One of the most powerful things you can do as a teacher is spend time reflecting on how things are going in the classroom. Reflection give you a chance to identify things that are working well and replicate their success. Reflection also gives you time and space to honestly appraise what isn’t working well, and identify potential ways to address any problems. But, the problem with reflection is that it’s hard to carve out time for it- papers demand to be graded, emails clamor for our attention, and just about everything else becomes more urgent than finding a quiet time and space to stop the presses and just reflect. [Read more…] about Finding Time for Reflection as a Busy Teacher
Archives for March 2016
5 Other Ways to Use Foldables in Your Math Classroom
Foldable graphic organizers are the heart of interactive math notebooks. They’re great tools to have students organize new information and keep it accessible for future reference. But once the lesson is completed and the notes are neatly placed into the notebook, what happens next?
Here are 5 (other) ways to use foldables in your math classroom:
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Friday Favorites: Instagram Math Teachers You Should Be Following
Are you on Instagram? It’s a great platform I’m falling in love with for the classroom. It’s such a visual medium, and it’s fun to see glimpses into other people’s classroom, hear inspiring quotes, and see snapshots of life. I’ve loved discovering math teachers on Instagram, and seeing all the ideas and creativity out there. One of my favorite people to follow on Instagram is Middle School Math Man. He’s Alex O’Connor, a 6th grade math teacher who shares ideas from his classroom. I always look forward to his math joke of the week and his challenge problems. Read on to find Instagram math teachers you should be following, and check out these great posts from Middle School Math Man:
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Exploring the Volume of Cylinders, Cones & Spheres
All last week we had Pi on the brain as we learned the formula for calculating the volume of 3D shapes with circles. We got to see Pi in action! In preparing for the week, I really thought about how to help students 1) understand the relationship between the formulas for cones, spheres, and cylinders 2) get really clear on the vocabulary and individual components of the three formulas. Today I want to share with you how I introduced my students to finding the volume of cylinders, cones and spheres. [Read more…] about Exploring the Volume of Cylinders, Cones & Spheres
Friday Favorites: Pythagorean Theorem Drawing Activity
Last week my students took their district benchmark assessments, so I was on the hunt for something fun and relevant for when they finished testing. I was so happy to come across a great activity from 123 Teach-Brittany Kiser that she had available as a freebie in her TPT store. Seeing that the topic fit perfectly with what we were studying, and gave them another way to practice applying the Pythagorean Theorem, I quickly downloaded her Pythagorean Theorem Drawing Project. And my students LOVED it.
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