I cannot read all of the #made4math posts without actually doing some of them! I have been overwhelmed at the amazing projects and tips teachers have been sharing! I am planning a run to the store to pick up a couple of items needed for my to-do list. I will share those as I complete them.
Tarsia Math Puzzles
Yesterday I visited @roitzc Math in the Middle and @lysareiger MathReiger to learn more about the Tarsia Math Puzzles from Hermitech Labs. Its free. Enough said. Seriously, though – I gave it a run yesterday, creating a puzzle for Solving Quadratic Equations using Square Roots. You will need the software installed before downloading the files. I have not figured out how to translate to PDF yet (feel free to give me tips!).
- It was easy to navigate.
- No problems entering equations/solutions.
- You are given a table to double check your entries for mistakes before printing puzzle.
- You have options to print different size puzzle pieces.
- You can choose to print a simplified version – with center pieces of solution attached as starting spot for differentiation purposes.
- Variety of puzzle types to choose from.
- Enter title / concept to be printed on back of puzzle pieces.
My first print I was disappointed because my front/back did not match up. However, I found that if I print the output side first and place those copies in my printer, face up, with top of screen shot from computer for backside is the same as side entering printer first, it lines up perfectly!
DoppelMe – Avatar Creator
This really has nothing to do with the math classroom, but the discussion on twitter the other night was about coming to TMC12 dressed as your avatar – uh. Well. My avatar was a picture of me. Boring. So I ventured out to find a free avatar creator. Not sure which ones are best but I used DoppelMe to create a version of myself. They had super-hero costumes – and though I know being a math teacher does require some super-powers, I just didn’t feel worthy to wear the Wonder Woman crown and boots! I’ll leave that for some of my tweeps at TMC12!!!
Okay, so my hair is not that blond and definitely not that cute cut. But green is my favorite color! I only wish they had some scarves in their accessory line. 
I am the scarf-queen at RCHS… no one can compete with my scarf collection! Seriously. People see scarves – they think of me – they buy me one! I am overwhelmed by their generosity!
Podcasts…
Next I stopped by @_CindyWallace_ Sch00l Stuff to learn more about creating a podcast. I know folks have been doing these for ages – and its something I’ve been interested in for the past year – but I’ve never taken the time to experiment and learn. So here we go!
Well, that’ll have to wait. I get my account set up – ready to record and realize…the only mic I have is at school. :/ More on that later!
Crafting at Home -
I have to share a project because I know a few of you are sewers… This is from Make-It Love-It. She has great tutorials. And this fabric fishy-bag makes an adorable gift for little girls!
I love the fishy bag. It would make an even better gift when coupled with a Rainbow Fish book. Thanks for sharing.
great idea! it does look like rainbow fish!!!
Pam, What about your phone or an iPad for recording?
unfortunately, i don’t have an ipad. but duh. i do have a phone! i just need people like you to push me in the right direction! thanks!
I’m glad you tried Tarsia. I was able to turn it into a PDF because I have adobe acrobat(not reader) on my computer which lets me prong to PDF. That said I only used that to put a link in my blog.
I’m glad you tried Tarsia. I’ve enjoyed using it and if I discover a card sort is too hard, I can edit. To make it into a PDF I was able to select PDF as my printer. I think this is because I have acrobat on my computer.
On another note, where did you find that gorgeous pencil sharpener?
Thank you. I haven’t been at home long enough to sit down and try the PDF yet. *LOVE* my pencil sharpener! http://www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com I was planning to order another one for home use – but they are SOLD OUT! Be patient though – I believe they will be restocked around August 7th – just in time for school!
[...] also had a station utilzing a Tarsia-style puzzle with variety of polynomial multiplication [...]
Download Primo pdf. You can turn any document into a pdf file. It is a free program. When you click on print Primo is one of your choices and you can create the pdf file and save in the file of your choice.
thank you!
[...] not a 100% sure where I first saw posts about these. I’m going to pretend it was here. (It was a starred entry in my Google Reader about Tarsia and could use an excuse to link to this [...]