When we have interim assessments, our school's schedule gets a little hectic. We often end up eating lunch in our rooms and I might show a Magic Schoolbus video. I think I will plan on playing this video next time!
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Making Math Fun
The following is a link to a Ted Talk by Arthur Benjamin. This particular video is on Fibonacci numbers, but all of his talks are about making math fun!
Back to the old ways...
I have felt very guilty recently because I haven't written any posts since I said that I would write about how the distributive property activity went... I knew that blogging would be difficult once school really got into full swing because once I get home, I have to think about the next day, which takes all of my mental capacity (and often more than I have left).
Since I last wrote, the tablet initiative has been suspended in my school district. There were multiple reasons for this, but what we know is that the company that supplied the tablets is going to be looking for a different product. They will all be replaced, and in the meantime, we are doing things the way we used to.
At first, I missed them. There were certain tools and activities that I had gotten accustomed to that I could no longer do. I grew really attached to the practices on Khan Academy because students could work at their own pace and get immediate feedback. They could even watch videos on that topic if they needed additional help. I was getting the hang of personalized learning.
My students were so happy to get rid of them, though. Technological/connectivity issues plagued them, and they were dying to just go back to paper/pencil for math. I don't blame them. We would do worksheets that had been scanned in. This required them to do work on a piece of notebook paper, but if they wanted to go back and see the original problem, they would have to open the document again.
I now have a better idea of a better way to use the tablets, and look forward to them coming back. I will not use them as an alternative to paper. Especially in math, paper and pencil cannot be replaced. I have a better understanding of activities that can be good substitutes for things that I may have done on paper, and I will definitely utilize things like Khan Academy more.
In the meantime, I'm getting acquainted with BrainHoney. I have taken a course on BrainHoney and liked the layout as an online student. I'm not sure if I'm totally sold on it for use in a 6th grade classroom.
I will also be looking more into this list of the best apps and websites for math! They are aligned to the common core, too!
HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY WEEKEND!
Since I last wrote, the tablet initiative has been suspended in my school district. There were multiple reasons for this, but what we know is that the company that supplied the tablets is going to be looking for a different product. They will all be replaced, and in the meantime, we are doing things the way we used to.
At first, I missed them. There were certain tools and activities that I had gotten accustomed to that I could no longer do. I grew really attached to the practices on Khan Academy because students could work at their own pace and get immediate feedback. They could even watch videos on that topic if they needed additional help. I was getting the hang of personalized learning.
My students were so happy to get rid of them, though. Technological/connectivity issues plagued them, and they were dying to just go back to paper/pencil for math. I don't blame them. We would do worksheets that had been scanned in. This required them to do work on a piece of notebook paper, but if they wanted to go back and see the original problem, they would have to open the document again.
I now have a better idea of a better way to use the tablets, and look forward to them coming back. I will not use them as an alternative to paper. Especially in math, paper and pencil cannot be replaced. I have a better understanding of activities that can be good substitutes for things that I may have done on paper, and I will definitely utilize things like Khan Academy more.
In the meantime, I'm getting acquainted with BrainHoney. I have taken a course on BrainHoney and liked the layout as an online student. I'm not sure if I'm totally sold on it for use in a 6th grade classroom.
I will also be looking more into this list of the best apps and websites for math! They are aligned to the common core, too!
HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY WEEKEND!
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