Wonderful Websites: Bing Dynamic

I know it's Friday and everyone's ready for a relaxing (busy?) weekend after a full week of school...  I want to make this short and sweet, so I thought I'd share a silly thing I use in my classroom that has actually turned out to be quite wonderful. 

The wallpaper on your computer screen seems like a really frivolous thing, but can be an effective tool in the classroom.  There are so many times where I've been in a classroom or presentation and the teacher has closed out of a program just to have everyone staring at a picture of their family (Sweet, yes.  Educational?  Not really.).

I used to put student names or our spelling words into fun clouds using Wordle or Tagxedo and change the wallpaper image every week with a new list of words.  While I loved it, it just got to be one more thing for me to remember to do.  However, I do love using both of those webpages for all kinds of classroom fun. 

Have you heard of Bing Dynamic?  It's not made for classrooms at all, but I keep sharing it with teachers in my building because I have enjoyed it so much.  Bing has fabulous photography featured every day.  Bing Dynamic takes those pictures and makes them your computer wallpaper (using Windows 7).  It automatically refreshes the pictures- you can choose to have them change every 30 minutes (pure craziness in the classroom at first, I don't recommend it) to every day.  I think my classroom computer changes every 3-4 hours. 

I l-o-v-e it because it sparks so many science and social studies based conversations!  "Where is that?  What is that?  How does that work?  That's so cool!"  And I guess I should note, I have never had anything even semi-inappropriate show up. 

The best part is, I don't know what's coming next either.  It's so fun! 

Happy Weekend, fellow blog readers!

Flipping Your Classroom: A compiled list of resources

I keep hearing about flipping the classroom, so when I was in Houston I made sure to stop by a session about it.  Our speakers gave so many great options to start flipping your class, so I went ahead and compiled a list of  the best of what they gave us (in my opinion!) and a few things I scrounged up.  I guess I should start by saying that I am not in any way, shape, or form, associated with these companies or webpages and am just posting them because I found them to be helpful and wonderful for the flipping classroom concept.  I'm trying to cram a lot of information into this post while not writing a novel, so here it goes...

First, here's video from Aaron Sams about how he uses the flipped classroom approach in his teaching.  If you're curious about what flipping the classroom is, watch this real quick:

 

So...what is it?
Basically, flipping the classroom has instruction happening at home and the practice happening at school, instead of the other way around.  This way, students can review on their own, watch again, take notes at their own pace, and then come to school ready to apply their learning from the night before.  Does that sound intimiating enough??  The key is starting with just one class at a time and making it work for you and your classroom. 

The BIG Question: How are students held accountable?
I know what you're going to say..."Sounds great, but what about my little darling who never does their homework and how do I know they even watched or listened to it?"
Typically the assignment (video, podcast, etc.) is given with a small assignment attached.  For instance, watch this video and complete this graphic organizer.  On some of the hosting sites, you can include a short 3-5 question "quiz" about the information. 

We all have students who don't do their homework. That's not going to change.  If a student comes without having completed the assignment, they simply do it in class and miss out on the application activity you had planned for that time (what a bummer!).  Whenever the student finishes, they hop in and join the group.  If you know there is a student who does not have access to technology at home, you can arrange a separate time for them to complete the assignment- again, you have to make it work for you and your classroom.  You can use a bunch of different ways to assess students.  Click on the links below to check out Edmodo, Google Docs, TodaysMeet, and Socrative.  Do you have a favorite? ...or one to add?

    

 

     

Where can I find pre-made media sources?
There are SO MANY great options out there.  Here are a few great resources:

YouTube

TeacherTube

Khan Academy

TED

Hippo Campus

Do I have to make my own videos? 
You don't HAVE to... but as our presenters mentioned- your students have a connection to YOU (because, after all, you are the best teacher ever!).  While sending them to watch something that is already created on the web is fabulous, they will tune in and do more active learning if you are the one presenting.  No pressure.  You don't have to make every media source yourself, but throw in a few to keep them coming back for more.

What website and programs can I use to create and/or host my media?
Again, so many options out there!
I think the "easiest" way to create a video would be to record on your tablet, phone, or webcam and upload to YouTube.  However, if you want to get a bit more complex you can use some programs to help you out. 
Audioboo
YouTube
I Said What?  (app)
Garageband
...or my favorite, any apps that turn your voice into a talking sockpuppet or animal! 

Once you have your video made, you will want somewhere to host it.  Some people use their own blog or webpage to showcase their information.  However, if you are wanting a hosting website to send your students to, here are some that were mentioned:  YouTube, TeacherTube, Edmodo, iTunesU, Podomatic.


Awesome blogs to check out:
(either about flipping your class or great for teacher education)
Flipping with Kirch (Julie was one of our presenters)
Learning in Hand (Tony Vincent)
Copy/Paste (Peter Pappas)
TechSmith

Ok, I saved my favorite for last (as an added bonus for those of you troopers who read through this entire thing!).  Have you heard of Sophia?  A-maz-ing.  The website is partnered with Capella University, Bill Nye (the science guy!) and some other great places.  You can create and host all kinds of media options for FREE, plus it has tutorials and FREE professional development videos.  Check it out.  It is awesome and worth a look.

So I'm curious- have you tried flipping your classroom?  What resources do you use?

TGIF + April Currently

Hey y'all!  I spent the week at the NCEA national conference in Houston, Texas and just returned late last night.   I had a nice little blog post all set up earlier this week, but my tablet won't publish it so I'm not sure what happened there.  Since I didn't take my laptop on the trip, I ended up just not updating!  Between company from Germany and Easter last week and Houston this week, I'm getting caught up today on everything at home.

Learned a bunch of fun information at the conference and can't wait to share a little in the next few weeks.  Some session topics I attended included:

- flipping classrooms

- iPad apps

- centers/workstations

- classroom management/minimal disruptions

- professional learning communities (PLCs)

- using manipulatives in for reading instruction

So since I don't quite have my act together yet, I went ahead and linked up with Farley's April Currently for today and I'll get back to you on some more interesting tidbits later.

Have a lovely Friday!  I hope the sun is shining in your 'hood!

Wonderful Websites: Educents

I just learned about Educent's launch on April 2nd and I'm intrigued.  It sounds like Groupon and Living Social deals, but for parents and educators.  Teachers have a love/hate relationship with spending money on their classrooms.  (right?)

If you sign up right now, they email you a code for a $10 gift card- what a deal!  Click on the picture to link up (and yes, if you pass on the personal link they give you, you get an additional $1/email address- get your own and pass it on!).  The idea sounds interesting so I am eager to see what kinds of deals are coming to my inbox...
 
Happy Deal Hunting!

Spring Break

Spring Break WOOOHOOO!  I calculated it out and with our snow days (and I was gone for a few days) in February I worked 14 days.  In March, I'm working 12.  So really Spring Break is just another few days off... then I'm off to a week long conference the first week in April and when I come back we start testing.  Teacher PANIC!  I'm the luckiest teacher and have a great group of students this year (as I do every year!) so I know they will do their best, but as you know it's still nerve racking!

I had lofty goals for this spring break week that I am working on.  Starting tomorrow. 

But during my laid back, still-wearing-pajamas-and-blog-hopping at noon morning afternoon, I ran across Fifth in the Middle's lovely blog post for teacher blogs by state.  I think I'm behind the gravy train on this (that's not news!) but I went ahead and linked up and checked out some more blogs!  What a great idea!  You can link up to it as well with the link on my sidebar that looks like this:

 

I'm not from Kansas originally, so it feels weird to say that I'm a Kansas blogger!  Also, not great at the blogging thing, so maybe I'm just a Kansas Blogger Imposter.  That should have been my blog name.  Rats.  I honestly don't know how all you blogger maniacs are keeping up with everthing- but I do love learning about it all!

 

I did do one productive thing so far this Spring Break- and that was finish up my Crypto Challenge poster set.  We play the Crypto Challenge in my classroom every week and it is a super challenge for the kids- especially those that love math and want to stretch their brain muscles! 

 

If you've never played the game Krypto, you can find it for $12 on Amazon.  It's not sold in stores anymore, so it can be hard to find.  I love the game and it does serve it's purpose sometimes in the classroom, but sometimes we don't have time for a whole "game".  I went to a great Greg Tang conference a few years ago (holy cow he is a math WIZ!) and he could come up with solutions INSTANTLY.  It blew my mind.  That's why I put the posters together.  Students put a new Crypto Challenge up each week and then turn in the equations they made.  In the past I've offered this as an "extra challenge/extra credit" but now I'm switching it to a center activity, so I went ahead and made 30 beginner posters and 5 intermediate posters.  We can put different numbers up every week, but I wanted something already made and easy to grab-n-go.  Make it a student job each week and it's done for you!

 

The posters at my TpT store look like this:

 

 

 

The rules are super easy- using the 5 numbers on top only once, students can use any operations (add/subtract/multiply/divide) to get to the target number (in this case, 8).  So for instance, students could turn in :

5x6=30

30/3=10

10x1=10

10-2=8

 

 

I find the Crypto Challenge super hard to do, so lots of my students beat me to a solution.  The best part is they don't all get the same solution, so it challenges them to come up with more.  See who can get the most!  See who can get it first!  Play like Boggle and knock each other out!  So really, it could be set up as a game or a center...or just a fun math challenge in the classroom.  The other thing that is fabulous about it, is that the students naturally differentiate the activity.  Some students will naturally stick to the basic math operations, but others will start grouping numbers with parentheses, or try harder equations to manipulate the game.  Makes me smile!  Either way, we love it in room 112.

 

Off to dig into a wonderful book- since I've already committed to working on my lofty goals tomorrow...

 

 



 

 

 

 



Wonderful Websites: TenMarks Math Madness

It's that time of year again...March Madness! 

 

Or...Arch Madness if you're an MVC lady (or gentleman) like myself. 

(Insert shameless plug for Creighton- Go Jays!) 

 

Or... Math Madness if you're a teacher (or just really love math?)! 

There are so many amazing math websites out there that are great for student learning, and excellent for teacher data collecting.  If you haven't seen Young Teacher Love's blog post about how to use the Khan Academy website data, you should check it out.  So much wonderful information!  It's on my list of sites to dig into next school year.

I typically have multiple websites for my students so that they can choose which they enjoy or will use the most. I realize that makes it a little harder for data collecting, and if it comes down to it, I'll make them commit to one, but until then they have the freedom to do what they enjoy best. My view is, as long as they are practicing math at their ability level, it is all good.  I find that each class tends to find one site that they prefer and work on the most anyway. 

This year, one website we are using is Ten Marks and my students are loving it.  I've used this website for a few years, but I think the site has made some great changes and improvements.  It's also possible I wasn't using it correctly before.  Students in my classroom can log in during guided math center time, free time during the day, or at home.

It's Math Madness time on the TenMarks site and we are buckling down to complete 500 problems/week and improve our percentage correct each week.  Great motivation- and a good friendly competition that keeps us working together and all on the same team- LOVE that!  I had one student alone complete 500 problems this week...what?!

Reasons I like TenMarks:

1. I can set up multiple "groups" so that I can differentiate based on student need.

2. I can follow up on their data and keep track of level difficulty.

3. I can focus assignments on key concepts, or give them review throughout the year.

4. They love working to gain access to new games.

5. They love helping each other out and teaching hard concepts to each other.

Here's a breakdown on how TenMarks works (Note: this is all the free version- I do not have a paid subscription as of right now):

After you log on to the TenMarks site, you can create your class list and groups.  Assign your groups an ability level - I have one group working on 4th grade material, and one working on 5th.  You can add up to 3 other curriculum topics from other levels for each group.  For instance, my 5th grade level has all 5th grade curriculum, but I added 4th grade Geometry because they needed more practice in that area, and 6th grade Algebra to their list since they needed more of a challenge.  Here's what some of the 4th grade curriculum content areas are:

Once your class is set up, you can log in and see your class live data on the home page.  Here's my class right now:

(don't be alarmed- that is 129 completed assignments out of 268 assigned assignments- with 82% accuracy)

 

 

 

Each time you log in, you will see the above tabs with your groups.  When you click to view live data, this screen will show up:

 

 



 

As you can see, I have some students who are working like crazy, and some who are...uh...not. The circle "graphs" are showing the amount of student work that is above 70% (green), or below (yellow).  This shows me right away if something is too hard.  If I see a lot of yellow (see bottom student) I can click on their name and see the breakdown of which concepts were difficult, how long they took to answer the questions, and how many hints they used (they get three/assignment).   

 

 



To add an assignment to a group, select the group you want to add an assignment to (above), and click on the Assignment tab on the top navigation bar.

 



 

The next screen looks like this:

 

 

 

Click on the students you want to assign an assignment to (on the left-I cut off my kiddos names!), then click on the math concept you want them to work on (in the middle) and then the right hand box will disply specific parts of that concept and you click with you would like them to work on.  In the lower left hand corner, you can choose how many problems you want them to work through, and then write them some meaningful words of encouragement. 

 

TenMarks gives a pretty quick and easy set of data to review and understand.  Basically, it breaks down the student progress like this:

 

Breakdown of number of problems solved, concepts worked on, and accuracy- again, green is over 70% correct, and yellow is less than 70% correct:

 

 

 

 

 

Concept breakdown and bar graph per student to see what they have worked on (past 7 days- also adjustable):

 

 

 

 

And an overall view of class performance based on concept- we are much better at number sense (triangle) than algebra (circle).

 

I find the bottom two graphs best for overall class performance, but the top data configuration is the best for individual progress and activity. 


This is, of course, just one of MANY web-based resources out there!  The key is finding what fits best in your classroom and is the most motivating for your students.  What fabulous websites do you use for math instruction?

This is my life.

Does anyone else feel like these are completely unscripted and as a teacher, your conversations with students sound like these commercials every day?