Module One Badges from Make Math Moments That Matter

I earned my Intro and Module One Badge.

Make Math Moments That Matter Module One Lesson Four through Six

In lesson four, we experienced a problem based lesson.  The Make Math Moments That Matter Three Part Framework is:

1. Spark Curiousity
2. Fuel Sense Making
3. Ignite Your Next Moves

These are the slides that I generated that reflect my thinking about this topic.
I also used Miro to document the strategies that I came up with to solve the problem.

Make Math Moments That Matter Module One Lesson 2 and 3

In this lesson, Kyle and Jon ask us to consider the characteristics of students that are good in math and that are bad at math and what they have in common.  This is what I came up with:

I love the realization that is brought up in Lesson 3.  Traditional Math class is planned in a way that assumes that kids can't or won't think! 

Who is doing the thinking in our classrooms?

Make Math Moments That Matter Module 1 Lesson 1

21 Sticks

The workshop started with playing a game called 21 sticks.  This game is played with a partner.  The object of the game is to be the first one to get to zero.  When it is your turn, you can choose whether you want to take 3 sticks, 2 sticks, or 1 stick.  The presenter never directly said that the object was to be the first one to get to zero.  He modeled the game by playing teacher against student.  The game was played two times.  Then the participants had a discussion about what they noticed.  I think in the classroom, this would have been a good place to let the students to play the game with a partner a few times.    Then, you could do a think pair share.  I like this as a first day of school task.  It is low stakes.  We also watched a video of one of the presenters playing the game with his daughter.  I think she was maybe 5 or 6 years old.  They actually used manipulatives when they played the game. I teach 5th grade, but I still think that it may be a good idea for the students to use the manipulatives.  I also don't think I would reveal the definite way to win the game at this point.  I would record the students ideas on a chart paper and revisit.  A good at home task would be to play the game with someone at home.  

 

1.1 Task Placemat Memorable Moments

In the workshop, the way that the presenter did this was for the participants to write down one thing and then get the 2 other memories from other participants.  (Think-Pair-Share)

What three things do I want your students to remember five years from now about my math class?

1. I want them to remember that all students can learn math at high levels.
2. I want them to remember how they can use thinking skills to work on any problem in any subject that comes there where. 
3. I want them to remember how to make anything that they are trying to learn fun.

Describe a moment that I remember from my experiences as a student in math class.  

There are several moments.  I remember that when I was in elementary school that my mom told me that my CAT results showed that I was working on a tenth grade level in math.  I believed in my mathematical abilities until eighth grade.  When I started Algebra I, math wasn't coming as easily to me as it used to.  I had a teacher that was great at teaching the content this year, so I still didn't feel behind in my mathematical abilities.  Then, along came geometry.  My class started the year with the guidance teacher teaching our geometry class.  Then the class was turned over to a teacher that did not have experience teaching geometry and who was not used to teaching upper level math students.  I didn't understand the subject.  At the middle of the school year, we were on Chapter Two.  My tenth grade year, I had a football coach as my Algebra II teacher.  I was not interested in the subject and I wasn't motivated to learn it in this classroom.  The next year, I took Advanced Math and Trigonometry.  I had a tough teacher.  I think she was probably a good teacher, but I was completely lost and did not have the foundation that I needed in this class.  The only thing that I remember that I was successful at in this class was matrices.

I think I understood it because it really didn't rely on other skills from Algebra II and Geometry.  It made sense to me then.  It is strange to me that I still remember that I felt one success in the class.  At the end of this school year, my teacher told me not to take Calculus.  I knew that I was great at basic math.  I was one of the few students to pass the math test the first time that my math methods teacher gave me in my Methods to Teach Math in the Elementary Classroom.  He gave us a test and I think that we had to score 100 percent on it.  It was a test on elementary math skills.  I still remembered how to do all of it.  

Robotics

I’m the robotics coach at my school. I’ve never done this before. It has been a challenge to learn.

National Board Certification

Today, I decided to bite the bullet and start working on my National Board Certification.  This is my 25th year of teaching.  If I don't do it now, I'm never going to do it.

Just Getting Started with Blogging

What do you think?