Distance Floor and Desk Activities

Yesterday, all teachers did walk-arounds.  During our planning period, we met as a group and were given two lesson plans for classrooms to visit.  Each group consisted of about 3 teachers and at least one administrator.  Eight teachers volunteered to open their classrooms for observations, including me!
My purpose statement was to "use the floor activity to develop understanding of how to use Pythagorean Theorem to find distances on a coordinate plane".  After my students completed and turned in their bellwork, they joined me at the back of my room where I had taped the axes on the floor.

I used pre-planned coordinates for my students to graph.  Two points created a vertical line, two created a horizontal line and two created a diagonal line.  In the discussion, my students decided they could count spaces for a vertical or horizontal line, but not a diagonal.  Then, I mentioned the Pythagorean Theorem and had them discuss in their groups what they remembered about it.  After their discussions, we created a right triangle and they solved for the diagonal line.  We did a couple other examples.

After that, they went back to their tables and used them to graph their given points and find the distance on paper between the two points.  I taped their two-students tables down the middle before school, so I used that for the x-axis.  The y-axis was the crack where the two tables met.  The day before, I discretely made tick marks with permanent marker and labeled the axes.

I taught 6 classes, with at least 6 groups each and DID NOT TAKE A SINGLE PICTURE!!!!!! UGH!!!! So today, in anticipation for this blog post, I chose a couple examples and staged pics.  I was just so wrapped up in the excitement of my students learning and my fellow teachers observing that I didn't even remember I had my phone in my pocket!

 This is the best year I've had at my current school!  I loved working with some teachers/math coach/literacy coach/admin!  My math coach emailed me, principal texted me and literacy coach put a note in my mailbox!

Back to School: First Week (3 days) #MTBoSBlaugust

The calendar this year is perfect: teachers started a week ago Tuesday and students started this past Wednesday.  We had 6 pre-planning days and I felt very relaxed in getting stuff done.  I made myself available to help some of our new teachers get their rooms ready or answer any questions they had.

We had our Open House the Thursday before students arrived, so I got to meet about 90 of my 158 students!  Our school decided to have a mock school day for parents and students with 7-minute classes.  From a teacher stand point, this was a phenomenal idea.  Every year I find myself repeating the SAME THING OVER AND OVER as each small group came through my door.  I got to where I was giving them a shortened version of the speech.  This year, there was a lack of communication to parents about the schedule, so I still had some walking in at all times, even my mock planning period! LOL!  After the usual speech, I asked the parents to write one positive word about their child on a post-it note and stick it on my ONE WORD bulletin board.  Like my students, they were a little shy doing their first classroom activity!  Here's a pic...

I had an amazing 3 days with students this week.  Here is the assignment I wrote out prior to Open House (READ: things change!).  

For Bellwork, they had two tasks to complete: post-it note activity and name tent.  Wednesday's post-it note activity was to write ONE GOOD THING that happened to them today. They found it easy and I wanted to start on a positive note!  

The next task was to make a name tent and ask me a question or make a comment inside to turn in at the end of the period.  I took them home and wrote a comment on every single one that had written to me.  I got my idea from Sara VanDerWerf here.  I made mine have only 3 days.  I also printed dotted lines on the back so students could fold it a little easier.

After that, I had my students take the syllabus and a pencil and do a gallery walk around my room to read my posters.  They had to write down things they read that were important.  After they were seated, I asked each group to tell me something they read that was important.  This is a great way to go over the rules without droning on and on about things they aren't allowed to do.  Many of them noticed all my inspirational posters.  I really think this set the positive tone for my classroom.  

I was disappointed that I had to postpone the cup stacking activity.  I'll blog about it when we do get to it.  Last was the MATH IS... math tweet.  I have used this for a few years now (even though I wasn't on twitter myself!).  I got the idea from Math Equals Love (Sarah Carter).  I have to admit that I haven't read any of them yet!

Thurday's post-it note activity was to write ONE FACT they wanted me to know about them.

I had planned to go over Google Classroom with them and have them complete a SMART goal and WHO I AM (both on Google Slides).  Of course, first period I found out that I didn't have the correct naming convention for their new emails and the Google Chromebooks wouldn't let them sign in. Anticipating typical tech issues, I had those two documents printed out, thankfully!  Boring, but doable!

Friday's post-it was to complete the sentence IF I KNEW I WOULDN'T FAIL, I WOULD...

Regrettably, we didn't get to do the Formed Paper exercise, but I did get the right emails and they ALL WORKED!!!!!  That's a first!!  I went over Google Classroom and walked them through two assignments.  They completed a WODB individually in Google Slides and turned it in (see examples below).  The other activity was playing around with Geogebra, taking a screenshot and importing it into a Google Doc to turn in (see examples below).  They were then given a homework assignment.  It is a Google Form with a YouTube video embedded at the top.  They will watch the video, answer the questions and submit the assignment.  I set the Form up as a "Quiz" so it will be graded as soon as they turn it in.  Honestly, there is no reason for them to miss any questions because they can simply rewatch the video to answer them.  This is slight flip of my classroom.  Video notes are going to be given as homework, so students can watch as many times as they need to and have success on homework.

I've grade 4 out of 6 classes on the WODB assignment.  It is SO EASY to check it, assign points, write private comments if I want and return the work to them.  Plus, I don't have to lug two tons of paperwork home to grade.  There's some serious procrastination going on when that huge stack is on the table staring at me!!!!!!

I hope this next week and every week this year will be as good as last week!

Sorting Triangles Pre-Assessment

I have used the basics of this activity as an individual activity as well as a pair activity.  In the individual activity, each student received a copy of the sorting template and the 7 different types of triangles.  The sorting template was a half sheet that would be glued into their interactive notebooks.  They had to write in the two categories in which they would sort the 7 words and glue those onto the sorting template.  I would check their work before gluing it down, but some students glued first.

The pair activity was more successful with my students.  I only had to print and cut out 15-20 sets.  If they were laminated, they would last longer.  If not, students frequently wrote what they thought to be the correct answer on them.  Being a class set, this required me to reprint and recut to replace messed up sets or ones with lost pieces.

As I began planning for the upcoming school year, I found Google Classroom and digital interactive notebooks.  I knew this was for me because I love introducing my students to new useful technologies and it would save large amounts of money used in buying the paper, glue, tape, etc.

Students would work in pairs and decide which two categories into which these 7 words can be separated.  Each student would be responsible for completing their own activity even though they are working together.  Students will drag and drop each of the 7 words into the correct category.  Once that is done as a pair, students are to write their own reflection, explaining their reasoning.

FREE Google Digital Interactive Basic Geometry Figure Activity

In a previous blog post (here), I wrote about a review activity I had created for my students to cut and paste into their spiral interactive notebooks.  This summer I am taking many of my old "paper" versions and converting them into "digital" versions.

You can find this activity here for free.  Please let me know what you think and keep checking my blog and my TpT store for more!

Google Digital Interactive Geometry Files

Just before the end of school, I started thinking about this coming year as I do every year.  I get most of my inspiration from Pinterest and several blogs I read.  I happened to come across a TpT file by Jennifer Kimbrell @TechwithJen.  (You can buy that file here.)  She explains in the video in her file how to create interactive notebook files to be used in Google Slides.  I was hooked!!  I started searching for more files, only to find that there aren't many Geometry files out there, yet!  I came across and purchased another file on TpT by Danielle Knight @StudyAllKnight.  (That file can be purchased here.)

I, then, set about to convert some of my interactive (paper) notebook files into digital interactive files!
So far I have converted my Classifying Triangles and Triangle Congruences Sorting Activities.  I've also created 10 bellwork templates each with a different background for variety.  The file I'm the proudest of is the 13 units of interactive vocabulary.  In the downloadable preview, I give the list of vocab words by unit.  Every single vocab term has a text box where students can type the definition and some other interactivity, including circling items in a diagram, moving arrows to point to parts of a diagram, drag and drops and fill-in-the-blanks.

Click on the photos below to go to the TpT link to purchase.

Classifying Triangles Activity


Triangle Congruences Sorting Activity


Bellwork Templates


Vocabulary

Advantages of the Google Digital Version

• saves money for teachers and parents because there's no need for a spiral notebook, tape, glue, lots of colored paper or scissors.
• saves time during class that students waste cutting and gluing.
• there will not be any lost pieces all over the floor.
• are more colorful.
• uses technology.
• students have access anywhere they have internet, even on their phones.
• students won't lose the files because they are kept on their Google Drive rather than at the bottom of a backpack.
• students can do and redo these activities because they aren't glued down after the first attempt, making it a learning activity AND a review activity.
• easier for students to read their work because it doesn't involve their handwriting.
• they are more fun!

Parallel Lines Activity

Today, all 6 of my geometry classes were supposed to take a quiz on angle relationships when parallel lines are cut by a transversal and move on to parallel, perpendicular or neither.  I knew yesterday by 2nd period that they wouldn't do well if I forced them to take the quiz at the beginning of class today.  So a plan was hatched and a trip to Dollar Tree was planned.

The plan was to tape the floor with two parallel lines cut by a transversal.  The more I thought about it, the more pieces I created.  The trip to Dollar Tree only yielded a roll of pretty duct tape and a roll of navy blue masking tape.  I went there to look for more traffic cones, but they were all gone.  I had bought 8 traffic cones from there about 4 years ago and have never used them!  Finally, they had a use!! I had 2 red, 2 orange, 2 yellow, 1 blue and 1 purple and I needed them in pairs.  So I could only use the red, orange and yellow ones and it worked just fine.

Here's a pic of my floor taped.  Those are electrical plugs in my floor!

Here's a pic of my "tools".  Six signs with angle pair names, 3 pairs of colored cones, a timer to keep us on track, post-its for solving (one pair for congruent angles, one for supplementary) and student names on strips to pull at random (color-coded by class).  The next pic is of student whiteboard and marker storage. 

The students grabbed a whiteboard, marker and a chair and sat in a semicircle around the taped lines.  I explained how it worked and we got started.  I would show everyone a sign with an angle pair and place it on the floor.  Then, 2 random students were chosen and given cones.  They would place the cones in the correct angles.  If they had trouble on the first round, they could get help.  Once the cones were placed, they were asked if those angle were congruent or supplementary.  At that point, I would stick the post-its and have them use the whiteboards to solve for the variable.  In some classes, we got thru the first round without anyone needing help so I would give two cones to a student and have them challenge another student.  They would place their cone then challenge a student to find an angle that was, say corresponding to it.

I had one student that is hard to reach tell me that it was fun and thanked me for doing the activity!!!!  I had so much fun and it was such a productive activity (grades on quizzes after activity were better than expected!) that I invited my math coach and fellow geometry teachers to watch during their planning period.  They plan on using it next week for their students as well!!

What a perfect way to end the week!! SUCCESS!!

Colorful Dodecahedrons

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for interesting ways to gather feedback from my students.  I wanted to get a feel of how my two Geometry Honors classes felt the second half of the year went.  At the semester break, their former teacher left for a family illness and my schedule was revamped to take these two classes.  I fell in love with these students immediately.  They were hard-working, curious individuals that, I have found recently, love a challenge.

So my choice of search for all things awesome sent me to Pinterest!  It was there that I found the colorful dodecahedrons created by 12 inscribed pentagons and numerous staples! So as the pin was on my screen, I opened Geometer's Sketchpad and created this template.   (I later created a larger version for next year.)

I was only planning to have my Geometry Honors classes participate, but I woke up with the beginnings of a migraine and decided my Algebra 2 classes could do the same thing.  I went into school before the kids arrived and made copies on colored paper.  While I was setting my room up for my sub, she walked in.  I briefly explained that each student needed to fill out 2 pentagons, cut the circles out and fold on the dotted lines (pentagon).  For each shape, they were to write about a lesson they learned this year and/or an activity that they enjoyed.

When I came back in the next day, my awesome sub had found my Ziploc baggies, filled each one with a class of pentagons and labelled them!!  For the next two periods, while my students worked on their surface area/volume project, I walked around with a few pentagons and a stapler in my hand, putting together a total of 14 dodecahedrons.  (It took over a day to staple them all.)  As I was walking around, my kids asked questions about the shape that I was creating.  So, I showed them a finished one and asked them to guess how many pentagons made the solid.  They were really into guessing and many got it right the first time.  I then asked what it was called.  After a couple seconds they were able to tell me dodecahedron (some said dodecagon first and I just waited).

The next day during my planning period, which fortunately is attached to my lunchtime (!!!), I hung them from the ceiling with fishing line.  I thought 14 would be too many, but once I got them all up, I wished I had more.  That's why I created a larger version of the inscribed pentagons so it would fill up more space, plus the students would be expected to write more details.

I have passed this project idea along to a couple of colleagues and look forward to sharing with other teachers during post-planning this year, or pre-planning next year.  While this is not my original idea, it is an original template.

I need to pull one of them down and count the number of staples.  That will be a question I ask my students.  I love to listen to them explain their thinking!

I loved reading this "fact" she learned!!

I wrote about the Four Fours activity here.

Some were just sweet comments...

Piling 'em up!

See how small they are once they were hung up?  Definitely gonna make larger ones next year.

Panoramic picture of my classroom from my exterior door.

Four Fours Worksheet

My Geometry Honors students took their EOC this past Monday and Tuesday.  So the rest of this week, I have been giving them miscellaneous mini challenges, nothing too deep.  One day they had to find a buried treasure using geometric constructions.  Today, I gave them the Four Fours Worksheet.  All students were engaged with this worksheet, even those that mentally drift off.  They were getting frustrated ("I'm gonna break this calculator!", "This is harder than the EOC!"), but they would not let it beat them.  The office called to tell me one of my girls was checking out.  She is typically chatty and not-so-engaged.  She told me, "I only have 2 more to find and I'm not leaving till I get them!".  She checked out 5 minutes later, AFTER she found the last two!  Needless to say, it was a good day!  Here's the link to my version of the Four Fours Wkst.

Interactive Notebook Survey

I didn't want to wait until the end of the year to give out a survey for our interactive notebooks.  After their quiz today, I gave them this to fill out.  Here's a screen shot...

Of the 33 surveys, here are a few things I found out...

- Question #1 - only 16 said they had 100% completed!  That's sad!

- Question #2 - a one, no twos, 16 threes, 12 fours and 4 fives

- Question #3 - 7 ones, 13 twos, 11threes, 2 fours and no fives

- Question #4 - a one, 2 twos, 5 threes, 13 fours and 12 fives

- Question #5 - no ones, 2 twos, 10 threes, 13 fours and 8 fives

- Question #6 - Triangle Vocab Puzzle, Law of Detachment/Law of Syllogism, Parallel Lines Flashcards, Triangle/Angle/Side Congruences, Equilateral and Isosceles Triangles, Conditional Statements, Classify Triangles Cut Out Activity, cute little folders for vocabulary, Triangles Congruences wkst (Math Teacher Mambo's Worksheet), Sum of Angles in a Triangle, Exterior Angle/Remote Interior Angles, calendars - I got to customize them to my personal liking).

- Question #7 - Most liked them all, but some said: Triangle Congruences, Proof Reasoning, Distance & Midpoint, Biconditionals IFF, Constructions, lots of vocab in first unit, Segment & Angle Addition, Parallel Lines Flashcards, Table of Contents (student says, "I get off track"), Exterior Angle/Remote Interior Angles.

- Question #8 - Most wouldn't change anything, but some said: the words would glow in the dark (that would be awesome!!), there would be more cutting and gluing, table of contents (not sure what they didn't like exactly), having to number the pages, start putting it in a binder instead of a notebook (spiral) because its not as sturdy and you can't add paper if you need to (we haven't needed to add paper, but I think they may have pulled some out for other assignments), add more notes writing down step by step what to do (good idea!), how much work we do in it like how thick the back is (vocab section), never to have flashcards in it again - I'm anti-flashcards (we only did them once! LOL), that it wasn't for a grade (I give them 2-3 days notice that I am grading it and take it as a quiz grade. This is from the student that admitted to only having done 25%, doesn't have a most or least favorite activity, but Q#4 was a 4 and Q#5 was a 3.).  And my favorite comment: Nothing. You're doing a good job.  It helps me practice and keep well-organized notes.  SUCCESS!!! 

I guess in every survey, you have a couple that Christmas tree it or leave blanks, but overall they have great feedback.  Glow in the dark words would be a super addition, but probably not real practical! Next year, I will continue to use 3-subject spirals, but will suggest the ones with plastic covers.  (I recommend that they keep it in their 3-ring binder, but many choose not to, causing it to get rather beat up.)  I don't want them to be able to add paper because it takes away from their ongoing organization, but they also need to learn not to pull paper out of it.  Grading will still take place as is.  Sometimes assigning a grade keeps kids working, because they know the assignment has value.  Some of mine will do it because I assign it, but those are a small portion.

Equilateral and Isosceles Triangles

Let me start by saying that I will be changing this lesson before I use it again!  I thought I could teach it off the cuff as I have in years past, but I found that I was teaching it differently and better the second time I taught it.**  My INB shows what I taught my first Geometry class of the day.  As I have written 5 blog posts today, I have learned that simply by typing an explanation helps me see things I would like to change, whether it's the name of the activity, directions, overall design, etc.

The good:
-each triangle is folded in half (altitude, twin triangles)
-the terms equilateral and equiangular are broken down (equi means equal, etc.)
-each triangle is glued only on the left side
-formula for side of the 30-60-90 triangle in the equilateral one.
-I questioned the 2nd class about the meaning of altitude and they said height, so I used the example of altitude of a plane being measured straight down (90 degree angle to ground).
-discussed angle bisectors and segment bisectors

The bad:
-triangles were too small
-should've use a, 2a and a radical 3, instead of a over 2, a and a radical 3 over 2
-I didn't explain altitude as well during 1st class
-didn't even use the word symmetry

**I believe that teaching is different for each class to some degree.  My teaching is better when I get feedback from my students and that happens more often in the 2nd Geometry class of the day! 

Triangles: Writing Congruence Statements

To explain the basics of triangle congruence, I created an activity (2-up) for the INB.  I continue to push my kids into reading and following directions without me explaining them or them asking a million questions.  I do remind them to "read and follow each step before moving on to the next one".

I had pre-cut colored paper into 8 pieces so their 2 triangles would fit into the top two-thirds of the page.  I like using the brad to show them that the triangles will not always have the same orientation.

I think the next time we use this activity I might have them cut out the table at the bottom of the worksheet and glue it into their INB instead of having them drawing a table like mine above.  If so, I will have to revamp the steps on the activity.