Loop Activity.  We did a loop activity, or sometimes called a scavenger hunt.  I hang pieces of paper with problems around the room and on each paper is the answer to the previous problem.  If students do the problems correctly, they will loop back to the first problem after completing all of the problems.  Here is the link to the post where I shared this activity.

---

Word Problems.  When we did word problems, we didn’t spend a ton of time going over examples together as a class.  We did two problems, and then students spent the remainder of the hour working on their own with partners.  Even though we didn’t spend a ton of time as a large group, students still did great on their own.

---

Now, here’s to hoping I remember this in the future, even when I have larger class sizes!

Changes for 2019-2020

I went into the school year knowing I wanted to be purposeful about making some changes in my classroom so that I didn’t go through the year on autopilot repeating everything I did last year.  However, when the year started, I didn’t have a clear idea of what those changes would be.  A few weeks into the year, I’ve found my “thing” for the year.

---

Change 1:  Feedback on Tests

While going through my master’s program, I started grading review worksheets and quizzes by highlighting students mistakes after seeing this on the Teaching Channel.  I didn’t feel ready to grade tests that way at that time.  That was two school years ago, and last year, since I was no longer doing action research for my master’s, I only graded the review worksheets that way.  I’ve always dreaded handing back tests in class.  Students didn’t look over them how I hoped they would, and it became something I put off doing.

During a conversation with my department, one of my colleagues talked about how she gives feedback on tests by highlighting student mistakes.  As a result of that conversation, I decided to go back to giving feedback that way this year, including tests.

I know it will take a few times of going through the process to work out a system that works for both my students and me, but after going through it once with most of my classes, I truly feel this is a better system than what I was doing in the past.  I was hesitant to try because I couldn’t picture exactly how the process would work or that I could get buy in from all of my students.  Ultimately, I decided that even if my students even gain one thing from looking more closely at their mistakes, it is worth it.

---

Change 2:  Non-Math Test Question

I’ve used Sara Van Der Werf’s name tents the last several years, and I’ve wanted to try to find ways to keep the conversation going throughout the school year.  I want to be a student of my students all year long.

I decided to add a place for this on all of my tests.  I’m asking students a non-math/school question and respond to each student the way I do on the name tents.  So far I’ve pulled the questions from this Chat Pack, something I picked up at a thrift store years ago.  The first question I asked was, “What event or activity in the next few months are you looking forward to more than anything else?”  Some of my students assumed the question meant in math or in school, so next year I may ask something that is more obvious that it doesn’t need to relate to school at all.  The next question I asked was what state they would choose to live in and why.  I loved getting a glimpse into the thinking of middle schoolers!

On the name tents, I don’t typically ask students questions or give them prompts, as I want to conversation to be more organic and for them to share with me whatever they want.  So far, the questions on the tests have been much more direct.  I may change that in the future so that it’s more open ended.

---

Here are a few other small changes or classroom hacks I’ve been using this year.

Random Grouping

I noticed last year that when I would number students off for groups, I continually heard, “I’m always with_____.”  Even though I tried to be “random” about how I numbered students, I obviously didn’t do a very good job of it.  I know this is NOTHING new, but I finally started using cards to put students in pairs.  I use two different colored decks (blue and red) and students are partners with the same card of the other deck.  One of my classes has struggled to stay focused and work during work time.  A student suggested that I pair boys with girls to help keep them focused.  Because I have two different colored decks, I now give girls one color and boys the other.

I can also somewhat rig the partners if I need to.  I got this idea from somewhere online.  If I need to, when I’m getting the cards ready, I find one pair of matching cards and put them so I know where those two cards are as I’m passing the cards out.  If I have two students who cannot handle working together, I make sure to give one of them the “rigged” card and make sure the other student doesn’t get the other rigged card.  I’ve also used this when I have a student who struggles to work with a partner.  As much as I work with my students on how to work together in groups regardless of who their partner is, sometimes I just need a certain student to participate in what we are doing that day.  I will ask the student prior to putting the groups together if there is a student that would be a good partner for them that day or someone they shouldn’t be paired up with that day.  I make sure to give the student I talked to one of the “rigged” cards and pass out the other card according to the conversation I had with the student.

Class Sizes

This is something I can’t believe has taken me 6 years to start doing.  In the front of my planner where I write down the names of absent students, I put a post it with how many students are in each of my classes.  I use this to figure out how to have students number off for groups.  I’ve found this to make putting students in groups go more efficiently.  For example, if it’s 3rd hour and 2 students are absent, I check the post it to see that I have 21 students, so with 2 gone, I have 19 and count off accordingly.

Quizzes

I give students several short 1 to 2 question quizzes throughout each unit.  When I gave the first one, I told my students that I would grade one of the two questions.  Honestly, I did this sort of for selfish reasons, I was looking to cut down the time it took to grade them after school.  However, I realized that I actually learned a lot more by allowing students to pick the problem I graded.  I noticed which problem students avoided.  Some students attempted both and then picked one for me to grade, so I learned which problem students felt more confident in.

Cable Organizer

I put this cable organizer on my desk to keep my laptop charger in place when my computer isn’t at my desk.  It’s a small thing, but it’s so nice to keep it in place so it doesn’t fall down.  I also used to pull out the cable on accident as I’d be working at my desk, and now I don’t do that.

Whiteboard Posters

I’ve also really been enjoying these whiteboard posters and am looking forward to continuing to use them throughout the year.