A flipped classroom might be the perfect solution for the teacher who has spent the last year making instructional videos. Those videos represent so much time and energy – surely they don’t have to go to waste when everyone is back in the classroom. We interviewed the flipped classroom expert to learn more.

Check out the player to hear the interview, or you can read the transcript that has been edited for succinctness below.

Who is our expert on the flipped classroom?

Mandy Rice, high school social studies teacher and mom of three, felt that her pace in the classroom was unsustainable.  In her second year of teaching, she flipped her classroom and began training other teachers on the flipped classroom model. She now hosts The Sustainable Teacher Podcast and is the founder of Teach on a Mission.

Updated 10/2022: Since interviewing Mandy, we have learned some more things about the Flipped Classroom from our teacher community over in our Maneuvering the Middle VIP Facebook group. We have updated this blog post to reflect that.

What is the flipped classroom?

In the traditional classroom model, a teacher presents a lesson from the front of the classroom, students take notes, and typically, students go home and work on problems in isolation. 

The flipped classroom model literally flips that sequence of events. Students listen or watch a lesson the teacher has assigned virtually at home and the practice (the messy part of learning) happens inside the classroom where the teacher is available to help. Students can ask questions and collaborate with their peers.

What are the benefits to the flipped classroom?

You are shifting how you use your time. For example, Mandy taught 4 sections of A.P. Psychology. Before flipping her classroom, she would present the material for about 30 minutes each class period, multiplied by the 4 sections to equal about 2 hours spent teaching. In the flipped classroom model, it takes (approximately) an hour to create the slides, press record, present the lesson, edit, and hit publish. It saves you time and energy! 

But more than that, you are now more available to your students during class time – the entire time. You have taken the content delivery out of the class time.  Teachers can be more effective with the time spent with their students. 

And if you are an All Access member, the instructional videos are already created! The videos cover the student handouts, so students can watch the videos, take notes, and then practice in class. Since the videos do not go over every single problem on the student handouts, you still have problems to go over in a mini-lesson the next day or to assign to students.

Students benefit when their teachers are more available to them. They don’t feel like they are burdening their teacher with questions because their teacher is trying to accomplish 16 different things.

Updated 10/2022: What needs to be in place for the flipped classroom to work?

After a few years of teachers implementing the flipped classroom approach in their classrooms, there appear to be a few starting requirements for the flipped classroom to be successful.

• Parent and student buy-in – This is key. Parents will be relieved that they aren’t having to play teacher at home, but may not be used to this non-traditional method of teaching. Post Covid, they may be skeptical of more digital learning. That’s ok! Your job is to communicate with parents so they know what to expect. Student buy-in is going to be just as important. Before you decide if this is the route you take, you may want to consider asking your students what their experience with the flipped classroom has been like.
• Technology and reliable internet access – Internet and a device (in most cases) are 100% necessary for the flipped classroom to work. While some students are fortunate enough to have these things readily available, you cannot make the assumption that all do. One teacher recommended sending home a document that requires a parent to fill out and sign if they have internet or not. This prevents students saying they don’t have internet access when they want to opt out.
• A plan for when students don’t watch the instructional videos – See below for ideas of what you can do to hold your students accountable.
• Short videos – This is a MUST! Videos cannot be longer than 10-15 minutes. Without any interruptions, a teacher can cover a topic more succinctly. No one wants to watch a long math video, and you will have class time the next day to make any additional points.
• Study hall – This isn’t a requirement, but it does provide school time for students to watch your instructional videos if they will not have access at home.
• Instruction on watching a video with fidelity – In the first week of school, dedicate time to showing students how to watch a video. Play the video for the whole class, pause and take notes like you would expect them to at home. Then have students practice watching a video in class as you circulate. When students have mastered this, then assign a video for homework.

Updated on 10/04/2022: What are some of the drawbacks of the flipped classroom?

No teaching technique is perfect for every student. Digital learning is here to stay, but students may be fatigued from all of the screens. In our small sample, it seems that about half of students prefer the traditional classroom. 

It can be easy to zone out in a video. Unfortunately, many teachers say that the same students who don’t complete traditional homework at home will also opt out of watching the videos. 

Not every student has reliable internet access at home. This inequity is a tough obstacle to navigate, so it does leave room for pause.

What do you do when a student doesn’t watch a video?

Mandy talks more about this in more detail here on her podcast. Check it out because there are so many great, actionable steps!

You have to have a process in place when this happens. It is going to happen. You cannot make that learning optional. And giving a 0 still makes it an option for some students. Decide on a process and that way you don’t have to think about it in the moment. No frustration or emotional judgement. 

What you should NOT do – deliver that missed content in your classroom. For the students who did watch the video for homework, they will feel frustrated, and ultimately you are enabling students to not watch the videos if you redeliver the content in class.

Updated on 10/04/22:  Most teachers use the warm-up to gauge whether students are ready to practice after watching the videos. Teachers may decide that they need to go over a few more problems or that students are ready to practice.  For students who did not watch the videos, you have a couple of options:

• They cannot do the activity until the video is watched. Teachers say the more fun your activities are, the more likely students will watch the videos in an effort to not miss out. Make sure the activities are done in pairs or with groups. If your videos are about 15 minutes long, and you have a 45-60 minute class, they are probably missing out on at least half of the practice time which is about what they would have missed out on if they chose not to complete a traditional homework assignment.
• Create rewards for students who watch the videos. Free time was always a huge motivator – for example, the class at the end of the week with the highest percentage of homework completion would get 15 minutes of free time. 

What do you think of the flipped classroom? What tips would you add?

The post The Flipped Classroom appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Teachers in our Facebook Group shared how they used the student videos to meet the needs of their students and I was blown away. What is most fascinating is how teachers use them in ways we didn’t even think of when we were in the planning stages of that project. Teachers are so creative!

FOR ABSENT STUDENTS

“I use them for when students are making up missed assignments or in ISS.” -Jennifer

“They watch vocabulary and intro to the lesson and then one or two problems per video then do a few on their own. Videos are great for students that are absent or need to review the concept.” – Courtney

FOR TEACHERS

“They work great when you have a sub, so you do not get behind in your curriculum. These videos are great tools for new and seasoned teachers.

Teachers on my team have watched the videos, especially if they are in a new grade level!!! – Courtney

“I watch them sometimes to make sure that I’m teaching the concept to the depth the students need.” -Jennifer

FOR REFERENCE LATER

“I post them to Google Classroom, so if students are absent or need to revisit the material, they are there!” – Amy

“I post them in Google Classroom. Students can use them if they are out or if they need more instruction.

I think it would work great for a flipped classroom. You know multiple voices, word choices, explaining the same thing only benefits the kids.” – Karen

IN CLASS 

“I have found that using the videos frees me up to pull small groups, provide feedback while students are applying the content, etc.

The biggest impact is allowing me the time to work with students more. To proactively intervene as needed.” -Amber

“I play the first video or two for each set of notes in class. I can circle around and check homework/attendance/make sure every child has a pencil and is writing. I then usually work through the example problems then it’s off to stations in independent practice and small groups with me.” – Brittany

“I use them (6-8) in class for my SpEd students to take notes. I will stop the video and we have discussions or have turn and talks. I love the videos because they chunk lessons that our other text (Big Ideas) lump together.” – Ann

FOR FLIPPED OR SELF-PACED CLASSROOMS

“I use the videos for every lesson to partially flip my class. There isn’t enough time to do all the lesson problems and have students practice within a class period. Students watch the videos and complete those problems as homework. The next day, I do the rest of the problems and students do the “homework” page in class. Works pretty well. I teach 6-8.” -Carla

“I have a self-paced classroom. I upload all instruction videos and assignments for a unit so that students are able to work at their own pace. I hold small groups at the same time for my struggling students so they are able to ask questions and get the face-to-face instruction they may require. My higher level students love it because they aren’t held up by questions and small talk that cause notes to go on forever.” -Emilie

GENERAL

“They allow the kids to hear from a different person besides you. She presents them in different ways.” -Sandra

“Parents of my students have watched them to help their children study for tests, complete study guides, etc.”  -Marissa 

If you are thinking that you would like your students to benefit from these math videos and all of these incredible ideas, then click over to learn more about All Access.

There you have it! This list is in no way exhaustive, so I would love to hear – how do you use our student math videos in your classroom?

The post How Teachers Use Our Math Videos appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

This month we are tackling everything organization and time management! If you didn’t read last week’s post, check it out: Time Saving Tips for Your Planning Period and be sure to check out other organization posts here!

Decide When You Are Going to Check Your Email

This is key. Every time that you glance at your email or open it because you see a notification, you are letting your inbox rob your focus. This can hurt your productivity.

When you decide on a block of time to check your email and actually process the information, rather than continuously checking it throughout the day, you are taking control of your inbox. 

Turn Off the Faucet

Maybe you receive hundreds of emails everyday, but only a small percentage of those emails are even worthy to be opened. It’s time to do something about that.

Since I am primarily talking to teachers about work emails, I am going to assume that you aren’t using your work email for social media notifications or Old Navy sale alerts. But maybe you once needed a Wayfair 10% coupon so you had to use a different email to get one and oops… you used your work email. 

Spend ten minutes going through your inbox and unsubscribe! Quick tip: search “unsubscribe” in your inbox to pull up all emails that can be unsubscribed to.

Maybe you need to change your preferences in your Learning Management System, so you aren’t receiving 250 emails a day from Canvas. In fact, I found some helpful directions for how to change this:

• Manage your email notifications for Canvas
• Manage your email notifications for Google Classroom
• Manage your email notifications for Schoology
• Manage your email notifications for Edmodo

Create a System that Works for You

I had a coworker who was obsessed with email organization – specially a folder for everything and inbox with 0 emails. That’s great and all, but I couldn’t really make something like that work. Especially, since for the most part, I could use the search function to find an email I really needed to reference later on. 

If you think about it, you really only have 4 choices to make with an incoming email:

1. Trash – it isn’t something you need to ever reference, then say goodbye!
2. Unsubscribe – Being on the email list is no longer serving you and the absence of that email is more valuable than the email itself.
3. Take Action – Needs a response! This includes emails from those on your team, your principal or parents and students. 
4. Save for Reference – You could have a folder dedicated to emails that you may need to reference later. Examples would be directions for grade submissions or state testing reminders. My school sent out a weekly email with all the important information for the week. I didn’t need to reply to that email. I read it and sent it to my saved folder.

To batch successfully, let’s say you have 20 emails in your inbox. Check off those that you know are trash. Send them to the garbage. Anything you need to take a moment and unsubscribe to? Your future self will thank you. 

Read whatever is left. If you can reply to a “take action” email in 2 minutes, do it. If you need to reference something or grade something or check in with another person about it, leave it unread and move on until you have processed the remaining emails. Then come back.

Anything that doesn’t need a reply but needs to be saved, move to your saved folder. 

Setting a timer will help speed up this process and keep you from spending 30 minutes replying to a single email. 

If you haven’t had a chance to download these planner printables, grab them now!

Create Canned Responses

I don’t know what it is about emails, but they take me so long to craft! What saves so much time is creating 5 or so canned responses. 

Create a document in your drive or on your desktop with generic responses to your most common emails. Here are some ideas:

• When you input grades
• When you grade late work
• What students can do to bring up their grade
• Websites to help students practice certain skills

Will these canned responses be perfect? No! But it is SO much easier to copy, paste and edit than it is to start from scratch. In fact, you probably have all of these emails already in your sent folder. Remove the specificities and you have your generic response.

What email organization keeps you sane?

The post Email Organization for Teachers appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

We are diving deep into the Grid Method with Jodi Rookhuizen. She runs a self-paced classroom using our Maneuvering the Middle resources and the Grid Method.  Scroll down to grab a Grid freebie to get yourself started with the Grid Method.

LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCAST | SPOTIFY

Who is our expert on the self-paced classroom?

Jodi lives in Billings, Montana. She taught middle school for ten years, took ten years off to raise her kiddos, and is now back and going into her fourteenth year. She teaches both 6th and 7th grade math.

Note: This interview has been edited for succinctness.

What is the Grid Method?

The Grid Method is a mastery learning framework that allows students to work in a self-paced manner. It gives students the opportunity and time to master all of the standards. Jodi discovered the Grid Method during the spring of 2020, and liked it so much that she continued to use it for the 2020-2021 school year.

Why did Jodi choose the Grid Method?

Jodi wanted to reach more of her students. She wanted to have more one-on-one time with her classroom. The Grid Method allowed her to give more attention to some learners while not holding back the students who were ready to move on.

Grab a Grid Template freebie here!

How does Jodi use the Grid Method with Maneuvering the Middle curricula?

Maneuvering the Middle materials fit seamlessly into the Grid Method. It depends on the unit, but sometimes a level is dedicated to one standard, or a level is dedicated to a section of the Maneuvering the Middle curricula. The performance tasks and digital activities are great to sprinkle in the Grid to either review or provide extensions.

How does Jodi manage students being at different places?

Students have more buy-in because they are in control of how quickly they can move on – either they are getting the support they need, or they are able to move on when they are ready.

In the beginning, Jodi gave students their Grid, allowed them to work completely at their own pace, and told them when the final assessment would be. As the year progressed, she had to put some small deadlines in place to keep students on track. For the students that were not meeting those deadlines, she would conference with them to either encourage them to stay on task, or more often, provide the intervention that they needed. Jodi provided extensions for the students who were mastering the content quickly. By providing intervention for some students and providing extensions for others, everyone was able to end the unit at the same time.

What is mastery learning?

A baby must learn how to walk before they can run; that analogy is key for our students. Everyone learns at different paces, so telling a student who did not master a skill that it is time to move on because of what a scope and sequence says does that student a disservice. Hoping the student will pick it up later is not a good teaching strategy. 

Jodi likes students to score 80-85% as a good measurement of mastery.

What does a typical class look like for a student?

For Jodi, this changed because of the pandemic. They were in person all year, but they were masked and required to social distance. 

At first, students were working exclusively through their grids. When she was receiving content questions from her top students, she realized she needed to adjust. She later introduced a ten minute mini-lesson at the beginning of the class period to help students move forward successfully.

Because she wasn’t able to do group work or any kind of collaboration, Jodi felt like the mini-lesson (or warm up) encouraged whole class collaboration. 

How does Jodi keep track of her students’ progress?

Jodi has perfected technology to help her help her students. She projects a color coded tracker. Students have real-time ability to edit the tracker. Students can change their tracker to red to signal that they need something immediately. Another color means that they need her to sign off on something so they can move on to the next part of the Grid. If she finds a group of students moving slower or in the same place on the Grid, she would pull them for a small group. (Jodi couldn’t do this at the beginning of the year, but was allowed to toward the end.)

At the end of each Grid level or section, there is conferencing built in, and students take a short assessment. Jodi uses a pen and paper checklist to keep track. 

What are my next steps if I want to try self-paced classroom?

Complete the free course on Teach Better or complete the paid course.

TO SAVE 25% ON THE GRID METHOD COURSE, USE CODE: GOODMORNINGTEACHER @ CHECKOUT

Search “the grid method” on Facebook. There are many Facebook groups where teachers post their Grids. Talk to a teacher who uses the Grid Method because teachers are our best resource. What do you think of the self-paced classroom?

The post The Self-Paced Classroom appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Teaching has changed so much in a year and a half. With many schools going back to face to face next year, it begs the question – are video lessons here to stay? Will the use of this technology continue and if so, what will it look like?

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Maybe a way to phrase the question is – are video lessons effective? Effective teaching practices stick around and stand the test of time. 

Pro #1 Video Lessons solve many classroom challenges

Video lessons allow you to meet the needs of your students in so many ways!

A library of video mini-lessons can increase the number of teachers in the room. Imagine this: you are pulling a small group while your other students are working on an activity or independently. A student gets stuck on their work, and instead of interrupting your small group, they are able to access a video library that will help them get “unstuck.”
They didn’t have to wait for you to finish working with the small group, they were able to solve their problem, and your small group wasn’t interrupted. That is a win-win! 

If you need something to help you help your students when they get stuck, grab our How to Get Help Flowchart Freebie here.

I can think of many other ways a video library can solve other classroom problems:

• Absent students – you no longer will be scrambling to catch a student back up. Send them the lesson they missed. They are responsible for catching up.
• Students who need a reteach – no problem. Most students need to see things more than one time to internalize the content. 
• Video previewing – many students have suggested accommodations of previewing the material before the actual lesson. I would do my best during the warm up to make this happen, but if I could have shown them a 2-3 minute video to prepare them, that would have been perfect.
• To prepare for an assessment – I see video lessons really helping before tests. Students look through the study guide, each topic covered has the corresponding video lesson linked – if they don’t know how to start the problem or miss the problem, they now have access to something that will reteach them the content. This could be done before a unit test or an end-of-year
•  state test.
• Flipped classroom – check out this blog post to learn more.
• Students can watch you teach in class and then use a video to refresh/internalize the content when they are at home. I also think this can help parents who want to help their kiddos!

I really see that there is a future with video lessons and that they can be powerful tools for both students and teachers! 

We have a free math video lesson library!

Con #1 Students Losing Interest

Video lessons aren’t going to solve every classroom challenge. Just because a video lesson was played and the student watched it, does not mean that student actually learned from it. 

Students can also lose interest in a typical lesson, but as the teacher, here are just a handful of the things you are doing to keep students’ interest:

• Asking questions
• Facilitating discussion
• Gauging engagement
• Using proximity
• Saying students’ names
• Making jokes
• Making eye contact or nonverbal redirecting
• Changing up the lesson midway when something isn’t working

That personal component is vital to student learning and can’t be replicated in a video.

Also, I know that many teachers are ready to bring back the collaboration that was restricted last year. Engaging activities, like a scavenger hunt or stations, allow students to make connections and work together to process the content.

Con #2 Making Videos is Time Intensive

Video lessons are time intensive. You can source one on YouTube, but that also takes time. How many videos do you preview in attempts to find the right one?

You can make them yourself, and I think most teachers are equipped to do this! Most likely, that will take even more time.

While we are talking about time, the length of a video lesson can be a challenge. Too long – students lose interest. I think the shorter, the better.

Big news! I am going to discuss what we are doing to break down our curriculum into video mini-lessons!

Do you think video lessons are here to stay?

The post Are Math Video Lessons Effective? appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

With so many classrooms virtual this year and so many websites promising to engage your students, it can be challenging to know where to start. Or perhaps, what was once working, is no longer working. Here are 5 ideas for engaging students online.

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#1 Blooket

If you haven’t heard about the Blooket website by now, go look right now! It is a website with various games that are preloaded for you to play with your students. This is not a new idea, but what sets Blooket apart is the games are themed – so while your students are solving math questions, they are also unlocking treasure or going on a racing adventure!

When planning, keep in mind that these problems are going to be skills-based practice. Make sure that students are also seeing higher level thinking problems in some other form. If you haven’t checked it out, the games Battle Royale, Santa’s Workshop, Racing, and Treasure Chest come highly recommended as a good starting point.

#2 Gamify your classroom with badges

Digital badges are a feature on various learning management systems. These are easy ways to “gamify” your classroom. Students earn badges for completing different things — and you get to decide. It could be as simple as being logged into Zoom on time, turning on your camera for the lesson, or submitting an assignment on time. Really whatever pain point you are trying to fix can be turned into a “badge.”

If your LMS doesn’t have badges, then check out Badgr. Badgr allows you to create, design, and distribute your own badges, and then use them in your LMS. 

If you are ready to take gamification to the next level, check out ClassCraft.  The free version allows you to use badges as incentives and the paid version allows you to create learning quests and interactive tools. 

#3 Digital Math Activities

Our Maneuvering the Middle digital math activities are interactive through Google Slides and have a formative assessment through Google Forms.

UPDATE: ALGEBRA I DIGITAL ACTIVITIES ARE NOW AVAILABLE!

I personally love that they provide high quality supplemental practice that isn’t drill and kill and really allow students to apply what they are learning! Classroom technology that is effective and engaging. Grab a free set for 6th, 7th, 8th, and Algebra by clicking below.

This way you can try them out with students and see if they are a good fit! If you love the freebie, you can find more here. 

#4 GimKit

GimKit has changed since we last blogged about it. Their free version only allows for 5 players at a time, but since there are so many fun interactive games, I would recommend trying out their free 30 day trial to see if it would work in your classroom. The paid version starts at around $5. 

GimKit is always creating new interactive games, but also pulls down old games too. They keep things interesting! 

If you are looking to try GimKit, then be sure to play Trust No One and Boss Battle if they are available.  And be sure to check out our GimKit blog post to get other ideas and inspiration for how to utilize this fun game!

#5 Chrome Extensions Form Limiter and Quilgo.

Chrome extensions are some of my favorite classroom technology. Form Limiter is an extension that puts a due date on a Google Form assessment. It allows you to close the assessment to students which will (hopefully) cut down on late assignments.

Quilgo allows you to put a time limit on the Form. So, you can tell it to only allow 15 minutes for a short quiz or an hour for the test. This keeps students on track and limits their ability to use outside resources because of the time limit. This wouldn’t work for students that require extra time on their IEP or 504. But, you could easily copy that form and set a different time limit as needed.

This is also perfect for our MTM teachers because all of our assessments are now in Google Forms – mini-quizzes, quizzes, and unit tests to save you time and energy!  If you want all of your assessments written AND in Google Forms, check out our curriculum here. You can also find all Maneuvering the Middle digital assessments here.

What classroom technology keeps your students engaged?

The post 5 Tech Ideas for Student Engagement appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Let’s talk about digital activities – specifically, free digital math activities! Maneuvering the Middle has digital math activities for 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade, and Algebra 1. Let’s talk about what digital activities are, why we love them, and some ideas on how you can use them. Most importantly, you can try them out in your classroom with a freebie down below!

UPDATE: ALGEBRA I DIGITAL ACTIVITIES ARE NOW AVAILABLE!

LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCAST  |  SPOTIFY

What is a digital math activity?

Digital math activities are designed for use in Google Slides and Google Forms, but you do not have to be a Google school or use Google classroom to make these work.  In fact, you can use them with any LMS; your students just have to have access to either Google Slides or PowerPoint. 

The digital activities are made up of two parts. First, the interactive activity portion; students either drag and match, insert shapes and lines, or type their responses. Then, the formative assessment portion is a quick, two question Google Form quiz that assesses if a student understands the concept. 

We released these resources back in 2019 (pre-COVID) to provide a way for teachers to use technology and still have high-quality problems and scaffolding of a specific concept.  We wanted to include higher-level thinking skills and applications that require students to make those connections between what they are learning and the real world.

Why should you try them out?

You might be wondering – are these digital activities for me? Which is why we want to give you a free set to try! Free digital activities to make your life easier!

This way you can try them out with students and see if they are a good fit! If you love the freebie, you can find more digital math activities here. 

Here’s why you should try them:

• They work in all classroom settings as long as your students have access to a device like a Chromebook or iPad.
• If you are in-person, use them as paperless practice. You could even have students collaborate by working on the exact same file.
• If you are in a hybrid classroom, they are a great fit for that at-home day.
• If you are fully virtual, they can easily be broken up and shared as individual slides or they can be shared as a weekly assignment. They are ready to go and easy to share, making the virtual component just a little lighter. 
• They provide variety. Not only are they visually appealing, but they won’t overwhelm students. There is nothing like opening an assignment and realizing you have 30 problems to solve or questions to answer.
• They are more interesting than a worksheet. And we all know that we are trying our best to keep our students engaged. Cue this meme:

Anytime you can bring some creativity and an interactive element without losing the rigor (or even building up to the rigor) and it’s ready to go — shoot, sign me up!

How other teachers are using them and why they love them?

I love hearing how other teachers are using them in their unique circumstances and wanted to share with you — especially if you aren’t a math teacher, then you may be able to apply these ideas to an activity in your content area.

Shawna from our MTM FB group says, “We are all remote. I use them for a collaboration day every week. Students get their own copy in GC (Google Classroom) but are in breakout rooms to work together on them.”

Angelique shared, “1) I use digital activities for group work and each group is assigned 1 problem they will present to the class. 2) I use them as a competition to see which breakout room will return to the main room first. I have found this has kept all of my classes on task and focused.”

Marissa says, “Since we are on a hybrid schedule, I use them for all my students at home days. I either check one slide of the digital activity for accuracy or they get a completion grade for doing all slides… I pair them with the Google Form exit tickets and use those as a little formative check.”

And Brina shared, “I’ve been using digital math activities in my skills practice choice boards. I try to give students 3-5 choice practice activities over whatever skill we are doing in class. This way they can practice the skill by picking the activity that they are most interested in… It has been helpful since we have gone back and forth between remote and face to face a few times this year.”

If you want to learn more about digital activities (or really any math topic for that matter), join our Facebook group of brilliant math teachers!

Don’t forget to grab our free digital activities! If you are already using our digital math activities, I would love to know how you are using them, so comment below or let us know on our FB page or Instagram.

The post Free Digital Math Activities appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

As teachers, we have all heard the statement “set students up for success” probably more times than we can count. Sometimes these statements can lose their meaning, but don’t let this one! If students feel successful in your classroom, then your workload will be less. Less make up work to follow up on and grade, less classroom management, less … fill-in-the-blank.

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#1: Make Everything as Easy as Possible

There is a physics principle called the Principle of Least Action that basically states that the path between two points will always be the path that requires the least amount of energy. You may be more familiar with the path of least resistance. Either way, humans (not just students) are wired to give up when faced with one too many challenges. Think: how many times have you gone to purchase something online, only to give up when you realize your wallet is out of reach? Check out the book Atomic Habits by James Clear to learn more.

EVERYTHING should be as STUDENT-FRIENDLY as possible: directions, finding assignments, completing assignments, submitting assignments, and the list goes on.

In the classroom setting, you could always course correct in the moments of confusion. Not to mention, there were so many visual cues to bolster student success: an agenda on the board, a tray for students to turn in their work, and your physical body there to direct and engage. 

The online setting is a little more complex. Course correction could mean a student has felt confused, logged off, leading you to hunt down their (completed?) assignment. Add in the fact that sometimes students are in school and sometimes they are at home and nothing feels consistent anymore!

So here are some questions to consider when thinking through the students’ experience.

1. Is this easy to accomplish? Notice I didn’t say the content is easy, I am referring to the process.
2. Is there a way that I can provide up front directions that will help students and keep them from continuing to ask the same questions? Create a video library that anyone can access. This could be as simple as a Google Sheet that has organized video links you record on Loom or ScreenCastify (make sure it is ‘view only’).  
3. Is there anything that we can do as a school to minimize confusion? If every teacher is using different software or platforms or expectations for submitting assignments, then students are more likely to feel frustrated and give up. 

One thing that our MTM teachers are loving is the Google Hub Template.

This is a super easy-to-use template that we lovingly call a Hub because you can put all the links, directions, and assignments in one spot for the day or week (we have provided both). It gives students a checklist to reference and it is super colorful and easy to use! You can get yours here and you can learning more about how to use it here.

Read how you can set your students up for success teaching these 5 remote learning routines and procedures.

#2 Build Those Relationships

Nothing ground-breaking here, but the importance of building student relationships this year with students in and out of the classroom has never been more important! When students know you care for them beyond the classroom, they will do more, try harder, and be more successful.

In a typical year, this comes naturally – you would high five students in the hallway, you talked to students at lunch, or maybe you ran a club after school. So much of the fringe time we once had fostering relationships with our students is gone, so teachers will need to brainstorm new ways to engage students and build rapport. 

1. Scratch the math warm up/bell ringer for fun get-to-know-you type questions or activities
2. Host a virtual scavenger hunt or show and tell 
3. Cut out the automated emails — it teaches kids to ignore your emails
4. Send a personalized message instead — create some templates and copy/paste
5. Create a menu board that is not content related for students to complete
6. Put a sticker on your face each time a student participates. Check out some other incentives here (may require some tweaking for a digital classroom)

These are just a few examples of super simple ways to build relationships with your students.  Remember that building relationships with students doesn’t just happen in August and September; it is an ongoing effort! 

Clear directions + cared for students = more student output + less work for teacher + student success. How do you set your students up for success in your classroom?

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Teacher productivity is a topic I could talk at length about. I love optimizing my time, building routines, and checking off a to-do list item. Check out some of these methods that will save your time and your sanity.

LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCAST  |  SPOTIFY

1. GO SLOW NOW TO GO FAST LATER

Teachers live in a very cyclical world. Most of the things that we do on a daily basis are repeated over and over again –  daily attendance, planning a lesson, grading an assignment, creating a Google Form, giving feedback to a student, setting up a Google Classroom assignment. Since you will be doing so many repeated things, optimize! 

For example, I took the time this year to organize and set up my Google Chrome bookmarks. My bookmarks were a mess! I often didn’t use my bookmarks because the important ones were out of sight. I had Google Drive bookmarked, but I would have to click though several folders to get where I needed to be, and sometimes I would forget where I was going. Sound familiar?

This year, I created bookmark folders that open the correct websites for the specific task I was working on.  You could have a folder for grading assignments, creating a video, creating assignments in your LMS, or the websites you need to open when you first sit down to work.

So for example, let’s say that the task is “inputting grades,” you need to have your LMS open, your school grade book software, your EdPuzzle account, and Khan Academy. By using the Google Chrome bookmark folder, you can very quickly select the folder you created called “inputting grades,” right click, and select open all. In just a few clicks each website that you need open is there ready to go!  You can see how to create a bookmark, create a bookmark folder, and how to open them all in the video below.

While we are talking about websites, I would be remiss to not talk about Lastpass. Lastpass acts like a digital vault and saves all of your passwords so that you can set up secure passwords, but you don’t have to remember them all! I cannot tell you how many times I had to click that terrible “forgot password” button and go through the process of getting a new password when I came to a website that I didn’t access regularly. Not to mention, I would usually need to create another new password that I would definitely forget again next time!

Once I set up Lastpass, it is so easy to use. Each time I visit a new website where I need a login, it helps generate a legitimate secure password and then saves the information. I just have to remember one secure password to log in to my Lastpass account. Super easy!

2. Batch Your Work

Batching is grouping similar tasks that require similar thinking in order to streamline completion. 

Our brains work much harder when we are constantly switching between different tasks! If you sit down for your planning period to grade, input grades, plan the next day’s lesson, and make copies, then your brain switched gears 4 times. 

Here are things you can batch:

• Choosing your bell ringer – do this for the entire week
• Recording all of your videos in one sitting – think about what you would need completed before recording all of your videos
• Grading on the same day and in the same sitting 
• Batch your copies, lamination, and cutting – or find a parent to help!

3. Plan Your Week & Work Your Plan

When I was teaching, my weeks looked very similar and I had a really nice rhythm in place! I would grade on a specific day, I would plan my lessons on another day, and I would stay late on Thursday afternoons to make sure that I was ready for the next week ahead. I was even strategic about the activities I planned for Friday’s lesson, so that I was able to leave ready for the following week.

It’s important to not only have a to-do list, but have a plan for when those to-dos will get accomplished. That way, at the end of a long Monday, you don’t spend another 15 minutes thinking about what you need to do. You are able to take a look at your plan and work the plan!

Our Google Hub is the tool that you need! It is a weekly plan that we designed for your students, but in reality it can totally work for you, too! You can use it to create a plan for yourself and then you can upload it to your Google Drive so that you have your plan wherever you are.  Next week, we will chat about how you can use the Google Hub with your students.

What teacher productivity methods do you live by? What can you put into place this week to help you have a more productive week?

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Psst – Scroll down for an escape room activity freebie for your middle school students!

Digital Math Resources in Google Classroom

Digital Activities using Google Slides

Our digital activities are amazing! They are some of our most raved about resources. They are interactive, aligned to state standards, and can supplement an entire year of curriculum. I love that they come with self-grading Google Form exit tickets. You can read about them in more detail here! Check out the video before to see 8th Grade Identifying Functions in action (You can find the entire 8th Grade Function Bundle here.)

UPDATE: ALGEBRA I DIGITAL ACTIVITIES ARE NOW AVAILABLE!

Update:  You can now get them individually. Looking for a very specific topic? Would you prefer to grab one or two before committing to the entire unit? 

My 6th graders would love Graphing Coordinate Pairs or Solving One-Step Equations. These activities are great for end-of-year state testing review. 

Desmos

Desmos has really expanded many of its features since the pandemic. You can find our favorite Desmos middle school activities here and Algebra activities here. After joining their Facebook group, I learned that you can create your own activities using their activity builder. Activities include cart sorts, marble slides, graphing, and more. I even saw one teacher create an Among Us activity.  These videos and templates will help you get started. Another shoutout to Desmos for creating these starter slides.

Escape Room

When I first read about Escape Rooms being a popular activity in the classroom, I felt overwhelmed by all of the planning and classroom management it would require. However, in a virtual setting, it is pretty simple. You can watch a tutorial on how to create an escape room here. You just need some math problems and Google Forms. The degree of difficulty for creation and implementation is relatively low.

You can also grab a free escape room for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade here. 6th grade covers order of operations, 7th grade covers percent of a number, and 8th grade covers solving equations with variables on both sides. Use your grade level or the previous grade level for review or additional practice. 

Update to all Paper-Based Activities + STUDENT HANDOUTS

Teachers and students love the Maneuvering the Middle paper-based activities – scavenger hunts, “Find It and Fix It,” ”He Said, She Said,” and our mazes. If you own the curriculum, you can now implement these paper-based activities digitally with Google Slides and Google Forms! Whether your students are learning at home OR socially distanced in the classroom, these digital activities are paperless, engaging and a break from the traditional routine. 

Student handouts and homework assignments are now accessible inside Google Slides too.

Google Forms for Assessments

I know that this isn’t an activity per se, but testing does require your class time and your energy, so it seems pretty active to me (ha!). Whether you are in-person or online or hybrid, you need to say goodbye to hand-grading your assessments. BYE! Most learning management systems can test, grade, and distribute feedback to students. If you do not have a LMS with your school, good news, Google Classroom is free and using Google Forms for assessments is the best! Besides the aforementioned benefits, Maneuvering the Middle curriculum has all of its unit tests on Google Forms. You can get Digital Assessments (update 2022: and our digital quizzes too!) in our All Access membership.

Kahoot/Quizlet/Quizzizz/BLOOKET

Since I am a member of several middle school math Facebook groups, I frequently see teachers ask for activity ideas for students to participate in virtually.  One of these 4 online gaming platforms is ALWAYS mentioned. Why? Because students love them and teachers love them. All four platforms have pivoted their models to work with distance learning and they all have free features. Learn more about Gimkit here, Quizizz here, Kahoot here, and Booket here. The best part? Students who are typically reluctant about math become your must enthusiastic participants.

What online resources would make teaching easier and more enjoyable? What digital math resources and tools are your students favorite? 

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Are Digital Interactive Notebooks Right for You?

Digital INTERACTIVE notebooks might be right for you if…

1. You would have done an interactive notebook in class anyway

Interactive Notebooks are wonderful for teaching students how to utilize classroom content in a systematic and useful way. Digital interactive notebooks are even better because they are under the control of the teacher. No loose papers. NO GLUE STICKS! If you love interactive notebooks, I think you will love digital interactive notebooks even more.

2. You Hold Students Accountable for their Organization

I am all about keeping students accountable for their actions and their work ethic, but I could only control so many things. Managing students’ notes and doing binder/notebook checks was something I tried, but quickly learned was not within my capacity.  Maybe it would be easier to do digitally, but I would prefer to spend my time in small groups (now office hours for invited students) or giving feedback. To be clear, I do love a beautifully organized notebook as much as the next teacher — I’m not a monster.

3. You want students to easily reference material digitally 

If you know that students will not be printing anything during remote learning, I can see why digital interactive notebooks are enticing. Everything is accessible in one spot! Students will be able to study the correct material for an assessment with little direction from you. You can also make them accessible to parents who can support that studying effort.

Digital interactive notebooks might not be for you if …

1. You already have a plan or system in place for students to reference materials

Many teachers were already using a flipped classroom model or assigning work through technology in a variety of ways before the pandemic even started. Maybe your students can take notes on their own notebook paper at home and submit their work using EdPuzzle or GoFormative.  Perhaps, you liked your system in the spring just fine. “Doubling up” on systems used for students to access or organize their work might cause confusion. You do not have to do something because other teachers are doing it!

2. You aren’t a teacher who plans several weeks in advance

From what I have researched, creating a digital interactive notebook requires A LOT of work before students even see it. If you share it with your students via Google Classroom or your LMS, making any changes to your master will not change the students’ copies. Not a huge deal, but it does mean you can’t make any edits after students have their own copies. Fortunately, there is a Google extension called Slip in Slide that can add slides to the end of a student copy. You can watch a video on how to do that here. Consider that you might need to correct an error on an existing page, add something to an existing page, or delete a page, you will not be able to do that. (As of now – please comment below if this gets updated!)

3. You feel overwhelmed by all the technology and changes with the school year

If you are someone who is still trying to figure out how to post an assignment to an LMS or how to record or teach a lesson digitally, then check out some helpful videos here. You do not need to add anything else to your already full plate. You can always implement a notebook in the future.

Do you use a digital interactive notebook? Do you prefer “traditional” (ha!) online learning? If you haven’t heard, Maneuvering the Middle’s notes and homework have been turned into Google Slides to help transition to remote learning. (This does not mean it is a digital interactive notebook!) Check out our curriculum bundles here. 

The post Are Digital Interactive Notebooks Right for You? appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Desmos Four 4s

I played Four 4s with my students the last 4 years in class. This is a great way to get students excited about math and it is really accessible to every level! The objective is to make numbers 1-12 by using exactly four 4s using any type of operation. Example: 4+4+4-4=8. My students loved it so much that they begged to play again — all I had to do was make it Five 5s!

Jo Boaler’s Youcubed Activity Playlist

I am a big fan of Youcubed’s Week of Inspiration Math. Before, my students would watch videos on growth mindset, we would discuss, and then complete an activity in groups. Now the website has evolved for distance learning. You can create a custom playlist from their expansive library of videos and activities, download, and share. You can find the middle school playlist here.

31-derful

This activity was a big hit with my high school students. The objective is to create a 5×5 grid of playing cards where each row and column add up to 31 (or whatever number you choose). I never quite recovered a full deck of cards after my first year, so I didn’t use this activity again. However, it was super easy to make digital, so click on the image below to grab yourself a freebie! You can read more about 31-derful from Everybody is a Genius which is where I got the idea years ago. It forces students to problem solve but is also accessible to all learners.

CLICK HERE TO GRAB 31- DERFUL &  ABOUT ME ACTIVITIES!

About Me in Numbers

Are you even a math teacher if you have never done an About Me in Numbers worksheet during the first week of school? I went ahead and created one for Google Slides for you to use. I left it pretty open-ended for students to get creative with it. This would also be a great activity to introduce students how to add text boxes, insert images, scale, and show them additional formatting in Google Slides.

CLICK HERE TO GRAB 31- DERFUL &  ABOUT ME ACTIVITIES!

Digital Math Activities

If you are looking for something else, check out our digital math activities here. Interactive and engaging! Teachers and students love them! Please note that these are not free.

UPDATE: ALGEBRA I DIGITAL ACTIVITIES ARE NOW AVAILABLE!

Happy New School Year, Teachers! What are you doing for the first day of school? We hope these back to school digital activities will help!

The post Free Back to School Digital Activities appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Note: We receive questions about “how to do _____?” so frequently. Below are our most popular. We also have a video library for any other FAQs related to using our resources that you can check out here.

15 Remote Teaching Videos to Get You Started

1. How to Split Screen on Chromebook
2. How to Split Screen on iPad
3. How to Split Screen on Macbook
4. How to Write/Record on an iPad
5. How to Write/Record on a Desktop
6. How to Record and Write With Your Cell Phone acting as a Doc Camera
7. How to Record/Teach Live Using the Hue Doc Cam
8. Using Interactive Whiteboards in Google Meets
9. Using Interactive Whiteboards in Zoom
10. What is the difference between Nearpod and Pear Deck (both Google add-ons)
11. Teaching Remotely Using Canvas
12. Getting Started with Schoology
13. Getting Started with Google Classroom
14. How to Use Microsoft Teams for Remote Teaching
15. How to Create an Interactive Notebook

How to Do a Split Screen

Teach your students how to split their screen so they can watch a video or be on Zoom while taking notes at the same time.

1. On Chromebook

2. On iPad

3. On Macbook

4. How to Record and Write on an iPad

5. How to Record and Write on a Desktop

6. How to Record and Write With Your Cell Phone acting as a Doc Camera

7. How to Record/Teach Live Using the Hue Doc Cam

8. Using Interactive Whiteboards in Google Meets

9. Using Interactive Whiteboards in Zoom

10. What is the difference between Nearpod and Pear Deck (both Google add-ons)

Getting Started with Your LMS

Many districts are opting in to various Learning Management Systems which can be stressful for a teacher that used something different until now, or who has never used one before. There are so many features and ways to use them; I could never become an expert in every LMS. Thankfully, there are some amazing experts who have already figured it out.

11. Teaching Remotely Using Canvas

Mallory Camera’s YouTube channel covers so much more of what Canvas has to offer. I would check it out here.

12. Getting Started with Schoology

Tech Teach and Transform has a very comprehensive YouTube channel on Schoology. If you have a very specific Schoology need, I would check out her channel here.

13. Getting Started with Google Classroom

14. How to Use Microsoft Teams for Remote Teaching

15. How to Create an Interactive Notebook

Many teachers are excited to create a digital interactive notebook for their students. Here is a helpful resource we found, but just a friendly reminder that you do not have to create one for remote learning to be successful!

What are we missing? What haven’t you quite figured out? If you need videos to help with math instruction, check out our Remote Learning Packs here.

The post 15 Remote Teaching Videos to Get You Started appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Here, we are going to compile every technology routine and procedure that you will need to explicitly teach this year if you will be teaching remotely. There is no way that I will be able to cover them all, so please share in the comments. 

TECHNOLOGY ROUTINES & PROCEDURES FOR DISTANCE LEARNING

For many of these suggestions, I recommend recording a video showing students how to do many of these things and posting them somewhere accessible to both parents and students. This might be a Unit 0 in your Google Classroom or on a FAQ page on your class website. If you need a starting place on how to do these types of things, please check out our video library here.

1. Classroom Etiquette

Emphasize that even though you are at home, you are still in a classroom setting. For me that would mean: you are sitting up straight, you are taking notes, you are listening, you are participating by using the raise your hand feature on Zoom, and you are being a respectful, non-distracting member of our community. You might also require students to be on mute too. I would also provide some non-examples: you are not laying down, you are not in inappropriate clothing, you are not eating, you are not walking around holding your device, and you are not playing video games.

2. Communicating with Your Teacher

Give students an example of a strong, clear, and informative email as a template to help them (and you) out. Students will so frequently email, “I need help.” AND THAT IS IT. Here is what I would share:

Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. ______,

Hi! The purpose of my email is to ask for help regarding Assignment ____ Question ____.  I have watched the videos provided and asked another classmate for help, but I am still having trouble. 

Choose one:

• I keep getting this answer ____ but it is incorrect.
• I don’t know what to do after I complete  (insert a step).
• I have attached a picture/video showing you my work. 

Could you please help me? Thank you.

Your Name

You might want to throw in another non-example: “miss — i need help. Kthanxbyyyyyee.” Then explain to students that you will respond within X hours and not to keep emailing during that time. 

3. LMS Tour

I think this might be the most important technology routine and procedure to teach. Record a video of you walking through how to check for new assignments, how to check feedback on an assignment, and how to turn in an assignment. If you are using Google, take the time to teach how to add a text box, insert links, use the shape tools and add comments. I would actually create different videos and title them with exactly what you are showing them how to do. Example: How to Log In. That way, if a student or teacher emails you with a question asking how to do something – you can send them directly to a video.

4. Watching a Video to Learn

This was a major AHA moment for me!  Many students (and adults) play a video and start multitasking. Videos are not just something for students to get through. They are the tool necessary for learning to happen remotely. Spend 10 minutes talking about what active learning looks like. You are looking at the video, you are listening to the video, you have removed distractions, you are writing down important information, and you are rewinding if you missed or didn’t understand something. 

5. Other Ideas

These are just useful to show/explain to students:

• How to bookmark a frequently used page
• How to split your screen
• Organizing your Google Drive 
• Updating a web browser or device
• How to check their grades in the grade book (and how often you will update the grade book)

After my first year of teaching, I made a long list of every routine I was going to teach, and all the consequences I would follow through on if my expectations weren’t met. No more Ms. Nice First Year Teacher. (Can you relate?) The thing about teaching is you don’t know what you don’t know. Even the most veteran teacher could not have properly prepared for distance learning if they had not done it before. What distance learning routines and procedures would you add to this list?

We love routines and procedures! Here are some other posts if you do too.

• 20 Must Teach Routines and Procedures
• 15 More Must Teach Routines and Procedures
• Routines and Procedures to Teach the First Day of School
• Everything You Need to Prepare for Back to School

The post Technology Routines and Procedures appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

The hybrid model functions both online and in the physical classroom. Students will be expected to complete some of their learning at home, some of their learning at school, and all the while, teachers will be juggling both a physical and online classroom.

The good news is there is already an instructional practice that answers the question – how are teachers supposed to do all of this? The flipped classroom! 

The Flipped Classroom And the Hybrid Model 

What is the Flipped Classroom?

Many teachers have been using the flipped classroom for years. In fact, Clintondale High School made the transition around 10 years ago. While traditional classrooms function with a teacher instructing during class and students completing assignments at home, the flipped classroom has students watch a video of the teacher’s instruction for homework. The following day, students come prepared to practice the lesson in class with an assignment, activity or discussion with guidance from the teacher. 

Why flip?

There are many advantages to flipping your classroom:  

1. Content is available outside traditional classroom time. Students have access to the videos to prepare for new content, to review, and not fall behind if they miss class.
2. Students have the ability to rewind, pause, and rewatch. They can prepare their questions ahead of time. 
3. Frees up time for teachers to work one-on-one in the classroom with students. 
4. Students don’t go home to practice something wrong or struggle when they actually need assistance.
5. Parents are not having to play teacher at home.

For the flipped classroom to work, there are a few websites that I recommend. I cannot stress that these two websites are WORTH IT. Edpuzzle and Go Formative. We have several posts that explain why they work well for teachers and students in remote learning – check them out here, here, and watch how 3 teachers using Maneuvering the Middle resources using these platforms here.

In short, Edpuzzle is a video platform that allows teachers to record videos or choose videos from a library, embed questions inside that video for students to answer, and then teachers can pull that data to make instructional decisions. 

A/B Days 

A hybrid schedule can take many forms. From what we have learned from teachers, schools that are considering the hybrid model are going to either rely on A/B days or week on/week off schedules (though there are variations for how this will look).  For A/B days, I have brainstormed a “plan” you could pull from. 

Note: This plan refers to a single Edpuzzle video with two different question sets. A teacher could record or find a video and use it twice, but ask a different set of questions for students to answer — a simple way to scaffold. My thinking is that this approach allows there to be learning every day without one group getting too ahead of the other group. Teachers can adjust and cut the second question set in order to help with pacing (if necessary).

Edit: (7/28/2020) We received some questions about what I meant by Topics A, B, C, and D. The topics are just referring to a specific objective. In my schedule above, this means students are spending 2 days on an objective before moving on. This ensures that students are working on their days at home, but also that if they are not, they are at least getting some form of instruction at school.

Week On/Week Off

This schedule basically means that a teacher will have about 50% of their students for one week in person while during that same week, 50% of their students are at home distance learning. The following week, the groups switch.  The flipped classroom model is still going to be our formula for success. Here is another example of what could work in this model.

Technology is a Must

Even when students are in class, technology will still remain the active agent in students’ learning. This will help keep things consistent. The routine with technology will allow students to not lose out on instructional time if schools are shut down temporarily. And since most group work cannot adhere to social distancing, students can work together online. 

The flipped classroom model requires buy-in from both parents and students. Is your school implementing hybrid learning? We hope this brainstorming session will produce some ideas and strategies for your remote and in-person classroom.

The post The Flipped Classroom and Hybrid Learning appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

1. Hue Doc Cam

Crystal clear picture and super easy to use. One cord to plug into your computer and to charge! 

2. Wireless Doorbell

From the feedback I received in our Facebook group, wireless doorbells are not just for elementary classrooms. If call and response or attention getters feel awkward, this is an easy way to quiet a loud class. One teacher even pointed out that because she teaches from the back of the room, that the doorbell was able to replace her “teacher stare.”

3. Clicker

If you are a teacher who likes to be mobile during a lecture, then you probably love your clicker. This one is simple, well reviewed, and inexpensive. 

4. Color Changing LED Lights

These are my favorite! The string of lights comes with a clicker that changed the color of the lights. If a student had a birthday, I would let them choose a color for the day. You could even use them more strategically — assigning a voice level to each color of the light. Green = group work voices. Yellow = Whisper. Red = Silent. Technology gadgets that help with classroom management are the best.

5. Printer

The year I had a printer in my classroom was the most convenient year ever. Walking all the way down to the staff workroom to collect one piece of paper only to realize that it didn’t print would usually send me to a dark place.  (I know, I know… always bring your computer to the workroom.) Printers are usually cheap and the ink will be your big expense, but have you heard of this ink program?

6. Alexa Dot (3rd Generation)

I use my Alexa to set a timer or play music. Here is a list of other ways you can use your Alexa Dot in the classroom. 

7. Timer or Timer with Clip

Oh, timers… what would I do without you? A good timer must be wearable, magnetic, and VERY LOUD. My phone wouldn’t be loud enough during group work and setting timers on my phone was a sure way to kill its battery. 

8. Portable Battery

Maybe this is super specific to me, but one of my worst days of teaching was when I took students on a field trip with a cell phone on low battery. I must have not charged it the night before, and I didn’t notice until it was too late. After my phone died, I felt so helpless! No emergency required the use of a cell phone, but it was stressful enough for me to remember a portable battery on every field trip I have been on since. 

9. Visual Timer for Students

Back to timers for a moment. I believe that timers are useful to keep a teacher on pace, but they are even more important to keep students moving at an appropriate pace.  This timer is wonderful for your visual learners and can be seen from across the room. My teacher friend, Colleen, (see her classroom here) loves hers.

10. Laminator

If you don’t have your own personal laminator yet, this is the year! This one only jammed one time in 4 years of use, and it was super easy to fix. Don’t forget to grab some lamination sheets while you are at it.

11. Extra Sets of Headphones

Most students will use their own headphones, but teachers should always plan for students who don’t bring required supplies, right? These technology gadgets are well reviewed and colorful! 

12. Remind App

With parents possibly in the teacher role this upcoming year, an easy way to communicate is going to be vital. 

13. Fluorescent Light Covers

If you have ever had an ill-placed fluorescent overhead light, you know how hard it can make reading your board. It drove me crazy! I would have loved these. 

14. Wireless Mouse

I love my wireless mouse. This one comes in a variety of fun colors and can make using your computer for long stretches of time more comfortable. 

15. iPad or Drawing Tablet

Remote learning has made iPads and drawing tablets a necessity. 

16. Good Notes App

An app for taking notes. I use it now as my planner.

17. Stylus or Apple Pencil

This is a budget friendly stylus that was recommended by a teacher in our Facebook Group. The Apple pencil is what I use and love. 

18. Apple TV

I was a little skeptical about an Apple TV in a classroom, but then I stumbled across this article. If you and your students have 1:1 access of iPads, then having an Apple TV allows you to showcase student work and record content from multiple devices. 

19. Rechargeable Batteries

Many items in a classroom require batteries (graphing calculators come to mind) and not having spare batteries will drive you crazy. These are rechargeable and come in AA and AAA. 

20. UV Portable Light Sanitizer

This might give you peace of mind or help with the shortage of disinfectant wipes. 

What technology gadgets do you use and love? What tech tools do you plan on investing in this year? 

The post 20 Technology Gadgets for Teachers appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

“The concept of the summer slide has been on researchers’ radar since at least 1996, when one of the first comprehensive studies on the phenomenon was published. The study showed that kids lose significant knowledge in reading and math over summer break, which tends to have a snowball effect as they experience subsequent skill loss each year. A more recent study of children in 3rd to 5th grades also showed that students lost, on average, about 20 percent of their school-year gains in reading and 27 percent of their school-year gains in math during summer break.”

What a devastating amount of knowledge lost! Summer is a time to relax and spend time with family, but it should not be completely wasted, much less put students further behind. Parents, if you are looking for some options to catch up your child, here are a few websites we believe are beneficial for summer practice to help retain knowledge and avoid the summer slide! 

ONLINE COURSES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH

IXL

$12.95/student per month

I thought IXL provided great practice questions when I used it with my students to prepare for STAAR testing. More specifically, the real-time analytics tool allowed me to watch students work and target students who were struggling. There is a parent feature that walks you through how to assign your student assignments and how to monitor progress. This is an online practice tool. There are not any videos or instruction, so parents will have to fill in any gaps.

Freckle

Free for Basic | Inquire for Premium

This website has a dashboard for both parents and teachers, and has resources and videos to help parents get their student started. The math section is comprehensive through 9th grade and Freckle includes a diagnostic test so students can start on their level. Students have many options under the free plan, but in order for parents to maximize learning, they will need the premium account. You can see the details here. 

Khan Academy

We have written many posts (see here and here) about our love for Khan Academy. Khan Academy has challenges, assessments, and thousands of practice questions based on skill or grade level for students to complete. 

Visit their parent help center here or check out their daily schedules for families below.  These are incredibly comprehensive as it has lessons mapped out for almost every single topic in each grade level.  This would be a good fit for a parent who wanted their kids to go through each and every concept for their grade level.  Khan Academy is free (and according to their website) and will always be free.

• Daily Schedule for Grade 3-5 
• Daily Schedule for Grades 6-9
• Daily Schedule for Grades 10-12

Online math courses can help your students prepare for fall and future grade levels. Whatever online math program you use, we hope that your student will benefit from the extra math and gain more confidence!

The post Online Courses for Middle School Math appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

This is a thank you for all the hard work you have done during this pandemic. We thought a freebie that was…

• TEKS and CCSS aligned
• Vertically aligned from 6th grade through 8th grade
• Perfect for in person or digital use

…would satisfy the needs of most teachers. How about a math task that can also be used in a variety of ways? 

3 Ways to Use MATH PERFORMANCE Tasks for Middle School 

1. As a Group Project

Do your students beg for projects? Mine sure did. Any opportunity to collaborate or change up the routine was always met with such enthusiasm from my sixth graders.  These tasks can be the basis of an exciting project! Students can complete the math task and present the project via FlipGrid or by creating a Google Slides presentation. Since the digital world does not seem to be going away, this could be an opportunity to teach students how they can work together remotely. 

2. As an Assessment

These math performance tasks cover the following standards in their depth and breadth which makes them the perfect assessment tool.

Common Core State Standards

(Standards have been edited for brevity)

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3 – Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.1 – Compute unit rates associated with ratios of fractions measured in like or different units.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.2.C – Represent proportional relationships by equations. 

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.F.B.4 – Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities. Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

6.4(B) apply qualitative and quantitative reasoning to solve prediction and comparison of real‐ world problems involving ratios and rates

7.4(A) represent constant rates of change in mathematical and real‐world problems

8.4(B) graph proportional relationships

8.4(C) use data from a table or graph to determine the rate of change or slope and y‐intercept in mathematical and real‐world problems 

8.5(I) write an equation in the form y = mx + b to model a linear relationship between two quantities

Ideally, you could have this math task self-grade by using Go Formative or a variety of other tech tools. 

3. As an Extension or Extra Credit

If you are looking for something for the students who are always asking for more, here you go! (Those students do exist, I promise!) Give one of these math performance tasks to your early finishers at the beginning of your Proportional Reasoning Unit. Explain that this is something they will be expected to complete as they acquire the skills to do so. Perhaps, it is extra credit, or it could even replace a student’s lowest grade in the grade book. Use it knowing that it will push your students to think critically! (It isn’t just busy work.)

The possibilities with this printable + digital freebie are endless. How do you use math performance tasks in your classroom?

The post Free Math Performance Tasks for Middle School appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

TECH SPOTLIGHT: GO FORMATIVE

What is Formative?

With Formative (sometimes Go Formative), teachers can upload traditional worksheets or build assessments from scratch, find something pre-made, watch students work in real-time, easily differentiate or scaffold assignments, attach standards to questions, and track student growth over time. 

What EdPuzzle is to instructional videos, Go Formative is to assessing students’ learning in real time.

Ideas for USE:

1. Distance learning – In this blog post, Lauren shows us how she has been using Formative in distance learning. One highlight: there is a feature that allows students to show their work. Essentially, their screen becomes a large whiteboard that they can write or type on. Then they submit their work for that problem.  Students can even snap a photo and insert their work inside the problem too. (It is way cooler than it sounds.) With the paid version, Formative also has a chat feature where students can chat with a teacher regarding a specific problem.
2. For a substitute – No more throw away days. Assign students their Formative with links to supplemental videos. Hold students accountable because students have no excuses for not completing their work. I have had numerous students blame the sub for not collecting their work in the past.
3. Pulling a small group – Our most asked question regarding small groups is what are all of the other students doing? My answer is now working on their Formative. Formative eliminates the need for students to ask, “Is this correct?” each time they solve a problem. Students can submit their answer, get feedback, and move onto the next question without interrupting your small group.

AWESOME FEATURES:

1. Google Classroom integration – After creating a Formative, click the Google Classroom button in Formative to send it directly to your Google Classroom.
2. Math friendly – After playing with Formative, I cannot think of a feature that it is lacking for submitting math symbols or equations (with the paid version). Even if you need students to graph, they can use a line tool inside the Whiteboard feature. 
3. Students can work with a multitude of modalities – Students can write, draw, listen to audio, answer multiple choice, watch videos, re sequence, answer true or false questions, and show their work using the Whiteboard feature. Formative is a great tool for math, but also for other subjects. Students can respond in essay form too.
4. Track your students progress – You can watch students work in real-time, but you can also track how students progress over time. Teachers can tag each question with a state or curriculum standard. When it comes to reviewing for a test or midterm, you have an entire unit’s or semester’s worth of data to decide which standards your students need more practice on.

The more I learn about the tech tools available to teachers and students right now, the more excited I get! These tools allow more students to be reached at their varying levels, and it allows teachers to be even more effective. Have you tried Go Formative?

The post Tech Spotlight: Go Formative appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

We were amazed to see how many teachers adopted various technology tools to make digital learning optimal for students. Our Facebook group became a mecca for sharing ideas, feedback, and resources. Teachers truly can do anything! There isn’t a barrier a teacher won’t try to overcome on behalf of their students.

We interviewed 3 teachers asking them how they used Maneuvering the Middle resources while remote teaching, and they agreed to share their knowledge with us today. Since the future is still very unknown, we thought this toolkit could help teachers better prepare for the fall. You can click through to watch the videos of these teachers modeling what tools they used and how they used them, or you can read the highlights below.

DISTANCE LEARNING WITH MANEUVERING THE MIDDLE RESOURCES

Go Formative

Lauren Casias has a B.S. in Secondary Mathematics Education and M.Ed. in Teaching & Learning. She has taught 8th Grade Math & Algebra 1 in Texas for 5 years. She is passionate about using technology in her classroom to foster student growth, confidence, and engagement. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter at @mrscasiasmath

What is Go Formative?

Go Formative is an online tool that allows you to upload a Maneuvering the Middle PDF, add question boxes (or a variety of other tools), and monitor as students work in real time. Most features that you would use for math are available on the free version of Go Formative. The free version limits the number of PDFs you can upload. It can also be used with Google Classroom.

(Dialogue has been edited for brevity)

Noelle: What is the best thing about Go Formative?

Lauren: The instant feedback it gives the kids. There are many features that you can turn off and on. It eliminates the “did I get this right?” Students can check for themselves. It makes classroom management easier.

Noelle: Tell us how you have been using this in distance learning.

Lauren: Before distance learning, I had students work out problems on scratch paper. Obviously, you can’t do that, but Go Formative has a show your work feature. Students can type out their answers, use a mouse to write out their work, or upload a picture of their work from paper.

EdPuzzle

Whitney Phillips has been teaching for 7 years. She began her career as a special education math teacher and made the switch to general education 3 years ago. “Flipping my classroom has been the best decision I’ve made for my students. Thanks for allowing me to share with others.”

What is Edpuzzle?

Whitney: EdPuzzle is a video sharing app that I use in the classroom. EdPuzzle can tell you if students watched the video, when they watched the video, and whether they needed to rewatch a video. It is also Google Classroom friendly.

I wrote a detailed post (with video) explaining the many features of Edpuzzle here.

Noelle: Any video that you create is out there on a public library for anyone to see or make a copy of. This means that other teachers can find copyrighted Maneuvering the Middle resources or students can find videos from other teachers and get answers. Can you tell us how you solved this problem?

Whitney: I have ESL students and students with IEPs who could really benefit from closed captioning. EdPuzzle is working on closed captioning and a privacy setting, but they have not added those features yet. To make the closed captioning available and to work within the copyright, I upload my videos to Youtube, and I put the video as unlisted (so you have to have the link), and it won’t show up in the Youtube search.

Noelle: Can you tell us about your flipped classroom when you were in the classroom?

Whitney: Students received their Maneuvering the Middle guided notes to fill out as they watched the instructional video at home. When they came back to class the next day, students would complete a Google Form warm up (or entrance ticket), so I could have immediate data on who needed to be pulled for a small group or who could lead groups that day.  Then we would engage in a Maneuvering the Middle activity like scavenger hunts or He Said, She Said Error Analysis. I really like the digital activities because of the instant feedback.  Instead of spending 35 minutes giving a lesson, students could engage with one another, learn from another, and engage in meaningful dialogue.  

I also implemented a help queue as a Google Form. Students submitted what question they needed help on, and their name would populate on the board, so students could see where they were in line and when I would be able to check in with them.

The students really loved it.

Noelle: Can you talk about grading and feedback?

Whitney: The grade book will show a student’s grade after watching a video and answering questions. You can find out if the student needed to rewatch the video or if they watched the video late. It puts the power of learning in their hands and takes so much of it off of us. 

Note: All Access student videos are not compatible with Edpuzzle.

One Note

Kristi Barajas has been a middle school math teacher for 12 years. This year she is teaching 6th grade GT and Algebra. 

WHAT IS ONENOTE?

OneNote is a digital version of a physical notebook. Teachers and students can capture and organize digital notes, add images, diagrams, audio, video, and related content. 

Noelle: What do you like about OneNote and how has it been helpful to you?

Kristi: I like that I have everything here. Instead of doing lots of scrolling to see all of my assignments, I can use sub pages to stay organized. Students can access links or videos from the same page as their assignment.

Noelle: Do you find that students reference these materials because they are so organized?

Kristi: Yes. They tell me they like it!

Noelle: How did you use OneNote in the classroom before distance learning?

Kristi: I send out the file to all of the students. It gives me a status bar telling me that all of my students have received it.  I would instruct students with my iPad (traditional notes) and then students would take notes on their iPads. Next year, I plan on using Go Formative for their practice problems.

Noelle: What did you do to adjust to distance learning?

Kristi: I included an instructional video (linked at the top of the notes) and students would have to upload an image of their completed notes for me to check. One great feature is that when a student’s name is bold that shows me that a student has worked on the assignment.

Noelle: Will this all be here for next year?

Kristi: Yes! They will be able to keep everything they did on their OneNote in their iPad. 

We hope these videos and highlights will help you to either improve distance learning, implement a flipped classroom, or utilize technology to make time for small groups. How do you use Maneuvering the Middle resources remotely?

The post Distance Learning with Maneuvering the Middle appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

I was thinking about how I normally would end the school year. Our grade level participated in an end of year field trip after STAAR, my students would pie my face based on a test prep incentive they were only TOO happy to participate in, and then we would spend some time signing yearbooks and taking pictures.

It kills me that teachers and students will not get to experience that kind of closure this year, and while the end of the year will be different, it doesn’t mean we can’t try something fun! So here are 5 ideas I had for how to end the school year remotely.

5 WAYS TO END THE SCHOOL YEAR REMOTELY

1. Create a Digital Yearbook

Students could drop in their pictures from the year into a Google Slides digital yearbook. Then everyone saves a copy and shares their yearbook digitally for signatures and notes from classmates and teachers

And I have found an amazing resource for a yearbook using Google Slides. Check out Slides Year Book for several yearbook templates! 

I was also recommended Padlet to create a collaborative yearbook. It integrates with Google, so students wouldn’t need to create another login and you can monitor what students are adding to the “yearbook.”

2. Digital Time Capsule

I saw this idea from Be Spoke Classroom. You can have your students design a Google Slide as a Google Classroom Assignment. Have them answer questions about who they are now, add pictures from the year, and the list goes on. Collect the assignment and set a reminder on your calendar for 2-3 years from now. Email your students (most school email addresses stay the same as long as they stay in the same district) in a few years with all the Google Slides from the class.

3. Host a Shout Out on Zoom

(Kind of like a toast but school appropriate)

Invite students to a special shout out and tell them to bring their favorite treat. Take turns shouting out each student! Bonus points if students also bring kazoos, bells, or air horns (just kidding).

4. Kahoot

Create a Kahoot that captures pop culture or personal fun facts from your 2019 – 2020 school year OR better yet, have students submit questions for the game.. Winner gets a prize! (You could also sprinkle in some math problems)

Fun idea: Have students submit their baby pictures to guess who is who in a Kahoot game! 

5. What Teachers Are Already Doing

From our Facebook Group, “We had a final GoogleMeet with our whole pod of students and did a Kahoot of “guess which teacher…” and each question was something funny about a teacher … and they loved it…”

“We are having an end of year google meets celebration! We made a video of pictures from the year to play, are giving digital superlatives (voted on by students), some teacher elearning awards, and goodbye end of videos from the teachers. The students decorated digital scrapbook slides that we’re compiling to share with all students.”

“I’m mailing home certificates for various awards. They will keep the envelope sealed until our last Google meet, then open them when announced and we will applaud each other.”

“I’m having students complete a Word Cloud to describe what they learned in class this year.”

What ideas do you have for ending this school year?

Still working on teaching math? Check out our digital activities here.

The post WAYS TO END THE SCHOOL YEAR REMOTELY appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Note: I organized these by grade level, using CCSS. There are so many unique state standards, so please check to make sure the activities align as needed. The objectives come directly from the Desmos website.

DESMOS ACTIVITIES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL

6th grade activities

1. Balloon Float (Ratio Relationships) CCSS: 6.RP.3a

Objective: Students will use ratios to determine the number of balloons needed to float different objects. 

2. The Coordinate Plane Activity CCSS: 6.NS.6c

Objective: Students will graph a point on the bullseye of a target. They will plot points in all four quadrants by using a table and then using ordered pairs.

3. Exploring a Triangle (Area of a Triangle) CCSS:  6.G.1

Objective: Students will use Desmos-powered geoboards to explore triangles and their areas.

4. Make It Balance (Mean) CCSS: 6.SP.B.5.C

Objective: Students will place bears on a beam to develop a sense of the mean as a balance point. They begin by guessing and checking. Then they’ll develop strategies for determining the balance point with more precision (e.g., by observing that the balance point is where the sum of the distances to the left of the mean is equal to the sum of the distances to the right.)

7th grade activities

5. Adding Integers CCSS: 7.NS.A.1

Objective: Students practice adding integers in the context of a card game. The goal of the game is to create two groups of cards, each with the same sum. Whoever uses the most cards wins!

6. Proportional Relationships CCSS: 7.RP.A.2

Objective: Students will develop the definition of a proportional relationship by creating a giant and making all of his features are proportional. They’ll see the representation of his proportions on a graph and manipulate the graph to see the giant change dynamically.

7. Mean Absolute Deviation CCSS: 7.SP.B.3

Objective: Students will analyze parallel dot plots showing their and their classmates’ guesses over time in order to make connections between the “spread” of a given dot plot and the mean absolute deviation for that data set.

8th grade activities

8. Puzzling It Out (Angle Relationships) CCSS: 8.G.A.5

Objective: Students solve angle puzzles to apply what they’ve learned about angle relationships.

9. Make them Balance (Systems of Equations) CCSS: 8.EE.C.8

Objective: Students will use hangers to explore solutions to equations and systems of equations. Students first explore a single hanger and see that values that balance the hanger are also solutions to an equation and, when plotted, form a line. Then, students encounter two hangers and see that values that balance both hangers are also solutions to both equations and fall on both lines.

10. Guess My Rule (Intro to Functions)  CCSS: 8.FA.1

Objective: Students will develop the concept of a function by using input-output pairs in a table. They explore different rules, some of which are functions and some of which are not. Some rules are numeric, while others involve letters and words.

11. Land the Plane (Writing an Equation of the Line)  CCSS: 8.EE.C.7

Objective: Students find equations of lines in order to land a plane on a runway.

12. Pythagorean Theorem CCSS: 8.G.B.7

Objective: Students use the Pythagorean theorem as a tool to solve problems involving diagonal distances.

There it is! What Desmos activities would you recommend for middle school students? 

The post Desmos Activities for Middle School appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

@makeshift.macaroni##ukulele ##uke ##originalsong ##teachersoftiktok ##tiktokteacher ##smallgestures

♬ original sound – makeshift.macaroni

If you don’t click through to watch the video, (I highly recommend it!) it is a teacher strumming her guitar in peace. Then she screams… a lot! You really have to watch to get the full comedic effect. 

We asked our Facebook Group and other teachers their best practices for remote teaching, and we compiled and shared our favorites below. Here are some remote teaching tips for teachers.

5 TIPS FOR REMOTE TEACHING

Note: We understand that many teachers do not have the autonomy to do what they think is best for remote learning due to district or administration requirements. This list is intended to give you ideas from other teachers who are having success.

1. Create a FAQs Page on Your Class Website

This brilliant remote teaching tip was shared by Kelly. Are you getting tired of responding to the same questions about log in, passwords, and when assignments are posted or due? Only you know what logistical questions are taking away from your instructional or planning time. Create a FAQs page or slide that you can link or email when you are being asked the same question for the eighteenth time. Other ideas for your FAQs page include how to access assignments, office hour times, where to take notes, when grades are updated, late work policy etc.

2. Be Consistent 

Many teachers commented that since students are receiving so many instructions from multiple teachers, it would be best for students and teachers to create standard procedures (perhaps even across schools or grade levels) by adapting consistency in the following ways:

• Post assignments in the same place – Even if you are linking to Desmos or some other assignment, always post assignments to the same place — this could be a LMS or Google Classroom. 
• Post assignments at the same time each day – Since scheduling assignments is a feature most LMS have, it would be best to take advantage. Decide either that your assignments for the entire week will be posted every Monday at 8 am or that your assignments for the day will be posted everyday at 8 am.  This helps students and parents plan for their week. One parent told me that her student’s teacher post assignments on Sundays to help working parents plan for their week.
• Keep a consistent due date – If you are grading assignments, choose a day of the week and time that everything is due.
• One subject per day – My former school has dedicated one day of the week to each subject. Monday is reading. Tuesday is math. Wednesday is history. Thursday is science. Friday is for electives. Each teacher provides about 1-2 hours worth of either assignments, office hours, or live/recorded teaching for students.

3. Assign a Manageable Amount of Work

Many teachers shared that lowering your expectations for the amount of work students complete daily is acceptable and encouraged. As adults, my husband and I are getting much less done in our work day, and we have our own computers and rooms to work in with closed doors.  Many of our students with working parents are now responsible for younger siblings or are sharing devices or coping with the drastic changes to their lives. And they are students! I would say about half of my students needed pretty heavy encouragement and reminders to stay on task and complete their work when I was standing next to them, so adjust your expectations if you haven’t already to prevent frustration. Calling a student to kindly check in with them during this time would probably also encourage work completion.

4. Hold Office Hours

This remote teaching tip came up with teachers and parents I spoke electronically with. Even if just 1 or 2 students show up, that means your office hours were purposeful.  Record or find a video lesson for students to watch on their own time with some questions (Edpuzzle is perfect for this!) and then hold office hours (at the same time everyday) so students can ask questions and check their work. It’s like a small group! 

5. School Culture Still Matters

If you aren’t drowning, and you want to engage your students outside of math content, then encourage students to participate in picture taking challenges. Maybe if they participate, they receive bonus points or get an assignment/homework pass. Ideas include: taking a picture of yourself doing the following activities:

• Putting away laundry
• Playing a game with their family
• Going on a walk outside
• Riding their bike
• Completing an art project
• Cooking a meal
• Something that made them laugh
• Supporting a local business

What is working for you? What is not working? What are some remote teaching tips that you would add to this list? If you need any more help with remote learning, please check out our free resources here.

The post 5 Tips for Remote Teaching appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Technology Spotlight: Edpuzzle

Edpuzzle Features

Edpuzzle is an easy-to-use platform where you can:

1. Make any video your lesson (from YouTube, Khan Academy, or self-made)
2. Find video lessons created by other teachers, including formative assessments
3. Adapt videos by embedding your own questions or audio 
4. Assign a video to your students and get beautiful, hassle-free analytics
5. See which students watched the video and their level of comprehension 

Students can re-watch the video as many times as they need at their own pace, while you can easily check their progress from your account. 

Since I had not used Edpuzzle before, I took a look to see just how easy it would be to create a video lesson. I was able to easily filter through videos based on subject, grade level, topic, and even down to a specific skill.

Finding and Editing Video Lessons

I found a thorough video explaining how to teach elimination using substitution in the video library. Great start! The video was around 6 minutes long — a perfect length for middle schoolers who have limited attention spans and are not in an actual classroom setting. My favorite part was seeing 7 checkpoints already embedded in the video forcing students to stop, evaluate what they are listening to, answer multiple choice or open ended questions, and/or rewatch the previous segment for optimal retention. You can make a copy of this video lesson and change any of the checkpoints to best suit your students. You can even add audio in the beginning and end of the video giving students directions or just to say hello! While I do want my students to hear me teach each lesson, this option cuts down on many of the steps involved in recording live lessons. You do also have the option to remove all of the audio from the video and record your voice teaching instead. 

Let’s summarize all the ways you can edit the video:

• Edpuzzle allows you to crop the video.
• Edpuzzle has a voiceover tool that allows you to add emphasis or include additional information.
• Edpuzzle allows you to add questions. Check students’ understanding right away by adding multiple choice or open-ended questions.

Take a look at this video showing these features.

EDPUZZLE IS TEACHER FRIENDLY

• It has an app that students can use to watch videos and answer questions from their phones.
• Students cannot skip ahead to the questions. They have to actually watch the video. And if students leave the page, the video automatically pauses. They have thought of everything! You have to select this feature, but what a brilliant option! 
• It has math symbols and functions that you can input for questions and answer choices.
• You can give automated feedback responses if students choose a certain answer choice. Example: “This answer choice is not simplified” or “Pay attention to the decimal point” if students answer incorrectly. 
• Closed captioning is an option on many videos. Some videos allow you to use closed captions in a different language. 
• You can share Edpuzzle videos to any LMS including Canvas, Schoology, Moodle, Blackboard, PowerSchool, or Blackbaud.
• Your students do not have to have an Edpuzzle account. They can complete their work on Edpuzzle inside your LMS of choice.

Many teachers in our Facebook Group have been using Edpuzzle with our FREE Remote Lesson videos. Here are a few of the videos we have found of Maneuvering the Middle videos edited by teachers that already have questions embedded for you. Thank you, teachers!

• One-Step Equations (with integers) 
• One-Step Equations (with rational numbers) 
• Two-Step Equations (with integers) 
• Two-Step Equations (with rational numbers) 
• Equations with the Distributive Property 
• Multi-Step Equations (with integers) 
• Multi-Step Equations (with rational numbers) 
• Volume of Rectangular Prisms 
• Volume of Triangular Prisms
• Volume of Pyramids 
• Volume of Cylinders
• Volume of Cones 
• Volume of Spheres

What else is awesome about Edpuzzle? How do you use it?  I keep thinking about how a teacher could use this inside the classroom as well. Stations, tutoring, end-of-year testing review…there are so many opportunities! 

The post Tech Spotlight: Edpuzzle appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

GOOGLE DRIVE & GOOGLE CLASSROOM TIPS

1. Create a Daily Assignment HUB

This Google Classroom tips comes from a member of our Facebook group – create a daily assignment HUB for students to look at each day with numbered tasks to complete. If you have ever created assignments in Google Classroom, it can get a little disorganized in a student’s Google Classroom feed (see tip 4). Instead of creating 3 different assignments on one single day, create a single assignment that links to multiple activities. This won’t work for every type of assignment you might want to create, but it will work if you are linking to videos you want students to watch or Google Forms you would like for them to complete. 

I’ve included a free Google Slides template for you to copy and use, including both a weekly and daily template.  Watch the video below to learn how you can integrate our free remote learning resources, digital activities, or any of your own curriculum into this file. And if you noticed a spelling error in the video, it has been fixed!

SHOP DIGITAL ACTIVITIES BY GRADE LEVEL BUNDLE

2. Color Code + Number Code + Naming Format

This tip is specific to your teacher Google Drive. If you have used Drive, you know that it can end up looking like a mess pretty quickly. 

Take the time now to create folders, a naming convention, and color code to make it pleasing to the eye.

I like to organize my Drive according to units, and I number them so they are also grouped together. You can add emoji numbers or icons by visiting this website.  You probably already have a file naming convention, but here is what works for me. My files are titled Unit Number.Day in the Unit.Skill Name, so 04.09 Adding Integers refers to what I am teaching in my fourth unit, on day nine. This keeps files in order and reminds me what I will see when I open the file. 

3. Convert Uploads to Avoid Duplicates

Raise your hand if you like to work in Microsoft Word because of the equation editor. Both hands up over here! I could never quite get on board with using Google Docs to create assignments or notes because I had become so proficient typing equations in Microsoft Word. However, I just learned that there is an easy fix for that. Upload your Microsoft Word documents and convert them into Google Docs in one easy step…one time for all future files. 

Go to settings icon > click on Settings again > under General Tab > click box that reads “Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format”

If this is clicked, anytime you upload a Word document, it will automatically be uploaded ready to be edited in Google Docs or ready for Google Classroom. No more duplicates and no more being asked if you want to convert your Word document to a Google doc.

4. Organize Your Google Classroom Assignments by Using Topics

Head over to Shake Up Learning right now to learn how she recommends organizing your Google Classroom assignments. Topics allow you to create “units” inside your Google Classroom. The only downside is that the newest created topic automatically populates at the bottom of the page.  Kasey discusses 6 different ways you could organize your Google Classroom by topic in light of this downside.

5. Link Directly to Assignment on Google Classroom

Sometimes you just want to link directly to the assignment. You want a student to click and “poof” there the assignment is!  Maybe you need to post it to another platform or you just want the darn link because giving directions to find an old assignment is too cumbersome. 

Click on the ellipses next to the assignment and click on “Copy Link.” That was easy!

I know that there are some expert Google Classroom teachers out there, and this is just skimming the surface. If you have any tips, please share in the comments. How do you organize your Google Classroom and Drive?

The post Google Drive & Google Classroom Tips appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Remote Learning Technology and Tools

Recording Your Screen

Tool: LOOM

Cost: Free for Teachers  |  Video Tutorial

Tool: SCREENCAST-O-MATIC

Cost: Free for videos less than or equal to 15 minutes long  |  Video Tutorial

Tool: SCREENCASTIFY | Google Extension

Cost: Free  |  Sign Up for Webinar to Learn How to Use Here

Tool: ED PUZZLE

Cost: Free | Works with Google Classroom | Ed Puzzle allows you to record or pull educational videos from a video bank (including Khan Academy) and tracks your students progress.

Annotating and Screen Recording Simultaneously 

Tool: Educreations – iPhone or iPad

Interactive whiteboard and screencast recorder  |  Cost: Free for basic plan | $8.25 per month for more features

Tool: Doceri – iPad or Desktop

Interactive whiteboard and screencast recorder  |  Cost: Free for 30 Days

For Recording Using Your Desktop

Drawing or Annotating PDFs, Google Slides, or PowerPoints

Tool: Good Notes for iPhone or iPad

Cost: $7.99 (one time fee)

Tool: Notability for iPhone or iPad

Cost: $8.99 (one time fee)

Tool: Airsketch for iPad

Cost: $24.99 (one time fee)  This tool does allow you to sync to your laptop, so it might be useful when you return to your classroom allowing you to be mobile as you teach and write. .

Tool: Lumin PDF for Desktop

Cost: Free for 14 days | $5 a month

Tool: Stylus

Cost: $12.97

Tool: iPaD

Cost: $399.99

Tool: APPLE PENCIL

Cost: $124.99

Tool: xPEN BOARD AND PENCIL (iPAD ALTERNATIVE)

Cost: $59.99

Tool: WACOM BOARD (iPAD ALTERNATIVE)

Cost: $69.95

For Recording using an iPad

For Live Video

Tool: Zoom

Video Conferencing App  |  Cost: Free

Tool: FLIPGRID

Allows you and your students to record short videos and post for all to see. This tool would be perfect to get students reasoning or for a class discussion. | Cost: Free

For Assignments and Grading

Tool: Google Forms

Self-grading and easy to use with Google Classroom

We also have already made some for you to use for free. You can find them here.

Tool: Quizizz

Most teachers in our Facebook group agree that Quizizz was an easy way for students to complete assessments. 

GAME-BASED

TOOL: KAHOOT

Cost: Free |  Interactive Review Game. Teachers say students can play individually.

TOOL: QUIZLET

Cost: Free  |  Great for making online flashcards. Kids can share decks with one another and can create them based off of review sheets. 

Tool: GimKit

Game centered review. Check out the post we wrote here.

For Uploading Videos to Google Classroom

LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS + DESMOS

Here are some LMS you might want to check out while you have some extra planning time on your hands.

Tool: Schoology

We wrote a post about it here.

Tool: Pear Deck

Find out more here.

TOOL: Nearpod

This post will tell you more.

Tool: Canvas

Read about this tech tool here.

Tool: Desmos

We rounded up our favorite Algebra 1 activities and middle school activities here.

TOOL: Go Formative

Read about this tech tool here or watch how a teacher uses it here.

TOOL: EdPuzzle

Read about this tech tool here or watch how a teacher uses it here.

There it is! Every remote learning technology tool you could possibly need, but we will keep updating it as we learn more. Which are your favorites?

If you need some remote learning lessons, you can find them by topic here. If you are interested in shopping for a grade level bundle, click here.

SHOP DIGITAL ACTIVITIES BY GRADE LEVEL BUNDLE

The post Remote Learning Technology and Websites appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Guest post: Samantha Cast has her masters in Digital Learning and is a Texas History teacher. As a digital enthusiast, she is always finding new ways to incorporate Ed Tech into her classroom. You can find her on Twitter at @mrscast.  

1. Keep it simple.

Think about what you want students to accomplish during this time. Plan for students to work on just the essential content material if they are able to. Just like you, they will get their work done on their own time, so make deadlines clear and attainable. You can always make enrichment opportunities available, but be mindful of what you assign as graded homework. 

Note: I read this from a fellow teacher on Facebook, Keith Schoch.

“Let’s be patient and flexible in our demands of students in regard to remote instruction. Many of our older students instantly become de facto babysitters when schools close. They will not have time to get hours worth of work done each day, and will certainly not have time to attend scheduled live classes. Other households have three or more children vying for a single device. Let’s admit that we simply can’t know what is happening in each home and temper our expectations accordingly.”

I couldn’t agree more. You will put forth so much effort to make remote learning meaningful but remember to give your students lots of grace when everyone returns back to class.

2. Encourage parents to be involved

This is a great time for parents and their children to connect over learning. I plan to send out an email to my parents with a clear outline of what students should try to accomplish during their time out of the classroom. This will allow parents the opportunity to talk with their child about my class and their learning. 

At the same time, keep in mind that parents are now navigating uncharted territory.  They are likely working (or trying to work), homeschooling, and potentially managing more than one child.  In all reality, there are likely arguments about technology time, the noise level, getting school work done, etc.

3. Know your district policy about social media

It sounds fun and engaging to make lessons on TikTok or Instagram live, but it may be against your district’s policies to communicate with students in that manner. It is important to utilize the means of communication that your district has available, like your school issued email account, or the learning management system (Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology etc) that is already in place. This is for the safety of your students and yourself. 

4. Stick to what is familiar

This is not the time to introduce new technology to your students. Students may be feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or scared and trying to introduce unfamiliar technology may just increase the stress they are already feeling. Use what they know and try to be consistent with the other educators at your school. 

5. Set Limits FOR YOURSELF

It is an amazing thing that we can continue to reach the academic needs of our students remotely. That being said, we need to set limits for ourselves. It is important for you to take care of yourself and your own family. Go on walks. Play with your children. Call a friend and have a chat! Finally clean out that closet. Enjoy the time away to take things a little slower. 

While there are many unknown challenges facing us in the days ahead, remember to be flexible. Not every student has access to devices or the internet at home and they may be dealing with household dynamics and circumstances that are challenging. This is a time for us to show a little more grace and a little more patience to the students we serve! At the end of the day, we are all learning and coping with this together. 

If you need more online resources, we have some FREE remote learning lessons that you can access here.

And if you need a few more supplemental resources, here are some digital activities that you can assign students remotely by skill.  You can now shop digital activities for a grade level here. What remote learning tips do you have to share?

SHOP DIGITAL ACTIVITIES BY GRADE LEVEL BUNDLE

The post 5 Tips for Transitioning to Remote Learning appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

We want to support you as you plan to teach in the midst of schools being closed.  We thought about what we could provide that would not only meet your needs, but be helpful to students learning at home and practical for this situation. 

Remote Learning Lesson Ideas

We landed on Remote Learning Lessons covering Equations. These will include short videos and Google Forms that you can assign to your students via your LMS. (If you currently don’t use a learning management system, you can still use these lessons! See video below on some ways to teach remotely.)

Please know that these resources will be FREE to you.  Click here to access the video lessons.

Here is what you need to know about the remote learning lessons.

The lessons cover:

• One-Step Equations (with integers) – complete
• One-Step Equations (with rational numbers) – complete
• Two-Step Equations (with integers) – complete
• Two-Step Equations (with rational numbers) – complete
• Equations with the Distributive Property – complete
• Multi-Step Equations (with integers) – complete
• Multi-Step Equations (with rational numbers) – complete
• Volume of Rectangular Prisms – complete
• Volume of Triangular Prisms – complete
• Volume of Pyramids – complete
• Volume of Cylinders – complete
• Volume of Cones – complete
• Volume of Spheres – complete

The Lesson Plan

• 5-8 teacher-led examples via video
• 5 Practice problems on Google Forms self-grading exit ticket

This is uncharted territory for all of us, but we know that just because we can’t open our classroom doors doesn’t mean that our students have to stop learning.  

Click here to access the free remote math lessons.

These lessons are being built from the ground up, so they will not be live all at once, but we do plan to have resources available for you beginning Monday, March 16. 

We have also compiled some resources that will benefit your students during this time. The video below can show you how to take the Maneuvering the Middle student handouts (or any PDF) and use them for online learning.

Recording Videos of Existing MTM Resources (DESKTOP)

Recording Videos of Existing MTM Resources (IPAD)

Helpful Links from Video – 

• Loom: Allows you to record your computer screen | Free educator account
• Lumin: Allows you to manipulate PDFs from your browser – add shapes, comments, color coding, etc. | Free for 14 days | $5 a month after that
• Zoom: Video conferencing | Free for schools impacted by the Coronavirus.
• Kami: Allows students to annotate a PDF | Free

LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL DIGITAL PRACTICE?

If you need any other digital materials for your students, check out the Google activities section of our shop where you can shop according to skill or topic.  This post explains how you can use the digital activities in more detail though you may have to adjust for remote learning.

SHOP DIGITAL ACTIVITIES BY GRADE LEVEL BUNDLE

P.S. — Join our Facebook Group to get the latest updates and share ideas with fellow math teachers.

The post Free Remote Learning Math Lessons appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Note: All activity descriptions in quotes below were taken directly from the Desmos website.

1. Distance v. Time 

Turtle Crossing – Students explore distance versus time graphs by safely getting a turtle across the beach. 

2. Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities

Pool Border Problem – “In this exploration activity, students will first construct expressions with numbers to determine the number of tiles that border a pool. Then they’ll use those numerical expressions to help them write an expression with variables.” 

3. Properties of Functions

Function Card Sort Practice – In this activity, students would differentiate between graphs, stories, and equations that are functions or not functions. Furthermore, students are asked to defend their answers and create their own examples of  functions.

Domain and Range Introduction Activity – “In this introduction to domain and range, students practice finding the domain and range of piecewise functions. They begin with an informal exploration of domain and range using a graph, and build up to representing the domain and range of piecewise functions using inequalities.” 

4. Linear Functions

Marble Slide Activity – This game allows students to explore the changes to a line when the slope and the y-intercept are altered. 

5. Applying Linear Functions

Lego Prices – I love this activity! In this activity, students use sliders to explore the relationship between price and number of pieces for various Star Wars LEGO sets and to make several predictions based on that model. Students will also interpret the parameters of their equation in context.

6. Systems of Equations

Solutions to Systems of Equations – This activity hits on everything students need to know about solving systems of equations graphically, with substitution, or with elimination. Use this to review the unit or for the  rest of the class when you are pulling a small group. 

Side note: One of my favorite features is the “Share With Class” feature that allows students to see 2-3 responses from other students on their screen. This is  a quick self-check or error analysis built into several of these activities. 

7. Quadratic Functions

Match My Parabola – “In this activity, students work through a series of scaffolded quadratic graphing challenges to develop their proficiency with standard, vertex, factored, and other quadratic function forms.”

8. Exponential Functions

Avi and Benita’s Repair Shop – This is an engaging way to introduce exponential growth to students. “In this twist on a classic activity, students compare linear and exponential growth in the context of daily payments. One plan increases by $100 each day, while another grows by doubling the previous day’s payment.”

9. Transformations

Transformation Shapes – Specifically for middle school or geometry students, use this activity to have students internalize transformation vocabulary: slide, rotate, reflect, etc. 

This was just a small snippet of all of the activities that Desmos has to offer. Furthermore, Desmos categorizes all of their activities into  four buckets: Introduction, Practice, Development, and Application to help determine which activities would fit best in your unit.  

Other Features

Graphing Calculator – Short on calculators? Use their free graphing calculator tool. 

Geometry Tool – This tool allows you to construct arcs, polygons, rays, angles and more. Additionally, you can transform constructions.

Accessibility – Perhaps its best feature, Desmos is making sure that every student, regardless of physical or mental ability, is able to learn and love math. Click on the link to read about what Desmos is doing to support ALL learners. 

If your students love learning with technology, be sure to check out our digital activities.

These digital activities are included in our All Access membership. Click here to learn more.

Have you tried Desmos in your classroom? What Desmos activity do you love? 

The post Desmos Activities to Try in Algebra 1 appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Going paperless can seem like a daunting task in the classroom! Here are some tips and tricks to make the transition from handouts to an environmentally-friendly classroom easy using Canvas. For those who are unfamiliar, Canvas is a learning management software that allows for each student to access material and submit assignments, and it makes communication easier for teachers. 

1. Make your home page stand out

Every time I log into my Canvas, I love looking at my home page. I used Piktochart to design an attractive home page that links directly to each unit. When students log into Canvas, they can click on the unit and be sent directly to the module that corresponds with that unit. It is a great way to organize your home page.

Another way to spice up your course is to set a course picture. When students log into Canvas, they are directed to the dashboard where all their courses appear. By setting a fun course picture, your class will stand out above the rest! 

2. Use modules to organize each unit

I like to have an introduction page that gives an overview of the unit at the beginning of each module. My learners benefit from knowing exactly what to expect. I list two main things on the introduction to each unit: 

1. 1. 1. 1. The goals and objectives or the state standards that will be covered in the unit 
         2. The tasks that need to be completed by the students 

While each module has different material, they all follow the same format. I put the introduction page first, then all notes and lessons, followed by the assignments, and lastly a study guide for the exam. I can even import exams directly into each module, if I want! 

I have a module that is strictly class information, as well. In that module, I have my course syllabus, my contact information, and a link to my lesson plans so students know exactly what is going on in our course. 

I have organized my Canvas account by weeks, but there are other ways you could organize it. Some ideas are:

• • • Unit
    • Month
    • Grading period

3. Create tests and quizzes within Canvas

If your district pays for a test bank, you can easily import questions into your Canvas account. You can also create your own questions to create a quiz or test. I love this option because it really cuts down on paper usage in my classroom. I can easily go through an entire ream of paper when printing enough tests for all of my students. If I create the test on Canvas, then I only need to print enough copies for my students that need accommodations. 

I like to make short quizzes to receive immediate feedback from my students. In Canvas, you can add various question types. Some of my favorite question types include the ordering question (great for timelines and sequencing), fill in the blank, and matching. These might be great for a quick check for understanding or for an exit ticket. There are so many options to make this a useful tool in your classroom. Canvas will also grade the tests or quizzes so you receive immediate feedback. You would have to grade essay questions or text answers yourself. 

4. Hide what you do not need

In my experience, middle schoolers get distracted very easily! Therefore, I only show what is completely necessary, and I can disable every page I do not need. It will show up on the educator’s view, but the student view is free of clutter. To find the student view, click on the home button. Student view is on the right-hand menu of the screen. 

5. more use in school,  more USE AT HOME

If you are interested in implementing a flipped classroom, then it is crucial that your students can access your material at home. This is so nice, as they know exactly where to go because I have all of my modules follow the same format. It is a routine in my classroom.

When students are absent, I have them check my Canvas page first. In my classroom information module, they can find the lesson and access any of the daily work we did in class. I love how this has helped me to be more “paperless,” and it is something they can check from home when they are out.

One thing that parents and students both love is the ability to prepare for assessments. I post all reviews and review games so students can prepare at home. Some parents also appreciate the reminder email of tests and exams so they can support their child at home.  

You can read about other learning management systems here: Schoology  |  Nearpod  |  Pear Deck

Samantha Cast has her masters in Digital Learning and is a Texas History teacher. As a digital enthusiast, she is always finding new ways to incorporate Ed Tech into her classroom. You can find her on Twitter at @mrscast.  

SHOP DIGITAL ACTIVITY BUNDLES

The post Using Canvas in Your Classroom appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

“This resource was wonderful for distance learning! The students found it easy to use and I had a great turn-in rate! Thank you!” — Cynthia M.

“Total lifesaver during this time of distance learning. Bright, colorful. Easy to use both for students and the teacher. Love that it includes both activities and exit tickets.”

“This resource helped me provide aligned practice for my students. I used it for distance learning this year, but plan on using it in the classroom next year. It is easy to use in Google Classroom and I love being able to give my students feedback slide by slide.” –Kasandra C.

These interactive slides are more engaging than traditional worksheets and can be done completely online. No printing, uploading, or emailing necessary! And you can break up the activities to cover multiple online lessons which gives you less to plan. These activities can supplement any virtual lesson.

We don’t jump on the blog very often to talk specifically about Maneuvering the Middle curriculum.  When we do, it is because we created something that has been requested by teachers all over the country! 

Let’s hear it for Math Digital Activities!  You might have seen our post on some ideas for going paperless here, but we have spent the last few months creating our own resources for those who are going more digital. 

WHAT ARE PAPERLESS ACTIVITIES?

Paperless activities are a supplemental digital resource supported by Google Classroom.  You will be able to engage students with interactive slides.  Each set includes 16 total slides that will support the practice of four related but different skills.  Students will enjoy dragging and matching, as well as using the typing and shape tools. You will love that you don’t have to make a visit to the copy room.  

What technology do I need to facilitate them?

You and your students will need access to Google Slides and Google Forms. If you have Google Classroom, then it will be easier to share and schedule the files. We have included tutorial videos to help you get started.

“I am so ALL IN for these digital resources!!  …this was not only a great way to practice and assess a math skill, it was also great Google Classroom practice,” said one teacher.

And for anyone new to using Google Classroom, this teacher wrote, “I’m just getting started using Google Classroom.  This was a great item for a newbie!”

How should I use them in class?

Like any resource, it is up to you how you can execute their use in your classroom. Here are some ideas as a jumping-off point. 

Supplemental resources:

These digital activities can supplement your daily curriculum.  Provide these to students when they need a little extra practice with a concept or when you need something to offer during centers or tutoring.

If you have any students who finish their work super quickly, then the digital activities can serve as their extension.  

Because these activities are organized into units that are aligned with the CCSS Maneuvering the Middle curriculum, you could use them as a test review resource. 

Retakes and missing work:

I often hear teachers asking how they should manage retakes and/or missing work.  You could assign these math digital activities as a replacement to whatever paperwork they did not master or did not turn in.  This would prevent you from keeping up with hundreds of pieces of paper and from students losing yet another piece of paper.

Flipped classroom model:

One teacher shared, “These are very well-done, and I’m excited to use them in my classroom.  I run a flipped classroom (my lessons are done on video, and students watch them as homework), so students can use these activities as classwork while I’m there to guide them.”

Incorporating technology:

It can be challenging to incorporate technology in a way that is meaningful, so we have tried to provide an easy entry point for you and your students.

Sick day:

Another teacher shared, “This is AMAZING!  I returned from being out with sick kids yesterday and needed something to help my students review for a test later this week.  I had used Google classroom one time, but I was able to quickly get it set up and running for class today. My students LOVED these activities and are already begging for more! :)” 

You could offer these digital activities as practice work for when you are out on a sick day* or for the day when you return (since you were out, you couldn’t make copies). 

*Use your discretion when assigning work on computers when students have a substitute. 

How do you grade THE Digital MATH ACTIVITIES?

Great question!  This is one of the most frequently asked questions that we receive.  These were designed to be a form of practice — so I would first start by asking the question, “What is the purpose in grading them?”

We have included two exit ticket questions for each topic so that you can assess how students are doing and have them apply their practice.  These are made with Google Forms, so it auto-grades! 

If you are dying to grade the actual activities, then you can always have students share the slide deck back with you or use the “turn it in” feature with Google Classroom.

ARE THESE A GOOD FIT FOR ME?

We always want you to find the best fit for you and your students and we recognize that everyone has different needs.  We went ahead and created a video with more details about how the digital activities work and ideas for use so that you can decide for yourself.  This video also answers many frequently asked questions.

Shop Digital Activities BY SKILLS for Grades 6-8

SHOP DIGITAL ACTIVITIES BY GRADE LEVEL BUNDLE

UPDATE: ALGEBRA I DIGITAL ACTIVITIES ARE NOW AVAILABLE!

The post Digital Activities in the Math Classroom appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

1. Organize our home page

I like to organize my Schoology account with folders. I have one class information folder that remains published all year long. As we work through the curriculum, I only display the folders of our current unit so students do not get lost in the clutter. Throughout the years, I have learned that the fewer steps you use for middle school students, the better! When you have only one folder for the students to click on, it’s more likely that they will be able to follow your instructions. 

2. Post all assignments and due dates

If you make your Schoology page a one-stop-shop, then students and parents are able to see all of your due dates, assignments, and class materials. This can cut down on any confusion, creates a clear line of communication, and will likely result in more on-time assignments and projects.  

There are three different ways that I set up due dates: 

1. 1. • When you create an assignment, you can also set the due date. This will automatically add your due date to the class calendar. 
      • The calendar appears on the right side of your class home page. You can manually add tests and important due dates by clicking the “Add Event” button. 
      • I link a Google Doc that has all of my lesson plans that students are able to access through the class information folder. If a student is absent, it is an easy place for them to see exactly what they missed that day. 

3. Create online quizzes using Schoology   

I like to make short quizzes to receive immediate feedback from my students. In Schoology, you can add various question types. Some of my favorite question types include the ordering question (great for timelines and sequencing!), fill in the blank, and matching! These might be great for a quick check for understanding or for an exit ticket! There are so many options to make this a useful tool in your classroom! 

4. Utilize the tools available

Connect to your Google Drive and other sites to make an upload to your Schoology page very easy. There is even an option to attach a Google Doc that will make each student their own copy. This is a great option when you want all of your students working on a document you have created.

Another tool that I love to use is the grade book view. I like to see where my students are in a project at any given time. This helps me see who has turned in their assignments and who I need to conference with about turning in their work. If a student has turned in an assignment, a little blue or green mark shows up. I can click on the mark and go directly to their submission. If you have several assignments due around the same time, it can be a huge time-saver and will simplify your grading. 

Schoology also has a rubric tool in the event that you are assigning a project, group work, or an essay. Students will know exactly what is expected of them, and it gives immediate feedback. Plus, because it is all electronic and linked to the grade book, it makes your grading process so much quicker and more efficient! 

5. The more you use Schoology in school, the more students will use it at home!

If you are interested in implementing a flipped classroom, then it is crucial that your students can access your material at home. This is so nice, as they know exactly where to go, and I have all of my assignments in the same place. It is a routine in my classroom!

When students are absent, I have them check my Schoology page first. In my classroom information folder, they can find the lesson and access any of the daily work we did in class. I love how this has helped me to be more “paperless,” and it is something they can check from home when they are out.

One thing that parents and students both love is the ability to prepare for assessments. I post all reviews and review games so students can prepare at home. Some parents also appreciate the reminder email of tests and exams so they can support their child at home.  

Samantha Cast has her masters in Digital Learning and is a Texas History teacher. As a digital enthusiast, she is always finding new ways to incorporate Ed Tech into her classroom. You can find her on Twitter at @mrscast.  

SHOP DIGITAL ACTIVITY BUNDLES

The post Making the Most of Your Schoology Account appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

All in all, it was an amazing few days!  There were two things that continued to surprise me as I talked to teachers from all over the state: 

1) Many schools are 1:1! One-to-one means that for every one student, there is one iPad or Chromebook. 

2) There are still many teachers out there who have to purchase their own paper! Luckily, technology is making the need for paper less and less important. 

4 IDEAS FOR GOING PAPERLESS IN THE MATH CLASSROOM

So, how do you go paperless in the math classroom? Sure, there are small whiteboards, or you can use Expo markers on the desks.  But what do you do for work that needs to be turned in on a daily or weekly basis? How do you assess mastery on a quiz or test? 

Nearpod and Pear Deck

Nearpod and Pear Deck are both tools that allow you to go paperless.  Both allow you to upload pre-existing slides or create lessons inside the tool. They are interactive:  You can embed questions into the slides for students to respond to on their own devices. Students are able to work at their own pace, making the lessons more engaging, and teachers are able to monitor and offer feedback using the teacher dashboard in real time.  Each offers some different features.

To read more about the specifics, check out this post on Nearpod and this post on Pear Deck.

Nearpod is a great resource to try out this summer and into the fall!  There are three different types of accounts with different features: free Silver, Gold, or Platinum. Have you tried Nearpod in your classroom?

Showbie

While this is a tool that I have not used, I came across Showbie while researching paperless methods.  It is similar to Nearpod and Pear Deck, but it has one feature that I think is pretty amazing! Students submit an assignment digitally (either by using a stylus on an iPad or taking a picture of the assignment and uploading), and the teacher can leave feedback by either marking it up on the app OR by leaving voice feedback.  That’s right! You can leave a voice clip! So cool! 

CANVAS OR GOOGLE CLASSROOM 

Personally, I have not tried using Canvas, but I have seen Google Classroom in action, and I’ve read that they are similar.  Has anyone tried it? Canvas’s website says it is a learning management system or a digital classroom. It’s where students go for lessons, assignments, and content — all paperless! 

Canvas also has a tool called SpeedGrader, which allows teachers to provide feedback (using rubrics, annotations, or video clips); it populates your grade book, and it creates reports based on that data, so teachers can further differentiate skills and standards for students.  I just can’t get over the idea of not bringing paper home and grading just using my laptop. Hallelujah!  

GOOGLE FORMS FOR ASSESSMENTS

Speaking of all of this paperless glory, all Maneuvering the Middle unit assessments for CCSS and TEKS are now available!  They are powered through Google Forms, which means they are self-grading, and you can send feedback to students after they have submitted! 

After I gave a unit assessment, I would spend far too long grading the open-ended response questions, and now, I will not have to do that! Besides scratch paper (you could have students use individual whiteboards, too), you won’t have to collect pounds and pounds of paper or make copies.  I am all about saving trees, but not fighting for the copier in the hot work room sounds way more enticing. 

What team are you on?  Team Paper or Team Digital?  In what ways are you going paperless this school year?

If you are looking for more ways to go paperless, check out our digital activities.

SHOP DIGITAL ACTIVITY BUNDLES

The post 4 Ideas for Going Paperless appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

This summer, I had some great takeaways after attending the Region 10 Digital Conference.  I heard from some wonderful speakers, including Jennifer Casa-Todd (@JCasaTodd) and Knikole Taylor (@knikole).  I was inspired by these two women and how they advocated for students to be social media leaders, to stand up for others online, and to follow their passions. 

4 COMPONENTS OF DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP 

1. Educate On:

• • Digital Communication
  • Digital Literacy
  • Digital Commerce 

Students need to know how and when to use social media and online resources appropriately.  Just like learning how to write a letter or read a book, students need to be taught how to interact online.  Have crucial conversations with your students about what is appropriate online. Teach them the power of their words online: when it is important to send a text or to have a face-to-face conversation. Discuss sharing personal and financial information online. 

2. Protect:

• • Digital Rights and Responsibilities
  • Digital Health and Wellness
  • Digital Safety and Security 

Everyone leaves behind a digital footprint.  Jennifer Casa-Todd asked the question in her keynote: What social media are you on, and what will I learn about you when I go there?  It is so important that students learn that what they do and say online is permanent and can have long-lasting effects.  While I believe it is important for students to have a digital presence, if left up to their own devices, they may not make the best choices.  This is why it is our job as educators to encourage our students to learn about how to create a positive presence online. 

Teach students how to safely navigate social media by only connecting with people that they know.  Teach them who they can reach out to in case of suspicious or inappropriate behavior. They should know how to block and report users online.  And, maybe the most important (and possibly the hardest to teach), show students how to balance their online life with their real life.  

3. Respect: 

• • Digital Etiquette
  • Digital Access
  • Digital Law 

Just like learning how to have proper table manners, it is vital that we teach our students appropriate etiquette online, as well.  As my mother always said growing up, “iIf you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all.”. This same idea applies to the online community. 

Students need to learn that they are interacting with real people online. 

Some students may have greater technological advantages because they have their own devices and wi-fi at home, while others may not have access at home.  Teach students to advocate for one another and learn from each other. 

It is also so important to teach students how to appropriately give credit where credit is due; teach students how to cite their sources and teach the dangers of plagiarizing someone else’s work. 

4. Civic Engagement: 

• • Uses technology in a positive way 
  • Understands internet bias 
  • Finds alternatives to hate 

Knikole Taylor suggested adding Civic Engagement as a key component of Digital Citizenship, and I found it to be very true and timely advice.  When I look at my neighborhood Facebook group, I often see adults being rude to one another and unkind about everything from walking a dog off-leash, to the neighborhood pool.  When we are quick to react and publish something online, what message is that teaching our students? 

Teach students about bias and how everyone has one.  Teach students to think critically about the source of an article or someone’s point of view.  Teach students to spread joy and positivity to others online. Allow your students the freedom to advocate for others online, to raise money and awareness for topics that they are passionate about.  

If you want to learn more about Digital Citizenship, check out these resources: 

• Social LEADia: Moving Students from Digital Citizenship to Digital Leadership by Jennifer Casa Todd
• George Couros’ Blog
• ISTE’s Blog Posts
• Common Sense Media– They have lessons on Digital Citizenship for all grade levels! 
• Here is a great presentation of one-liners you can use with your students when having a conversation about Digital Citizenship 

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Source: https://www.iste.org/explore/Lead-the-way/Digital-citizenship-is-more-important-than-ever 

Samantha Cast has her Masters in Digital Learning and is a Texas History teacher.  As a digital enthusiast, she is always finding new ways to incorporate Ed Tech into her classroom.  You can find her on Twitter at @mrscast. 

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We have all taken those surveys after a professional development workshop asking us to provide feedback.  Most likely, you completed that survey in Google Forms. Google Forms does not just have to be surveys. Google Forms exists for any form of data collection, which makes it a perfect tool for teachers!  Many features allow you to use it for your math classroom.  

Maneuvering the Middle has some exciting things in the works using Google Forms.  Keep reading to find out what they are and why we love Google Forms!

Google Forms 101

Pros of Google Forms in the Classroom

1. Google Forms makes grading easier.  After a student takes their assessment, they click Submit.  Google Forms grades the assignment based on your answer key.  You can choose to allow students to get their grade right after submission, or you can choose to email out their scores at a time of your choosing.
2. Different answer options can vary the types of questions you ask.  You do not have to just use multiple choice in Google Forms. 

For short answers, you can also put a variety of answers into the answer key so you do not have to manually review each submission.

3. Visuals help you see trends.  This is an upgrade. Google Forms used to give you a spreadsheet of responses.  Now you can toggle through the results of individual questions or the results of individual students.  After your students have been assessed, you can base your reteaching on your most missed questions. Or, better yet, assign students who got those questions correct to reteach the class.

Cons of Google FORMS

1. It makes showing work even more of a struggle.  Anyone else have a hard time making certain kids show their work?  Add a computer, and it gets even more difficult. You could combat this with a required scratch sheet of paper that gets turned in with your Google Form assessment.
2. Does it make cheating easier?  I’m not sure about this. The only thing to prevent a student from opening another web browser and doing some Googling to help them is vigilant monitoring.  With a regular paper-based assessment, students are somewhat limited in their cheating.  Did you see the new update that is coming in August 2019?  You will now be able to limit the windows in which a student can view during an assessment.  Check out the new features here!

Anyone have any tips on this?  Google Forms does not always have to be for assessments, so students using the vast knowledge of the internet is actually resourceful.

Getting Started

To get started using Google Forms, you will most likely want to have Google Classroom set up.  This is a great video to walk you through those details. 

While you are on your teacher dashboard in Google Classroom, you can create a Google Form from scratch to share with students, you can insert an already made Google Form using your Drive folder, or you can choose from a variety of templates. 

You will also need to download the extension Equatio.  It is a free resource for teachers, and it is a must! If you want your students to be able to use Equatio, then they do charge a fee to the school/campus. 

Since it can be difficult to type in a radical or complicated fractions, Equatio will help students (and teachers) using their predicting text feature, or students can write in the math symbols using their handwriting tool. There is even an option for students to say the answer, and the program transcribes.

And here is the best part!  All Maneuvering the Middle unit assessments are being made now digital!! 

We have taken our existing paper-based unit tests and made them DIGITAL!

• self-grading
• time-saving
• paperless
• immediate feedback

I am thrilled about this because I think it could potentially save you hours of grading and provide you with the data to better differentiate for your students.

Step-by-step written directions and a video walk-through are included. All of the heavy lifting has been done for you!

If you own the curriculum bundles, then please download the newest version to access your digital unit tests. These upgrades have been included for you. If you do not own the bundles, you can find them here!

This means that they will be available for Back to School for you to use from Unit 1 all the way until your final exam!  You may already use our end-of-year assessments in Google Forms, but now you will be covered throughout the year, as well!

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1. Interactive Lessons

One of Nearpod’s best features is the interactive lessons. You can use pre-existing lessons that you can upload to Nearpod, or you can create lessons within the web browser. If you want to ask a question for the students to respond to, then embed one into the slides! Students are drawn into the lesson by participating on their own device with the lesson on their screen. Some of the interactive features include:

1. Open-Ended Questions 

2. Matching Pairs

3. Quiz

4. Draw It

5. Collaborate

6. Poll

7. Fill in the Blank

8. Memory Test

These interactive slides allow you to check for understanding immediately during the lesson. One of my favorite features is the collaborate option. Students can share text and pictures with the class in real time. It would be a great tool when brainstorming or introducing a topic. You can also embed websites directly into your presentation! If you are teaching students how to research, or if you want them to complete a reflection on another website, then you can have them go directly to it from the Nearpod slide. You can also embed YouTube videos, PDFs, images, Twitter feeds, virtual field trips, and more!

2. STUDENT PACED MODE

In your classroom, you may have a few gifted students who are ready to move on, some students who are on level, and some students who need reinforcement on a topic. How do you reach all of their needs and different educational levels? Nearpod has the option to present the lesson live or to turn each presentation on “student-paced” so students can work at their own pace, at home or in the classroom. This is a great tool to differentiate your instruction. Here are some ideas where student-paced mode can come in handy!

1. Set up stations and have students work on different lessons, depending on their needs.
2. Have students pair up and work together on student-paced mode, encouraging discussion and teamwork.
3. Let students and parents work together at home. This keeps parents involved in the student’s learning and creates valuable discussion and reinforcement at home.
4. Create a flipped classroom. Students need to preview the information before coming to class to allow greater time for discussion and hands-on practice in class.

3. Lessons and Virtual Field Trips

Nearpod has a vast collection of lessons and virtual field trips that are easily shared with your students. Looking for a lesson on linear functions? Desmos has created lessons within Nearpod that can be used in your classroom with a touch of a button! Need to show seniors a college tour? The virtual field trips are ready to go with interactive questions already embedded into the slides. Nearpod has collaborated with Flocabulary, Desmos, iCivics, Newsela, and others to create amazing resources and lessons!*

*Some of these lessons cost money, but there are plenty of free ones available.

4. Student Insight and Data

As you are presenting your Nearpod lesson, you can immediately see student responses and get feedback. If you are presenting in Live Mode, one of the features allows you to highlight and share a student’s answer with everybody in the class. This would make for great classroom discussion. After you have presented a lesson, you can see your session in the Reports tab. This makes the data easy to break down and see exactly where your students are so you can meet all of their educational needs.

Nearpod is a great resource to try out this summer and into the fall!  There are three different types of accounts with different features: free Silver, Gold, or Platinum. Have you used Nearpod?  I would love to hear how you use it in the classroom

If you are interested in more ways to use technology in your classroom, check out our posts on Pear Deck, Khan Academy, or check out all of our technology posts.

Samantha Cast has her Masters in Digital Learning and is a Texas History teacher.  As a digital enthusiast, she is always finding new ways to incorporate EdTech into her classroom.  You can find her on Twitter at @mrscast.

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Gimkit was created by a high school student for students. Using multiple choice questions, students have to answer correctly to make money. With the money they make, they can spend it on power-ups and upgrades to make them the dominant player in the class.

GimKIt has generously offered readers a discount on the premium account. Please read to the end for more details. 

GIMKIT: UP YOUR STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

SETTING UP GIMKIT FOR YOUR CLASS

To get started with Gimkit, you will need to set up an account. There is a free version and a paid version.

Free account:

You have access to five free kits and all core features. Unlike other paid subscriptions, this is not a 14-day or 30-day free trial. You can access your five free kits at any time!

Premium account:

You have access to unlimited kits and all core features. You can choose to pay monthly or be billed annually, and they also have a bulk discount option for an entire campus.

To create a kit, you can choose to make one from scratch, or you can import from Quizlet or a CSV file. When you create a kit from scratch, you can upload an image to go along with your question.

If you don’t want to reinvent the wheel, Gimkit makes it very easy to import the questions and answers that are already in Quizlet. You can also search for Quizlets from other teachers and import a premade Quizlet! Once you have made your questions or imported from Quizlet or a CVS file, add a fun .gif for your title page, and your kit is created!

PLAYING GIMKIT

Students have to answer the questions correctly to earn “money.”  Each right answer equals $1 in their bank. As the students answer more and more questions, their money starts to accumulate.

They can spend their money in the shop on power ups and upgrades.  The upgrades help multiply their money at a faster rate, while the power ups can be used to slow down other players.

To be successful at this game, not only does the student need to answer the questions correctly, but they also need to multiply their money as quickly as possible.

VARIATIONS OF THE GAME

What I love about Gimkit is that you can set parameters to meet your needs.

• If you only have 10 minutes to play?  No problem! Create a time limit on the game.
• Have the class to work together!  Create a class goal to reach a certain amount of “money.”
• Have the students compete against one another and race to make the most money!

FUN TIPS with Gimkit

• You can give students money to start with so they can spend it at the shop right away. Or, you can have them earn every dollar they need!  I typically give the students $50 starting cash and watch those numbers grow as they gain upgrades and answer questions correctly.
• Try starting the game with $1,000 cash.  It’s fun to see how high the students can get that number!  One of my students reached one million dollars after 15 minutes!
• Play the game in Team Mode.  Students have to work together as a team to accumulate money.
• Play with your students! They will love to see your name on the board as you earn and spend money.  It’s not as easy as you think to get first place!
• Set up a class in Gimkit and assign it for homework.  Students will be able to study at home on their own time as many times as they need!

Instead of dreaming of summer, your students will love to play Gimkit!  Give it a try and turn your classroom into a fun game show review game!  

We reached out to Gimkit and they graciously offered a 10% discount on a premium account. In order to take advantage of the discount:

1. Sign up for a free account
2. Email hello@gimkit.com with the code MIDDLE in subject line
3. Upgrade after discount has been applied

Samantha Cast has her masters in Digital Learning and is a Texas History teacher.  As a digital enthusiast, she is always finding new ways to incorporate Ed Tech into her classroom.  You can find her on Twitter at @mrscast.

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Pear Deck has generously offered readers an extended trial on the premium account. Please read to the end for more details. 

5 WAYS TO USE PEAR DECK IN YOUR CLASSROOM

1. USE GOOGLE SLIDES TO CREATE YOUR PEAR DECK

Pear Deck works seamlessly with Google Suites for Education. Slideshows are designed on Google Slides. It is easy to add the Pear Deck Google Add-On, and that gives you access to all of the templates and types of slides. If you already have Google Slides created, you can convert the slides to a Pear Deck with a touch of a button.

2. EMBED FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS AND RECEIVE IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK

Pear Deck has so many options to make your presentation interactive! From the Google Add-On, you can import Pear Deck templates or use your own slides. There are some great templates, including bell ringers, formative assessments, charts, graphs, mental check-ins, exit tickets, and more.

You can also use your own slide and change it to a drawing slide (my personal favorite so students can take notes), multiple choice questions, short answers, and even a draggable slide. They also have critical thinking slides that will challenge your students to really think about what they are learning.

Check out this post from the Pear Deck blog for ways to use the different templates in the Math classroom!

3. CHECK YOUR STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN REAL TIME

In a class of 30 or more, it can be tricky to make sure all students are on-task. What I love about Pear Deck is the teacher dashboard, where I can see my students’ screens. I can see the annotations they are writing on the screen, their responses to the questions I’ve embedded, and when they go “inactive” or get off of the website.

How I do this is my classroom

I use two devices when using Pear Deck. On my iPad, I have the teacher dashboard on my screen.

• With my iPad, I can walk around the classroom and see my students’ annotations and responses in real time! I can also advance the slides forward or backward right from the teacher dashboard.
• From my desktop, I have the presentation screen displayed on the board with a projector.

4. SHARE THE LESSON EASILY WITH STUDENTS

When you are finished with the lesson, you can choose to “Publish Takeaways.” This action will create a copy of the Pear Deck in each student’s Google Drive with the original presentation and a copy of their notes and responses.

This is great for students who want to review what they learned in class and see any notes that they made. It can also be a great tool to share with parents so they, too, can be actively involved in the student’s learning.

5. INCREASE RIGOR AND DEEPEN LEARNING

When I first began teaching History, I was given a jump drive with PowerPoints and fill-in-the blank notes from the previous teacher.

Then, we moved to a 1:1 campus and my students had these amazing iPads, but I was at a loss of what to do with them. I would have the students use the iPad to take notes instead of paper, but at the end of the day, I was just using the technology provided but kept the class completely the same. Students were bored, and I was boring! Something had to change.

When I found Pear Deck, I was able to transform the way I taught my class. Instead of passing out notes, my students joined Pear Deck. They were brought into the lesson in a whole new way. I would embed questions and videos to keep them engaged along the way. I wouldn’t forget to ask higher-level thinking questions during the lesson, and it was easier to reign in off-task behavior because I had the freedom to move around the room.

Every student now had a voice and was able to make connections to the lesson that they were missing before. Plus, students loved it when I displayed their answers on the board, and they would compete to have the very best (or the most comical) answers. It truly changed the way I introduced new concepts to my students.

Have you tried Pear Deck?  I would love to know what you think and how you use it!

Note: Pear Deck has both a free and a paid Premium plan, but all of the features are available during the 30-day free trial. The teacher dashboard, drawable slides, publishing takeaways, and the drag-and-drop option are on the Premium plan, while the other features mentioned are a part of the free plan. I started with the free version and taught a few lessons during the 30-day trial. My students and I loved it so much that my Admin decided to buy the Premium plan for the next school year for our campus. It would also make a great gift from PTO!

We reached out to Pear Deck and they graciously offered to extend the trail to a 60-day free trial for the premium subscription.  No credit card required.  Just try it out and see if you like it!  

Samantha Cast has her masters in Digital Learning and is a Texas History teacher. As a digital enthusiast, she is always finding new ways to incorporate Ed Tech into her classroom. You can find her on Twitter at @mrscast.  

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Currently, I am teaching operations with decimals, and I have relied on calculators HEAVILY to check my work. Confession: When I was creating my answer key for a lesson on multiplying decimal numbers by decimal numbers with many, many digits, I first did all the math by hand and then went back to check using a calculator. My paper was not error-free! Calculators are such useful tools for anyone who is working in math/science/engineering/completing projects in the house, and we should teach our students when and how to use them.

Note: Don’t we find it ironic that teachers spend years teaching students math skills that can be completed using a calculator and then they get to 8th grade/high school, they are handed a calculator? Without proper training, students can use a calculator recklessly, trusting whatever answer is provided without using the number sense that all prior teachers tried to instill.

In one classroom I observed, the teacher would often use the phrase, “The calculator is only as smart as its operator.” A sly way of saying that the calculator will give you the answer to the problem that you input, but if you input the problem incorrectly, you still will have an incorrect answer. Yikes!

CALCULATORS IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASSROOM

For Students with IEPS

In my middle school classroom, I have around 10 calculators that are available to students with IEPs. (Be careful to make sure that you are allowing only the students who have this aid listed on their IEP to use calculators.) They grab them as soon as class starts and use them throughout the lesson. Whether you have a co-teacher or a SPED teacher who pushes in, its a good idea to make sure that one of you spends time showing students how they can use their calculators in the context of the lesson.

Calculators are dangerous tools when students do not have proper training. I see this most commonly when students are dividing. For so long, students have learned that when you divide, the largest number is what is typed in first. In sixth grade, that is no longer true.

At the end of class, students put their calculators back in the bin and they are ready for the next class. (One year I tried to loan out calculators for students to use at home, but students left them at home so frequently, I stopped.)

Calculator Organization

Since I have so few calculators that are used, I store my calculators in one of these boxes.   I number the back of the calculators to correspond with table numbers and to keep track if any are borrowed. Ms. Henry uses a caddy similar to this.  I used a system like Type-A Mathland’s when I used the more expensive TI graphing calculators. It is super easy to see if all of the calculators have been returned at the end of class.

Thanks, Type-A Mathland for allowing us to share this great idea!

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We have written an updated post about Google Forms. Check it out here.

USING GOOGLE FORMS IN MATH

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MATH TED TALKS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

For teachers:

FOR STUDENTS:

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NOTE: All Khan Academy content is available for free at www.khanacademy.org

7 Ways to Use Khan Academy in the Classroom

1. MAKE UP WORK

There are times when you cannot find missing work for a student, and running another copy is just not going to happen.  In the past, I have assigned Khan Academy to students who are missing work.  They would complete a skill, I would grade it based on how many they got correct, and I did not have to prepare 15 different assignments for the 9 different students who didn’t turn it in.  Seriously, game changer.

2. TUTORING

Similarly, I had a student that was really struggling with some foundational skills.  I made an arrangement with her mom that she could come to my classroom before school at 6:30 am and work on some of these skills.  I did not always have something prepared, and truth be told, there were many mornings I forgot she was coming.  No big deal!  I assigned her recommendations on Khan, and she got to work.  If she was stuck or needed help, I was there to assist, but Khan allowed me to run last minute trips to the office or check in with the other math teacher before the day started.

3. STATIONS

Using Khan Academy as a station is perfect for classrooms that only have access to a handful of computers everyday.  Khan Academy also has an app that can be used on a tablet.  For students who struggled to stay on the correct website, I use an iPad and the guided access setting to make sure that students do not leave Khan Academy to surf the internet.

4. EXTENSION WORK

If you have the same students who complete work fairly quickly and with quality, Khan is a great resource to keep students working on math (and not distracting their teammates).  Though I usually don’t like students working ahead of their partners during practice time, independent practice is a time that I have used Khan as extension work.

5. A RESOURCE FOR PARENTS

Many parents ask me how they can help their students at home.  I point them to Khan.  Every skill is connected to a video, so if students or parents do not know how to complete a homework problem, they can type the topic into Khan Academy and watch a video that teaches the skill.  It also helps me answer the question, “can you give my child more practice problems that we can work on at home?”  Yes.  Khan Academy.

6. WHEN THERE IS A SUB

I give this idea with caution.  My school does not allow the use of technology with substitutes, but I think with the right substitute and with very clear expectations, students would benefit from a day of practicing skills in an engaging way. You can also hold students accountable when you come back by using the ‘time on task’ feature to see how much time your students were actually working.

7. SUMMATIVE TEST REVIEW

Before our end of the year state test, STAAR, Khan is a life-saver for review.  Too many students have misconceptions about too many skills.  I could never cover all of the different material effectively.  One way I differentiate the review is to take a look at my data, and assign recommendations to the students who didn’t master the skills the first time around. This way 28 students can be working on 8 different skills, and they can get immediate feedback.  This leaves me free to pull a small group or conference with individual students.  (The same idea can apply to any test review.)

Sidenote: Khan Academy still requires some prep work before getting started.  Students must create an account and you have to give them the code that connects them to you as their coach.  While this requires some front loading, it will save you time in the long run. You can find more information on how to set up accounts here.

What ways do you use Khan Academy in your classroom?  Before teaching middle school, I taught Algebra II, and I used Khan to teach me concepts all the time.  Don’t forget that it isn’t just for students!  I have also had friends use it to study for the GRE.

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All Khan Academy content is available for free at www.khanacademy.org.

TIPS FOR USING KHAN ACADEMY

1. Hold Students accountable for their work on Khan Academy

Duh, right?  It might be tempting, but you cannot sidestep this one.  My first months I used Khan, I didn’t even check that they were accomplishing anything on Khan Academy.  To make matters worse, I allowed students to listen to music when they were working (rookie mistake), so they then spent 25 minutes making a playlist, and .0008 minutes working on math.  I was so frustrated with myself that I almost abandoned it.  Then, I remembered that stickers solve all classroom woes, and developed this very official and fancy sticker chart.

When students got 5 in a row correct, they raised their hands and got a sticker for this category.  If I was working with a small group, I assigned a student to walk around and give stickers.  If you have a well trusted classroom, you could implement some sort of honor system or have students snap a picture of their “5 in a row” to earn a sticker.

I also held students accountable by watching their time on task.  Khan Academy allows you to check how long students have been working and engaged.  I would project that screen and refresh occasionally to see if there were any students who were not getting their work completed.  I would kindly let them know that they needed to get _______ more minutes complete to earn a _________.  There was also a separate prize (usually getting to be sticker person next time) if you had the most time on task.  

2. Tell students EXACTLY what to do

You must tell your students exactly what to do, and make sure that it is crystal clear. I snipped this image below from a document that many of the teachers at my school (myself included) used while implementing Khan.  I gave the directions on how to get to Khan website and the assignments every. single. time.  They will not magically remember how to do this.  I used Khan once a week, and they managed to forget every single week.  

You could make a poster, and save yourself paper, but this was a template on my computer, so I would just need to change the recommendations. Also, over plan.  In the image above, I gave them 6 recommendations to master – mastering means getting 5 questions in row correct.  I gave them 6, prioritizing whatever was placed at 1 and 2.  Giving 6 recommendations, prevented my wonderful students from asking what to do now that they were finished.  If you have higher level students or a higher level class in general you might consider assigning a few key skills and then allowing students to pick something that interests them.

3. Make Sure to Vet the Recommendations

When you are assigning recommendations to students for practice, you are able to type in any skill!  It is amazing!  In the picture above, I began typing ‘adding fractions.’  Before I assign this recommendation, I make sure to look over an example problem or two to decide if this is what I had in mind (you can do this by hovering over the I icon).  You want to make sure that students can be successful at the rigor that Khan will provide.  The purpose of Khan Academy in my class room was for students to be able to solve problems they have already learned as practice independently.  If you are assigning recommendations that do not really align to the objective or the level of rigor that the students know, then you will have 25 hands in the air, and your small group plans will be thwarted.  

Khan is an incredible resource that  when used effectively can result in more “at bats” than any other resource.  Do you have any tips for using Khan Academy in the classroom?  

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All Khan Academy content is available for free at www.khanacademy.org.

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Back in 2006 when I started in the classroom, I used Outlook, our email provider, to create different lists for each of my classes.  Each Friday, I would send a quick email recapping the week and sharing any announcements regarding assignments, projects, grades, etc.  I did this for several years and loved it!  Parents would respond that they appreciated the communication and that it helped them to be more informed and helpful at home.  Unfortunately, it took several hours to get everything organized and set up.  MailChimp is super user-friendly and can be set up quickly.

What is MailChimp?

MailChimp is a free email service provider that allows you to send formatted email for free to less than 2,000 subscribers.  Let’s all hope we have less than 2,000 students.

The reason MailChimp is so great is that you can easily set up an account and have parents join your list through a link or QR code.  This would be perfect for advertising at Meet the Teacher, Open House, through a course syllabi, on your class website, and in parent information packets.  Below, I am going to show you how to create a really nice-looking template that you can easily customize in a few minutes.

How Can Teachers Use MailChimp?

We know that when students go to middle school, parent involvement is more of a struggle.  More classes to keep up with, more teachers to keep straight, electives, and a growing independence are factors that can lead to a more disconnected relationship.  I have found that parents often do want to be in the loop, and they appreciate the extra communication whether it be about grades, what we are studying, or volunteer opportunities.  

A few Ideas for When to Use a Newsletter:

• weekly updates
• progress report announcements
• end of grading period announcements
• project details and deadlines
• field trip information
• PTA newsletters
• UIL and club information
• fundraising details

1.  Create an Account

You can easily set up an account using your school email address, as well as your schools’ physical address.  MailChimp will require a physical address, just FYI.  This address will show on each email sent, so be sure you put your schools’ physical address.

2.  Create a List for each class that you teach

I would recommend creating a different list for each prep, activity, club, etc.  You could also create a list per class period, depending on what you plan on sending.  Don’t go list crazy, because each time you send something, you will have to send it to the specific list.

3.  Ask Parents to Sign Up for Your List

Each list is going to create its own sign up form, so you will want to ask parents to sign up for the specific list.  As mentioned above, you could share the link on a class website, at Meet the Teacher or Open House, in a course syllabus, and in parent information packs.

Tip:  You might consider creating a short link or QR code for parents to scan to make the process go more smoothly.

4.  Create a Template Newsletter

If you plan on sending information regularly, I would suggest creating a template.  You need to Create a Campaign, select which lists to send it to, and then create the message.  The key is to hit “Save as a Template” once you are happy with the set up.  This way, you just have to find the template each week and change the information.

5.  Send Newsletters whenever you Choose

Once you have done all the set up, just login to MailChimp and send emails whenever you like.  You can schedule the email in advance to make your life easier, too!

Video Tutorial

If you are anything like me, it is so much easier to follow video tutorials.  Erin Wing was so kind as to allow me to share her great You Tube tutorial.  She shares all sorts of great parent communication tools and ideas on her blog.  Click here for a great tutorial on MailChimp for teachers.  She will walk you through it all.  Thanks Erin!  Best of luck with MailChimp!

Teachers, do you have any other great ideas for parent communication?  Share them in the comments below.

The post How to use MailChimp for Teachers appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

I love composition notebooks, I used them in my classroom all of the time. My own personal composition notebook traveled to parent conferences, team meetings, professional developments, and home.  Everything changed when I started using my phone for reminders and appointments.  I found that I always had my phone and somehow that composition book was MIA. A colleague of mine always mentioned Evernote and months later I decided to try it out.  I have been using Evernote for several months now and even though I am no longer in the classroom, I have brainstormed 5 Evernote Tips for Teachers.

What is Evernote?

Essentially Evernote is a catalogue organizing your information in one location that is available on all of your devices.  Remember the notes from PD or the to-do list you jot on a sticky note?  Evernote allows you to keep all of the information in one place and features a quick and easy search feature for finding it.

What can Evernote do?

Evernote offers three versions with different functions.  I am on the free basic version and believe that 90% of teachers would need no additional features.  The basic version allows you to sync all of your devices and clip different pieces from the web. I currently sync Evernote on my desktop, laptop, and phone.  This is perfect for an idea that comes to you first thing in the morning or when you are at dinner.  My favorite part is that all of the information can be sorted into different notebooks with multiple notes.

5 Evernote Tips for Teachers

There are quite a few ideas for personal use with Evernote or using Evernote with your students.  Today, I would like to focus on ways for teachers to use Evernote to stay organized.

1.  To-Do Notebook

My Daily To-Do Notebook is by far, my most utilized notebook.  Within the notebook, I create a note for each day of the week and jot down what I need to accomplish.  When I was in the classroom, my list consisted of Before School, Conference, and After School headers and you could set it up the same.  If you don’t get to something you can easily copy and paste it to the next day.  This is great for when you are sitting in a meeting and they mention that grade sheets are due back by Friday.  You can think about you week and determine what day to add them to your to-do list.  I also love that it has checkboxes!  I still get the sense of accomplishment without having a paper list.

If you like to think of your life in weeks, you could create a note for each week instead and then have headers for each day of the week.

2. Snapshots for Specific Lessons

I hate taking things off my wall when testing comes around because I have to decide what to do with it.  Save it or toss it.  With Evernote you can snap a picture and assign it to a lesson or notebook.  It is so nice because it doesn’t take up space in your phone and you don’t have to go searching for it in your hundreds of photos. This is perfect for saving anchor charts, bulletin boards, or student work!  Unfortunately, you can’t save all of those student work examples but you can take a picture!

3. Student Documentation

You know those students who need a little extra attention and maybe even a little extra documentation?  Create a notebook with their initials and then keep a note with anything relevant.  This would be handy in a parent conference or for RTI purposes.   You could even use tip #2 and snap a picture of student work for documentation purposes.

3. Notebook for Meetings, Committees, and PD

Create a notebook for faculty meetings, team meetings, committees, and various professional development.  Within each notebook, just title a note with the date and any pertinent information.  If you get a handout, take a snapshot.  This will keep everything together, cut down on the clutter on your desk, and will be easy to reference at a later date.  At the end of the year, you can delete what doesn’t apply anymore.

4. Saving Lesson Ideas and Websites

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5 tech tools for the classroom

1:  Google Drive

Google Drive is an excellent tool for organization and cutting back on paper.  It is capable of everything from storing your electronic files, to sharing those files with your students, to conducting staff/student surveys, and sending home forms for parents.

Some schools now have Google Classroom, which works similarly but with features geared towards schools.  My school used Google Drive and Google Apps.

How it works:  You will create a free account using your email address and sign in.  From here you see a navigation menus below.  I think the best features here include creating folders and then sharing with others.  No more emailing each other files or taking up that precious server space.

I used this frequently while planning with colleagues.  My team would create a Google Sheet with tabs for each unit and then assign different parts of the lessons to each other.  I loved this because we could all be typing in the same document at the same time.  Winning!  This works with students, too.  They can all be working on the same file in a group setting!  Of all 5 tech tools, I would say this is the most natural to integrate within the classroom, but quite possibly the one that is least utilized. There are so many features of Google Drive and Google Classroom!

2.  Edmodo

Edmodo was my platform of preference to use with students.  I think it was because the classroom view was easier for me to handle.  I loved how intuitive it was because of the familiar Facebook style layout.  It is also super helpful that parents can set up an account to better support their student and join alongside teachers in the classroom.

Some of the fabulous features include an app for easy on-the-go access, a classroom page where you can load content and students can ask questions, parent access so they can keep up to date with their student.  I even used this a collaborative environment with other teachers when sitting on a district committee, it sure beats the long email threads.

It now includes some other aspects that are related to curriculum and testing, which I am unfamiliar with, but worth checking out.

3.  Mobi view

The Mobi is hands down my most favorite technology tool.  During my second year of teaching, I taught at a brand new school, it had all the bells and whistles.  The following year, I  moved across the state and got married.  This landed me in a classroom with an overhead projector, in 2009.  I couldn’t handle it.  Mobi to the rescue!  I actually spent my own money to purchase this (about $250 back then) for my classroom.  My principal saw it, loved it, and asked the PTA to reimburse me.  Then, he ordered them for the entire math department.

The Mobi works as an interactive whiteboard in the palm of your hands.  At its basic level, you can use it to write from anywhere in the room.  This was perfect for getting students involved in working problems without the embarrassment of walking to the front of the class.  In a more advanced way, it can integrate with other technology devices to show student results on assessments or even quick questions throughout the class discussion.  I loved the flexibility of continuing to teach while standing next to a student who “needed a little more attention”.

It is very durable too, which I love when working with middle schoolers.  While the pricing is not cheap, it does make for one of the most affordable interactive whiteboards out there.

SHOP DIGITAL ACTIVITY BUNDLES

4.  Zip Grade

I do not have much experience using Zip Grade because we had a similar but expensive program. Zip Grade is a free alternative to assessment and data programs.  It allows you to create individualized scantrons on standard copy paper and use your mobile device to scan the responses.  It exports the answers into an excel or cvc format which can be printed or input directly into some grade book softwares.

Best of all it shows a visual question analysis for the assessment. Depending on the length of the assignment, it is possible to have students scan their exit ticket and discuss the results within a few minutes.

At the time they offer two different pricing structures $12.99 for life or $6.99 for one year.

5.  Kahoot

Kahoot is a free interactive classroom game.  It is unique in that while students are answering on their own devices, they are also interacting with the other members of the class.  It is brightly colored and in my opinion, not too primary looking.  Teachers set up the game with various multiple choice questions and then students login to that game with a 4 digit pin.  Super easy.  The teacher controls the pace of the questions and students respond on their device.  After the question is over, it displays the item analysis and then keeps track of each users points and the top 5 users are displayed.

I would personally suggest using numbers or sports team names, rather than student names.  In the middle school classroom students are already so self conscious, I think it would minimize the extra comments about who is the lead or in last place or anything like that.  I would also suggest a recording sheet, where students are expected to show their work to provide accountability.

And, Kahoot is free!

Overall, technology can provide a little more organization, communication, and engagement in the classroom and I would consider it well worth the small frustrations.

What other tech tools would you recommend for the classroom?

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