Welcome to ... The Price is Right

Good morning, readers! Currently our eighth grade class is working on estimating the value of non-perfect square roots and placing them on a number line.  This is a difficult concept for many of our students as we are introducing them to the idea of irrational numbers. Additionally, many students have the misconception that the square root means "divide by two." 

To help with this, we play a game based on a VERY popular game show - The Price is Right. 

Here is how we play.  Students are given an imperfect square (such as 40) and asked to estimate the square root.  We have a double-number line tool card which was developed by a teacher at my school to help students visualize where they are on the integer number line. Using this card, they identify the two perfect squares that the imperfect square is between. They then decide which perfect square is closer to the imperfect square.  The initial goal is for them to identify if the imperfect square is larger or smaller than the half mark.

For example, if they had the square root of 40, students would identify the square root of 36 and 49, decide that they are closer to the square root of 36, which means the value is larger than 6 but less than 6.5.  We would get estimates that range from 6.1 to 6.4. 

Once we have done a few practice problems, the game begins!

I randomly call four students to the front with their tool cards. I play the music as they 'come on down' and then display the 'fabulous new prize'

It is the BEAUTIFUL square root of 10!

The four contestants then start their work while the 'studio audience' (other students) do as well. After 90 seconds or so, I have the students in the audience start calling out bids, much like the actual game show. Contestants up front can listen to the suggestions or stick with their answer. 

Each contestant shares their answer with me and I write their estimate on the board.  I then reveal the correct answer, usually to three decimal points.  Students then have to decide who is the winner - the person that is closest without going over. 

We do this for a number of rounds and the winner of each round gets to go into the showcase showdown at the end of class.  This determines our daily winner.

It is amazing how good students get at estimating values. At first they start with one decimal point but after some time, practice, and friendly competition, they start going out to two and three decimal points. 

This strategy and game has really increased our students accuracy as well as confidence. They never use a calculator during the entire lesson and are able to estimate the square root of imperfect squares with amazing precision!  The results of the final round are below: 

After the game, we do return back to the learning target - estimating the square root of non-perfect squares. It is important to return to this, because student "H" in the image above didn't win as they had an answer that was 'over', but all four answers met the target of the lesson.  It was a good day!

There is One... Among Us...

 This week I decided to try to incorporate the wildly popular game Among Us as a review lesson in my classroom.

My school has been in-person for about two months. There are many restrictions in place to keep everyone a safe as possible - desks six feet apart, masks, limited movement in the classroom among many other protocols. Many of my engagement activities have been heavily modified or eliminated due to the restrictions, so I have been trying to figure out new ways to increase engagement and excitement.

Enter Among Us. If you are not familiar, Among Us is a wildly popular game/app apparently played by nearly every middle schooler in the country. You play the role of a member of a derelict spacecraft and are either one of the 'crew mates' or an 'imposter.'  While the goal of the crew is to save the ship, the goal of the imposter is to prevent repairs and eliminate all of the crew members. If you have played camp games such as Mafia or Town of Salem, it is very similar. 

How, though, to do this within the classroom of restrictions?  The game itself has a few basic characteristics: Crew members complete tasks in any order to save the ship. Imposters sabotage repairs and try to kill off crew members. There is a vote to eject a player. The goal of the crew is to eject the imposter. The goal of the imposter is to have them eject crew members.

I decided to use Desmos to build the game.  My thought was the first slide could be instructions, then some slides for 'tasks', a slide for the imposter to eliminate a crew member, a slide for a chat, and a slide for the group vote. Then have two slides at the end: one for a crew mate victory, and one for an imposter victory.

On Friday, I tried it out. To say it was well received would be an understatement. I first asked how many students had played before and every.single.hand.went.up.  The excitement and anticipation was incredible. They were already lobbing "how are we" and "what if" questions my way when I asked them to filter their questions and reminded them I haven't explained the rules or procedures. 

I emailed one student a message that said, "you are the imposter" and had each of them check their laptop (we are a 1:1 Apple school.) They then logged into the Desmos as a class. I explained that there are eight tasks (review slides) that they can complete in any order. Meanwhile the imposter needs to also do some tasks because if they just stay on one screen it will look very sus. Their job would be to get to screen nine, pick two classmates to eliminate, and return to tasks without being noticed. 

The game started and after a few minutes of them doing tasks the imposter struck and I hit the pause button. A small gasp was heard as students realized what was happening.  On the board I wrote two names - students that are now ghosts.  I opened up the chat and voting screens and let them discuss via chat, though they were more than excited to share their opinions verbally.  For this classroom version, I let everyone vote. After some discussion, the vote leaned towards 'skip' and nobody was ejected. 

Round two came to an end with an ejection and an announcement from me: "E____ was ejected.... E____ was NOT the imposter. One imposter remains..." Having the eject sound effect play added to the experience. 

Rounds three, four, and five all led to ejections as well.. and all none were the imposter. Unfortunately at that point we were out of time so the imposter revealed herself and an audible group of "I KNEW IT" and "YOU WERE SO SUS!"  erupted. 

The students were so enthralled by the game that their next-period teachers told me they had to remind students that the game was over and they needed to focus on their current assignment.

So from a student perspective it was a smash hit - but what about from the math review side? All of it is fun, but if they didn't do their review tasks it wouldn't really be effective.  I was so happy to see it was very successful. Students completed tasks with expected levels of accuracy and relatively quickly. Many had nearly all 8 tasks complete by the time the game ended. 

I got quick feedback on questions that were tough

I can't wait to try this one again. I'm looking for ways to as a 'sabotage' element to the game, so any of my readers that have experience with Desmos and could suggest something, I'd love to hear from you. 

Gotta Know When To Fold 'em

I had a completely different plan for my blog this week.  Originally this was supposed to be a blog on a vocabulary review game that I play in all of my classes. It involves paper plates, teams, and an expectation of 100% participation.

I planned on taking pictures of my students holding up plates, spelling vocabulary words, and talking about how this is one of my favorite review games.

Then 6th grade happened, as it often does.

We had done our first two rounds of the game, which in this case was a review of rules.  The first word they had to spell out was "Wonder" (the title of the book we are reading as a class.  The second word was October.

I was excited because I was things were going perfectly.  My co-teacher was also excited because she is the Language Arts lead and loved that the students were doing this in a science class.

I gave the students the definition of the next key word: The preserved remains of an ancient organism. The groups got the word (fossil), but there was some dissent in one of the groups (I want to hold the L, no you hold the S, I want to hold the L.)

Then two other students started arguing because "you are always trying to boss me around."

Suddenly I had a flash to my first few years of teaching. I saw myself as a teacher that "had to get through the lesson."  The one that would have thought "oh my goodness, my lesson is bombing, I have no control over the class, but I have to finish because my lesson plan says so."  Then would have finished the lesson despite children crying and yelling.

However, years of experience have taught me what really matters - the community.  I stopped the lesson, and had the class return to their chairs. 

We then reviewed our agreements, specifically ones on accountable talk.  It was a very powerful discussion with students realizing and admitting they lost the purpose of the lesson and the game.  They also noticed they lost the values of the community.

We teach our students so much during the course of a year.  Each lesson builds upon the previous - and this includes lessons in culture, community, and expectations.  Letting little things go leads to bigger things later.  I'm glad I have enough confidence to know when to stop the lesson and review cultural expectations.

I'm also glad to have enough experience to know that sometimes six grade just happens... there isn't much I could do to prevent that - but know that when it does, we process, apologize, and move on to more greatness.

Side note, the kids that snapped at each other talked it out and were besties again by lunch... because sometimes 6th grade just happens :)

It's March MATH MADNESS!

Welcome to March Madness...

The MATH behind the MADNESS!

Students came in talking about the NCAA brackets and how that would be the focus for the week before spring break.  First things, first: What is a tournament and how are they set up?

I set up a mini-tournament in the classroom.  8 students were put head-to-head in a critical game of coin flipping.  I had students complete a bracket and discuss how many different ways this bracket could be filled out

There can be only one!

Students came up with many different theories: 2*8, 2*7, 8*7*6*5*4*3*2*1, 2^8, 8^2... It was a good check in for me since we already had covered calculating outcomes of independent events.

Finally students realized this is the same as flipping a coin 7 times and settled on 2^7, or 128 possible outcomes.

"So, Mr. Taylor, the probability of two of us filling it out the same is 1 in 128?"
That was a good eye-opening realization for many of them: in this small bracket of just 8 teams there were 128 different possible ways to complete this.

From there I introduce a region of the tournament. We review what the rankings mean as well as how the tournament runs.  Students were randomly assigned one of four regions.  Students were told there were 16 teams in each region and were asked to make predictions as to how many ways those could be arranged. Many, understandably, made the jump that if there are twice as many teams, there should be twice as many outcomes.  They quickly checked the math and realized how far off they were.

Instead of 256 outcomes, it actually explodes to 32,768 possible outcomes!

Their homework night one is to complete a regional bracket and think about why companies will put up $1 million as a prize for a perfect bracket.

Students come in the next day and discuss their picks - they meet in their region and discuss similarities and differences.  They notice while many picks are the same (everyone took my advice and picked the one over the 16 seed), nobody matches exactly.

On day two we talk about the whole tournament.  Students pick up the pattern that there is one fewer game than number of teams (an 8 team bracket had 7 games, a 16 team region had 15 games.)  They use Wolfram Alpha to calculate this value.

They discover that the number is big.  Like really big.  Good thing we have reviewed scientific notation.... because the answer is 9.22 x 10^18, or 9,220,000,000,000,000,000... over 9 quintillion.

The question the becomes how to QUANTIFY a number that big?  Many students talk about having that much money, but is that even possible?

How big is big?

First, let's look at space.  Space is really big.  That should be a good place to find 9 quintillion.  The distance from the Sun to Neptune is 2.8 billion miles.  Billion is too small, so lets figure out how many INCHES it is from the Sun to Neptune.  Will that reach 9 quintillion?

Not quite:

Tournament: 9,220,000,000,000,000,000

 Distance in inches: 176,400,000,000,000

(I make sure to line up the place values to emphasize the SIZE difference. In this case the tournament value is over 51,000 times bigger.)

In other words: if you picked a random inch between the sun and Neptune, and I picked a random inch between the sun and Neptune, we are 51,000 times more likely to pick the same inch as someone picking every game in the NCAA tournament correctly.

Let that sink in a moment or three..

Not big enough, Solar System!

OK. Let's try this.  The accepted scientific age of the universe is about 14 billion years.  How many SECONDS has the universe been in existence?  TO WOLFRAM ALPHA!

 Tournament: 9,220,000,000,000,000,000

Seconds of the universe: 441,500,000,000,000,000

Wait. So not even that is a big enough number?  Well how close are we talking? Let's figure out the part of the whole:

441,500,000,000,000,000 ÷ 9,220,000,000,000,000,000 = .047

.047? That is LESS THAN 5%?  DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS? 

The students sure did...  

"So wait. That means if Jeremiah filled out one tournament since the universe started, he'd only be 5% done?"

Yes.  5%  This number, 5 quintillion, is so ASTRONOMICALLY HUGE, that if you had a large supply of pencils, blank tournaments sheets, came into existence the same moment as the universe, and filled one out tournament per second, every second, since the universe started... you would be 5% finished. 

I love the madness. And Math.

The Infection Spreads!

Last week an infection got introduced to my classroom. How to what it was, how to catch it, how it spreads - none of that was known. Throughout the week students completed problems to receive clues as to the nature of the infection. 

This past week it was revealed: the infection is a virus which affects the midichlorians. When infected, the virus turns the midichlorians to favor the dark side. By the time this was known, half of the class was on the light side and half was on the dark side. There is also a ‘secret agent’ on the light side: someone that is infected, but that does not show any signs. There is also one student in the class that is immune to the infection. 

Both of those came out randomly based on the cards students drew from a deck last week.

 For the past week students have continued to push their cause's side by earning points to win mini-challenges. Students had probability challenges, number challenges, and other games. Light side students got a chance to retry, while dark side students were ‘tossed’ into the Pit of Sarlak. The most recent one was a kahoot battle. Students signed into kahoot as normal, but labeled their side: 

Sides have been set. 

Many of them wanted to name themselves “Darth”, but I told them there are only two sith lords, and they are currently held by the two teachers in the classroom. I also told them they were welcome to challenge us in a math competition to take the title. None have done so yet. 

During the game, students saw the top 5 but also knew EVERY point mattered so they focused on getting answers right.  They reminded each other that getting answers right is better than answering fast and incorrectly. 

Light side leads, but the force is strong with the dark forces. 

When the game was over I totaled the dark and light sides and averaged their scores. That became their points for “final” kahoot (just like final jeopardy.) The leader from each team (the one with most points) got to decide how many points to risk. Other students could help, ask, and beg, but ultimately that student decided the wager. 

From there, students were told one random person from each team would represent their answer. Collaboration during that question could not have been higher as teammates checked in with each other about both the process and the final answer. 

In the end, the light side won this battle, but the war is not over yet.

How will episode II end?

There is Nothing Worse Than Being John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt'ed

Finding the greatest common factor of two monomials... can you think of a more thrilling, exciting, topic in any subject?  I mean having a teacher give you 14x³ and 20x²y and finding 2x².  THRILLING, right?

About as thrilling as teaching commas in grammar I'd imagine.

This year I have taken Michael Matera's writings from Explore Like a Pirate to Gamify my classroom.  I have used games in my classroom before, but this is the first time I'm fully integrating gaming into the classroom.

During the week we have been working on factoring monomials. Students did this in small groups, individually, and in whole group games.  They included playing Clue, higher/lower, and hot seat.

It culminated with a game of Magic Card.  Here is how we played:

All 52 cards of one deck were laid out on a table:

Didn't take pictures, sorry...

From there I explained the rules:

I would post a problem and give 30 seconds to work it.  After 30 seconds I will use the random name generator (found here)  to pick a name. A new name would be picked every 10 seconds until a correct answer is given.

If you have a correct answer, you can go to the table and pick any playing card.

The more questions you get correct, the more playing cards your team will have at the end of the game.

Once the game is over, I will draw a card from a second deck.  That is the magic card.

Here is the scoring for this game:

Really should have taken some pictures. Sorry.

So that means if the winning card is the 3 of clubs, you get 2 points for each black card in your deck, 4 points for each club, 10 points for each '3', and 25 points if you have the 3 of clubs.  I gave them a moment to calculate how many points the winning card is worth.  At first they said 25 points, then a few realized the winning card would match the color, suit and value as well, so the winning card is actually worth 41 points.

As part of my gamification, students also have game cards available.  These are kept in their binder in a plastic card holder.  If you are curious, I made these cards on the Magic: The Gathering Cardsmith Website. It is an easy site to navigate and saves up to 1000 cards! Here are a few that were used during this game:

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmit: This card allows you to take a turn when it is someone else's turn.  Know the right answer, but were not selected?  Play this card! It's your turn now and not theirs!










Twinning: When someone is chosen, you may play this card and get full benefits of being called upon. Have the right answer? You get a playing card! Have the wrong answer? No card and you've used this card's power for the day.

Shield: Use this card when you are targeted.  You are protected and are not targeted anymore.  Great for countering Twinning and John Jacob.








It was so wonderful watching students collaborate in their teams, hope their name got called, and then strategize when to use cards.  One group realized that if a teammate got selected, they should twin their teammate so that they can get double (or triple) cards that round.

I gave multiple bonuses out for good team work, showing good processes, and good sportsmanship.  When it was said and done over 2 dozen of the 52 cards had been selected.  Later in the year I plan on expanding this part to have them write some probability examples from the game data.

When it was all done, Team Emmy Noether had 9 cards, Johann Kepler had 7 cards, Leonhard Euler had 6 cards, and Brahmagupta had 5 cards (my students are on teams named after mathematicians.)  Each team had their own strategies; Emmy went for a good variety of cards while Brahmagupta went for only cards with hearts on them.

Tension built as I was getting ready to reveal the winning card.  Of course it didn't happen right away - we had to get our homework copied,  get our work in our notebook, and close up a bit...

Then I went to the deck and pulled the 9 of clubs.  The girls immediately cheer as they realized they had the winning card and at least 41 points.  Brahmagupta's members groaned as they saw they had no clubs and no 9.  Zero game points.

Overall this was a crazy loud, fun, and fully engaging way of teaching what is otherwise a rather dull topic. Students were authentically excited to solve for the greatest common factor of monomials.  Emmy Noether was also excited because they had fallen to 2nd overall in the team points, but knew today's domination would put them back on top.

Best of all?  Students were leaving the classroom saying "Factoring monomials is fun!" Seriously.

Front Loading the Gaming Experience

I hope everyone is having a great first week back (or is getting ready for an amazing first week back!) We've had a great start to the school year here in Central Ohio.  The weather has been amazingly mild (which is fantastic since I'm training for my first marathon), student attendance has been near 100%, and the gamification of my classroom is well underway!

Are you building excitement in your classroom? Are students dying to be called on in your class? If you are having trouble with this, read on!

We started our year with many of the team building activities I outlined in my past few blogs.  It really helped students and teachers learn names, set up a classroom culture of focused fun, and allowed students to get back into the routines of school after a summer off.  It was so nice to not even touch academics until the fourth day of school!

I also show my math class this video.  It is an amazing four minutes during which so many students, especially female students,  make incredible connections to the speaker.  It also destroys various stereotypes about 'math people.'

• "She's a math major? She looks like she'd be in fashion."  
• "That's so true - I always compare myself to everyone else!"
• "I never thought of it as being at different places." 

For math class at Marburn, we start with pre-assessments which have students check out on basic facts for all four major operations, as well as whole number, fraction, and decimal computations.  As a class we have decided to do an operation a day and follow it up with a mini game.

objective: don't die!

We talked about how math is like a video game.  Students had to face 'speed boss levels' for their 2 minute timed fact test and then take on 'mini-boss challenge' for their operations.  You'll get a challenge, and sometimes you'll beat the boss level.  When that happens you get to go on to more challenging levels where you use the skills you've learned to take down stronger boss levels.

If you don't defeat the boss, you get new items and techniques to be better prepared the next time you reach that end level!  Most of the students attached to this quite well.

Many have enjoyed the paradigm switch from "I didn't do well on the assessment" to "I need more power ups before I'm ready to beat that boss level."

I've also enjoyed impressing my new math teaching partner with my ability to turn any game into a classroom activity.

"Hey, Erika, we're going to play Clue today in math."
"Clue... in math? Can't wait to see it!"

Students came into class while some mystery music is playing.  They saw their names on the board in groups of two with the instruction of 'sit next to your partner.'

But what if my partner is the killer?

From there I went through the procedure that is outlined below, making sure to keep the drama going strong throughout.

Game: Clue
Materials needed: Clue (cards and suspect sheets), white boards and markers (or notebooks)
Prep: Powerpoint of various math problems

Procedure: Put students into groups of two or three.  One person is the first 'writer'.  Each group receives a clue card of suspects, weapons, and location, a mini whiteboard, a marker, and a high tech white board eraser (a tissue.)

Each group also gets a set of 'clue' cards based on how many groups.  The game has 21 cards, 3 of which are removed as the confidential 'answer.'  The other 18 cards are divided up among the groups.  This may mean that some groups get more initial clues than others, for example 6 groups would have 3 cards for each group, whereas 7 groups would have 2 or 3 cards per group.

Students should take a moment to mark off the clues they have been given.  After that, they should leave their clues face down where anyone in the room would be able to access them.  I generally have them 'fan' out their cards on their desk.

Put the first math problem on the board.  Students work as a team to get the correct answer, but ONLY THE WRITER may write on the whiteboard.  Other students can help, guide, and suggest, but the writer is in control.  This also means if there is a disagreement about an answer or procedure, the writer gets the final say.

After an appropriate amount of time, have the students hold up their white boards. Any students that have a correct answer will have a chance to gain more information.  The writer passes the white board to their partner (or the next student if there is more than two in a group) and stands up.  They take one of their clue cards and can walk to any other group and trade.  They put their card face down and take any of the other group's face down cards. I have a specific procedure for this to minimize arguments and issues:

     a) trading round all happens at the same time
     b) once you touch a card, that is the card you take
     c) you have 15 seconds to trade

During the trade period, writers that had correct answers may trade with ANY other group, whether or not that group got a correct answer.

We do this is 'slow motion' the first couple of times to get used to the movement.

From there the new writer takes over for the group, a new question is posted and the procedure is repeated.

As the game continues, some groups may get close to solving the mystery.  If a group thinks they have the correct answer I have them circle their guess, but the game continues without them announcing their accusation.  If time runs out, groups circle their accusaton on their answer card.

I generally then give out the homework and announcements, and really build the anticipation of the contents of the confidential envelope.

I also give any correct investigators this certificate with all of their names on it.  I generally wait until all classes have played and list all the winners on one certificate.  I also post the certificate outside of the classrooms.

As they get used to the game, I change the cards to ones that have a bit more personality - I'll use teachers from the school as suspects, rooms from the school, and school items (staplers, scissors) as weapons.  This really gets them even further immersed into the gaming experience.

I love the engagement that this game naturally builds.  Students start to develop strategies such as trying to track who might have the cards they need to see, convincing other groups that they want to trade with them, and discussing answers to ensure they can gain new information.  The anticipation and excitement builds as more clues get revealed.  I've also added variations to this game so that if a group can explain their reasoning they get a 'double trade' (trade two cards instead of one.)  You will NEVER see students SO EXCITED to WANT to get called on as when you say "this question can earn a double trade."

I hope some of you try out this game in your room.  If you do PLEASE let me know how it goes and what variations you use! I love hearing different 'mods' in the game world!

Team Building Part 1: Hi, My Name is Michael and I Have a Blog

How do you start the first day of a new year?  Is it the tried and true roll call - introduce yourself - explain your rules and expectations and then review the syllabus?  Do you have each child stand up, say their name, and a little something about him or herself?  Or do you start with a name game to get the students to get to know each other?

People have argued that name games are just an excuse to let kids get chatty.  That it becomes more of a social or party than a learning environment.  Or it leads to students being silent and the teacher doing all of the talking.

I can't disagree with this.  Team building, ice breakers, and all of the activities that teachers (or groups) use to build cohesion can lead to a disaster.  Like ANY good lesson, they have to be well planned and executed with clear objectives and structure.

One of the 'classic' name games goes something like this:  Everyone stand in a big circle.   OK, now we're going to do a name game.  You say your name and one thing you like. Then the next person has to say their name and what they like and then YOUR name and what you like.  This continues on until the 25th person has to say everyone's name in the circle.  Then you smile and look at the student that is in space twenty-five.

I feel you, kitty!

Admit it - reading that paragraph raised your anxiety... and it should.  There are so many poor educational models presented in this 'game'.

1) Limited engagement.  If I go third, I have to remember a total of two names... Then I'm off for the next twenty two rounds.  I don't have to say another thing for the rest of the activity.

2) Stress inducing.  The goal any good ice breaker is to lower students' affective filter.  This does just the opposite. Students that go early become bored.  Students that go later are panicked they have to remember dozens of names.

3) So much wasted time! Students spend almost the entire activity standing (or sitting) and doing absolutely nothing else engaging. Seriously. Twenty-two rounds of doing nothing.

Some may say "well it teaches them to pay attention and learn the names so they are ready when it is their turn."  I say it teaches them that as a teacher, I'm willing to let a student fail on the very first day of class... in front of everyone.

I am a huge fan of building community.  With my background in both Outward Bound and Expeditionary Learning and I know the importance of having students build relationships with each other as well as with adults.  Students should feel welcome on the first day.  They need to learn that it is an emotionally safe environment.

Tuckman's Stages of Group Development

This post will have the first of five activities I like to play in my class during the first few weeks to build these positive relationships.  These games allow students to take risks in a safer environment, allow students to get to know each other in multiple facets, and keeps them moving.  When a student makes a mistake in these activities the general reaction is fun giggles, not nausea and bathroom breaks.

Protocol: I have... (a modified version of 'have you ever...")

Procedure:

Students stand in a circle around a center point (I'll often use polyspots to mark the center and outside points)

• The person in the center (usually the adult to start) introduces him/herself 
• "Hi, my name is Mr. Taylor"
• The group greets the person by name
• "Good morning, Mr. Taylor" 
• "Hey, Mr. Taylor"
• "What's up, Mr. Taylor"
• The center person says, "good morning group" and says something that they "have" (I often use these examples when giving the rules so students have an idea on how they can get creative with the 'have' - that it doesn't have to be something 'physical')
• "I have a cat"
• "I have eaten pizza"
• "I have a love for math"
• "I have gone on looping roller coasters"
• "I have an addiction to twitter"
• From there anyone on the outside of the circle that also "has" that statement comes to the center and high-fives everyone that is in the center.
• Anyone on the outside says "nope not me!" and high fives someone on the outside.
• After high fives are exchanged, everyone then finds a DIFFERENT spot.
• Play is repeated until everyone has been in the center at least once.

Five reasons I like this activity:

• Everyone participates in each round. Even if you don't "have" you still get to high five
• Everyone get to share a tidbit about themselves on their own level.
• Everyone greets each other by name.  Greetings are so key to building community!
• Everyone is constantly moving - standing in different spots and next to different people
• Students get to see what they have in common with someone else - great way to make connections.

About half-way through the activity I will stop and have them look to their left and right.  From there I'll ask them to give me a thumbs up if they know the names of the person on either side.  Depending on the atmosphere I may have them do a quick handshake/fistbump and introduce themselves. 

Remember, though, ice breakers are JUST THAT! They break the top of the iceberg; they don't uncover the entire thing!  Students aren't going to learn everything about everyone in one activity, and they won't remember everyone's name after one game, but it is important to let them feel more comfortable to do so as the week and year progresses.

What games do you enjoy doing on your first day?  What games would you like me to discuss in the future?

Top Ten~ish Takeaways from 2014 - 2015.

1) Apparently having a passion for teaching reading and math is still considered weird.  I'm extremely proud to have both my Math classroom certification and my Academy of Orton Gillingham Practitioners and Educators Classroom Educator certification.  It is amazing how when I'm tutoring in math my OG training comes out:

• "What is this word?" 
• "Hundr... umm... I don't know that word."
• "What does 'th' say?"
• "/th/... oh hundreths..."

Most teachers I come across love one or the other.  I can't see one without the other.

2) It is amazing how much growth my students show on standardized tests when I'm just allowed to teach.  I wonder how my other placements would have gone if I wasn't as micro-managed.

3)  On that topic, I'm still amazed we live in a country where 100% of teachers need to prove that 100% of the students in their class showed over a year of growth.  No other profession is held to that standard.  No doctor has to have a 100% patient survival rate,  no police officer has to have a 100% crime free district.

4) Even after 18 years of teaching I still do not have a 'set' curriculum.  Each class is different, each year leads down a different path.  I have material that I integrate, but my lessons always change. This is not a bad thing.  It could also be because for the 9th time in 8 years I'll be changing classrooms.

5) Connecting to a Personal Learning Network  has been amazing.  Using twitter as an educational professional development tool allowed me to grow in ways that no other medium could have done. I was able to give and get feedback and ideas nearly instantly.  I went from never using twitter to hosting #MSchat discussion in less than one year.  Check out links on the right to see at all the awesome educators you should also be reading!

6)  I'm very thankful to the Association for Middle Level Educators to provide such a wonderful conference, as well as Marburn Academy for providing me the opportunity to go there!  I made so many professional connections, saw amazing presentations, and met truly passionate middle level educators!

Some #MSchat members at #AMLE2014

7) I LOVE presenting at conferences.  AMLE 2014 was my first national conference and I loved being able to share my ideas, thoughts, and techniques.  I loved getting feedback from participants and especially loved getting e-mails saying how they incorporated my ideas into their classroom.  Unfortunately it didn't work out for AMLE 2015, but this is a role I want to expand in the future. [ ADVICE ON HOW TO DO THIS IS HIGHLY REQUESTED :) ]

8) Teach a student how to solve a rubik's cube and their confidence in EVERYTHING goes up exponentially.  I have yet to find any exceptions to this rule.

9) Apparently I have a knack for coming up with a game for any topic and any grade level.  I seem to be the go-to person when someone needs a 'fun way' to do this topic.   What can I say, I like games!

10) I'm still incredibly proud of our division's Hunger Games Food Drive. Arguably one of my best memories as a classroom teacher.

Positive use of competition

11) Lessons are better when you teach like a pirate.  Get the students wondering about what is going on instead of 'what are we going to learn' :play some music, come in costume, rearrange the room, make up stories... use mystery and intrigue.  The learning occurs naturally from there.

12) After a dozen and a half years I'm still as passionate about teaching as I was when I started. I'm already reading PD books and planning big picture ideas for 2015-2016.  It's like it never turns off!

Thank you all for reading my blog this year - it has been quite an experiment for me.  I'm not the type that usually publishes my writing, but I hope you have gotten something out of it.  I really loved getting the comments, e-mails, and tweets about how my ideas helped you in your class.   I'll be posting a bit over the summer and will be back full time in the fall!

Michael :)

Get in the Game!

I love board and card games.  They are incredibly fun and social. They get me to think.  They give me an excuse to hang out with friends.  And, best of all, they get me off of the screens!

Board and card games also give me an opportunity to learn by playing - a part of education that seems to be frowned upon in today's world.

This year I have used games in the classroom as often as I can.  There are a few games I regularly use in my classroom. This blog will explain two of them: Settlers of Catan and Blokus.

Settlers of Catan
This game is great for math and social studies integration.  Students begin by exploring the map which represents different geographical features and resources.  I explain that the number value represents the die roll needed to produce a resource from that land.  Each land tile produces a specific resource.  Recalling their knowledge of dice and probability, they have to determine what are the best locations to settle.

During this game students are faced with many challenges that early explorers faced - acquiring resources, controlling trade routes, and finding quality places to settle.  They quickly learn that the 'best' settlement areas are quickly claimed by rivals.  If their settlements aren't productive, they need to come up with creative ways to meet their resource needs, either through diplomacy or settling less desirable areas.

Students also learn that as the game goes on, the relative value of a resource changes.    

Four students start - only one will win.

After the game students reflect on their play.  Yes, I said reflect.  As is true in any learning activity, the learning occurs in the reflection aspect of the lesson.

What resources, number values, or trade routes did they control?  How did they start and finish the game? Was there a missed opportunity or a great play by an opponent? This is a great way to tie students back into tracing settlement over periods of time, the randomness of probability in short experiments, and long term goal planning.

Blokus
The Boston Globe recently published an article about Why the US is falling behind in Math.  In it the author discusses the lack of logic curricula as a key reason.

Blokus is a chess-type game (abstract strategy - no luck, all information is given) so players constantly need to think ahead.  It develops a student's geometric and spacial reasoning - being able to see how certain pieces fit in the negative space - as well as developing logic with tactical thinking and strategies.  The students learn what pieces are most important to play early, mid, and during the end game.

Students also just take their pieces to 'fill the space' to make a perfect square or rectangle.  They all do this - I'm convinced that it is built into their DNA.

This is my favorite game to watch the learning happen. Games are relatively quick so they get to play multiple times.  Students go through specific learning stages with similar reflections after each time they play the game.  These reflections include where to play, what pieces to play early, and how to recognize and build "escape routes."

You can't stop red, you can only hope to contain her. (They didn't)

After the game has concluded, students also tally the size of each piece they have remaining and the total percent of 'bloks' they have left.  They then reflect on the board, their game play, and what strategies or lessons they have learned to improve their gameplay.

With all this reflection, students think I'm trying to build master players.  The truth is that many of these reflections tie right back into our 'regular' curriculum.  Did you use your resources wisely?  Did you take your time?  Were you thinking and planning ahead, or were you just making decisions in the moment?  How did these decisions work out for you?

I really enjoy these games because of their multiple tie backs to different learning standards, but also due to the fact there is not just "one way" to win. You can't memorize the 'answer' because there isn't one solution.  This ties back into The Globe's article - students need to think creatively, logically, and two-steps ahead to achieve victory.

There are other games I use on a regular basis in the classroom as well including Dominion, Dixit, and Ticket to Ride.  What games have you used and how have you successfully implemented them in your classroom?

Multiplying Decimals at the Casino.

Hello everyone!  I'm really excited as we just started spring break here, so instead of my weekly post I've decided to do a bunch of short success stories from the year.  These are all ideas that I've wanted to blog about, games I've played, or just a-ha moments.  

The first one is a card game I played earlier in the year that helped students reinforce the concept of multiplying decimals.  

Protocol: Decimal Blackjack (or 21 if Blackjack is taboo at your school)

Quick summary: This activity has students practice multiplying decimals.

Materials needed: decks of cards with the 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces removed.

Procedure:

1. Put students in partner groups (see my blog on my beliefs of getting into partners here)
2. Give each student a modified deck of cards
3. Ask students who knows how to play 21.  Explain the differences in this game:

• Your goal is to get to .21 or HIGHER without going UNDER.
• You will be multiplying, not adding, your values
• Each card represents a decimal, so 8 is actually .8
• The person closest to .21 without going UNDER wins.

4. Students each draw one card from the deck.  The player with the higher value goes first
5. The student draws a card and multiplies the two values:

This student started with .9 and had to multiply that by .3

6. Play continues until one player goes under .21 (twenty-one hundredths).

I really enjoyed this game.  Rounds went fast (sometimes ending in just one card) which meant lots of repeated practice.   Students quickly made lots of connections to the number line, the algorithm, and reviewed basic facts, but also increased their number sense... Here was one of the big take aways from MANY of my students:

Low numbers "suck" - They learned that when you  multiply by .2 or .3 the value goes down QUICKLY!

Mr. Taylor! I had .9 but then I LOST IN ONE CARD! *SCREAM*

This was by far my favorite unintended consequence of the game.  Building that number sense helps them estimate answers much more accurately and find errors in their thinking in more complex problems.

Students have really enjoyed this game - I've kept it in my game center and they often ask if they can play.  I'm looking for ways to increase the application and metacognition of this activity.  If you have thoughts, please let me know!