Do you know where 2/11 is on a blank circle?

I've been going through the gem list from resourceaholic. I found it about a month ago, bookmarked it, created a checklist in Trello to keep track of my progress, and have been slowly working my way through all 40-something lists. There are so many great ideas, links, and other people to follow embedded in these short, 5-item posts. When I finish up a big project or need a brain break or just need to be inspired, I open up the next one and explore a little. 

Today, I got to Gem #15. 

The first item is this cute little fraction applet, called Slice the Pie. 
To play the game, you hover over a circle, and click where you want the shaded part of the circle to stop. (So you could shade a tiny slice, or a giant slice)

The object of the game is to shade the amount of the pie indicated by the fraction shown. However, there aren't any partitions shown (just a blank circle). You have to use your own number sense to get as close as you can. Do you know where 2/11 is on a blank circle? 1/12? 23/30?

I love the estimation skills, the number sense, & how relative number sizes are all a part of this easy, quick, little game. I can even see using something like this when starting the unit circle. (Can you shade for pi radians? pi/4 radians?)

My first try, I scored a 49. Can you beat that?

My Favorite: Trello #MTBoS Blogging Initiative

Warning: This post is LONG. If you hate reading & just want my favorite thing, go here and explore. Or scroll ALL the way down. Have fun. 

Time to circle back to prompt #2 from the MTBoS Blogging Initiative. 

Here's the prompt: Our week two blogging challenge is to simply blog about one of your favorite things.  Called a “My Favorite,” it can be something that makes teaching a specific math topic work really well.  It does not have to be a lesson, but can be anything in teaching that you love!  It can also be something that you have blogged or tweeted about before.  Some ideas of favorites that have been shared are:

• A lesson (or part of one) that went great
• A game your students love to play
• A fun and/or effective way to practice facts
• A website or app you love to use in class
• An organizational trick or tip that has been life changing
• A product that you use in your classroom that you can’t live without!

My favorite thing lately is Trello, and it fits #2, 3, 4, & 5 on the list above!

Trello will change your life if you let it, I promise. ;)

I'll walk you through what it is, & the amazing education potential, and then I'll share the ways I like to use it. 

What is it?

From the Trello site:

Trello is the free, flexible, and visual way to organize anything with anyone. Drop the lengthy email threads, out-of-date spreadsheets, no-longer-so-sticky notes, and clunky software for managing your projects. Trello lets you see everything about your project in a single glance.

Trello is really the ultimate organization tool. You can very visually organize projects, lesson plans, ideas, or even use it like Pinterest. It's easy to collect and organize and reorder ideas, attachments, and links. It's incredibly easy to use on any device. Sharing is easy. Updating your progress on items is easy. And it connects with IFTTT. (Can you tell I love it yet?!? haha)

Trello has 3 parts: 

1. Boards (think like a Pinterest board - these are general topics, like Unit 1) 
2. Lists (columns, or sub-boards, such as topics within a unit)
3. Cards (individual pieces of information, like activities for a specific topic)

I should mention that cards can include labels, color coding, due dates, attachments, links, comments, pictures, and can be assigned to certain people. 

Trello is free as long as you're ok with solid colors for backgrounds instead of custom pictures. Here's the link to the welcome board shown so the hands on peeps can understand what I'm saying. 

Ok, so what? Why should I care?

Trello has infinite potential! 

In my personal life, I have boards for grocery lists, organizing quilt projects in different stages, keeping track of what's in the freezer (we do OAMC in my house), keeping track of chores & other good habits, gift ideas for family, and so much more. My husband is shared on several of these, so he can add/edit as needed. I'm a list girl, and Trello helps me keep all my lists electronically.

Professionally, I find new ways almost every week to use Trello. 

Here's the rundown. 

• Professional Development Approval & Progress
• My dept shares a board to discuss PD opportunities we will offer. We attach handouts, make to-do checklists, and communicate approval of funding all in one place. As each PD session moves through various levels of approval, its card progresses into new lists on the board, until it's finally sent to True North Logic, our county PD software.
• Brainstorming, & To-Do Lists
• categorized, with attachments or links as needed 
• I use this board as my "thoughtbox." 
• Future blog post ideas, activities or foldable ideas, etc. stay here until I get to them. 
• I have "Resource" Boards for various math topics
• the lists are things like "quadratics" and each card is a link or idea
• I also have a list of places I like to look for questions, activities, etc.
• Sorting, ordering, etc activities. 
• Example: Exponential Equations Warmup
• Students drag & drop matching cards together into a new list.
• I use Trello the same way I like to use the Post It Plus app (blog post for that is here). Trello has the advantage of being possible on ANY device, including Chromebooks. Post It Plus is iPad/iPhone only.
• I want to make some ordering activities too - FDP, integer ops, etc. 
• This is totally graph/picture/equation compatible - you just need a screenshot for the card image. 

I also use Trello to collect my favorite things - very much like Pinterest. Here's the link to my Review Games board. Most ideas are from other MTBoS blogs. 

Trello even has inspiration boards for you to look at, to get an idea of what it's capable of, in specifically education-related ways.  There are some really cool ones - I especially like the project board & classroom newsletter. 

Have fun exploring!

Better Questions #MTBoS Blogging Initiative

I may have skipped prompt #2 - I'll get back to it. :)

In the meantime, I have this great resource to share that fits perfectly with the prompt for this week. 

This resource was shared with me by one of our county's elem math curriculum facilitators. I've had a shortened version of this taped to my classroom document camera for several years, but never knew where it came from (I got it at a conference as a handout once upon a time, and didn't realize its value until I got home and looked at it). I am SO HAPPY to have the entire list, and to be able to give credit to Dr. Gladis Kersaint. This is a GREAT list!

100 Questions That Promote Mathematical Discourse

Dr. Gladis Kersaint

Help students work together to make sense of mathematics

1. What strategy did you use?
2. Do you agree?
3. Do you disagree?
4. Would you ask the rest of the class that question?
5. Could you share your method with the class?
6. What part of what he said do you understand?
7. Would someone like to share ___?
8. Can you convince the rest of us that that makes sense?
9. What do others think about what [student] said?
10. Can someone retell or restate [student]’s explanation?
11. Did you work together? In what way?
12. Would anyone like to add to this?
13. Have you discussed this with your group? With others?
14. Did anyone get a different answer?
15. Where would you go for help?
16. Did everybody get a fair chance to talk, to use the manipulatives, or to be recorded?
17. How could you help another student without telling the answer?
18. How would you explain ___ to someone who missed class today?

Refer questions raised by students back to the class.

Help students rely more on themselves to determine whether something is mathematically correct

19. Is this a reasonable answer?
20. Does that make sense?
21. Why do you think that? Why is that true?
22. Can you draw a picture or make a model to show that?
23. How did you reach that conclusion?
24. Does anyone want to revise his or her answer?
25. How were you sure your answer was right?

Help students learn to reason mathematically

26. How did you begin to think about this problem?
27. What is another way you could solve this problem?
28. How could you prove that?
29. Can you explain how your answer is different from or the same as [student]’s?
30. Let’s see if we can break it down. What would the parts be?
31. Can you explain this part more specifically?
32. Does that always work?
33. Is that true for all cases?
34. How did you organize your information? Your thinking?

Help students evaluate their own processes and engage in productive peer interaction

35. What do you need to do next?
36. What have you accomplished?
37. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
38. Was your group participation appropriate and helpful?

Help students with problem comprehension

39. What is this problem about? What can you tell me about it?
40. Do you need to define or set limits for the problem?
41. How would you interpret that?
42. Would you please reword that in simpler terms?
43. Is there something that can be eliminated or that is missing?
44. Would you please explain that in your own words?
45. What assumptions do you have to make?
46. What do you know about this part?
47. Which words were most important? Why?

Help students learn to conjecture, invent and solve problems

48. What would happen if ___? What if not?
49. Do you see a pattern?
50. What are some possibilities here?
51. Where could you find the information you need?
52. How would you check your steps or your answer?
53. What did not work?
54. How is your solution method the same as or different from [student]’s?
55. Other than retracing your steps, how can you determine if your answers are appropriate?
56. What decision do you think he or she should make?
57. How did you organize the information? Do you have a record?
58. How could you solve this using (tables, trees, lists, diagrams, etc.)?
59. What have you tried? What steps did you take?
60. How would it look if you used these materials?
61. How would you draw a diagram or make a sketch to solve the problem?
62. Is there another possible answer? If so, explain.
63. How would you research that?
64. Is there anything you’ve overlooked?
65. How did you think about the problem?
66. What was your estimate or prediction?
67. How confident are you in your answer?
68. What else would you like to know?
69. What do you think comes next?
70. Is the solution reasonable, considering the context?
71. Did you have a system? Explain it.
72. Did you have a strategy? Explain it.
73. Did you have a design? Explain it.

Help students learn to connect mathematics, its ideas and its application

74. What is the relationship of this to that?
75. Have we ever solved a problem like this before?
76. What uses of mathematics did you find in the newspaper last night?
77. What is the same?
78. What is different?
79. Did you use skills or build on concepts that were not necessarily mathematical?
80. Which skills or concepts did you use?
81. What ideas have we explored before that were useful in solving this problem?
82. Is there a pattern?
83. Where else would this strategy be useful?
84. How does this relate to ___?
85. Is there a general rule?
86. Is there a real-life situation where this could be used?
87. How would your method work with other problems?
88. What other problem does this seem to lead to?

Help students persevere

89. Have you tried making a guess?
90. What else have you tried?
91. Would another recording method work as well or better?
92. Is there another way to (draw, explain, say) that?
93. Give me another related problem. Is there an easier problem?
94. How would you explain what you know right now?

Help students focus on the mathematics from activities

95. What was one thing you learned (or two, or more)?
96. Where would this problem fit on our mathematics chart?
97. How many kinds of mathematics were used in this investigation?
98. What were the mathematical ideas in this problem?
99. What is the mathematically different about these two situations?
100. What are the variables in this problem? What stays constant?

Google Doc version here.

Stay warm, friends! (And enjoy your snow/ice day GCS friends!)

One Good Thing (or perhaps a few)

Aaaahhh...Monday!
The latest blogging prompt from the MTBoS was just released.  I've got to say, prompts work for me. So do premade whatchamacallits. :)

Ok, well here are my good things for today.

• I finished creating editable copies of ALL of the NC Final released exams. Now I can copy & paste into other worksheets, packets, notes, activities, & games to my heart's content. I also made a smart notebook file for each one with one slide per question, with a hint & answer key "hidden" on the bottom of the page. If you're in NC and want the files, email me with what subjects you'd like. (Math 1, 2, 3, AFM, & Precal, or everything!)
  
• I found Lauren Russell's weebly. If you're in NC and a Math 1 teacher, this is a BIG DEAL. She's created a mini-NC-based-MTBoS inside of Google Drive. And you can join. She has prep packets, practice tests, and tons of other awesome activities. Seriously, her page is a WEALTH of resources, and I'm super grateful she shares with everyone.
  
• I also found www.resourceaholic.com/ and I'm super excited to start digging through these resources. It's going to take me a LONG time to just get through the gems sections (a collection of 5 amazing math ideas per week. There's an archive! #bliss)
  
• The MTBoS search engine is something I didn't know existed. I know now. I'm definitely on resource overload these days, trying to gear up for the start of second semester! This is now a permanent tab in my browser.
  
• I found out that my grandfather taught my boss's dad in high school in Madison County years ago! They both left Mars Hill in the 70s/80s, but have been back there for several years now, and live within 5 minutes of each other. My boss & I have been spending Christmases about a mile apart without knowing it (even though we live about 3 hours from there)! Small world!

Cool Thing of the Day

I promise this post isn't spam...I just really like this tech tool!!
I got a gift for Christmas that I have been using like CRAZY ever since I got it.

It's an eWriter called Boogie Board Sync. Super cool!

There are $20 versions that act just like scratch paper, but don't use paper. It's basically a magna-doodle for adults. I have one of those (and have for a while) but I mostly just use it to replace a billion post it notes & to do lists on my desk.

The one I got for Christmas is a bit more (around $70-80), but you can save your drawings/writings/etc. using bluetooth. Which means I can hand-write solutions, and save them to post for students! We all know there are times that creating a geometric drawing or some math mumbo-jumbo that just isn't convenient to create electronically.

This thing lets me sketch out what I want, & save it as an image. I can edit it later, highlight, etc. once it's saved on my iPad. Then I can use the images in tests, worksheets, or just to project when going over answers.

Just thought I'd share! :)

Thoughts for other uses:

• Differentiation during small group time. It would be so easy to write out 1-2 problems, click save, and export to classroom, or drive, for students to work on. 
• Use live mode with students & smartboard - this can function just like an airliner
• Student observation notes. Maybe connected to evernote, and saved in some sort of classroom file? I'm always writing myself notes about what I need to work with a student a bit more on, or misconceptions I'm seeing. 

Dusting off my blog for the #MTBoS Blogging Initiative

I, Carolyn Spencer, resolve to blog in 2016 in order to open my classroom up and share my thoughts with other teachers. I hope to accomplish this goal by participating in the January Blogging Initiative hosted by Explore MTBoS.

You, too, could join in on this exciting adventure. All you have to do is dust off your blog and get ready for the first prompt to arrive January 10th!

A new year, a new job, & a fresh perspective

By now, most teachers in my county have found out - I've left the classroom, and started a brand new job as the high school math curriculum facilitator for Gaston County Schools. As such, and being that this blog is personal, not professional, I feel the need to insert a disclaimer here: the ideas here are mine, and don't represent GCS's views, opinions, goals, etc. 

It was a big leap of faith for me to even apply, but I'm so glad I did. The past three and a half weeks, I've learned more about myself, my own teaching style, and the profession as a whole than I ever would have locked up in my own little classroom. 

It's really made me think about how often teachers get an opportunity to watch each other. Those of us familiar with the MTBoS tend to feel more connected, because we read and watch what each others do with their students. I've learned though, that so many teachers DON'T spend time online connecting with peers. We're the rarity. MOST teachers instead learn of new ideas from their school based peers. 

When I was in the classroom, I was constantly sharing ideas I had found. In fact, it was a completely normal thing for me to burst into a coworker's room during our common planning period, and to say something like, "Check out this amazing (fill in activity/idea/resource here)" on a near daily basis. I'm an idea gatherer. 

I want other teachers to be able to experience that rush of inspiration that happens when you can see a new way to connect students with content. That's the feeling that keeps good teachers from feeling burned out (or at least, it does most of the time). 

So I'll end with a few questions I'm pondering today:

• How can we, as teachers, show each other our classrooms in more tangible ways? How can we give each other a better picture of how a lesson went, how our students interacted with the material, or how our energy/style gave the lesson a certain flair that increased engagement and retention?
• As I've done hundreds of walkthroughs over the past (almost) month, I've noticed the significant impact that a teacher's questioning style has during a lesson (especially during direct instruction). How can we share this very subtle art with each other in order to improve?
• How can we, as the online-engaged, blog-reading, globally-connected teachers encourage others to reach out, and engage?