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Powtoon Tutorials

Another good video...


My first attempt...

Best Practices Weekly

Mrs. Harvey shared this site with me today. It is all about Best Practices, and has some great suggestions for Math and ELa.

I took the time to watch the first Math video, about estimation. Even though it focuses on elementary students, the thinking behind the presentation is solid, that when teaching a strategy such as estimation in multiplication, if we want the students to comprehend the concept, it means more than just telling them how to do something, it involves multiple solutions and rich discussion of the thought process of each solution.

Think about the Standards of Mathematical Practice and how many apply in such instruction.

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Estimation begs the very questions, "Does my answer make sense?" While many a students goal is to simply provide an answer, our desire should be that students come up with a reasonable answer.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. We want our students to think about numbers in a variety of ways. Multiplication can be a rather abstract concept to many students, even as time goes on. Presenting multiplication as "times" (abstract) and "groups of" (quantitative) helps students make stronger connections to the processes involved.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. Did you see in the video the way he presented 2 thought processes and discussed their reasoning?
4. Model with mathematics. Manipulatives, drawings, diagrams, that promote the understanding. An area model is especially appropriate for multiplication.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision. Notice that this is paired with #1 in the diagram above. It's not just about getting an answer, it's about getting the best answer.
7. Look for and make use of structure. Patterns!
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. More patterns. Critical thinking!

Web 2.0 Sites

Here are some Web 2.0 sites and what they can do.

Kahoot - Sign up for a FREE account to give quizzes in a game-like setting.

Quizlet - Simple tools that help you study anything.

Weebly - Create a FREE website.

Classflow - Allows live communication between teacher and devices.

Padlet - Communicate via a bulletin board-type board.

Today's Meet - Allows live feedback during instruction.

Sumo Paint - On-line image editor

Time Toast - Create time lines on line

Chogger - Make and share comic strips

Khan Academy - Instructional videos on many topics

And here is a site with even more...cool 2.0 tools.

Here is a symbaloo page that has a lot of resources. Haven't checked them all out yet, but they all come highly recommended.

Using Google in the Classroom

Link to the post

Teach for Google

Want to hone your Google skills? Need some ideas? Interested in spicing up your lessons? Whatever level you want to take it to, Teach for Google can help.

Everything from instructional classes for teachers to lessons and ideas. Check it out here.

Timer App

Chrome App - Timer. Also has an alarm feature and a stopwatch. Get it at the Chrome Store (Free).

Chrome Apps

Here is a list of 22 apps for teachers.

Google Docs 101

Found this site. Seems to have some good, basic info on Google Docs.

Interactive Graphing

Great site that allows you to graph points and lines.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/cartesian-coordinates-interactive.html

Here is one for quadratics...

http://www.mathwarehouse.com/quadratic/parabola/interactive-parabola.php

Here is an on-line graphing calculator.

https://www.desmos.com/calculator

Here is one that does lines, connect points, and scatter plots.

http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/OrderedSimplePlot/

UPDATE: 4/17/2015

Here is an app that you can add to Chromebook. Go to the Chromebook Apps Store and search "Graph.tk." This app allows you to enter the formula, and it creates the graph.