#readthree Spring 2017 Challenge #mtbos

In 2013 I read a blog post from @Burgess_Shelley about reading 3 posts from people you follow.  Over the past summers, I’ve challenged myself repeatedly to do this.  In the past couple of weeks, conversations with @druinok have lead to a new challenge.  We often agree that blogging, interactions on twitter with #mtbos challenge us and help us grow.  However, when life sets in, it’s the first thing we often let go to keep afloat.

Our Spring 2017 challenge is to blog a #readthree post once per week.  However, we are not limiting it to blog posts.  If you have a podcast, article, resource, media clip – anything you find that challenges you, causes you to pause & think, adjust something in your classroom or create a new learning task, share it!  We are our best resources.  Start reading/listening and sharing the treasures you run across!

One of my favorite things to do when the spring weather arrives – is walk and listen to podcasts.  Last week, @druinok suggested The Bedley Bros. EdChat follow them @bedleybros on Twitter.  I skimmed through the episodes and chose one featuring Steve Wyborney on Innovative Math Instruction.  When I returned from my walk, I headed over to his blog I’m on a Learning Mission to revisit some of his Splat! posts.

We had wrapped up our exponent properties the week before and wondered how I could utilize Splat! with these ideas.  A quick review at the beginning of class of all properties – product, quotient, negative exponents, zero exponents, power of powers…

I passed out florescent highlighters, large chart paper to each group, black lights – gave students the result, which property I wanted to see illustrated, turned off the lights and voila!  This is an idea of how I scaffold the questions.  Each student in the group had to give a unique example.  

The conversations and peer feedback were much better than me telling students how to correct their thinking.  Though the first few attempts were difficult for some – working backwards – they had a better grip on the ideas when they left class that day.  It was good for them to see there were so many possibilities of expressions that could create the given “answer.”

The last share I have this week is from @robertkaplinsky Behavior Economics: Loss Aversion – a blog I will read again, soon and hope to have a couple of good conversations from it.

Thanks for reading.  Now, go forth and share your own #readthree!