Incorporating the Olympics- Middle School Math Freebie

Not sure why I never posted this before, but its great for a Friday Freebie!



While watching the Olympics this summer, I was working on school stuff. I kept thinking, there is so much math involved in the Olympics, what I can do to include it in my lessons?
First, I found Sparkle Box from someones blog. Was it you? If so, THANK YOU.

I found my Olympic Data from this awesome website. London 2012

Since we start teaching fractions, I started with that concept and ran with it. I will be honest, it is a larger project than I intended for it to be. My team has decided to do each page as a weekly center and then being it all together afterward and analyze the data with graphs. I will let you know how that goes.

Click on the picture to download. I hope you can use it somehow.

MS-Sunday Funday- Differentiation in the Classroom

Finally, a weekend with essentially nothing to do.

My son has finally finished his three, yes three, sports that he played in this fall. My life can be normal for a few days.

So back to blogging, I hope.

How do I differentiate in class?

Not sure I have anything new and creative to share. I use a lot of small group activities. I allow students to work together, but mostly allow them to group themselves. When I group its based on who can and can't work together because of behavior. Seriously, I have to make my 50 minutes with them productive. If I can tackle management I can do anything.

I am in a kick of cutting up worksheets and making them "stations". The students love checking their answers when they are finished. They get so excited.

I have also learned that I differentiate based on each class. Some classes need more help than others. Some can handle independence, some can't. I also have volunteers in three of my classes, everyday. They really makes a difference.

I may be thinking scaffolding more than differentiating.

Here's an example (and a freebie)

Last week in my Math Lab class, we completed a scavenger hunt for Ratios and Proportions. These were pretty challenging. Math Labs are like remedial Math for our students. It's their second Math class. We try to make it more station based and classes are pretty small. I am lucky enough to have a volunteer in my room everyday during this period. She is amazing with the kids and is "learning" sixth grade math along with them.

So, back to the scavenger hunt. As students worked some needed a LOT of support. We had to set the proportions up for them. Some needed a little bit of guidance and focusing reminders. Others were ready to rock and roll and even help the struggling learners.

This was our second "scavenger hunt" and the kids knew the process and the expectations. It ended up being a great treat, because on our second day, we had visitors from the district in to "check us out." We had assistant superintendents, my admin staff and principals and vice principals from all of our district schools. We have three elementary, one middle and one high school. Everyone showed up. I didn't even realize it would be happening. I guess we were told, but I didn't really comprehend what that actually meant.

Anyway, all these people came in and the kids were all over the place. Thank goodness they were working! Everyone on different problems. Some working alone, some with a partner, some in a group of 3-4. My volunteer was helping one kid. Not sure they even noticed, she blends in. The students were thrilled to see their elementary administrators and had no clue what they were there for, but they kept working.
The comments and feedback were really amazing and it was much needed for me. I didn't get much positive feedback last year at this school. This year has been so different and honestly, it felt good.

I think I got off the differentiation topic. Sorry. Its been a while since I really blogged.

So, here's the scavenger hunt. (updated to a PDF so it would print correctly) Maybe you can use it yourself! I wish I had pictures. What I did was copy on bright paper and hang them randomly around the room. We made a recording sheet where students had lots of room to show their work. Just in case, you can get that here.

 Enjoy!

November Currently

I missed last month's currently, so even though it's the 9th, I am doing it!

Life is so busy and there is never time to blog or even read blogs. I do try though and hopefully I will find time soon. I have some neat things to share and record and I know there are so many fantastic things going on in the blog world. I hate missing out!

My youngest turns 3 in the morning. We are not prepared!

My middle has his fourth ear surgery on Thursday. His fourth in 1 year and 5 days! Which will be the beginning of my Thanksgiving break.

Oh, but before that, my formal observation is Tuesday. I hate what we have planned for next year and just have to change it. But my team mate is a first year teacher and I know I could freak her out even more if I do that.

Maybe I will go get that glass of wine I mentioned above.

Join us...

Halloween Fun

I should be working.

I should be posting about the awesome notebook stuff we have been doing.

I should be posting about the great centers we have been doing.

But, I have 5 minutes.

So I thought I would share the fun we had yesterday with costumes. These are my hallway partners.

I'm the biker chick!!! It was so fun. The kids loved having us in costumes!

Blog Comments Challenge- MS Funday Sunday

Hey Middle School Math Community!

Julie from I Speak Math challenged us to read five blogs and comment to encourage the author. I found myself just reading and reading blogs. I found so many great ideas and links and I ended up on blogs and forgetting where I started. I loved it though. Here's a few I found and why I enjoy reading them.

So, of course, first, I Speak Math... Julie posts a lot and I love that. I can't find the time. I wish I could. She has great ideas and I love that she encourages the middle school community.  Julie has a huge list on her site of middle school blogs if you are searching.

Another favorite is thenumbertwentyone. Courtney also post often and they are short, quick and to the point. I tend to type on and on and on... I have incorporated a lot of her ideas in my classroom this year.

Another blog that I see on many blog rolls is Finding Ways to Nguyen Them Over by Fawn Nguyen. Her site is full of awesome ideas. I love here dialogue and she has a great way of helping kids understand higher level math. I wish I had her when I was in middle school. She is inspiring. Check her out!

I stumbled onto Math in the Middle. There weren't recent post, but I checked out some older posts and  stumbled upon these AWESOME review game ideas.  Reviewing is essential, but tends to be boring, here's a unique way to review and hopefully make an impact on learning. They are worth checking out!

Mr. Darby @ Change over Time I also read this blog and thought it was nicely done. It felt like I was just sitting with him drinking coffee and hearing about his thoughts.



I have followed Finding Joy in 6th Grade for a while now. I found it and thought the name was hysterical, because at the time, I hated teaching 6th grade. I wondered how anyone could be joyful in middle school.
She has been MIA for a while, but there are some awesome post and ideas on her site. Plus, she is back to blogging and trust me, she will inspire you!

Trust me, I read more and could write about them all day, but my own children won't allow that.
For me, the blogging community keeps me excited about teaching middle school. I enjoy getting ideas, but I also like having a place to share mine. Even if no one reads them. It's very therapeutic for me.

Easy Math Stations from a Boring Worksheet

Saw this on I Speak Math and holy moly, she wasn't kidding, it was so easy to make!!!
 These were her stations.

I had this boring worksheet to the left.

I cut the questions apart, copied them on brightly colored paper, created an answer key and seriously, within 20 minutes I had a cooperative group/stations activity.

I didn't have the stand up holders yet. So I slid them into protective sleeves and they were ready. I love bright colors!

Today I used it and the students absolutely loved not having a worksheet to do and they didn't have to listen to my voice the whole class period droning on and on...

I swear these pictures are not staged. Do you see how intently they appear to be working? Well, THEY ARE!!!! I was so proud of them.

To end class, I asked them to tell me what they liked and didn't like about this activity. It was their exit ticket. I gave them the option to add their name or not. I told them I needed the reason why they liked or didn't like the activity. I loved reading the responses.

I have over a hundred, but let me share a few with you:

• like the groups, didn't like the problems
• I liked that I understood all the problems I didn't like that no one listened when I was right (I have a grouping issue here)
• I liked to not do a worksheet what I didn't like was we didn't do a lot of easy questions
• I liked the questions I didn't like that it was hard
• I liked everything about this except my partners (I had several comments like this, good to know for next time)
• I like that we didn't have worksheets. I didn't like that we couldn't use pictures (we have moved to symbolic, maybe next time they can still use them if they need to, why not?)
• I like how it was like a game but we learned. I don't like how (name) was acting and trying to boss (lol, too many chiefs in that group)
• I didn't like the page because it was too hard for me. I did like that you put us in a table (they normally sit in twos)
• I like + I hate -  (lol subtracting fractions is hard, I know)
• I liked everything, dislike nothing
• I like groups, but too many boys (lol, I agree!)

My favorite: me gusto todao el travago del dia de hoy
I have two students who are brand new to America, they speak ZERO English. I speak ZERO Spanish, unless queso and guacamole count. But of course, I could read this and knew he liked what we did in class!!!! I may need to frame that one!

I have so many. The consensus is they like groups, but the problems are hard. Yes, I know that. That is the point. They needed practice. Plus, they did the back side of it for homework. They did tell me they disliked that part. yea, I figured that. 

I also had a few that really struggled and they told me so on the post it. They wrote their name too. Thank goodness. So, tomorrow I plan to pull them aside and work with them in a small group.

Today was a really good teaching day. I am having more and more of those this year and it is such a good thing for me. I can't believe I actually look forward to teaching 6th graders. Math can be fun, my students are proof.

Thanks to Julie for helping me make something boring and hard, more fun for them. Still hard, but I think they learned a lot from it as well.

You Can Take the Teacher Out of Elementary, but You Can't Take the Elementary Out of the Teacher

Wow, what a long title.

But so true!

This is my second year in middle school. I spent 17 in elementary and most of that in primary. So, this middle school gig is OUT OF THE BOX for me.

I can honestly so I am enjoying it this year.

So much is different in middle school. of course, the students, that goes without saying. But the teachers are different. It's just a different breed that teaches older kids.

One thing that is really different is bulletin boards and door decorations. It just doesn't happen in middle school.

I shared about our door contest earlier. Those decorations will stay up all year for most and when stuff gets ripped or falls off, it could possibly stay that way. I don't know why, it just does.

Well, my door got ripped big time. I knew it would. I had 3D boxes on it. It was a matter of time.

Good timing it was, so I changed my door decorations.

Our school colors are purple, heck our whole town is purple, and we didn't have green paper so my monster is purple.

My students LOVED it. Someone comments everyday! Even the other teachers say great things. My neighboring teachers said they may even change their doors. I hope so. I love Halloween!!

My monster makes me smile!

Oh, and yes, I saw him on Pinterest last year. I made this one on my front door. My own children loved it!

                                                                Happy Door Decorating!