Idea Galaxy

Adventures in Junior High and Mathematics

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12 Engaging Activities for Mean Absolute Deviation

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I’ll be the first to admit that when the concept of mean absolute deviation was added to our standards, I didn’t know what it was. Of course, I’ve worked with standard deviation and mean, but I was a newbie to this concept of MAD. As I’ve wrapped my head around it, I’ve learned it enhances other concepts students are learning, and it’s taught as part of helping students to understand variability. In this post I’m sharing with you 12 engaging activities for teaching mean absolute deviation (MAD) to help your  students really get it.

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Exploring Compound Probability Through Discovery

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What are the chances your students will forget what they learn about probability? It’s an uncomfortable truth that they often forget things that they’ve studied in class. But, they’re much more likely to forget if they don’t build schema and connections with this concept. So, I’m excited to share with you my favorite way to do just that. Discovery labs give you one way that help your students to build background and ultimately remember what they learn about compound probability (wanna read more how I got started with discovery labs? Read that story here.)

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12 Easy and Engaging Compound Probability Activities

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Compound probability is fun to teach because it lends itself to hands-on learning. I’ve found that students don’t even complain about the fact they they’re working with fractions when they’re doing compound probability. (shocking, right?!)  I’m excited to share some of my favorite activities for practicing compound probability with you. These activities will build background for students, offer practice, and extend the concepts. I hope that you can find one or two ideas to implement in your classroom right away and engage your students in learning more about compound probability.

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How to Teach Compound Probability and Make it Stick

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Teaching probability gets kids interested because it so naturally involves dice, playing cards, and spinners. What 7th grade doesn’t love to spin things? Usually, they get in trouble for spinning things, so when we pull out the spinners and tell them to spin it, they look at us in disbelief. They wonder if it’s a trick. We reassure them that they won’t get in trouble, and quickly they are hands-on, having a great time experimenting with probability.

I love how incorporating these manipulatives has a way of getting and keeping students’ attention. In this post I’ll break down for you how I chunk out and teach compound probability. (If you’re looking for just ways to practice this skill, check out this post with 12 activity ideas.)

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18 Math Review Games for Middle School

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Reviewing is an essential part of learning. It’s how our brains remember and keep things from slipping away. Sometimes it can be very tempting to have students review by only answering test like questions and then going over them with the class. The downside of this is that it’s boring and not memorable. Also, it goes against best practices for teaching and learning.

So, I’d like to present an alternative way to review that is action packed, fun, and engaging. Of course I’m talking about games! There are so many ways to practice math concepts and skills using review games.

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