Tried it Tuesday- Protecting Your Products

So the past few weeks have been crazy with social media. Unless you have taken a social media break, you know about the whole Periscope wave. 

I joined in. I learned that I am a better watcher than broadcaster though. It has been all consuming. I have had to force myself to take a break. 

But, I have learned quite a lot watching them. Plus, it has been fun "seeing" the faces behind so many blogs and stores. 

So, back to today's topic. 

I am linking up with one my favorite bloggers Holly, from Fourth Grade Flipper to share something I learned from watching Periscopes and then TRIED and now do with ALL my products! 

I was one of those under the false belief that saving products as a PDF protected my products and the clip art I used. 

I am happy to report that the clip art and templates I had been using were protected. They were put into my documents as jpeg's or png files so when saved as a PDF, they were locked. 

But, my content was not! 

Here's what I mean: 

Before securing my product

When you click on the template, it turns blue and you can't copy it. 

But, when you would highlight the words, you could then right mouse click and steal the content. 

I have said several times, I am a "Polly Anna" and wouldn't think people do that. But, I know they do, so we have to protect our hard work. 

This is how I do it a PC. 

I create my products in Power Point. 

I save that power point. That is where I do all my editing. 

Then, I save all slides as a png. 

I have learned that a png saves clearer, crisper pictures. 

Next, I begin a new power point and copy paste each slide into that power point. I save this one the same title but add png to the front of it. This way I keep the two power points distinguishable.

For my credits page, I add the original slide from the original power point. I do NOT want that slide in the form of a png because I want my hyperlinks active. 

The last thing I do is save it as a PDF. This will be the one I upload to TpT. 

Here's a recap from my Periscope I did on this subject: 

I feel like I should have known this, but thanks to Periscope, now I do. 

I have to thank Lindsey from Chalkboard Charm for her scope that taught me this process. 

Click here for another tutorial by The 3am Teacher on PCs as well. 

Before moving on, let me show you a screen shot of how I organize my products because that's a lot of documents for one product, right?

I have a folder for each product and its all about the saving and keeping it organized so I know what I need when I have to get back to that product for any reason. 

Reviewing with Task Cards- Left, Right, Answer

We are REVIEWING, like everyone else, for the BIG test coming up next week. 

I have a lot of material to get through, plus it has to be fun and keep my students actively engaged.  

My students use task cards for everything, so reviewing is no different. But, I did have to come up with some new ways to use them. This is the first in a series of 3 activities that I used for review this week. 

I try and make everything seem like a game and I break everything into small pieces for them. 

Enter, Jennifer from 4mula Fun. 

Her Left, Right, Answer game is PER-FECT for this. 

Here's what I did: 

I created the dice and gave students a recording sheet. There are multiple options for recording sheets based on how many task cards you use. I had 16 cards per group. 

On this day, I used the STAAR Prep review cards from Danielle over at  Live Love Math. They are written in testing format, so it is perfect for this time. Plus, for me they are TEK specific and I love that!!! 

I have six groups in my room. Two sets of tables do the same cards at a time. I differentiate by printing on different colored paper. 

I had an abundance of task cards so I sorted them into 3 groups and we played 3 rounds of the game. 

We played one on a Monday and the other two the next day. Students had about 20 minutes to play each round and that seemed like a perfect time. They stayed engaged the entire time. 

This is a game of chance because of the die. Each student had a recording sheet, but only one student has to answer the question. A student rolls the die and it either lands on left, right or answer. If it lands on left, the student to their left answers the card. If it lands on right, the student to the right answers it. If the die lands on answer, that student must answer it. 

The directions have the students "x" out the box they are not answering, I have my students write the name of the student doing the work in their box. I tell my students that everyone is involved because they must agree on the answer as a table group because they are getting one table group grade. (My students will work for candy or grades, period) 

It is really fun once they get started because sometimes the same students has to answer several questions in a row. The students are active and engaged and LEARNING.

They truly worked on math and reviewed previously learned skills. I allow my students to use their journals during the game as well. This type of activity lends itself to lots of math talk between the students. 

You can get this game here. 

Any task cards work. 

The ones I used can be found here. 

I am linking up with Holly for Tried it Tuesday. 

Be sure to check out other posts on her blog. 

Tried it Tuesday - Daily 3... in a Middle School Class

I officially started Daily 3 this week. It went extremely smooth and that makes me nervous. Maybe its too cold for my students to act up! 

I have my chart ready! All I have to do is move the table circles as we go. 

I have tables labeled. This is new for us. The students actually love them. 

If you know anything about Daily 5 or Daily 3, I charts are created for expectations.

I needed one for all of them and done quickly for students to know what was expected of them during these rotations. 

This was my solution. I created a power point and have it up the entire class period. 

Also listed is what is being done at each rotation. This way while I am working with students, I am not getting bothered with questions like, "Where do I find this paper." or "What do I do now?" 

These are my kids at Math by Myself: They are completing a Secret Message activity with ebackpack. 

Here they are in Math Writing: They are taking Cornell Notes using videos from their textbook. 

And Math with Someone, they are creating a picture on quadrant grids. 

So far, so good. I am pleased with the work they are giving me and that they are taking this serious.

Now we are on to week 2 of Daily 3. I don't have new pictures though, but I have adpated it some. 

I have 54 minute classes. Students need at least 20 minutes for each station. I found that splitting a station between days can get confusing, especially with 4 classes. 

So, I am structuring it like this: 

Day 1: Mini Lesson for whole class, One station for all students 

Day 2: Two stations, plus time for warm up and completion of assignments. 

We will do "two sets" of stations in the week and I am leaving Friday open for make up work, reteaching, etc. Time will tell how this will be structured. I am trying to be flexible and really make it work for my students. 

This week's stations:
Math by Myself: Multiplying and Dividing Decimals Secret Message 

Math with Someone: Creating Tables 

Math Writing: Vocabulary 

Math by Myself: Final Exam data review

Math with Someone: Equations Match with Gameboard 

Math Writing: Comparing and Contrasting additive and multiplicative relationships

It has gone beautifully! My students are engaged and getting work done. 

I will get more pics out ASAP!!!! 

Be sure to check out Holly, over at Fourth Grade Flippers great "tried-it's" for the week. 

Link up and share as well! 

Tried it Tuesday- Relays for Halloween

This is how I survived Halloween in middle school last week. 

First, I was comfy all day in my jammies! 

Our students are allowed to dress up and some teachers participate as well. Here are just a few... 

There were more, I just didn't get many pictures. 

And now for  my tried it with Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper  

At CAMT this year, I bought this: 

This was one of the many AWESOME activities included: 

 

Spooky Integer Relay from Miss Math Dork

Perfect since we just finished integers! 

If you don't know about Miss Math Dork's relays, they are awesome! They are designed for groups of 4 (some of mine were groups of 3, but we made it work) Each round has a question for each student to complete, so all students are working, ALL the time. Love that about this activity! For each round, one student will draw a portion of the end picture. Groups work at their own pace, which is also very nice. This was so much fun. Not one "monster" was the same for any of  my groups. 

Here are the students working together to solve the problems. 

Here's a few of them drawing.... 

These are ALL the final products! The names at the top are their team names for the day. 

Some of my take a ways from this activity: 

• My students need to learn how to work better in groups. I was kind of shocked by some of the mean comments made about each other's drawings. We had a few "life lessons" talk throughout the day. 
• I have some great artists in my classes 
• Vocabulary is huge! My students didn't know what a "torso" was. Great teachable moments happened with this activity. 
• My students had F-U-N! and they were pretty vocal about it too. I love that they had fun and were able to practice some math skills on a wild day anyway! 

Be sure to check out all Miss Math Dork's Relays! I will definitely being trying more with my students!