Category Archives: Pre-Algebra

Generalizations in the Shower

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Cathy Yenca

During a quick shampoo, my 8-year-old son starts sharing a “pattern” that had *just* occurred to him.  He starts explaining a beautiful mathematical truth and I beg him to repeat it once he rinses off. Here is his explanation of … Continue reading →

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Students Use Book Creator to Author Mathematics: Part 2

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Cathy Yenca

For our last day of class with a “normal” schedule (today), I met with my students in our school’s 21st-century learning space.  There’s a sampling of flexible furniture, a corner with stadium seating, iMacs, a big-screen TV, an Apple TV, … Continue reading →

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Students Use Book Creator to Author Mathematics: Part 1

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Cathy Yenca

This year, my students noticed that I often say, “You’ll never see that in a math book.” Some of the topics we explore take a twist.  For example, when students solved systems of linear equations using elimination, I called it the … Continue reading →

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Teacher Report Card: An Annual Google Form

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Cathy Yenca

This is the second year I’ve used a Google Form “Teacher Report Card” with my students. To access a sample report card, and learn about those who inspired me to try this type of feedback, go here.  I love the looks on students’ … Continue reading →

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Student Voice, Screen Casting and Explain Everything

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Cathy Yenca

Having iPads redefines many elements of teaching, learning, and assessment.  These past 2 years, I’ve experienced a learning curve not unlike that of a brand spankin’ new teacher.  This year I’ve begun to make the shift from technology-empowered teacher to … Continue reading →

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Stuff I’ve Been Up To

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Cathy Yenca

I can hardly believe the school year will abruptly end in a few short weeks!  It has been a fantastic year, jam-packed full of amazing opportunities.  A quick top-five-favorites goes a little something like this… 1) My students – I … Continue reading →

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Desmos Explorations

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Cathy Yenca

If you haven’t seen these fantastic interactive desmos labs, you need to know they exist… and so do your students!  I plan to use Des-man this week (and I had more than a little bit of fun making my first … Continue reading →

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Student-Created ThingLinks

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Cathy Yenca

When ThingLink announced a way for teachers to set up classes of student accounts all monitored through the teacher’s e-mail address, I was determined to give it a go.  After some trial-and-error with the process of setting up a “ThingLink … Continue reading →

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#2minPD Project: Using ThingLink for Pre-Teaching

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Cathy Yenca

Thanks to a connection fostered by my pal Guido over at Nearpod, I found out about a unique opportunity to do global professional development in 2 minutes flat.  The #2minPD project is the brain-child of Stanford fellow Melissa Pelochino, whose goal … Continue reading →

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#NCSM14 Take-Aways

Posted on April 12, 2014 by Cathy Yenca

I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at the NCSM Conference in New Orleans last week.  I’d never been to an NCSM conference, and I wasn’t sure what to expect.  As a classroom teacher, would I feel out of … Continue reading →

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