#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!

#readthree 2016 Day 5 #MTBoS @matheasyaspi @mikewiernicki @dsladkey

I’ve run across posts from  @matheasyaspi, an electrical engineer turned math teacher, several times this spring.  Today, I finally spent some time actually reading them.  Accommodating Imperfection, I especially like because she shows how versatile a set of cards can be.  Cheryl outlines four different activities using a single set of cards she has created and describes how each engage students and impact learning.

A circle graph she uses as a Getting to Know You tool.

Sometimes I wonder if I would have been a better teacher had I experienced math outside the classroom first. I know I will be visiting her blog more in the future, because I am curious – how does someone who has taken her path, approach the learner differently than I do.  I look forward to learning more.

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Last fall I had the opportunity to meet @mikewiernicki in person at NCTM, Nashville.  That’s one of the best things about #MTBoS, to connect a real person with conversations and blog posts.  I appreciate his open, honest reflections from his classroom.  In So…Have You Always Taught Math This Way? I especially like this paragraph

At the end of my first year, I spent some time in my room, at my desk and wrote down all of the changes I wanted to make and how I planned to make them.  This was probably the best idea I ever had!  Throughout the summer I reread that list and, when necessary, created things that would help me reach my goals.  I didn’t reach them all, but the next year was much more successful.  Couple that with the summer PL that I took and the way I was teaching math was really beginning to change.

The post goes on to share how he took a silly news story and turned it into a 3Act style lesson – ways to engage student thinking and enhance discussions.  Definitely take the time to visit and pick up a few pointers on how to improve your teaching.

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This is one of the first blogs I began to follow is David Sladkey’s, Reflections of a High School Math Teacher.  I have used and share his Student Engagement Wheel many times and even purchased the book with support resources/ideas.  I like the Wheel for personal accountability and recommend it if you feel there are improvements you can make, but not quite sure where to start.  Its even more telling when you allow students to rate class using the wheel.

#readthree 2016 #MTBoS Day 4 @MathDenisNJ @martinsean @newmanmath

I’ve visited some great sites this week – looking forward to many more new read over the next month.

Check out @MathDenisNJ at Unanswerable Questions, the blog name is enough to make you curious!  He has a book coming out in August 2016, Instant Relevance:  Using Today’s Experiences in Tomorrow’s Lessons.  Under the Math Activities, you’ll find several engaging examples of his lessons.  I chose to link to his Donut Holes task in Honor of National Donut Day!

– celebrated in the United States of America, is on the first Friday of June each year, succeeding the Doughnut Day event created by The Salvation Army in 1938 to honor those of their members who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I.^[1]  ) 

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When visiting @newmanmath, looks like Hilbert’s Hotel is moving across country!  Wow.  This is a great Letter to the Next Teacher offering advice, resources and encouragement!

Many great posts shared dating back to 2012.

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As I scroll down @martinsean‘s blog Opposite of a Negative, I WANT to visit that classroom.  So many projects that make me curious.  I will definitely be stopping by more throughout the summer to catch up on his #180posts

This peacock caught my eye out of several creative Wheel of Theodorus projects!

#readthree 2016 Day 3 @bethfulmer @mikepaul @chenault_jamie

This morning I visited @bethfulmer‘s blog Teachering and ran across this post on Making Number Talks Matter.  At the end of this particular post, she has a link to a slide show she compiled sharing big ideas from the book as well as a breakdown of strategies utilizing number talks and the four operations as well as connections to algebraic thinking.  I feel like this is a good starting place for someone wishing to get started with Humphey’s and Parker’s book.

Beth has many posts sharing student examples and thinking from her use of Number Talks in the classroom.

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@mikepaul shares this post shares some suggestions on how to integrate Periscope into your classroom.

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To wrap up my 3 for today… @chenault_jamie shares some screencasts and examples of how to get started with google classroom, extensions, etc. for google chrome.  Some other great posts on giving students room to grow as well!

#readthree 2016 Day 2 #MTBoS @anderson02B @jbowker @mburwtiz

My first encounter with @anderson02B from Math Lab: Inspire, Connect, Reflect was when I tweeted about wanting to do more open middle questions in my class.  I tried some randomly planned items this spring and realize very quickly it is a useful, thought-provoking, discussion-driving structure to utilize.  In his recent posts, there are several open middle statistics problems shared.  Just enough to get you thinking and seeing how you can incorporate in to your own tool box of questions!  There are several links posted that lead to numerous examples in every domain of mathematics.  Check it out!

I liked his new mission he posted at the end of this post: Don’t stop at practice, push students to reflect, rethink, reapply their mathematical knowledge for different experiences and scenarios.  Definitely something to remember as I am planning learning tasks for next year!

I only skimmed much of his #MTBoS30 posts, but I’d love to ask for his prompt list.  Interesting starter prompts – that lead to some great reading.  Thanks for sharing!

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@jbowker shared this great graphic on his site comparing various tech tools.  I like it.  I can quickly glance to see a tool I can look up based on the purpose of its usefulness.  I see a lot of tools I have heard of, yet never explored.  The graphic on his page has actual links to the named resources.  Definitely worth a visit!

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@mburwtiz had a fun little post on “Just How Big is a Cubic Meter?” over at Wahooooo 4 Math!   I love  when students ask their own questions, to allow them the space to answer it themselves!

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#readthree 2016 #MTBoS30

A couple of summers ago, I used a #readthree in an attempt to expose myself to new blogs.  There are so many good resources and quality teacher sharing, I miss so much.  My plan, to peruse down my list of followers and see what I can find… a rabbit hole of sorts.

Here’s my first edition of #readthree 2016

@jlwilliams314 over at Mrs. W is Off on a Tangent blog shared some of their INB activities for linear functions.  In this post, I especially like the flip open problems.  Scroll about halfway through to find these:

I like how they chose to give 1 representation of the function and students had to build/show the remaining models.  I will definitely be using this idea, maybe tweak to the NAGS.

Part 2 of her Linear Functions posts offered some nice foldables for residuals, correlation coefficients and interpretting slope/y-intercept.

After teaching AP Statistics, I was much more intentional with correlation and interpreting slope, y-intercept my first year back in Algebra I.  However, I want to refine what I did this year and she has provided me with some ideas to begin.

I love the most recent post celebrating her colleague!

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@theericklee of (Parentheses) [Brackets] {Braces+} shared a fun mash-up lesson he did with Fraction Talks and Clothes Line.  I loved the visual of this activity and plan to use it early in the semester with my Algebra I’s next year.

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@benwoodford1‘s site Mr. Woodford’s Math has several bits to review.  Under lessons, I really like the Zombie clip from MythBusters he uses to introduce a task in estimation Counting Zombies.  His Teacher Resource Page offers numerous links and a list of his favorite Ted Talks.  I will definitely be spending more time checking out his list of resources!

#readthree Summer Challenge #MTBoS30 Post 22

Last summer I wrote a post after a tweet from @burgess_shelley (she’s married to that Pirate guy)…but I enjoy reading her journey and experiences as an educational learner and leader!

Time to read the blogosphere is sometimes put on the back burner during the school year.  I hate this because interacting with #MTBoS challenges me to be a better teacher.  But it happens.

So today, I offer this challenge (again) to myself, but feel free to join in.  Read posts from 3 people you follow on twitter.  If you cannot do it daily, set a goal for yourself. I am challenging myself to 4 days a week and one day to reflect and share my take-a-ways by compiling my to-do list for next year. 

My intentions for next year are to incorporate more hands-on labs/data collection, focus on vocabulary and literacy strategies to empower student reasoning (writing and summarizing, @druinok!), providing more purposeful interactions/discussions (Strength in Numbers, @tchmathculture!) and planning more engaging tasks/activities.  Hopefully these goals will guide my focus in this challenge.

I am looking forward to reading from some new bloggers as well as catching up with those tried & true!