• your child’s classroom
• Math books
• Prek to 2nd grade ideas
• 3rd to 5th grade kid ideas
• Middle school kid ideas

Math Teacher Gift Ideas for Christmas

1 Base Ten Block Magnets These are perfect for modeling addition and subtraction in primary grades.

2 Mavalus Tape The ONLY tape a teacher needs. This tape is WELL worth the money.

3 Perimeter, Area, & Volume Book Every teacher needs more books, so why not add a great math book that can be read aloud or independently!

4 Your Elastic Brain A read aloud to help students build growth mindset, a must have in the math classroom.

5 3D shapes with Folding Nets Teachers can use these with 1st graders when identifying shapes and the folding nets help with surface area for our middle schoolers!

6 Measurement Set This set can help students visualize liquid measuring.

7 10 Frame pop-its Pop-its are well loved by all and these are no different. Perfect for small groups for grades K to 2nd for addition and subtraction.

Math Books for Teachers and Families

1 Maryam’s Magic Biography of a brilliant, Iranian female mathematician. An inspiring story of a mathematician all children should know!

2 I Can Do Hard Things While setting a math classroom culture and math norms students will need to develop a mindset that hard things are a welcome challenge and they are capable. This book is a great place to start.

3 The Magical Yet The pictures and rhyme of this book make the message even more special. This book is a must read in every classroom community as you develop your culture of growth and perseverance.

4 I’m Trying to Love Math This picture book is perfect for all ages, even middle schoolers. The illustrations and humor make it a love-able and practical book for every classroom!

5 Thanks for the Feedback Is a favorite for introducing how to respond when students get feedback. Includes great thinking stems about both positive and negative feedback and ways to respond. Use with elementary and middle school students.

6 Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super Soaking Stream of Inventions What kids don’t love water guns & inventions? This biography of Lonnie Johnson is inspiring and exciting. A must have in every classroom! Check out more mathematicians your children should know here.

7 Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain A true story of an inspiring woman in the 17th century solving unbelievable math problems. Let’s change the narrative that math is for boys by surrounding our students with stories of all types of mathematicians from all the ages!

These are all teacher gift ideas for Christmas (or any holiday). Your child’s teacher would be so grateful to receive any gift, but especially a book!

Teacher Gift Ideas for PreK to 2nd Grade Kids!

1 Montessori Counting Pegs A great open ended math tool for helping children develop number sense and explore quantity. Perfect for at home family play or your child’s teacher!

2 Proportional Sized Number Blocks These blocks have so many possibilities from stacking to addition. What makes them unique? They are proportional– meaning the 10 is double the size of 5. Stack up the 2 and the 3 to equal the same height as the 5. This is a toy your kids will play with for years.

3 Number Blocks Stampoline Park If your child hasn’t watched this show you gotta go now! These brilliant, short (5 minute) episodes make learning quantity & math fun. This toy is a stamp set that is sure to be the highlight of art time, but also give some real fun math practice!

4 Magnetic 123 & ABC writing practice This magnetic board gives just enough resistance to help students practice with the “pencil” properly. While the number size has room to represent problems and draw models to match. Must have for traveling or preK and kindergarten fun at home practice.

5 Tiny Polka Dot has 16 easy to learn games inside that tiny box! Numbers up to 10 represented with ten frames, dot patterns, dice patterns… making subitizing (don’t worry if you don’t know that word) practice easy and fun!

6 Number Block Transformers are a BIG hit in our house. They are fun to play with and make numbers part of play without the pressure to “do math”.

7 Kids Learning Locks allow you to introduce numbers, written numbers, and quanitity while practicing fine motor skills. I can only imagine what kind of trouble kids can get into with their imagination and a set of pad locks!

Teacher Gift Ideas for your 3rd to 5th Grade Kids!

1 Fraction Measuring Spoons are perfect for your holiday baking and giving kids real life examples of fractions. Buy these for your kid, then use them as you cook & bake!

2 Montessori Multiplication & Division Board is perfect open ended game or learning toy to use with your child. No rules or “must dos”, instead just explore and notice patterns. Practice your facts and challenge your child to make arrays to match equations.

3 Fraction Measuring Cups a must have for real world math. Use these in the kitchen with your child as you bake and cook to help them visualize fractions. Also these make a great gift for your child’s classroom!

4 Multiplication Table Pop-It Everychild wants a giant pop-it, so why not get them one that’s useful too.

5 Adsumudi game A mental math game for all four operations. Easily modify this game to meet the needs of your child. This game is a perfect way to make practicing their math facts fun and build fluency with no tears!

6 Proof! Game Ages 9 to 99 will enjoy this game of mental math. The whole family can play and work on not only fact fluency, but providing mathematical reasoning as justification!

Teacher Gift Ideas for your Middle Schooler!

1 Prime Club is a game where you’ll master multiplication, division, factorization and prime number concepts… while having some family fun! Seems worth it to me.

2 Rubiks Cube the classic toy has made a come back, or maybe it never went anywhere. The middle schoolers at my school have backpacks full and take them everywhere they go. Your middle schooler wants one!

3 Shashibo is a foldable cube fidget. We all know kids love fidgets, but this is one you’ll find the adults playing with too. Configure it into tons of different shapes. Tons of colors and patterns to choose from.

4 Absolute Zero Card Game is a family card game where you combine positive and negative numbers to find the value of zero. Bonus, it was created by a math teacher!

5 Blokus is a family friendly game of strategy and spatial reasoning. Playing this game your child won’t even know they are using their brain, but will be having fun “blocking” out the other players.

If you have questions about the teacher gift ideas for Christmas for your children drop them below.
Or you can follow me on Instagram at @HelloMonaMath to see how I use these in my own home and classroom.

The post Teacher Gift Ideas for Christmas for YOUR own Kids appeared first on Mona Math.

Resetting Math Classroom Norms

As we start the new year we often want a fresh start. We set goals and help students reflect on what they want to accomplish in this new year. However, resetting math classroom norms is often what we need in the new year.

The winter holiday season is a lot and often the month of December ends up feeling a lot different than the other months of school. By the time students return in the first weeks of January, it’s been a long time since they had a “normal” school day. With that big break of time, it is essential we do some revisiting of norms before we hop back into our normal routine. 

Listen to even more about this on the Honest Math Chat Podcast

 

But Why Should I Be Resetting Math Classroom Norms?

Resetting math classroom norms will help your students be more independent in taking ownership of their learning. The ultimate goal is that our students are invested in their learning, right? We want our students to be motivated to learn, take initiative, and engage with their learning activities. Therefore, it is our job to create the conditions where this type of learning can happen. By creating strong norms and using them to guide everything in your classroom you’ll be able to create a community that provides the perfect container for your students to be independent leaders of their learning. 

By Resetting Math Classroom Norms Will Help Students By…

• Remember their role in the classroom 
• See how collaboration will help them learn more 
• Conduct themselves in the classroom 

What Norms Do We Set?

When resetting our norms in the new year you’ll want to look back at the norms you established in the beginning of the year. Those math classroom norms are important because I know you spent a lot of time establishing them and reflecting o them. Your students also remember those norms. Start with those norms. They may include “mistakes are important” and “thinking matters more than answers”. Math Norms Blog Post

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Grab these math norm posters here.

Norms are positive statements that help guide our students toward the behiavors that are beneficial and productive. These statements can be referred to during class, guide individual conferences with students, and used to talk with parents. 

However, in the new year you may need new math norms. Remember the math classroom is our special place. The place where we are simultaneously responding to our students math trauma while also building positive math identities. We want to encourage our students to build a growth mindset about math, while also challenging them daily to step out of what is comfortable. Our math norms must support the work we do in our math classrooms. So, as your math classroom is changing in the new year you may need to add more math norms. 

For example, maybe your students are now comfortable with grappling and getting uncomfortable in math. However, they tend to have ownership over their answers and are resistant to sharing their ideas with their peers. Then, you might need to add more norms around participation in math discussions.

How Can I Reset Norms in January?

We just want to jump into content because it feels like FOREVER since we’ve actually taught them anything.

I know. But please, trust me that if you spend the time ensuring your classroom community is healthy and strong, then you’ll be able to teach your students WAY more. Have you ever heard of the phrase “go slow to go fast”? The idea is that spending time “going slow”– laying a solid foundation of the classroom community will allow you to “go fast” later. It’s like, you know make sure your car is in good running order, the gas tank is full, and you have everything packed properly in the car so that when you take off on your road trip you will be able to GO instead of stopping for car troubles or to get the things you need that you forgot.

Spend time being proactive– by establishing the classroom community with norms, a clear vision, and teaching students HOW to collaborate, participate, and engage… so that you don’t have to stop your teaching to be re-active. 

Does this sound familiar? You’re teaching your math lesson, wrapping up the math warm up when you tell students to take out their materials turn to page 45 and share their strategy for the problem you solved  yesterday with the person sitting next to them. You send them off to get started. Then all of a sudden you have students get up to sharpen pencils, ask to go to the bathroom. Some students just simply slide their paper inf ront of their partner without speaking. Others are having a conversation about a game they played at recess. 

You have to bring everyone back together to remind them of HOW we have a conversation with a partner- how we participate. You go through a list of the things we don’t do. You may even have to take a point away or mark down the class score. 

But what if there was a different way?
What if you could TEACH students before hand how to do all that and you don’t have to stop the class mid-work time because they already know what is expected of them. What it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to collaborate, share, complete work, move int he classroom, get out materials, etc. 
So if that has been you (because it’s DEFINITELY been me, lots of time)…. You can change it by resetting your classroom norms.

 

Engaging Math Discussions FREE Guide

If you’re a teacher looking for ideas on how to engage every student in your classroom then you need this guide!

Grab your copy http://www.monamath.com/discussions

The post Resetting Math Classroom Norms: Tips for a Fresh Start appeared first on Mona Math.

Reflecting on our math stories can help us analyze how we got to where we are in math. Our past experiences, current mindset about teaching are all part of our math stories.

Our Math Stories: Past, Present, & Future

Let’s start by reflecting on where’ve we’ve been, our past. What memories do you have of math class? What happened in math class that helped you learn or what caused you to not understand math? These experiences are so essential to understanding our own journey and translating that into how we show up in our math classrooms today.

How are our math stories formed?

Take a look at this quote about teachers, and all adults in America. The education system we graduated from taught us math in ways that in most cases were damaging. Rarely did we engage in discourse, sense making tasks, or grapple with complex problems. We learned rules, were timed, and pressured to perform calculations error free. Few of us grew up solving real world problems that allowed us to apply math to our everyday lives.

Quote from Why Do Americans Stink at Math? by Elizabeth Green

We know our system is flawed and progress has been made in the past decades toward change. I’m curious to know what you are working to change about the education system or your opinions on what needs to change. I’d love for you to leave a comment below with your thoughts!

In NCTM’s book Principles to Action they start off with noting the progress made and celebrate. Some notable points include, The percentage of 8th graders scoring proficient or above on the NAEP rose from 15% in 1990 to 36% in 2013. On the same test fourth graders proficient or above scores rose from 13% in 1990 to 42% in 2013. However, as noted in Principles to Actions, these are impressive increase due to the hard work of educators in the United States, but when compared to more diverse range of test takers we are far from where we need to be.

If you’re looking to create a student centered math classroom, then you need this free ebook!

5 easy steps to start your student centered classroom. Click the image below to grab your copy!

How do our Math Stories show up in our teaching?

Let’s take a look at how our math experiences (aka math stories) translate into our teaching careers.

Quote from Why Do Americans Stink at Math? by Elizabeth Green

This quote accurately describes a big part of my own math story. You see, when I started teaching math to 1st & 2nd graders I brought along all the misconceptions and lies I had been told about my math capabilities. I was told how good of a reader and writer I was through out school. I quickly learned that my talking and questioning that was welcomed in social studies class had no place in math. I wasn’t fast at my multiplication facts and still used my “count by songs” to solve 7 x 8, even on my first day of teaching. I wasn’t a math person, I was a reading and history person. To top it off, I was completely at peace with that. So, when I went to teach math I didn’t have the same sparkle I had with reading. I used the curriculum. I taught the script and walked my students through completing the worksheets. It was working for me… but not my students.

You can read more about my teaching journey with math here. 

Changing Math Without Addressing our Math Stories

Here’s the deal, we know that we are coming out of a broken system. Thanks in large part to the work of NCTM and the researchers we have guidance on how to develop math classrooms that strive for sense making and conceptual understanding. We are seeing shifts in curriculum and we’re submerged into this “NEW” way of teaching. However, the oversight in these shifts was the teachers. Yes, we have professional developments and trainings, but they often focus on the program or curriculum and little on addressing the fact that this is new math to us, too.

So, what was learning math like for you?

In research from Rachel McAnallen (2010) she found that 33% of elementary teachers report having math anxiety. They describe the anxiety stemming from traumatic memories such as…

• timed tests – feeling nervous and sweating
• teachers expecting them to solve at the board and being unable to do it correctly and getting ridiculed.
• getting big red Xs on all of their math papers & never remember actually getting any help to understand.

What would you add to this list?

For me it was the pages and pages of math problems that I had no idea how to do. So, I would flip back in the text book and find the example and just copy it subbing out the numbers from the problem.

How do our math stories play out in our classrooms?

We know, as the above quote illustrated, that how we were taught is what we default to when we teach. I urge you to reflect on the practices in your classroom and consider how those practices are writing your students’ math stories.

As you plan for next year consider…

What is your math mindset?

What is your math vision for your classroom?

What is a mathematician in your class? (What do they do? say? feel?)

Implement a Student Centered Math Classroom!! Get started now with this free ebook! http://www.locallearnersandco.com/ebook

Maybe you’re ready to make some changes?

Releasing in May of 2020 is a new pd series just for you! We will take the math stories to a new level, diving into our students’ math stories & use them to create a vision for math in our classrooms. This training addresses strategies to develop mathematicians that are empowered and engaged. I would LOVE for you to join this work!

You’ll walk away with 3 ready to use activities with your students, a fresh mindset, and inspired to inspire your students to love and understand math!

In fact, it’s a 3 part series!

I’d love to have you on the wait list for this series. I know it is going to bring value and clarity you’ve been looking for as a math teacher.

Part 1: Mind over Matter

Part 2: Creating a Community

Part 3: Strong Start: A step-by-step guide to your first 4 weeks of student centered math!

Join the waitlist! 

The post Math Stories: Using Our Pasts to Empower Students appeared first on Mona Math.

Problem Solving Definition

Let’s form a common definition. My training and research comes from a book called Children’s Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction. This training opened my eyes to my problem solving definition. So here it is,

Problem solving to me isn’t just an approach that works in math, it helped me develop lessons that allowed me to plan lessons where students could drive the thinking in every subject.

Problem Solving Process

The problem solving process in my classroom is by far the best part of the day – in my opinion and my students. In fact, on the days we don’t do problem solving I hear groans and moans. It’s actually quite beautiful to see their love for math.

On a typical day of problem solving most of our learning happens in a circle. Read about why I love circles here. We use circles to send the message that every single one of us is vital to the problem solving process. You see, this isn’t a routine just for each child to push themselves, but it is a way for us to work together to collectively gain understanding. This process is just as much about our community working together to develop an understanding as it is for the individual.

launching the task

We start in a circle with launching the task. I make strategic moves to help students envision the math problem as a story. We don’t zoom into key words, instead we work toward a total comprehension of what the problem is asking.

grapple time

Next we move onto independent “grapple” time. This time allows students to get up close with the task and challenge themselves to persevere for only 8 minutes. I have found this is the perfect amount of time for most tasks and for most grade levels. During this very quick amount of time I observe. I look for how students are solving, really trying to get inside their thinking. I don’t use this time to one-on-one teach or coach students.
By giving students this time to grapple we show them that they have the ability to do hard things.

share and discourse

Then, we come to the carpet for select 2-3 students to share. I select these students based on what I see students’ current level of solving. The goal is that students will learn from their peers and be nudged along the trajectory toward more advanced models and strategies. 

Steps to problem solving

My problem solving routine is a total of 25-28 minutes. We do this every day within our math block.
And yes, I also teach fluency and my curriculum addressing all math standards. Here is the time break down for each step.

Launch Task (5 minutes) 

Grapple Time (8 minutes) 

2-3 students share (5-10 minutes) 

Student led discourse driving toward deep understanding of students’ shares. (5- 10 minutes) 

As I’ve said before this is the best part of our day and worth every single minute.

If you would like even more details on how I do this, grab my eBook titled
5 Steps to a Student Centered Math Classroom: Empower Students to Love & Understand Math

Problem Solving Examples

Check out this video in my actual real life classroom. Please know this is not perfect example, but it’s a good idea of how you can empower students to have ideas and think in math without directly teaching math strategies.

Another example of what this looks and feels like in my classroom is located here. I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.

Problem Solving Techniques

These teacher moves are something I will be perfecting for the rest of my life. Isn’t that exciting? I have found a teaching practice that not only helps students learn, but also helps me learn!
Leading a discussion, listening, and questioning are the key skills I’m working to be a better facilitator. 

There is a long list of skills we can teach our students. For example; how to start solving a problem, how to get over a road block in solving, how to analyze a solution of others, and so on. That’s all for another time!
Hint… look for a teacher training designed just for you/with you this summer!

Ready to Implement?

Are you ready to give this a try in your classroom? Or maybe you just want to see how all the pieces fit together? Grab the lesson plan below where I will walk you through each part of how I go about teaching my favorite math routine!

The post How Problem Solving Changed my Math Teaching appeared first on Mona Math.

4 Tips to Engage students in Virtual Math Discussions

Anyone else feel like they are teaching a live virtual class to… no one? With student’s cameras off and hesitations to turn their mics on I often feel like talking to myself and my zoom screen. Believe me I get it, it is hard to get students to have a virtual discussion, let alone a full blown virtual math discussion. In fact, when they do finally turn on their mics it seems to be at the exact second as someone else turns on their mic.

I’m right there with you, virtual teaching is hard. Virtual math discussions feel nearly impossible most days between tech issues and student participation.

However, In my 9 months of virtual teaching I have found 4 tips to make virtual math discussions do about. These tips will help engage your students in math discussions virtually!

Tip #1 Choose the right tech tool for Virtual Math Discussions

Tech tools matter when having a virtual math discussion. Read about my top 3 favorite tech tools here!

I have found when I have multiple ways for my students to engage in the virtual math discussion they are more likely to participate.

Here are the ways they can participate in the virtual math discussion:

• in the chat
• with signals on video (I agree, head nods, etc.)
• by turning on their mic
• by accompanying their work with typed explanation.

When I have a tech tool that allows for all these types of participation students are more likely to participate.

When my students are successfully able to complete the work we are discussing they are more likely to “pop on their mic” and participate in our math discussion. Can you imagine not being able to do the assignment and then being graded on how you participate in talking about the assignment you couldn’t complete? 

Math Discussion prompts and sentence stems are always helpful when having a virtual math discussion. Consider using 2-3 to start and build your class’ bank of sentence stems to refer back to. Here are a few more tips on using discussion prompts.

#2 Choose the Right Math Task for Virtual Math Discussions

We know that when students are engaged in the work it is difficult to keep them from talking. In my class our math discussions are much richer when students are excited about the work we are discussing.

Choose a math task that is relevant for your students. It could be as simple as a word problem about the people in your class or a task involving their favorite video game.

Remember, the best math tasks have a “low floor” or an easy first step to get engaged in the problem. They also have a “high ceiling” or multiple ways to extend the problem and explore the math deeply. Choose a task that engages your students and your math discussions will be more robust!

#3 Use Breakout Rooms in your Virtual Math Discussions

Many of my students have told me they don’t want to talk on the virtual whole group math discussion. So, as we continue to build our classroom culture to be supportive and inclusive so students feel safe participating in math discussions, I find ways to ensure all students are able to participate.

I use break out rooms for ways to engage all my learners in math discussions.
First, I use them for use turn and talks. Turn and talks are a math discussion instructional move- used for brief partner shares with a clear talking task.

Also, we use break out rooms for small group shares. In groups of 3-4 students can share their math thinking and reasoning for a “mini math discussion”.

Another way I use break out rooms is to conference with students and “listen in” just like I would while conferencing in person. I use this time to honor students thinking by observing, asking probing questions to truly understand their thinking. 

Breakout rooms allow me to be flexible in the way I structure of math discussions to boost engagement and ensure all students are doing deep math thinking.

#4 Make Models Visible for the Whole Group Share.

We always come back together as a whole class to have a synthesis math discussion. During this time 2-3 students share their strategies & models.

I draw out what my students are sharing. Students can definitely show their work, but it is also key to draw out what the student is describing in the math discussion. Drawing out their thinking provides a visual model to follow how the solver went through each step. Then, you have a record that students can refer back to while during the virtual math discussion.

I use a document camera that I screen share directly to zoom. However, if you don’t have a document camera you can use your phone on a stand to project. There are multiple ways to project your devices on live meeting and I find it to be very help in engaging my students in talking about the actual models and strategies of their peers.

It’s not forever, but it is for right now

This type of teaching isn’t forever, but building our students virtual math discussion skills can only benefit them in the future. In fact, all the technological skills our students are learning is preparing them to be our future leaders in this field and life.

So, if we’re going to have to teach virtually, why not make it as engaging as possible. We are all starved for discussions with new people and missing our friends. So what better time than to embrace the virtual math discussion.

So, I urge you to give virtual math discussions a try. It might not work, it definitely will come with challenges, but it sure is better than teaching to crickets!

The post Virtual Math Discussion – 4 Ways to Make it Work! appeared first on Mona Math.

If you’re like me you’re teaching during this pandemic – virtually, hybrid, in person and then swiftly back to virtual you are STRUGGLING with math lesson planning. And after months, do you still feel like you have no idea what you’re doing? You’re not sure if your math lesson plans are right. Let me reassure you YOU ARE DOING AMAZING WORK.

Seriously, take a moment to reflect on where your students started and what they can do now! You are leading students through a pandemic, teaching them in news ways, and supporting their social emotional needs. 

And that’s all amazing, but you’re still struggling with finding what to plan and how to plan for all the things in a sustainable way. Yup. YES! Uh Huh.
I’ve compiled the common questions and answers from teachers all over to help us share some knowledge on how to make planning sustainable and enjoyable while delivering high quality lessons to our students no matter how they join our class.

How do you know what to put in your math lesson plans? 

Prioritize

Prioritize. Your math lesson plans should only include the highest priority content.
How can you find the high priority content to add to your math lesson plans?
Start with the “critical areas” for your grade level and then implementing some high yield routines. First, go to the CCSS website and find your grade level introduction to the standards. (Here is 3rd grade- just click on your grade level on the right side). There you’ll see an explanation of the critical areas for your grades math (it’s only about 1 page of reading & very useful). Use that to help you pick and choose the units you will cover this school year. 

Add: High Yield Math Routines to your Math Lesson Plans!

Add routines to your math lesson plans. High Yield Routines for Grades K-8 by By Ann McCoy, Joann Barnett, Emily Combs defines high yield routines as an “easily implemented routines that will provide teachers with opportunities to enhance the content knowledge and mathematical practices of their students.” Routines provide a safe and predictable structure for your students that allow them to go deep in their math understanding & practice essential mathematical skills (like attending to precision & making sense of problems and persevere in solving them). Routines are quick & easy to plan, but avoid drill & kill and surface level work, and instead drive toward deep conceptual understanding of math concepts.

#1 Routine: Math Warm Up

I suggest you add 2 types of routines to your math lesson plans.
First, a warm up routine. This could include any of the high yield routines such as quick images, number of the day, which one doesn’t belong, or alike & different. These routines function as a spiral review while also giving students time to develop math meaning through exploration and discussion.
I have several for all grade levels listed here for sale.

#2 Routine: Problem Solving

Second, add a problem solving routine to your math lesson plans. Develop a simple problem solving routine that will allow your students to develop their conceptual understanding through grappling and discussion. Start by launching the problem, then let students grapple independently, finally synthesize the learning with a share and discourse.

Other Ideas for your Math Lesson Plans:

Add some winter fun to your math classroom!

I know the next thing you’re going to ask me is, where do I get the problems? Start with your curriculum. Are there any high quality math tasks in your lessons? Illustrative math (6-8) & EngageNY (k-5) are open source curriculums that both have problems that work well for problem solving! Or you can grab the 5th grade problems pictured on my TPT shop.

How do you plan for virtual live classes? 

Weekly Template of Slides for Math Lesson Plans

Anyone else TIRED of making slides?
My math lesson plans are done in a weekly template of slides. Then, I can easily repurpose slides by swapping out new problems for each week. 

An Opening & Closing

Add an opening and closing to your math lesson plans. This will help you welcome your students in within the first 5 minutes. Consider adding a discussion prompt to get students engaged in the chat as soon as they join the live meeting. I have also recently added a quote from a famous Mathematician to my opening slide. I ask students to reflect on the quote and insert tidbits about the person’s life and career. 

The RIGHT Tech Tools for your Math Lesson Plans

I reviewed my top 3 favorite tech tools to help you find one that will work for you. Read my reviews here.

What are your math lesson plans for asynchronous days? 

Projects.

Your math lesson plans need Projects.
To be honest, my students aren’t motivated to complete practice problems on the days between our live classes. When they do complete them the work is low quality. However, when I engage them in relevant project based tasks students are engaged and completing work.

My 6th graders loved our most recent project- Ratio’s Cookbook Project. With 80% participation and an increase in office hours participants, I’m calling projects a win. In live class we spent 5-10 minutes sharing work, asking questions and discussing the project. We ended the project with a culminating “recipe party” where students shared recipes in breakout rooms. My students were motivated and excited to complete the project. Here’s what they had to say about the project vs. practice problems. 

I’m not the only one who thinks your math lesson plans need projects. My friend, Kristen from “Moore Than Just x” write about how Project Based Learning can get your real results!

What do you do when students don’t do work or come to live lessons? 

When students don’t come to school I worry about them. I designated time in my math lesson plans to connect with families. It honestly only takes 5 minutes to call a family.

I reach out to their family out of concern. By approaching the absence from a place of concern and support it lowers any defenses and helps families see that my main motive is to help. I have found when I reach out this way families are often struggling with technology, internet, or family crisis. I suggest you make a phone call. Don’t send an email or a text, but reach out with concern and willingness to help. Your students and their families will appreciate your compassion.

How do you plan for virtual assessments ?

This is yet another thing about virtual teaching that feels unfair and impossible. I get it. But we owe it to our students to ensure they continue to make progress and have the proof of that progress. Assessment is one of the best ways to show students the incredible gains they are making!

My math lesson plans include daily exit tickets. The exit tickets ask students to explain their thinking in addition to the multiple choice questions. This allows instant feedback from the multiple choice. The extended response allows you to understand their thinking and assess what additional supports are needed. Exit tickets are a majority of the data I gather.

Summative assessments were more of a challenge, but required. Some things I did were: 

• Made them available only on the live. 
• If students missed class they had to take it during office hours (live) 
• Students cameras had to be on. 
• Students solved on paper and submitted a picture of their work as a part of their assessment. 

Things I couldn’t control for, the use of a calculator or someone sitting off camera helping them. I continue to teach my students about integrity and the purpose of the assessment. After that, I just hope for the best.

But what about the kids who still aren’t doing anything? 

I know, it is frustrating and we feel like our hands are tied and we could be doing so much more if we could see them in school more often. I continue to make my math lesson plans high quality. So, when student DO show up they are getting quality instruction.

Other things to try:

*reach out to the social worker
*ask their friends to call, text, or chat them on their video game.

What other questions do you have about Math Lesson Plans (or anything else)?

Are math lesson plans still overwhelming you? Put your burning questions or the questions that are keeping you up at night down below! I’ll reach out to my network and continue to gather resources and answers for all of our questions. It might just be a Top 5 phrase of 2020, but “We’re in the together”, after all.

The post Math Lesson Plans in a Pandemic are TOUGH… but so are you! appeared first on Mona Math.

Are you virtually teaching? I am going to assume your inbox has been inundated with emails from every tech company that has ever made an education tool. The onset of virtual teaching in March of 2020 opened the flood gates on technology tools for education. Let’s be honest, it is overwhelming. 

I’ve been 100% virtually teaching since March 15, 2020 and I’ve learned a lot about what works and what surely does not. Number 1 is…

if you’re not invested, it’s not going to work. But that doesn’t just apply to technology that literally applies to anything about teaching… or life.

So, here is what IS working for me teaching virtually math. If you’re here you’re struggling to find the right tech tools to teach virtually hopefully seeing what works for me will help you!

I created a quick criteria list that I was looking for in each tech tool. I hope these will help you decide which tools will fit your needs.

#1) Padlet for Virtually Teaching Math

Pros for Padlet:

1. Easy to use. Students can easily access this tool. I drop the link in the chat, they click it and we get started.
2. Open Ended- There are so many possibilities with Padlet because it is so basic and open ended. However, you can add background images, Titles, Headings, etc.
3. Interaction Tools. When you create the Padlet you can add an interaction tool for each post. You can include a “love” button, a rating, thumbs up or down, 1-5 star rating, and more. This allows students to engage with posts without having to write a comment. I have noticed an increase in engagement when I include the reaction feature.
4. Easy to share photos. Padlet is the easiest platform I’ve found to add a picture. That’s it. It’s simple.
5. Great for discussions. Padlet offers different types of formats for the posts. This allows for different types of discussions. I truly love this tool the best for getting an online discussion going. 

Cons for Padlet:

1. No Drawing Tool. For most of my text tools I’m looking for a way for students to draw on the slide or page. However, since I’ve mostly used Padlet for discussion, this really isn’t that big of a deal.
2. Logging in can be challenging. If students are logged into their google account their name will pop up when they access the link. If not, they will appear as anonymous. I combat this by asking students to start each post with their first name.

Notes for Padlet:

Everyone can see everything– This a pro & a con. It makes it very easy to monitor student’s participation, but no privacy limits student participation. I have noticed students take less risks in putting their work “out there” when everyone can see it.

Voice Recorder– I love that students can also record their voice to leave their response. Really gives the “discussion feel” to their posts.

#2) Nearpod: For teaching Math Virtually

Nearpod is my go to for making my slides accessible for students. I have found their free version gives teachers the best value. The other tools that are similar (PearDeck) tool’s free version doesn’t give as many functionalities.

Pros for Nearpod for Virtually Teaching:

Cons for Nearpod.

1. Time Consuming. It can take a while to convert your slides. It does add another step to your lesson planning, after you have created your slides to convert them to Nearpod. However, I think it is worth it for the benefits Nearpod offers.
2. Logging in. Definitely takes time to log in and teach students how. You can share a direct link, which I think is the best method. You can also share a code that students can enter at their website.
3. Limited Storage. On the free version you are limited in the amount of storage you have. However, I have not yet met my storage limit.

Notes about NearPod.

Monitoring & Sharing student Work. The teacher dashboard is truly BEAUTIFUL. You can see the students working on their slide in a tiled grid view or a large view of each students slide. You can also select “share with class” button to show the whole class one student’s work. I use this to get our discussions going by asking students to share their work.

Teacher Reports. After your live class you get a report that shows the students’ engagement, all of the responses to each type of questions, and more. This is really hugely helpful and all available on the FREE version. 

#3) Jamboard for Virtually Teaching Math

Pros for using Jamboard to teach virtually.

1. Drawing. Hands down best part of Jamboard is the options for drawing.
2. Google Product. We know it, we love it. Google makes things simple and Jamboard is SIMPLE. Easy to use and easy to access.
3. Open Ended. As stated above, Jamboard is simple and simple to use making its possibilities endless.
4. Very Easy to Use. Yep. Very easy.
5. Post it Feature. The sticky notes allow students to not only draw but type! Type, then move your typed comment anywhere.

Cons for Jamboard for Teaching Virtually

1. Sometimes Lags. With a lot of people logged onto the same Jamboard something it will lag. This has made using Jamboard frustrating for my students.
2. Students can edit all the slides. This is problematic when students start editing others’ work or slides. With older kids this is less of an issue, but definitely know that anything on the Jamboard can be edited by anyone.
3. Put your name on you paper! There is no way to track who did what on the Jamboard, so students my “tag” their work with their name. I’ve found that if you assign one board for each student that seems to help… but they still have to put their name on it.

Notes on Jamboard

Update! You will soon be able to upload your own background. This will make it more similar to Nearpod, where you could upload a worksheet and students could complete with the drawing feature.

Everyone can see everything. This sometimes limits what students are willing to do or put out there. Some privacy helps students build confidence and willingness to take risks. Something to consider as you’re building your community up to use this tool.

Now it’s your turn… 

I hope you have found something here that will help you choose the virtual teaching tools that will work best for virtually teaching math.

I would love to hear from you about the tools you are using and how it is going. Leave a comment below! 

If you have any questions or want to connect to learn more about how I’m using these tools please feel free to reach out, any time! LocalLearnersAndCo@Gmail.com.

If you’d like to try out the Math Warm Ups I use Virtually Teaching grab them here by leaving your email in the sidebar.

The post Virtually Teaching Math? 3 Tech Tool Reviews! appeared first on Mona Math.

Lesson 1: What does a Mathematician Look Like?

Build a positive math mindset by dispelling misconceptions

Do you know what your students think of when you say mathematician? Do they think of themselves?
The first step to ensuring students see themselves as math people is to be sure they don’t have a misconception that all mathematicians are old dudes that look like…. this dude.

So, the best way to make sure of that and make sure they see themselves as a mathematician is to ASK THEM!

This is my most EPIC lesson to do just that. But… Why is it EPIC?
Because it is:
*Low/no prep
*Quick
*Engaging & FUN (involved drawing and talking!)

Here it is… Lesson Plan for “What does a mathematician look like?”

Grade Level: Any & All!! Adults – Kindergarten

Objective: Help students develop the understanding that they are EACH a math person & dispel misconceptions about what a mathematician is.

Materials: Graphic Organizer- Grab it here & A picture of each student printed.

Duration: 15-25 minutes (really, however much time you have you can make this work!)

Procedure:
1. Ask students to draw what they think a mathematician looks like. Encourage students to add thought bubbles, speech bubbles and clothes to express the persons whole identity. You can use the prompt, ”What does this person say/do/think?”
2. In small groups have students share about their drawing.
3. Move to a whole group share. I suggest you listen into small group discussions and choose 3-4 students to be prepared to share with the whole group. Select these students based on parts that you want to highlight. Such as, misconceptions about mathematicians- they are boys, they are fast & smart, etc.
While you facilitate this conversation you can ask questions such as “I see you have a speech bubble that says, “I’m as fast as a calculator. Do you guys think you have to be fast to be a mathematician?”
They all might say yes. In that case, you can tell them some of the greatest  mathematicians were slow thinkers. Then, you’ll need to think about ways to SHOW them these misconceptions are wrong- through tasks, biographies of mathematicians, etc. (That’s for a later lesson). Be okay with the students having misconceptions and voicing them. Keep them in your mind and start preparing a plan for addressing them!
4. After the discussion, print and attach a photo of each student.
5. Display on a bulletin board. Share with parents. Make this a big thing! Help your school see that each of us is a mathematician!!

Lesson #2: What is a Mathematician?

Build a collective definition to lay the foundation for a positive math mindset

Alright, now that you have dispelled any misconceptions on mathematicians now it’s time to think about what a mathematician IS. We need to write a new definition that we all agree on.

This leads so perfectly into forming your classroom math norms, if you haven’t done that already. If you have, great time to revisit them!

Here it is… Lesson Plan for “What is a mathematician ?”

Grade Level: Any & ALL!

Materials: Graphic Organizer to make a web. Grab it here

Objective: Help students develop the understanding definition of what a mathematician is, contextualized for their grade level.

Duration: 15-20 minutes (really, however much time you have you can make this work!)

Procedure:

1. Ask students to describe using words what a mathematician is on their web. You could contextualize this for your grade level– What is a 3^rd grade mathematician? What do they do/say/think?

2. Next, ask students to share in a small group (at their table). Listen into these conversations. Ask probing questions about why they think that or if others agree. Refer back to your conversation about “What Does a Mathematician Look Like” if needed.

3. Bring the students together as a whole group & create an anchor chart where you are working on a class version. Ask students to share something they wrote on their web. Check with the class for consensus or input and then add to the anchor chart.

4. This could be an ongoing formation of a definition- just have them keep it in their math folder. Then, each time something new comes up in math- add it!

• Solve a problem in small groups– Add “Works with others to solve problems”
•   Find a pattern in models– Add “Looks for patterns”
•   A student discovers the lights are in an array– Add “Observes carefully.”

5. Celebrate when you notice students embodying these definitions of a mathematician. 6.Use this definition to form your math norms. Don’t have any? It’s all good, now is the time to start! Well, after this lesson. I talk all about my math norms here. Or grab the ones I use here.

Ready to try it? Grab the Graphic Organizers right here for just $2

Still wondering or want to see this in action?

Reach out! I’m here for you. I’m happy to answer any and all questions, any time!

locallearnersandco@gmail.com

The post Positive Math Mindset: 2 Epic Lessons appeared first on Mona Math.