Teaching multi-step equations the first time to 150 8th graders was my most epic fail as a teacher. Teaching it to them the second time was my 2nd most epic fail as a teacher. It was embarrassing because I was co-teaching with a new teacher and I was supposed to be the expert. Yikes! [Read more…] about How to teach multi-step equations like a boss
3 Hacks to Manage Interactive Notebooks in the Math Classroom
One of the things I like to do during the summer break is spend some time flipping through old interactive notebooks and looking at what worked well this year, and what I want to try for next year. While thinking about how things went this year with interactive notebooks (INBs as we call them in my class), I thought about three organizational strategies, or hacks, that really helped this year run more smoothly. So in this post I want to share those with you. [Read more…] about 3 Hacks to Manage Interactive Notebooks in the Math Classroom
Activities to Make Practicing Multi-Step Equations Awesome
My history with teaching multi-step equations hasn’t been a pretty one, but spoiler alert, there’s a happy ending. A few years ago I was co-teaching with a relatively new teacher and I felt a lot of pressure to show him the ropes. I was new to the 8th grade math standards. Everything was going well for the first month of school until we got to solving multi-step equations. We worked for two full weeks and taught students just how multi-step equations had been taught to us. The kids bombed the unit test. It was devastating. Then, we had a chance to reteach the majority of the kids and we tried something else. It also failed. It was a humbling experience to say the least. [Read more…] about Activities to Make Practicing Multi-Step Equations Awesome
Getting a Head Start with the FREE Math Interactive Notebooks Mini-Course
Are you just getting started with math Interactive Notebooks in your classroom?
Or, do you want to step up your game with interactive notebooks?
Today I want to share with you a great, step by step guide to help you either get started with or sharpen up how you use interactive notebooks in your math classroom.
This free mini-course comes right to your email inbox. Plus, it’s packed full of classroom tested tips and tricks for using interactive notebooks that will save you so much time throughout the whole school year. [Read more…] about Getting a Head Start with the FREE Math Interactive Notebooks Mini-Course
How to Make Adding Integers Stick Forever
Students spend their whole lives working with positive numbers. Then one day we’re like, “Hey, guess what guys? Some numbers are negative. Surprise!” We then wonder why they have such a hard time acclimatizing to this newfound knowledge. How can we break this sad cycle? I find that for many students, if you want them to really understand what they’re doing with adding positive and negative integers, you have to do a lot of background building and even some unteaching from what they’re used to. [Read more…] about How to Make Adding Integers Stick Forever