Function Machines

It's Monday! The day before our state testing!!! I am trying not to stress my kids out with too much. They are either ready or not. They just have to do their best and all will be okay. 

For Mathematical Monday, I have a Monday Made it as well. 

My boys have gotten into Pringles. 

And because I am a teacher and think, "I can't throw this away, I could use it for something", I save lots of things that normal people just throw away. So, I have this collection. (this is about 2 months worth) 

They are starting to be an eye sore in my kitchen. But, I am so busy with school and baseball, I just can't "make" anything right now. 

 Last summer, I made these with Pringles cans. 

They are pretty and I really like them. 

Confession time:  It's April and they have not been used. I love the idea and concept, but I need to adapt them to meet my students needs. 

As we planned for our STAAR Camps, we decided to use Function Machines. 

I saw some on Math = Love. It was my job to make them for the camp. 

Over the weekend, I starting researching how to make them. I looked over at my sink, and viola, those Pringles cans were just staring back at me. 

So, I played around and this is what I came up with. 

Students put in a card with the "x =" side up. When it comes out, it tells them what "y" would be. Students complete this for all the like colored cards. 

They complete their table and then decide what the process was inside the "function machine". 

Students were doing this independently so we made it multiple choice. It's also a review for our state test which is all multiple choice, so we made it this way on purpose as well. 

This is how I made them: 

I cut a section out from the bottom. 

I cut a "ramp" for the inside of the machine to fit. 

The "ramp" had to come out of the can to work. 

Then, I duct taped it down. 

This is the view of the inside. See the small slots that the poster board doesn't cover? Well, believe it or not students got cards stuck in  there. How? I don't know. 

So, I had to take it apart and adjust it. Now the inside looks like this. 

Then I duct taped the whole thing. E-A-S-Y!!! 

I cut the lid. This is where the card goes into.

So, here is how I feel about this function machine:

It works. Its what I had available when I needed it. 

Will I use it again? Absolutely. 

Will I make a different type of function machine during the summer? Maybe. 

Were my students able to figure out algebraic expressions using tables? Yep! 

This means, S-U-C-C-E-S-S! 

HAPPY MONDAY! 

Sparking Motivation- Relay Races

Middle School students are competitive by nature. 

As part of our review for Order of Operations, we planned relay races for them. 

When they came in the room, it looked like this: 

They all thought we were testing. I thought that was kind of funny actually. 

Anyway. Students were given a strip of paper with an equation on it. 

The first person in the row worked the equation. They gave their answer to the person sitting behind them. 

The equation the second person had included a variable. Students had to replace the variable with the answer given from the person in front of them. 

This continued until the fifth person got a final answer. They had to raise their hand, I checked the final answer and told them whether it was correct or not. 

If it wasn't, they had to find where the mistake happened. At this point, the five students in the group could work together. 

This is an example of what an entire problem looked like.

I copied them on colored paper. Cut them into strips and students worked the problem on the desk with dry erase markers. 

I am hoping I have explained this well and that this photo helps explain it even better. 

Students caught on really quickly. 

It was an absolute blast. All day long the students were saying how much fun it was. They were teaching each other, explaining the "rules" of PEMDAS and trying to recall that multiplication and division & addition and subtraction happen left to right in order of the equation, not  the order of the letters in PEMDAS... why are we still using this, it confuses them?!?! 

It was fun, it was active, students were engaged and motivated.

The downsides were that some kids had to wait and depending on the level of the student in front of them, they had to wait a long time. If they happened to be in the back two rows and were "bright" students, they did get frustrated if another student was slowing them down. 

Once a team got the correct answer, they also just waited. That was my fault. I should have just given them the next problem and they could have kept practicing. It was just my poor planning. (live and learn)

We only got through 2 full problems in most of my classes. Students really want to play again though. I am definitely planning this activity again closer to the end of the year.

A little friendly competition and they were learning; a great combination! 

Be sure to visit Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching to see more motivating ideas. Link up and share yours too! 

Five for Friday- April 18th

I am home today and it feels great! I am finally getting laundry done. (My washer was broke for 3 days and holy moly, I am behind!!!) I am getting caught up on my family blog which I know my in-laws and mother will be happy about! 

Plus, I am just enjoying the day off! 

Most of my 5 for Friday has a theme for some reason. It's all about what I am planning to post about this next week or the following week. Why? because  I have so much to write about, but not as much time to actually write. So today, I will tease you a bit. 

Okay, I know this looks like I should have just deleted this picture, but the more I looked at it, the more perfect it seemed.  Monday was our first STAAR Camp. This pretty much sums it up. There were HUNDREDS of kids and it was all a blur. 

I will be posting separately about this, after we have our second camp next Monday. 

During review week, I have moved my desk around several times.

This was for an order of operation relay. (I'll be posting on that later too)

I thought it was funny because when the kids came in, they said, "Are we testing today?" 

I cannot wait to show you what I made with these. They turned out very cool! 

I will definitely be posting about how I transformed these to use with my students. 

I also can't wait to post about these and what they turned into. 

This has to be the biggest "art" project I have done with 134 students. My students and I learned a very valuable lesson, sometimes you just have to go with the flow. 

I just had to laugh or I would have cried all day and probably had a nervous break down.

Enough teasing,  let me share something really cool from Erin at I'm Lovin' Lit. She is hosting a special fundraiser bundle sale. 

She has gotten with lots of TpT sellers and created a K-2 bundle and a 3-6 bundle of GREAT products. 

She is raising money for her nephew, Jaydon to go to Washington DC. Each bundle is being sold for $10.00. When you see the included products you will know, THIS IS A STEAL!!! 

                   

Happy Friday all and hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

Wordless Wednesday

Are you off this Friday? 

Click to see more Wordless Wednesday with Sugar and Spice. 

Change is Coming... like it or not.

It's time for Mathematical Monday with I heart Recess. 

Instead of sharing what we are doing in our classroom, 

I am sharing the changing our district is going through. 

I have sat on this post for some time now, I need it get it out there and say it so I can move on and accept what is happening mathematically here in Texas. 

So, while most other states jumped on the Common Core Bandwagon a few years ago now, Texas of course decided we don't need the CC. 

Well, next year for Math, K-8 are getting brand new Math TEKS. TEKS stands for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. 

Last year we started looking at the new TEKS and what it means to our curriculum. I have attended several trainings on it as well. 

I have received these books. They have actually been very helpful. They are from Lead4ward. We do a lot of training through them. 

They have spelled out the new TEKS vs the old TEKS, what they mean and where everything is going or coming from etc.... 

These books has the old and new side by side with explanations

 Inside they have a key that tells us if the expectations is new, moved, or staying the same. 

It even tells me what the cognitive and content changes are for each expectation. 

It is extremely helpful . 

 This document has 6th, 7th and 8th side by side. I wish it had 5th too, but of course, it doesn't.
I would have to pay for the elementary book to get 5th grade.  

A few weeks ago, my grade level was given  half a day with an instructional specialist from our Region Service Center. She helped us go through a "BIG document" they created to help us look at the changes and/or possible gaps our students will be facing. 

This is a 28 page document that is color coded to help us decipher the new TEKS and how we can avoid GAPS with all the changes. We spent the afternoon going through this document with the instructional specialist. We took a lot of notes! I wish you could see this document. It is HUGE, but it is also thorough! 

As a 6th grade teacher, I am getting 29 NEW SKILLS to my curriculum!!! 

This means that 55% of my curriculum is changing!!!! 

7th grade is getting 16 and 8th is getting 14, just to put that in perspective. 

After this half day, I was rethinking remaining a sixth grade teacher. I may need to see if there's a fourth or fifth grade opening in our district. I mean, I know that curriculum, I have been teaching it the past three years!!! 

I am so overwhelmed.

Lead4ward also has these for us.

They are not the same thing. One is 6th, one is 7th grade. 

They are a one sheeter of all the TEKS (standards) I teach. They are divided into a processing TEKS, Readiness Standards and Supporting Standards.  I love this document. I like having it all in one place. It sits in the front of my teacher binder along with my Year at a Glance (Scope and Sequence). 

I couldn't plan without them. 

Because I teach advanced math, I have to learn 7th grade now along with the new 6th grade expectations. 

I am overwhelmed. 

As I type this, I can feel my neck tightening, I feel my jaw clinching. But also, I feel like I have so many resources at my fingertips. I know we have help. I know we are going to be okay. 

I don't like change though, not really. I have spent three years in sixth grade. I actually feel like I know what I am teaching now. Next year will be like starting over, I don't want to start over. 

Last week, our Math and Science departments worked until 6pm and attended presentations from three different book companies. We are selecting new textbooks. 

Honestly, we saw three very good companies. It actually helped us feel a little better. 

We made our choice, now it's our district's decision. 

I know they will listen to our input. 

We don't feel at a total lose for "where to start" with all of our changes. 

I am struggling to embrace the change. I am doing it, but I am struggling!!!

Saturday Motivation- All Calls

Time for another Saturday Motivation Tip with Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching.

Here in middle school we do announcements once a day during our second period. Our Student Council is in charge of all daily announcements. 

Our Social Studies teachers turn in when their students make a 100 on a Unit Test. Students names are called for all to hear. They LOVE hearing their name called. Plus, its the WHOLE school hearing, not just their own grade level. 

It's not my tip, but I thought it was good enough to share! 

Be sure to check out the other motivational tips! 

HAPPY SATURDAY!!!!