July Challenge Day 20: Operations with Rationals Error Analysis

It's been a few days since I've blogged primarily because I didn't feel like I have much to share but also because we've been a little on the busy side. I took my (almost) 2 year old to the movies Friday for his first real movie in a theater to see Planes: Fire and Rescue. I was a little nervous because he is so unpredictable right now. He's an incredible kid...we are blessed...but you just never really know how he's going to act in public. But, we went with a friend and her little boy. I thought worst thing that could happen was that I'd waste about $15 ...which, if you know me, can slightly make me cringe because I've been in quite the cheap-o stage lately. haha

But, he was a PERFECT angel and even fell asleep the last 20 minutes. To make it even better, we changed his bed to a toddler bed yesterday. I thought we'd have a pretty eventful night with him not wanting to stay in bed. To ease my nerves, I locked and put a gate at his door since he has recently learned how to unlock doors. (Judge me. But you won't see me on the news with my kid wandering the streets!) He was PERFECT. We put him in bed like normal, he cried for about 3 minutes, never trying to get up, and went straight to sleep and slept til about 8 a.m. He's a pretty awesome kid. Praise God!

Getting ready for bed!


In the movie.

Okay, enough about my sweet baby.

I was reminded about a resource I created this year with my Pre-AP Algebra 2 kiddos by reading Mrs. Reilly's blog about error analysis. This is a strategy that I started implementing this year for the first time with my kiddos. I have been so impressed with how much it really challenges kids to think.

When I taught my unit on rationals, I have my kids take a quiz using error analysis on operations of rationals. The whole unit, I watched frequent mistakes kids would make and took note. Then, I used these mistakes on the quiz. I worked it as they would with the mistakes, had them explain what the error was, and then had them correct the mistake to find a correct solution. I was surprised by how much this challenged my kids. Even the smartest students struggled to put into words where the mistake was. Even the types of mistakes I used that they were so accustomed to making before really tricked them at times. (Insert evil teacher laugh here). Overall, I was pleased with the outcomes and plan to do more of this stuff next year. I love it.


I plan to look back over my mistakes on the quiz and see if I need to make any changes. If you see any "errors" (haha, ones that were not intentional), let me know!

I do need to re-consider my approach to teaching adding and subtracting rational functions. I have researched and tried so many different things and nothing quite demonstrates the concept to the kids like I really want them to. They still struggle with this concept so much. If y'all have ANYTHING to help with this concept, please let me know! I am open to anything!

Have a blessed Sunday!
(3 1/2 days til TMC '14!!)

Brooke

July Blogging Challenge Day 14: Notation Foldable

I've been working on some Pre-AP Algebra 2 stuff tonight! I got the idea of a foldable for Notation from Sarah Hagan. She made a three-door foldable using various notations that Algebra 2 kids encounter throughout the year. I put my spin on it and made a printable foldable. I do a "Characteristics of Functions" unit at the very beginning of the year where I go over notation, domain/range, Transformations of generic graphs, parent functions and their transformations, and piecewise functions. Kids should be familiar with most of this stuff coming into PRE-AP Algebra 2 but.....you know how that goes. They are brain dead at the beginning of school and I can't really blame them because I feel like that a lot too :) I can blog later about each activity I use to get kids working together and making inferences for each of these sections. I knew, from last year, that I needed something better for kids to put in their notebooks for Notation. I'm anti-notes, y'all. Judge me all you want but I HATE (yes, I'm yelling) having kids take notes. So, I usually do quick foldables/activities to make the process a little less "snore-worthy."

I'm attaching the document in PDF form because I used specialized fonts that I downloaded but if you want the Word Document just send me an e-mail and let me know. I'm also attaching pictures of what I intend to write in the foldable with my kids. Keep in mind: This is totally a rough draft. Please let me know if you see something I should add or fix! Let me know if you like it!

Front of Foldable (Didn't feel like coloring the rest :] )

Inside Left (Hope you can read my handwriting)

Inside Right

Have a great Tuesday!

Brooke

July Challenge Day 8: Aquarium Problem

I was introduced to this problem last summer by Shelli. I never actually used the problem but I intend to this year. I LOVE how it is such a higher-order thinking problem that can be used at so many levels. Pre-Cal, Algebra 2, my Bridging classes.. you name it. Like I've said before, I really want to take problems like this and make them applicable to all levels. I hope to use it with my classes in the first week of school.

I love how all the answers are not near as straightforward as most things. You really have sit and think about the situation that is being represented.

Aquarium Problem

Short post. I'm scrounging for interesting things to write about. My mind is wanting to start working on my units. I'm feeling that panic that you feel when school is coming. Where to begin?
I have PD tomorrow so maybe that will give me some of the inspiration I need.

Have an awesome Tuesday!

Brooke

July Blog Challenge Day 7: Graphing Rational Functions Group Quiz

Not entirely sure what to blog about tonight so I will just share something I did in my classroom this year that I enjoyed.

While browsing pinterest, I found where a teacher had her students sketch the graphs of rational functions on the sidewalk as practiced. I loved this idea because, when graphing crazy rational functions, kids need lots of practice! The day I had planned on doing this with my kids ended up being extremely cold and they are sissies :) So, instead, students paired up in groups of two. I had them grab a whiteboard and a slip of four rational functions. There were three different sets of rational functions so a lot of the groups didn't have the same functions as the groups immediately next to them. I also used this to differentiate with the kids so that I could give groups who needed the basics a little simpler problems and other groups more difficult ones to challenge them.

As they complete each function, I went around and took pictures with my iPad. This is how I graded them. I won't lie. Grading was a little bit of a pain but once I established a system in place, it got a little quicker.

This took my kids WAY longer than I expected but I was really proud of how much effort they put into it and how much it helped them solidify the concepts. Plus, they LOVE whiteboards and so do I. I'm definitely wanting to learn more ways to challenge my kids using whiteboards. I'm attaching the functions below along with the key which has the graphs. The Vertical and horizontal asymptotes and intercepts that I asked them to list I actually wrote in by hand so that won't be on the key part. I know it's not much but maybe it can generate a couple of ideas for ya with rationals. Hope it's somewhat useful!

Sidewalk/Whiteboard Group Quiz


Have a great night!

Brooke

Hey everybody! I'm back! And to say that's accomplishment for me is an understatement :) Summertime is so sweet but  I do have to say that I wait all year for summer and then, when it comes, my mind is focused on the start of a new school year. I want to work more on reminding myself to be present in the moment, especially since my little guy is growing so fast!

Well, exciting news! I am a procrastinator. This personality flaw of mine caused me to put off signing up for TMC '14 and, as a result, I ended up having to be put on the waiting list. I did not expect to be able to go so that was definitely disappointing. Welll.....I received an e-mail a couple days ago saying...I GET TO COME!!! yay!! HOLLA!! Other teachers from my district don't know much about it or were able to sign up in time either so I'll be coming alone which is a little bit nerve-wrecking! The only ones I know are people I have collaborated with online. I'm so excited about all of the things I'm going to get the opportunity to learn.

Enough rambling. Y'all ready for some goods?
First thing I've thought about sharing is actually a unit/lesson I had to make sure graduate school (which I'll finally be F-I-N-I-S-H-E-D with in August!) Many of you have used/seen all the lessons integrating quadratics with the angry birds theme. I have used it for a couple years and enjoy the project for my kids. However, I've really wanted to integrate more cross-curricular themes into the mix as well as getting my students to view the task as something they are assigned as a part of their job. So..this is what I came up with for my unit/lesson.

Curriculum Unit Map
This map basically just tells you the unit essential questions, objectives, Core standards to be met, and what roles I want students to take on throughout the unit.

Angry Bird Unit Tasks
This is the actual unit that I create, most of which I have used in my classroom before. What I really want y'all to look at is the rich culminating task. I have to say, I am super excited to use this in class this year and am proud of how it ended up. It truly requires my kiddos to partake in a real-life task that a job might require of them. Remember--I turned this in for grad school so there are a few reflection questions I had to answer at the end as a part of the assignment. Please let me know what you think. It comes with a rubric for the rich culminating task, as well. Let me know if you want me to send you the Catapult Activity and the activities I use to teach students to write equations of quadratics in various forms. Will definitely share if anyone wants it.

I'll leave you with a couple pictures from my classroom at the beginning of last year. It pretty much stayed this way all year. I have to say I LOVE color and my kids do too!
 
 

Hope you enjoyed! Let me know if what I'm sharing is benefitting you!

Psssttt... I don't proofread :)

Brooke

Hello everyone! I have been thinking of creating a blog to share about my classroom for well over a year now but I just didn't think I had much to share when comparing my ideas to all the other awesome blogs out there. However, my sweet friend, Shelli Temple, has encouraged me so many times and I'm excited to say I finally gave in. I teach Pre-AP Algebra 2 and Bridging to Algebra 2. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job and am blessed that I get to make a difference with teens. I hope to use this space as a reflection of who I am as a teacher, a mother, a person, and a professional. I have lots of things to share and learn! I hope you guys can find the practices and resources I share valuable! It may take me a while to get the hang of this thing and a constant motivation to keep up with it :)

One thing I really enjoyed teaching this year with my PAP students was sketching polynomials by hand. I can't remember where, but I found this awesome (what I taught as an inquiry-based/discovery lesson) somewhere. Please let me know if it was you! Love the way students were led to discover the behavior of polynomials without me have to yack at them. (Who wants to hear my country accent more than you have to? )

Graphing Polynomials Investigation

I'm also a LOVER of all things Interactive Notebooks. This was my first year and - wow, I'm in love!- and I think most of my kids became believers too! So, I made this foldable as a resource for my kiddos to put in their notebooks. I found other foldables I loved kind of covering similar concepts, consolidated, and enhance as much as I could. Some of the fonts may not show up because many of them I have downloaded on my own computer.

Graphing Polynomials Foldable

These two things are a brief overview of a couple of things I found quickly browsing through my USB. Most of my ideas and resources have stemmed from people like you reading this! Please let me know if what I'm sharing is beneficial to you and feel free to e-mail/comment me if you notice any mistakes (I'm known for my lack of proof-reading :)) or questions!

Brooke