Wolfram-Alpha:Computational Knowledge Engine

I recently took a Middle Level Math Methods class and the instructor shared this website with us.  I had heard of it before but never spent much time with it.  When I tutored higher level math, some of my students would use this website to check their answers.  They were able to type in a complicated calculus problem and Wolfram-Alpha could evaluate the integral for you.  I thought that was so cool!  I hadn't realized all the other great information Wolfram-Alpha could provide. Below is a list of categories Wolfram-Alpha has organized their info into:

You can click on any of the above categories to see some of the information you can search for within this site.  It is pretty cool to see the computational information that is attached to all of these different categories.  I could see this website being great for an inquiry based learning unit.  I may try to incorporate this website into a unit on statistics and probability in my 8th grade classroom.  You can type just about anything into the search bar and Wolfram-Alpha will return some number that are attached to what you typed in.  For example, if I wanted my students to learn more about their community, I could type in "Austin neighborhood, Chicago" and Wolfram-Alpha will tell me the size of the neighborhood in square miles and population.  It will tell you the time and temperature in Austin and it has a link to the wikipedia page about the Austin neighborhood.

I think students would have a lot of fun navigating through this site and collecting data on different subjects that interest them. 

SmartBoards vs Dry Erase Boards

At the beginning of the school year I was so excited to be placed in a classroom with an interactive SmartBoard.  I thought the possibilities were endless in how I could enhance student engagement and instruction with this wonderful tool.  We could display our power point presentations on the SmartBoard and there would be no bulky projector blocking the views of any of my students.  During our Geometry unit on transformations of figures I was able to construct images and use the interactive features to model how a figure could be translated, rotated, or reflected.  I was able to "grab" the figures on the screen and move them and the students could see how the images moved along with them.  Then students were able to get up out of their seats and move the figures as they explained what was happening with the figures and their images.  The students were often eager and excited to use the SmartBoard when it was part of a lesson.

Unfortunately, I have discovered that I am more comfortable with modeling problems with the regular dry erase board.  I have had some issues with the technology not functioning properly during class and a video I planned to show won't load or my cords are not connecting properly to communicate the information from my computer to the SmartBoard.  The dry erase board is reliable, all I need is a marker that is not dried out and an eraser.  Even without an eraser I can make it work.  I have partially abandoned the glorious technology of the SmartBoard and tend to use the dry erase board more frequently.

Ultimately, I am glad that I have access to both tools and my classroom is set up in a way that I can seamlessly use both of the boards during the same lesson.  I do need to commit to learning more about the capabilities of the SmartBoard so I can work smarter and not harder when delivering content to the students.  I would love to hear others' thoughts on which tool is better, does anyone else have a preference or would you use both as well?


I have found the following resources to help me learn more about what my SmartBoard can do for me:
http://baileybunch6.blogspot.com/p/lets-get-smart.html 

http://teacherslovesmartboards.com/smart_board_tips_and_tricks/

https://www.pinterest.com/Sisterteachers/smart-board/

Angry Birds and Parabolas

This past week I was charged with the task of finding a challenge for our students who have exhibited mastery of their grade level content and help fill some gaps they may have when transitioning into high school.  I sat down with my 8 students and asked them what topics they had heard of and were curious about.  They all said parabolas right away then listed topics in geometry like sin, cos, tan and soh cah toa. They mentioned box and whisker plots, scatter plots, and regression.

I thought about all of the topics they mentioned and what would be most important for them to know going into high school.  Geometry is covered during most student's sophomore years and freshman year focuses mainly on Algebra.  We would be covering statistics during our last quarter of the year so I knew I could introduce them to the different plots and regressions they asked about.

We all decided to investigate parabolas.

I wanted to set them up with a project that would be fun for them to investigate and asked them if they've ever heard of the game Angry Birds.  That got their attention.

I found a website that helps you understand how a quadratic equation graphs a parabola onto the coordinate grid using that trajectory of the Angry Birds

Angry Birds Training


It started off with Jedi training to model how the parabola can be stretched.


Then it shows how to identify the vertex from the equation.




After the students get some practice with manipulating the parabolas they are challenged with coming up with an equation to map the Angry Birds onto the correct trajectory.

I'm looking forward to investigating these advanced concepts with my Elite 8th Graders to help set them up for success in high school.

The students will use these websites to help practice these concepts and keep a journal of their experience throughout the investigation.

Bulletin Boards+Pinterest=WIN!

One of my many duties as a resident teacher has included updating the bulletin board in our hallway each month.  Of course, the bulletin boards are updated each month to keep updated with what is going on in our classroom and usually should reflect the time of year.  Luckily, I am not the first teacher who has had to come up with visually appealing and creative ideas that integrate the fall with beginning 8th grade.  All I had to do was search 8th grade bulletin boards on pinterest and a plethora of ideas came up for me.  This is what I decided on:

 I know that pinterest has been around for a while but I couldn't believe all the ways it can help a new teacher come up with creative ideas for fun bulletin boards.  The when Christmas came around, our middle school team decided to turn our hallway into Whoville, but we had to include our class content and unit in our bulletin board.  Luckily, Pinterest helped me make the connection between the Grinch and his dilating heart that grew three sizes that day.

Pinterest helps with making anchor charts and foldable notes.  Another reason I turn to Pinterest for my classroom is coming up with ideas for community builders, here is my latest community builder I used when I visited a classroom other than my own to get to know the students and learn about their goals:

I've never identified as a creative person and thought I would struggle to fit in the elementary school community and build a warm, inviting classroom.  Pinterest has helped me create the illusion of creativity, so I thank all the pinners out there!

Improving Math Fluency on Chromebooks

Our administration recently made a push for us to get our students on the Chromebooks in the classroom to give them more practice with the math fluency.

The program they designated as our go-to is https://www.ixl.com/math/  One of the really great things about this website is that it is partnered with the Illinois State Common Core Standards.  Teachers can enter in target standards that the students are currently learning or have learned and need to improve fluency for so when students log in, the questions they are working on are relevant to them.  This is also a way that fluency practice can be differentiated.  We, as teachers, can analyze an individual student's NWEA scores and assign standards that they need practice on.  Also, for our accelerated students,  we can challenge them with standards above grade level to expose them to content they will see in upcoming grade levels.

 Another thing that teachers and administrators both like is the analytics of the student usage.  We can see how long students are spending in the program, what questions they're working on, and the success they have with each question.

 IXL is not just a program for math, it can be used across all grade levels and content areas.  I am only becoming familiar with it in the context of math fluency practice but it is a user friendly website that makes it very easy for teachers to give the necessary practice students need with common core standards.  Parents would be able to monitor their child's progress and it could be a great tool to bridge the gap between learning in the classroom and learning at home.
https://www.ixl.com/community/resources/printable-materials
The above link includes some free printable resources to help facilitate and monitor the use of IXL in the classroom.  It offers progress charts and achievement certificates for individuals and whole classes.
I am looking forward to seeing what the students think of this website and hope they find it as useful as I do!

The Discovery Channel

I am quickly learning how important it is to seek out quality resources whenever possible when creating engaging and relevent activities for the classroom.  I recently attended a wedding and ran into a friend who works for the Discovery Channel's education division.  He told me about all kinds of great things they were developing for use in the classroom.

I was able to gain access to the site because I knew someone behind the scenes, but it is password protected.  As with many resources in education, a fee is required to permit access for use in the classroom.

Below is a screen shot of the Lesson Plan Library available within the Teacher Center of the website. This library includes full lesson plans with supporting technologies and activities across many different subjects.

The Interactive Discovery Atlas Map could be used in so many ways.  Students could research different cultures, governments, histories, and natural worlds through this tool.  Teachers could use the videos within this map to enhance certain topics within the classroom.  I could even see myself using this map to research future travel plans.

I also found a great resource for students working on a STEM fair project:

In addition to all of the great resources for the classroom, Discovery Education offers professional development and different professional resources for teachers.

I'm so glad I ran into my old friend at another old friend's wedding and made this wonderful professional connection.  I hope I can find ways to use this collection of resources in my classroom.

YouTube: A Rich Resource for Engagement

YouTube has been around for quite some time now, and I often forget about how useful it can be to enhance instruction in the classroom.  I recently utilized a video of a rap about the Pythagorean Theorem to introduce the topic to my 8th graders and I was amazed at how engaged they were throughout the entire lesson.  I was so happy to see how effective this video was, not only were they interested throughout the video but they remained engaged through the rest of the lesson. It was awesome.  I often think I need to reinvent how to introduce different topics to my students but I need to remember there is a wealth of resources on websites like YouTube and its derivatives like YouCubed.



I am currently brainstorming ideas of how to enhance learning through the creation of videos by our students.  I think it would be fun for the students to showcase their learning through the planning and recording of videos.  I know traditional papers and reports can get boring and it would be nice to give the students some creative liberties with their learning and change up the routine.  We are just wrapping up a unit on geometry and I'm hoping to offer some extra credit to students who would like to summarize the unit through making a video on what they learned.

I plan to continue using videos from sources like YouTube to enhance my instructions and am excited to see if giving students an opportunity to produce a video highlighting what they've learned will add to their experience as well.

I'll report back to let you all know how the videos come out.  I look forward to seeing what my students come up with!