Learning Links: Podcast Edition

Life gets busy. Sometimes in the busy sitting down and giving my attention reading takes a back seat to putting on a podcast while I do all the other things.

This is one of those times.

And I’m grateful for it.

My podcast feed has been full of good stuff:

• Life Stages of the Brain (TED)
• Mike Rose: The Deepest Meanings of Intelligence and Vocation (On Being) [[ And if you’re in a season with more time for reading, Rose’s The Mind at Work is well worth it.]]
• Teachers are Barely Hanging On. Here’s What They Need. (Cult of Pedagogy)

What I’m emailing myself: late November edition (11.14.2020)

The election is done. There’s a vaccine on the horizon. Holidays are coming, and then a new year. It’s dark outside, but I’m feeling a little more hopeful, and have a little more bandwidth to take in media again. Here’s a bit of what I’m finding…

• How to create a self-paced classroom (Cult of Pedagogy Podcast) << If I were to take on one big classroom revolution, this might be it. (Not this year, but someday)
• How to enjoy studying (Pocket) << I kind of object to the premise that studying isn’t already enjoyable. But that’s me. I’m still interested in tips to help my students engage.
• The connection between working memory and students’ tech skills (Edutopia) #all the struggles in my classes

I share some of my favorite links on my facebook page… join me there!

Previous link round ups

Wins

We have definitely, totally, absolutely reached that time of year. The new-year energy has worn off, we’re all a little tired, feeling a little behind, maybe a little overwhelmed, and just grateful that we get a short break next week.

It’s real. I’ve given out chocolate, and tissues, and lots of deep breaths lately.

And, I am very aware of the class with the terrible attendance, and the students who struggle, and all of the things on the calendar that add stress, and all of the resources that I wish we had but we don’t.

 

And, yet, the little wins.

 

They’re there too, when I remember to breath and notice.

A few weeks ago, we did this open middle challenge.  My students were so into it, they didn’t want to move on when I told them they could. And, my college student volunteer took it home to see if she could get exactly one.

And in another class, we tried these order of operations riddles (freebie!) and one group was so into getting every. last. one. that they argued hard against showing the answer key at the end of the class. They got it, averting their eyes and solving it with seconds to spare.

I’m grateful for the people who put creative and engaging teaching out there. But, my favorite wins are just my students, working  and learning.

I showed my (struggling) middle level class a preview of Algebra equation solving when we were finding the missing side in area. Most of them thought I was nuts to do so much extra writing when they could just divide, get an answer and move on. But one student, who sits in the back and struggles with math and rarely says much, kinda liked it. And when she was done with the first task, took on some simple equations (? + 7 = 15), and then some less simple equations, and by the end of the two hour class was slowly solving two step equations (2x+6=20)

 We had one of those nights early on, where enough of the class had to take an assessment that I couldn’t do anything new. It was early, but I gave the few left in class some practice HiSET tests to look at. Mostly they looked at them, their eyes got wide, and they threw up their hands. I moved on (I’ve never seen such enthusiastic agreement to switching to word problems) But one student stuck with it. He doesn’t know more of the math, he’s just more able to sit with it. He and a tutor worked that practice test for two hours, and then for homework, and then when he had free time in another class.  A few weeks ago, he asked for another test.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worksheet Fail

I have one class this year that’s about 40% people who just moved up from our lowest level and are still getting their feet under them, 40% who have been at this level for a while because life and learning challenges get in their way, that one woman whose math anxiety trumps her actual skills and the guy who clearly got placed wrong.

It’s a class where I need to go slow and gentle, but some how still teach all the things.

(You’ve had that class, right? They’re lovely people. It’s so gratifying when they learn. And, slow and gentle, slow and gentle, slow and gentle)

We’re working on area, and we did my compound shapes DIY, and it was great. They were in small groups, they were getting it, they were bored even it was so easy.

And then, I handed out a worksheet.

Splat.

It was one of those generic 12 questions, computer generated free worksheets.

And it did not work.

There were a few too many side measures missing, the format didn’t look friendly, it was all too much for my slow and gentle crew.  None of the confidence they’d built up on the previous activity translated.

It was awful to watch.

So, I went looking for some better options. Something that was clear. And had the sides you needed labeled. And only used quadrilaterals (because, one shape at a time with my slow and gentle folks)

And, right, worksheet hunting is always harder than I think it should be in the era of google.

I found one nice one, that wanted me to sign up for some site to download it

I found lots with the same problems as my first try.

And others that would be good down the line, but had too many moving pieces for a first step.

And the third grade ones that were a little too easy

My pinterest board is full of neat projects, but I just need some practice to solidify it.

And the perfect-looking one that lead to a 404 error.

Some nice perimeter ones.

I really did not want to make my own. I could. But I’m not that great with graphics.

But, wait!

After way too much scrolling, the perfect slow and gentle follow up from TES. (You do have to sign up, but they’re not sketchy about it. )

 

 

What I’m emailing myself 2.12.19 (Snow Day Edition)

The second snow day of the year for our little school, so I’m catching up on the interwebs!

Fractions in the wild (although I’m wondering how I can get a photo of our local highway sign….)  (from Robert Kaplinsky)

Math Reflection Spinner (from Jennifer Findley)

Cool Practice Structure (via Sarah Carter)

Math-y TED talks (via Learn in Color)

SolveMe Mobiles (Via Nathan Kraft’s Desmos Lesson)

What are you emailing yourself?

 

That week

I was on it  to start this week. I had new, fun, interactive lessons, the classroom is organized, the power point was pretty. I thought, well, if the administrators are going to conduct surprise classroom visits, this might actually be a good time.

Except, it was also that week. The one where the make-up assessment tests, and the counselor visits and flu and the cold weather and the deaths in the families and all the rest of adult life happened, and my largest class was four students.

*Sigh*

Sometimes, this is life.

This is particularly life in adult ed, where the student body are juggling a lot with little margin for error.

So my four students played like term-ominoes, and went shopping with ratios, and got lots of individual attention. I set up a spot to distribute missed handouts next week, and looked for the good things:

• The student with the great number sense patiently coaching a classmate through ratios (and the student who is struggling through ratios, but watching YouTube videos at home to get it)
• I challenged one group of students to make the biggest number the could using only sevens and math symbols, and the student with lots of complicated learning struggles came up with an answer 42 places long (for the curious: (7^7)^7 is apparently something like 2 tredecillion) ((Also good: The resulting mini lesson on scientific notation, which finally seemed useful to my students))
• The math anxious colleague I helped with some algebra, who emailed me after ‘It makes perfect sense’ now  and the new group of colleagues I’ll be meeting with all spring.
• And, the student who reassured her classmate before an assessment test, and all the process goals I met getting ready for that week, and the student who was excited about Quizlet, and the one who showed initiative, and the one who came despite all the things, and, and, and…

Because, even those weeks, are full of those things.

 

What I’m emailing myself (Winter Vacation Edition) 1.2.19

What I did with my winter vacation:

• Rest, try not to think too much about work.

 

• Put together a complete lesson plan, for one of my favorite lessons: Stuck Strategies)

(I first wrote about it here. I kept the focus on getting over the feeling of being stuck in math, but added a couple of different math skills. Now it’s in my TPT store with all the handouts to cover fractions, ratios, percents OR bar graphs)

• Caught up on some of the links I’ve saved:

Free Growth Mindset Posters (from WeAreTeachers)

Teaching from Mistakes  (from Mind/Shift)

Taking Choice Menus to the Next Level  (from John Spencer)

((I really want to do this last one, but I have not figured out what it might look like in my class. #NewYearsTeachingResolutions. Any ideas?))

 

Happy 2019!

What I’m emailing myself 10.2.18

Does two posts make a series? Can I declare it so (It’s my blog and I’ll declare it if I want to …?)

In any case, fall and school and the teacher-blog-twitter-pinterest-internet world are full of brilliance. So, a second round-up of the links I’m emailing myself.

 

You can learn anything  I never thought I’d get teary from a Kahn Academy video

How Tall is Mini Me? A proportions/measurements lesson from Robert Kaplinsky

No Such Thing as a Math Person So I can argue with my students who believe there is (from the New York Times)

A Kids in Class Policy I have a couple of kids who come with their moms to class and it’s occasionally distracting, but mostly wonderful. I’m including something like this on my next syllabus.  (Via Design Mom)

Happy October!

What I’m emailing myself

I was — decidedly, determinedly, exclamation marks in the out of office email — off for the summer. I worked hard in June, planned much, organized more. And then I was off.

But, other people weren’t, or at least, came back from their decidedly off summer sooner than I did. And they had some cool/creative/helpful teaching ideas.

Summer-me wasn’t ready for them, but September-me will be grateful.

So I lobbed links into my work email, and now, sifting through the mass messages from HR, and the e-newsletters, and whatever the rest of that pile is, there are teaching gems waiting for me.

For everyone else who was definitely off for the summer, a few to share.

(Perhaps the start of a series “What I’m emailing myself”)

((Perhaps with a better title))

A lesson idea: A card sort to order the steps to solve equations (from Miss Calculate)

Classroom décor: Mistakes are.. posters (From Math Equals Love)

Handy resources: Games to practice number skills (Oops! Source unclear, someone in Granby CT)

Good reminders: Asking ‘give me’ to generate open ended tasks  (From Math with Bad Drawings) 

 

Happy September!