May 4

Website Worth Sharing: Math Whiteboard

There is a cool site called Math Whiteboard  https://www.mathwhiteboard.com/ that provides an easy way to demonstrate math concepts on a computer. If you have an interactive whiteboard, it’s even better because you can use the pens to draw on the whiteboard. This video will give you a quick idea of how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSCcGRwVmno

In addition to having tools that convert your writing to equations, there is also a built in number line tool/slider and a way to generate graphs and solve problems. Another video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pLpTIxCT78&list=PLWwtTmqjOBP_U9kw4OGWIrDSpCIjqC1uY&index=2

A fun feature is that your students can “join” your whiteboard via a link that you can post in Google Classroom, so you could post a few problems and have small groups generate their answers for all to see. You can also create multiple pages like in Google Slides or PPT so each group could have its own page. If you have worksheets that are in pdf format, you can literally just drag the file onto the page and it will become the background.

To learn more, I recommend this Playlist by “What the Trig” (who has a delightful British accent). They are mostly for secondary level, but the first couple- the overview and number line (also linked above), would be helpful for elementary. These videos are short and to the point, but reveal a lot of tips and tricks that aren’t obvious: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWwtTmqjOBP_U9kw4OGWIrDSpCIjqC1uY

If you want to take a deep dive into this tool, one of my favorite tech integration experts, Eric Curts, has an hour long webinar that was posted to Youtube: https://www.mathwhiteboard.com/whiteboard/?d=SBOKPA

May 24

Website Worth Sharing: Almost Fun- Culturally Responsive Math Lessons and Test Prep

The Almost Fun website has some nice interactive teaching resources for a variety of topics. This non-profit has a goal of providing culturally-responsive learning resources for diverse students that will engage them in learning about math. In addition to the Math Lessons: https://www.almostfun.org/lessons , they provide resources for teachers like Lesson Templates https://www.almostfun.org/for-teachers . This would be a good way to provide additional resources when students struggle with certain concepts.

In addition to their Math lessons, they provide SAT Test Prep for all 3 subjects: https://www.almostfun.org/app/profile?s=reading

You might also want to check out their College guides: https://www.almostfun.org/guides

You’ll notice that some of their lessons, especially the more advanced topics, are still under construction, so you might want to visit back if they don’t have what you need.

April 13

Website Worth Sharing: Whiteboard.chat

If you’re a fan of using digital Whiteboards like Jamboard, you might want to look into Whiteboard.chat https://www.whiteboard.chat/. This free service allows you to create a digital whiteboard that you can use for demonstrating or you can share it with students. This is a pretty common feature, but an even cooler option is the option to create a lesson that also creates an individual whiteboard for each student that you can view. You can post a link right into Google Classroom for them to join. As a nice security feature, they can’t see each other’s boards unless you choose to “showcase” them. They can draw, add text, add images, etc using the toolbar on the left. One cool option is that you can bring in a pdf or multiple page pdfs that they can interact with. There are great tools like a “freeze” button (the digital version of “stop what you’re doing and listen for a minute” or “1,2,3 eyes on me”), a digital timer, built in polling option, images and manipulatives, mathematical symbols, music images, graphical organizers and more. There is even a built in video chat feature.

This is a nice option for formative assessment and monitored practice and could be used for students both in and out of your classroom. I could see it being used for math, annotating reading materials (use the import pdf option), graphic organizers, music composition, and more.
You and your students don’t have to create an account to use it, but teachers won’t be able to save their work without creating an account. The basic version is free and there’s a lot you can do with that version. The premium versions allow you to save your work without it expiring.
Here is a nice video demonstrating how to use it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT56XnEGJJc
Here is a more comprehensive (and longer) video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaBx3rErTcg
I tested it out and it was a little bit glitchy, but the refresh button seemed to fix any issues. This is a pretty amazing tool and free is a good price. I think you’ll find it worth your while if you want to utilize the Chromebooks for interactive lessons both in and out of the classroom.
March 18

Website Worth Sharing: Virtual Math Manipulatives Collection

I found a nice collection of Virtual Math Manipulatives. The “top shelf” links you to collections of manipulatives, and the “cubbies” link to individual manipulatives.

This is a great collection and easy to navigate. You might want to add a link as a “Material” resource to your Google Classroom in the math section, and direct your students to use the tools like you would with actual manipulatives. This way there’s no need to worry about sharing germs!

A fun one to use as a class starter or end of day activity would be to use the marble jar (top shelf, far right), click on the “fill” option, use the  fullscreen button and project or share your screen. Then have your students respond to a Google Classroom question of “how many marbles in the jar”? Set a timer so they aren’t able to physically count the marbles if your goal is to encourage estimation rather than counting strategies. Once you “close” the question, click the Total Off button to show the actual total. There is a printable worksheet that goes with the activity. Just click on the link below the jar. You could even have them create a bar graph of the colors using the graph manipulative (this one is best for older students).

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jadIg9nk64U9gWtj4QEbd-AEzVtCXQeH-y44LPXlF3M/present?slide=id.g27b693dca5_0_261

 

 

November 13

Math Flashcards

3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Teachers,
If your students are having trouble with their math facts, you might want to direct them to these websites with digital flashcards:
https://sites.google.com/techyoucando.com/timesanddivide/home
In addition to flashcards, there are other options available in the tabs at the top. The matching is fun (hint: the colors need to match in addition to having the right answer).
You can make your own custom flashcards at https://www.flippity.net/ You just use their templates to turn a Google Sheet into an activity.
May 6

Website Worth Sharing: Which One Doesn’t Belong

Too often our mathematical discussions focus on “convergent thinking”– looking for the one right answer . Here’s a website that encourages “divergent thinking”. The Which One Doesn’t Belong website http://wodb.ca/index.html gives you several collections of 4 items. You can choose from Shapes, Numbers, Graphs or Incomplete Sets. Students are challenged to find the image that doesn’t belong and explain why. There is no right answer, in fact they say that you should be able to make a case that any one of the 4 don’t belong depending on which attributes you choose. This would be a great opportunity for students to use mathematical language to discuss the attributes of shapes, numbers, equations, etc.

Before you dismiss this as too elementary for your secondary students, check the images out. While there are basic collections like shapes, there are also more complex challenges including student submitted images. Below are some examples, but there are plenty to choose from. Want a more creative challenge? Have your students build and submit their own. The site accepts submissions.

SMARTboard users- Use the camera capture tool to capture these images and build a SMART Notebook file with one image per page. Then you can record notes as the class discusses which ones don’t belong. Don’t have a SMART board? Use the Snip Tool and Powerpoint to create something pretty similar.

And…since it’s currently stuck in my head, I’ll share this video with you. It would be a great introduction to this activity!

March 14

Website Worth Sharing: PLIX

If you haven’t looked at cK-12 PLIX (Play, Learn, Interact, eXplore), you might want to browse what’s available in their interactives. https://interactives.ck12.org/plix/biology/ You can choose which Branch to explore (math or science) and there will be several categories to choose from. Each category will have a interactives that include a quiz or experiment that explores a certain concept. There are usually directions for the interactive and then a Challenge me that leads to quiz type questions and discussion questions (turn and talk opportunities.) This is a great way to increase engagement and student talk opportunities.

 

You can even create an account and assign activities to classes of students. Those of you using Google Classroom will be pleased to know that you can assign directly through Classroom using the “Assign to Class option.

December 18

Website Worth Sharing: Chrome Music Lab

If you teach music or science (or even math or art), please take a minute to visit the Chrome Music Lab website ( I don’t think you’ll be disappointed): https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments which contains 13 “experiments”, each represented by a tile on the homepage. Each one allows students to experiment with music and sound. Music teachers will find a variety of activities available to project for whole class activities (a SMARTboard would be awesome for this) or individual exploration (grab a Chromebook cart and have some fun!) While most of the activities are “in the moment” and disappear when done, the Song Maker allows you to save and share your creation via a weblink. Students can turn their creations in through Google Classroom by posting the link to the assignment. Here is my song as an example: https://goo.gl/UmULf5

Science teachers- at first glance, this just looks like music activities, but check out the spectrogram (the modem option will bring back memories), sound waves, voice spinner, harmonics and oscillators.

For a more detailed explanation of each activity, see this blogpost by Eric Curts (if you’re on Twitter- be sure to check out the Tweets regarding how teachers are using this site- the link is at the bottom of the blog post).

https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/12/chrome-music-lab.html

November 29

Website Worth Sharing: PBS Learning Media

PBS and KCTS9 have paired up to create a curated collection of standards aligned videos, interactives and lesson plans. When you go to the site https://kcts9.pbslearningmedia.org/  you can use their search field to find specific topics, or browse the collections by clicking on the subject area tiles at the bottom of the page. The menu at the top allows you to search by subject and grade AND if you create an account (login with Google for the easiest method) you can search by Washington State Common Core standards. How awesome is that?

When you find a resource that you want to use, you can automatically share it with your students with a Google Classroom button they provide to the left of the resource. If you teach primary students you can project the videos or activities or bookmark the activities on your Chromebook bookmarks bar.

October 15

Website Worth Sharing: Polyup

It’s sometimes tricky to find interactive sites that go beyond basic operations and encourage students to THINK. If you want your students to practice number sense and apply higher level thinking skills (all the way up to Calculus) you might want to check out https://www.polyup.com/ They describe it as “a free and open computational thinking playground: Modify expressions, functions, and algorithms to discover the beauty of math.” It is recommended for grades 3 through 12, so there’s something for all levels. There’s an animation on the homepage that shows you a little how it works. If you want a more detailed introduction, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlX3QhXlmZQ or this playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlX3QhXlmZQ&list=PLpe4uySx4v_OiEZfjF-WlUlBt2EvJRBqc&index=2  Teacher resources, including a teacher’s guide can be found here: https://www.polyup.com/educators/ Scroll to the bottom of the page for Google Slide presentations you can use to present this to your students (they thought of everything!) This was conceived at Stanford and has an impressive board of advisors which lends legitimacy to the project.

It will prompt students to sign up in order to save their progress, but it is not necessary. Students under 13 are able to sign up without an email address. Encourage them to use a nickname for a username.