Place Value City Envelope Foldable

A few weeks ago I attended an amazing workshop held at our regional educational service center. The topic of the workshop was Envelope Graphic Organizers by Dinah Zike. For those of you who do not know about Dinah Zike, let me give you a quick run down. Dinah has been educator for many, many years. She started to implement the idea of using foldables to provide a kinesthetic approach to learning. This idea makes total sense, and I wish that my teachers would have incorporated this while I was in school. Dinah has a new book out covering the idea of re-using envelopes of all sizes to make foldables and graphic organizers. Since I am a huge Dinah fan, I just had to take the workshop held out the ESC.

Many of you know that I have attended several workshops and conferences during this past summer. My goal was to become more familiar and confident in the use of foldables to incorporate them into my teaching. Well...I don't know what I was so worried about! I love foldables, and my kids seem to enjoy them. After attending this conference, I immediately went to Staples and purchased several boxes of envelopes of all different sizes. I knew that it would take a while to get supplies in if I ordered them, and I wanted to show the kids what I learned!

My first objective was to help one particular student. This student is an amazing individual, who has absolutely taken to the idea of using foldables as a learning tool. Knowing that she loves arts and crafts, I was able to create an envelope foldable specific to her learning needs. One of the main topics that we are working on for this year was understanding place values, and being able to add and subtract up to six or seven places. The first thing that I needed to address was understanding the different place values. This is where the workshop that I attended and Pinterest came in handy.

While looking up ideas to help learn place values, I came across this image on Pinterest. It is a foldable  that stands alone, which makes it perfect to sit on a desk or table. Each house has three place values. The green house has a place for the ones, tens, and hundreds. The yellow has a place for thousands, ten-thousands, hundred-thousands. This continues up through the millions and billions. The orange fence holds the decimal place values: tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. It was a perfect starting point for my idea.

https://episd.org/_departments/Ed_media-prt-prod/docs/math_elem/house%20place%20value.jpg

Now, I didn't need to have the billions house or the thousandths place in the fenced area. I modified this "city" to be exactly what I needed. Our city had three houses and two fenced in areas. It was perfect for what we were going to work on, plus it allowed some growth for that student.

Dinah Zike created an envelope foldable that created a workstation that stood up, and had a pocket to hold things. I was thinking that I could create the city to sit on the part of the envelope that stood up. The envelope could hold another smaller envelope that had a bunch of numbers 0-9 inside. There would be enough numbers to create any number that she could think of. We could lay the city down, place the numbers inside of the columns, and the student would be able to identify the place values for each of the numbers. There would also be room to keep any worksheets or other notes that we take in the future to keep everything together. It was portable, colorful, and useful.

Place Value City standing up. This would be the image from the student's viewpoint.

This is the back side or cover of the Place Value City. I even included an
establishment date and a founder just like a regular city would have.

This showcases the use of the numbers inside of the
columns for each place value.
I think this is best part of the city!

The envelope holding the numbers goes inside of the bottom
part of the brown envelope.

 This is one of my favorite projects so far this year. I have reached out to a few of my elementary teaching friends, and they are interested in having their students construct place value cities to help with their understandings of place values. I look forward to seeing how younger students make and use this idea as a learning tool! I hope you enjoyed this idea, and please use in your own classrooms!

My Class Webpage Really Works!!

Wow! Just had a great experience with a couple of my students. Yes, it is after 9:00pm, so it was quite surprising that they were utilizing our class webpage and contact information to reach out to me in order to get the problems for their homework assignment. I have created a class webpage under Google Sites for all of my classes, and I have not been too great about keeping it as updated as I should be. In fact, I wasn't even sure if my students were even looking at it as a resource. It was a nice surprise that they are ACTUALLY taking it into their own hands to figure things out BEFORE class starts tomorrow morning! I am definitely impressed with them. It's going to be a great year with this group of kids!

Chromebook Update

Wow, this year has definitely gone by fast. I just finished putting in my 3 week grades for progress reports, and it only feels like I have been back at school for a week. Even the kids thought math class has gone by quickly! I guess that is a positive response that I am doing something right! :-) Anyway, I thought I would share an update regarding the Samsung Chromebook that I am trying out for the school. The experience has been up and down, to say the least.

Positives

I LOVE THE CHROMEBOOK! It is small, lightweight, and user friendly. I can have it sitting out on my lecture podium so that I can complete our attendance, without having to turn off my Promethean Board. I can have students completing their daily warm-up, using the Promethean Board, while I am taking attendance on the Chromebook.

The Chromebook uses the Google applications, and they have an amazing feature where it AUTOMATICALLY saves periodically. Instead of having to ensure that I am pushing the save button when I am working on something, the program will automatically do this for me.

The variety of Google applications is very extensive. Our school district is looking to implement Google products throughout our classrooms, and I have found a couple of them that work great for myself.

• Google Voice: I set up a different phone number that links directly to my cellphone that I can give out to students for them to contact me in case of emergencies. They don't receive my actual cellphone number, but they can still contact me like it was a cellphone. Plus, when voicemails are left through this phone number, Google Voice will create an email with a transcript of that voicemail and send it to my email. This will be great if I have parent's contacting me, and I look forward to seeing how this feature works out.

• Google Translate: I don't use this feature myself, but I have a teacher that I mentor that has a large number of Spanish Speaking students in her classroom. She is teaching in Pre-K, and these students are unable to read. She does not speak spanish, so I found this application from Google helpful. I recommended that she take a look at it. How it works: The user has the ability to select what languages to translate between. So, as a teacher, we can type in a direction to give a student in English. Select Spanish as the language to translate into, and hit enter. The phrase will be translated to Spanish, and will appear in a separate window. But, since these small kids don't read, there is a great feature to this program. Not only will it convert the phrase into written word, but it can also speak the phrase for you! There is a small speaker looking button that can be pressed, and the computer will say that phrase in Spanish for the teacher! I haven't heard how it has been working for her yet, but she was extremely excited to have another resource to help her students.

Negatives

While I love this little computer, I have had some issues. Well, I might as well get this out, I no longer have the Chromebook. :-( We have sent them back, and I am hoping to receive a replacement soon.

• Power Problems: Three teachers at our school have been demoing the computers, and we have all had a problem with the Chromebook turning on. We don't really know what happened, but there was a few days where the computers would not turn on for us. We would plug them in, and the computer would not take a charge. For myself, the computer would work when it was plugged in, but it wouldn't accept a charge and would turn off once unplugged. For another teacher, her computer wouldn't even turn on when it was plugged in. The battery life of the Chromebook is around 8 hours, which is more than enough to last an entire school day. Remember, we are looking at these for our students. Also, these computers would be plugged in for extended periods of time, so we would need them to work regardless on how long they were plugged in. Not exactly sure if we will receive another Chromebook back. The vendor that we purchased these through said to send everything back, and I am hoping to receive a replacement soon.

• Working Offline: Since we are demoing the Chromebooks for use by a student, I have been attempting to take it everywhere that a student would take. I even took it to a professional development training and a UIL meeting hoping that I could take notes. However, you cannot pull up a Google Doc form to take notes UNLESS you are connected to the internet. The training was not at our school, and they did not have internet available at the location, so I was unable to take notes on the Chromebook. Also, we were having some internet set-up glitches during the time we met for the UIL meeting, and I was unable to take notes then either. I have been researching how to use it offline, but the computers were sent back before I could look into trying some of the things that were mentioned. 

Overall, the Chromebook is a great addition for a teacher. I am still looking on how to implement it into my math classroom for student use, so I'm not totally convinced that it is a great option for the math classroom. However, I love it for teacher use! Hopefully I get a replacement soon!

Setting Up My Interactive Notebooks

Only a few more days until teacher inservice begins, followed by the start of the school year! Boy, where has the summer gone? As I start preparing for the new year, I began to think about how I wanted to introduce the Interactive Notebooks into my classes. Fortunately, my students have dabbled with them a little in previous years, so the concept should not be brand new. I am just concerned that their experience with them in the past was not positive, so I'm preparing for some negativity towards them.

So, here is my game plan to turn those frowns upside down! Start the school year, and their notebooks, off with some fun foldables. I have only completed the first few pages of the INBs, but I am falling in love with them. Here is a quick rundown on what I have so far:

First Page: Title Page, (backside left blank)
Page i: Syllabus & Class Information, (backside, page ii, left blank)
Page iii - Page v: Table of Contents, (backside of page v, left blank)
Page 1: Unit #1 Introduction Page

I hope those aren't to difficult to understand, but I am referring to the actual physical pages in order. I will be using the right and left side of the notebook sheets, so they will be numbered in sequential order.

The best part of this so far is the Syllabus and Class Information section. I have created a small, three page, flip book to house information related to the class.

First: The Syllabus. The syllabus is an interactive syllabus graphic organizer. I have seen a few examples of this from Dan Meyer, and a teacher mentor from my educational service center. The students will be completing their own syllabus as we cover it in class. Gives them ownership of their understanding of the syllabus, plus the student will have a parent or guardian sign the document after we have completed it. I plan to have the students highlight two main ideas from the syllabus so that they have some big ideas to talk about with their parents. Of course there is no right or wrong answer here, they pick the top two that are most relevant or appealing to them and highlight them.

Second: Interactive Notebooks and FAQs. I wanted to include some information about the Interactive Notebooks (INBs), what the left side and the right side are used for, and put in writing that the students will be receiving a test grade each 9-week grading period for their INBs. The rubric is on the third page. Following the INB information is a section with three frequently asked questions. This portion provides information related to absences, bathroom/hall passes, and what to do if the student needs help.

Third: Interactive Notebook Rubric. I only slightly modified a INB grading rubric that I received here. I added a section that will allow me to use the same rubric through out the year (just print out new ones), and I can circle which grading period it is for. There are four different sections: Neatness & Organization, Content Accuracy, Required Elements, and Illustrations & Diagrams. The maximum point value for each category is 4 points, which leads to a total possible points of 16. The number will be converted into a percentage, and that will be the test grade they receive for their INBs.

Since this is a flip book, I left the area below the third page open. In the event that I need to add some additional information, I can add them in here. Otherwise, I may use that section to add a small folder to  hold the grading rubrics once I complete them. I like to keep everything in one place!

So far I feel that I have a great start to this INB idea, and I am looking forward to getting my students through setting them up and taking them home to show their parents!

Google Sites for Classroom Website

As I dive into the adventure of learning more about the Samsung Chromebook, I must look into the features and capabilities of Google. Wow...what a list of things I can do. This morning I created my own website, in which I can keep track of all of our schools important announcements, my Algebra I course information, and my Geometry course information. I feel that this will be a great place for students and parents to look for updated information throughout the year.

YouTube has some amazing videos on setting up your first Google Site for your classroom. Google Sites for Educators Webinar was easy to follow. I was able to follow everything step by step, and by the time the webinar was over I had completed my class website. One thing that Google Sites has implemented into its programming is the WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get). This is completely different than using HTML coding, in the fact that you don't have to know any special computer language. Google Sites is very user friendly, and easy to use in setting up a classroom website.

While I was setting up my classroom website, I came across another Google feature - Google Voice. This is a great feature that masks my personal phone number behind another phone number that I can give to students and parents. Google Voice lets you choose a phone number, and any calls to that number are forwarded to your personal phone number. I set them to come to my cell phone. This allows me to keep my personal cell phone number private, but I can still have open communication with my students and their parents. Another great feature of Google Voice is the voicemail. The program creates a transcript of any messages that are recorded on my voicemail. I can keep them and file them as record of communication. So, I created a Google Voice number and included that on my webpage along with my school email address for my contact information.

All of these features are completely free, and I always say: "If it is free, then it is for me!" I recommend taking the time to look into the different features and capabilities of the Google applications. You may be surprised at how easy and user friendly they are, and what opportunities it presents to integrate technology into your classrooms.

Samsung Chromebook Test Drive (Day 0): In a High School Math Classroom

This past week I went to San Antonio, Texas to a professional development conference put on by CSCOPE. CSCOPE is tied directly to the development of Texas education and consistent curriculum. It was a great trip, and I continued to learn new tips and strategies to use inside my classroom this coming up year. My summer of professional development and training has come to an end, and I am looking forward to preparing for the upcoming school year!

When I came home, I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me. A Samsung Chromebook! What was even better about it was that the school provided it to me. I had talked to my school administrator on the way San Antonio about using technology in the classrooms. Several of my state standards are changing in the near future to require me to incorporate more technology into the classroom, and I wanted a head start. He mentioned the school district is working on equipping every teacher with a classroom set of Chromebook computers! I was excited by that news, in itself. Honestly, no more having to reserve a computer lab? Who wouldn't love being able to use portable computers inside their classroom?

The one thing that he mentioned is that some of the teachers would be "test driving" these Chromebook computers in their classroom. I didn't think that I would be considered since I was new to the campus, and am only in my second year of teaching. I was pleasantly surprised to come home to this gem sitting in my closet. I will be starting out with just one teacher computer for this first semester. I will need to learn how I can incorporate it into the classroom, and then I will be able to share my experiences with other teachers in the Spring. I have started to look online at all of the capabilities of this computer, and I am excited to start my test drive. I am waiting on my login information from my technology department, but I have a game plan as to what I need to use to prepare myself for this coming up semester. Stay tuned as I share my comments on using this new technology in a high school math classroom.

Back To School Goals: 2013-2014

August 1st is the beginning of the new school year for many teachers. I have been finding myself scouring countless hours on the web trying to prepare myself for this new school year. One thing that I found over the past couple of days was many teachers were documenting their goals for the school year. Covering different categories, these goals range from personal, organization, planning, professional, and even goals related to how you want your students to behave. The last thing was a yearly motto.

 The picture above are the goals that I have set for myself during this 2013-2014 school year.

• Personal Goals: I want to be able to leave by 4:30 four out of five days each week (and not take work home). This is a big goal for me, especially the last part. Last year I spent loads of time at school before and after my classes to just prepare myself. I do not like clutter, which leads me to the next goal.

• Organization Goals: My room will be organized. It's a New Year, a new classroom, and a new building. Our high school is currently being renovated, and I plan to take advantage of the opportunity to begin the school year with a clean slate.

• Planning Goals: I want to minimize my time at home to plan for the upcoming week. I have two planning periods, and I need to use them wisely. Last year was difficult to do any planning at school, mostly because I did not have any planning periods. All of our free time was spent running tutorials before school and during lunch. Now that I will have two planning periods, and time in the mornings before my first planning period, there should be no reason that I am not able to do most of my planning at school!

• Professional Goals: I will be teaching Algebra I and Geometry, and I also teach in Texas. With that being said, my Algebra I students will be taking an End of Course state assessment in the spring. My goal is to have 100% passing rate on that test. Even though the Geometry students will not be taking a state assessment, my goal for them (and all my students) is to have a zero failing. 

• Students Goals: I want every student to have fun and to enjoy math. If they are engaged, then I can teach them. I am planning some fun activities for the school year, so I hope that I can reach every student that walks into my classroom.

Those are my five goals. Definitely think they are all achievable, and I feel good putting my goals down on paper. I will be referring back to this throughout the school year. I printed it out to include in my teacher binder so I can see it on a daily basis. The last thing that I added to my back to school goals is a motto. "Believe in Yourself." Many students, and myself, need to be reminded that we can accomplish anything we put our minds to it. Believing in yourself is an important key that will help make us all successful throughout the school year.