Laws of Exponents

Every time I teach a unit on Polynomials (I know with my population of students) that I will need to start off going over the different Laws of Exponents.  In the past it always turned out to be a jumbled mess of notes that the students could never use or refer back to because you pretty much needed deciphering key just to understand it.  I tired a good handful of different foldables to get the information across but it just never worked.  I gave up and went on a google search to find someone way smarter than me who had already figured out what I couldn't.  Lo and behold Mrs. Williams came to the rescue with an awesome foldable, check out her blog!

Here are my instructions on how to put it together and the problems I used...

Materials Needed:

2 - 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of paper (2 different colors)

Scissors

Favorite writing utensil  

Start with one of your colored sheets.  Fold it in half and cut it.  Then fold one of the halves in half and cut it again.  You will need 2 of the strips you just made.

 

                                          So now here are the supplies each student will need!
                                     



Take the large sheet of paper and turn it so it's landscape, fold it in half, and then fold it in half again.  It should be folded like an accordion.  Lay it on the desk so that it looks like a W when you look at it from the front. (This is super important!)

Grab the middle part of the W and cut it into 4 equal sections just until the fold. (If you don't cut to the fold the smaller strips will be hard to weave in and out.)

Now lay it back down on the table, again so it's a W, and weave the two smaller pieces in.  The center should look like a checker board.  Now you are done!

 

 

The magic to this foldable is if you put the two center pieces together, to make a point in the middle, you can pull the two pieces of paper apart to reveal a secret section.  This foldable always blows the kids minds!

         

Here is how I used it for the Laws of Exponents.

Assigned Seating Problems and Groupings

When it comes to seating arrangements in my classroom I'm a groups/pods/tables/etc. kind of teacher.  I try to instill in my students a sense of collaboration and teamwork.  I love when they work together to solve problems and enjoy seeing students helping and supporting one another.  The only issue I find with groups is that I tend to only have the students work with those in their group.  I hate deciding who is going to work with who and I needed to find a different way to do things.

A fellow coworker of mine numbers her desks, this way when it is time to assign students to a seat she gives them a number and they find their desk rather than trying to give them directions to their desk which they inevitably never locate correctly.  So I decided to do that this year, but being the teacher that I am I had to make it different and my own (not that there was anything wrong with her method, but she's an English teacher so she didn't see the Math possibilities behind this genius idea).  

Here is what I did…

                 

I have 24 desks in my room and I put them into 6 groups of 4 desks.  Each desk is numbered 1-24 using a blue, green, red, purple pattern (repeated for all 6 groups).  I then created a seating chart like I normally would but put their number and color in each box.  I made sure that for each of my classes I had the same number of kids sitting in each color seat.  

On the 1st day of school, I always greet the students in the hallway making sure they are in the right class and helping others find their way around.  HERE IS THE MATH BEHIND THIS GENIUS IDEA!! This year I will be giving each of my students an index card that has a math problem on it with their name.  The answer to their problem lets them know what number desk they are assigned to.  I'm excited about starting with math as soon as they walk in the door!  I differentiated the problems on the cards based on the ability level of my students (the ones I've had before) I focused on solving linear equations but for my freshmen I gave them Order of Operation problems since this is a skill I know their former teacher was working on with them.  Some of my other ideas to shake up my groups is to have them work with their same color peers, maybe do even and odds, greens with purples and reds with blues, etc.  Can't wait to see how this goes on Wednesday for our 1st day of school!

Geometry Curriculum Outline

Recently I have received a few emails and comments from teachers who are teaching Geometry for Special Education students for the first time this year and need some help! I figured this post would be a great one to write since the beginning of the year is starting August 17th for me and I'm back to teaching Geometry this year. I'm so excited and can't wait to teach this class. Of all the math classes a math teacher can teach, Geometry happens to be my most favorite.

 Just a little background into my students and what my Geometry class looks like...Every year my students come into my Geometry class with no knowledge of Geometry, I mean NOTHING! They know shapes like squares, circles, rectangles, and triangles but anything beyond that they don't know. When I ask them what makes a square a square I usually get the deer in the headlights look from them. So when I teach Geometry it has to go down all the way to the very basics. Many ask me if I'm doing Common Core with them? My answer is always YES and NO. Yes, we do as much Common Core as we can and I always push my students to what they refer to ask their "exploding point", but when your students come in with no Geometry knowledge or skills it's hard to say we are 100% doing High School Common Core Geometry all the time. When it comes to Special Education students you have to teach them where they are at, not necessarily what grade it says they are in.

This was a common saying in my math classes this past year and I'm sure it will be again this year. It killed me every time one of them would say it.

This past school year I was informed I would be teaching Geometry again this upcoming school year, and since the group I will be having I've had in the past, I knew my class needed to be organized in a different way. So our school's Math Specialist (she's amazing) and I sat down and looked at the Common Core HS standards and the level of my students, we came up with this curriculum outline.  

So this is what I plan on following this year.  Each unit covers the same/similar skills but breaks it down by the different shapes.  So in each unit the students will know what to expect, but they will have to apply it to the each new shape that is introduced to them.  I'm hoping they will start to see patterns and make connections they might not have otherwise made.  We know this does not cover ALL of the standards but it is what I feel we can get through in a school year and what they will be able to learn and retain.  Obviously I will add to it if need be, and this is just a list of topics (it does not indicate the difficulty level of the questions they will be given).

How do you organize your Geometry content?  What resources do you use to outline your course?

Standards Based Grading

Just a WARNING, this is going to be a long post...

So I started doing Standards Based Grading (SBG) at the beginning of last school year.  At this point I have 1.5 years under my belt and I still keep making changes.  The one thing that hasn't changed is my policies or my grading rubric.

My policy/rubric are a combination of ideas from Jessica over at Algebrainic, Rick Wormeli, my good friend and former co-worker Terie at Crazy Teacher Lady, oh and my own insane ideas.  It took me over a year to get everything figured out before I actually started implementing it into my classroom.

How is SBG different from Traditional Grading?

• Student's grades are only based on their assessments over the standards (this is different based on which policy you use)
• Scores in the grade book change as students understanding changes. 
• Grades are not final until the end of the semester/year.
• Some students obtain a score of master sooner than others.
• If students are struggling they get more individual/small group instruction.
• Grade is a direct representation of student learning.

Grading Rubric:

5	You have completely mastered the skill on two skill assessments, meaning you received two 4’s, which makes your overall skill score a 5.  You have completed this skill. You “get” it!
4	You have demonstrated a thorough understanding of the concepts involved, have clearly showed all steps of your reasoning, have used notation correctly, wrote exemplary and clearly, and have made no mathematical errors. You can not only solve beginning problems and multi-concept problems, but you can solve Application, ACT and PARCC questions related to the concept.
3	You have a firm grasp of the skill, meaning you have demonstrated a full or almost understanding of the concepts involved, but you may have not shown steps of your reasoning, didn’t use notation totally consistently, and made a slight (but non-fatal) mathematical error.  You still need help with this skill. You can not only solve beginning problems, but you can take previously taught concepts and apply them to new problems.
2	You have demonstrated some understanding of the skill.  You may have some confused reasoning, did not completely answer the question, did not use consistent notation, made more than one (non-fatal) mathematical errors. You still need help with this skill. You can solve beginning problems on your own without any help.
1	You have demonstrated weak or no conceptual understanding.  You may have confused reasoning, or made one or more serious (fatal) mathematical errors.  You still need a lot of help with this skill.  You need assistance in order to solve beginning problems.
0	You left the problem blank; no attempt was made to solve the problem.

How does it all work?

1. Students at the beginning of each unit are pre-assessed, not only on what we will be learning but the prerequisite skills they need for that unit. 
2. The assessments are scored and the students enter that score into their folders. (we will get to those later!)  I also enter those into the grade book, however they don't count towards the students grade it's just so I can see where they started at and where they ended at.
3. Based on those scores I break my students up into group and the learning process begins.
4. Notes on the content are given using our ISN's, and then activities are given based on their level of knowledge.
5. Once students understand the content they are given a "Progress Check" to see where they are at.  If they score a 4, many will practice and try for a 5 right away.  Some wait awhile. I consider "Mastery" if they get to a level 3.
6. Students that get a mastery score, level 3 or higher, move onto the next concept, students that don't participate in re-teaching, additional activities, etc.  Once they are ready they will take another Progress Check and the cycle beings until they reach mastery.
7. The Progress Checks are scored and each score is entered into their folder, even if they have multiple scores.  The score on their most current Progress Check is the one entered into the grade book, even if it's lower than the previous one.
8. This repeats for every unit!

Things I've Learned...

• When you think you have everything figured out, you'll make changes!
• Keep students constantly informed of how they are doing.  This is something I learned after my 1st year.
• Make multiple versions of your progress checks.  TRUST ME YOU WILL NEED THEM!  I have about 4-5 different progress checks on Solving Equations.
• Have students set a realistic goal for themselves in each unit.  It can help keep them motivated.

Liebster Nomination #2

I'm happy to say this is the second time I've been nominated for a Liebster Award but this time it's by Samantha from Special Little Learners. 

Now for the questions:

1. Why and how long ago did you begin blogging?
   I've been blogging since August of 2012, and I started blogging as a way for me to share the fun new things I'm doing in my classroom with other teachers.  I am the only person in my district (one school district) that teaches the classes that I do so I have no one to collaborate with.  I naturally turned to online to find professionals who were willing to share ideas. 
2. What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why? Creativity. I'm constantly trying to find new creative ways to engage my students and keep them on their toes about what we will do next.
3. Is there something you learned late in your blog journey you wished you knew before? IT TAKES SO MUCH TIME!  As much as I love to blog and find it very reflective, it just takes more time than I have now a day.
4. What is your favorite past time other than blogging? I love to spend time with my family and friends.  I like shopping, but come on...What girl doesn't?  I love to travel but don't do it nearly as much as I would like.
5. How many hours per week do you dedicate to your blog? Umm...Lately...NONE!  I haven't blogged in so long and I've been doing a lot of new things this year that I'm just dying to share with everyone.  I'm working on my time management skills now that I have a baby, so I'll be getting back into it more very soon. 
6. What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most? I love blogs on cooking, and educational ones (of course!).  
7. Where does your blog inspiration come from? It comes from my students and hilarious things they do and say every day.  The things I blog about were designed for them, so naturally they inspire me every day. 
8. Which post that you've written are you most proud of? I'm pretty proud of just about everything I've written, because if you know me you know I'm a Math and Science person.  So writing and English "stuff" are the things I'm horrible at.
9. Is there anything that you've been planning to do but have been postponing it for a while now? I've been planning to take a relaxing vacation for years now but that clearly hasn't happened :)
10. What is your favorite aspect of blogging?I love the reflective part.  It has made me grow as a teacher and it has also helped me connect with teachers I would not have necessarily ever connected with.

The Rules:

Now that you've been nominated, here are the official rules for accepting:

1. In your post, link back to the blogger who nominated you as a thank you and "shout out".
2. Answer the 10 questions given to you (the ones I answered above).
3. Nominate 5-11 blogs that have less than 200 followers each. Provide them with 10 questions or have them answer the questions above.
4. Let your nominees know that they've been nominated and provide them with a link back to your post so they can accept.
5. Send your nominator a link to your post so s/he can learn more about you as well. (You can just put your post link in the comments below).

Nominees:

1. Jessica at Algebrainiac
2. Miss Rudolph at The Secondary Classroom
3. Stacy at What's New in Room 202
4. Stephanie at Eat.Write.Teach
5. Sarah at Everybody is a Genius