Classroom & Twitter Hodge-Podge

What’s happening?

Here are some things I’ve been working on and learning from the #MTBoS and other Twitter Tweeps.  Maybe you can use some of these resources, or perhaps they’ll spark a new idea.

1. Concept of “Playlists” for Differentiation

I saw this idea on Twitter from Jennifer Gonzalez and Tracy Enos, and created my first “playlist”.  Particularly at the start of a new school year, some students benefit from a thorough review, while others may already know what’s being reviewed and would benefit from options to show mastery and pursue enrichment or extension tasks.  I used ThingLink to house resources this time around.  I think this strategy has a lot of potential, even though my example here wasn’t a super-engaging first attempt.

Not the most exciting “playlist” but it’s a start on trying a new strategy! https://t.co/Tiw8ben9P7 inspired by https://t.co/DiyHrOr8EU

— Cathy Yenca  (@mathycathy) September 6, 2016

2. Explain Everything Mini-Project

I got this idea from my son’s math teacher, and I think it’s an awesome way to get students talking and thinking about math!  As I plan for my next Algebra unit on solving equations, and note that many of my students last year struggled on this particular unit, I think it’s a great time to try a screen casting project.  Asking each student to thoroughly explain one problem from start to finish will hopefully help each of them better understand applying properties of equality, while also creating quality videos for peers to use as additional tutorials!  Fingers crossed – I’m assigning the project this week.  Here’s the rubric I tweaked:

3.  More Desmos

I keep turning to Desmos Card Sorts to create brief-yet-beefy formative assessment activities.  The content at the start of the school year is especially fitting for giving students the opportunity to sort and classify things… or even simply move them around (think – virtual manipulatives rather than true “sorting” activities).

While I still do sorting activities with paper, many have been remixed as Desmos Card Sorts… and many have been “born” BECAUSE of what Desmos Card Sort now enables teachers to create.  When you can create more, you create more.  Tech can convert paper activities to digital/perhaps better/more efficient resources to use… but even more, having tech capabilities that did not exist before can both inspire and enable teachers to create better resources.  When you can do more, you do more!

Here was a fun moment from my week:


Student just had a huge integer a-ha! Yelled, “IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW! THE ZERO PAIRS! THIS IS SO AWESOME!” #ThisJustHappened @Desmos

— Cathy Yenca  (@mathycathy) September 2, 2016

Since Desmos doesn’t yet have a search-by-author capability, at the urging of Andrew Stadel, I placed many of my recent creations and collaborations in one spot via this List.ly list.  Feel free to use or revise, and don’t forget to share back… either here, or on the Twitters!

P.S. I was pumped to see one of these activities featured in this week’s Des-Blog Friday Five!