Tag Archives: homework

Summer 2018 Plans & Goals

Since today’s the Summer Solstice, I hope you’re officially enjoying your break.  I won’t rub it in that our students’ last day of school annually is prior to Memorial Day.  Whether you’re just getting used to that alarm clock NOT … Continue reading

Posted in Algebra 1, Pre-Algebra | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Precise Language and “The Baby”

My Math 8 students have been exploring linear functions.  These kiddos learn about rate of change and initial value in contexts where slope-intercept form reigns, leaving other linear forms to be emphasized later in Algebra 1.  We’ve also landed planes … Continue reading

Posted in Algebra 1, Pre-Algebra | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is It Parallel? Using Desmos Card Sorts to Extend Student Thinking

Several years ago, I attended an EdCamp ATX event here in Austin.  One of the sessions featured formative assessment strategies, and a particular task struck me.  I wish I remembered her name, and I wish I still had the resource … Continue reading

Posted in Algebra 1, Pre-Algebra | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

“5 Practices” in a 1:1 Classroom

While I’ve never fully implemented the “flipped classroom” idea with students, maybe I have done a few short-term “mini flips”.  Many digital tools permit students to explore content at their own pace, and asynchronously, which can make “homework” an experience beyond handouts. … Continue reading

Posted in Algebra 1 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Gettin’ Into The Groove Hodge-Podge… Featuring Classkick

I can hear the announcer at our high school’s football game as I type on my iMac here at home.  So nice to be getting settled in to a “new” house that is closer in to the city, our schools, … Continue reading

Posted in Algebra 1, Pre-Algebra | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Time-Lapse

The last day of classes before Thanksgiving break, I set up my iPhone in an attempt to record some time-lapse footage in each of my classes.  Since middle-schoolers can smell a camera a mile away, there was nothing secretive about … Continue reading

Posted in Algebra 1, Pre-Algebra | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Socrative and Slope-Intercept Form

With new TEKS in tow, my 7th graders taking 8th grade math have been studying proportional and non-proportional linear relationships (wow, right?).  The progression has been a refreshing, concept-based study of LOTS of scenarios featuring “constant rates of change” represented in … Continue reading

Posted in Algebra 1, Pre-Algebra | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

So I stole an idea from Dan Meyer – *SHOCKER*

Dan Meyer provided our district’s math department with two days of PD in June.  I liked the homework he assigned to us, and I’m in the process of merging his idea with a problem-solving plan for a longer-term mini-project of sorts. … Continue reading

Posted in Algebra 1, Pre-Algebra | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

I already know what I want to do on the first day of school.

My (former) students are probably still sleeping on this fine Sunday morning, and here I am, thinking about the first day of school in August.  It’s not entirely my fault.  I just had two days of PD with (THE) Dan … Continue reading

Posted in Algebra 1, Pre-Algebra | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Defending “The Worksheet”

In this era, “the worksheet” has gotten a pretty bad rap.  The seemingly popular push to go “paperless” doesn’t help the cause.  Are worksheets and paper inherently evil in the 21st-century classroom? In the ed-tech realm, I sense a little … Continue reading

Posted in Algebra 1, Pre-Algebra | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments