Pear Deck Flashcard Factory

Pear Deck’s Flashcard Factory is one of my favorite tools to use when teaching new vocabulary or even just reviewing vocabulary at the end of a unit.

In this activity, students are grouped into a n orange or blue team. Each team then works together to create definitions and images that match the vocabulary words. The goal for each team is to finish making their flashcards first. Then, as a class, we can decide what flashcards are best and create a Quizlet set with them.

What I like best about this activity is that students have to work together to succeed. Students that are making definitions for terms have to work with the student creating the image for that flashcard. To make a good flashcard, the definition and the image need to match and work together. In the process of creating flashcards, students are not simply just reviewing material, but actively using their knowledge to create. The video below is from PearDeck. Check out how it works.

Quizizz.com

Quizizz.com is an online application for your students to practice skills. I use it about once a week to quickly assess my students skills in mathematics topics. They have thousands of premade quizizz in many different topics. I rarely have to create any of the questions myself. So it saves me a lot of time in planning.

The game is similar to Kahoot.it but it allows students to work at their own pace. It also allows you to assign the game as a homework assignment. No need for your students to sign up either. The best part is that students love it. I love it because I can quickly find and diagnose misconceptions. They love it because it's fast and fun. Quizizz shows the students a meme after every question if their answer is right or wrong. They even let the teacher make their own memes. I like to make memes of students (with their permission).

Overall, I highly recommend this website for all teachers that need to quickly assess their students' knowledge.

As the Crow Flies

Students practice finding distance 'as the crow flies' on a coordinate grid. Students will use the Pythagorean Theorem and the Distance formula to find distance.

Click Here to view my lesson

I used this Desmos activity to help show my students that the Pythagorean Theorem and the distance formula perform the same task. We also discussed why and how the Pythagorean Theorem could be turned into the distance formula. We had some great math talks about this one.

Measuring Angles

Students practice using a protractor to measure angles.

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I had used real protractors with my students the day before I made this Desmos Activity. I found that students really struggled with understanding which scale on the protractor to use. The questions at the end of the activity allows students to analyze another student's mistake and analyze their own mistakes in the process.

Prodigy Game

I love trying new websites and software out with my math tutorial students. Over the past year I have found some great websites that allow my students to learn and play at the same time. This is one of my favorites.

Prodigygame.com has provide my students a unique way of practicing their math skills. It combines math with a fantasy role playing game.

Prodigy is a freemium game. Almost all of the game is free to your students. The paid subscription is an add-on option that you or your students' parents can pay for. The subscription adds levels and items for your student to delve deeper into the game. It is absolutely not needed. The free memberships include access to over 1200 math skills for grades 1-8. Unfortunately, Prodigy is really good and asking your students to upgrade. So your kids may bother you about it every time they are not allowed to open a special chest.

It provides teachers and parents with reports on what standards and skills their students are performing well on and what they need help with. . Prodigy is always free for teachers and it allows them to create plans and assignments for their students.

The most important part of Prodigy is that it has given many of my students a reason to do math. It has allowed many of them to find math exciting and fun for the first time in their lives.

Batchgeo

I will be working with data in Unit 5 of my Exploring Computer Science course. In preparation for working with map data (latitude and longitude) I wanted to find an online program that would organize and filter the data while presenting a nice visual. I have found that Batchgeo.com is that solution. To test out the website yourself please follow the instructions below.

1. Grab some data here (this will make a copy of some Los Angeles Bike data into your Google Drive)

2. Copy the data

3. Paste the data into Batchgeo.com

4. Click the "Map now" button

The results are great. It automatically processes the latitude and longitude and maps all the points. At the bottom of the map you can filter the data. Try it out below.

CSCS Open House 2016

CSCS Open House 2016 Website

Agenda
Desmos.com

Presentation Download

CSCS Open House 2014

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is an effort by California State University, Northridge to support science teachers in the San Fernando Valley. The concepts being developed by CSUN can be applied to all subject matter at all grade levels.

Click here to visit the CSCS website

To view/download GeoGebra Files:

  1. click the .ggb file you would like
  2. click the download button at the top of the page

CMC-South 2014

Problem Solving with π

I presented the following information in November of 2014 at the California Math Council - South conference in Palm Springs, CA. 

“Kellie Evans, CSU Northridge & Kyle Ramstad, CSU Northridge NSF Teaching Fellowship Program
kellie.m.evans@csun.edu
kyle.ramstad.20@my.csun.edu

In anticipation of March 14, 2015 (3.1415…), this session will celebrate π. Participants will use GeoGebra to make sense of problems, test ideas, and check that solutions make sense. Classroom ready activities will be provided. Bring a laptop.”
— CMC-South 2014 Program

To view/download GeoGebra Files:

  1. click the .ggb file you would like
  2. click the download button at the top of the page
  3. open the file in GeoGebra online or on your computer

Favorite Desmos Activities & Graphs

“Desmos wants to help every student learn math and love learning math. But “every student” is a lot of students so we create digital math tools and let the Internet take them to anyone who wants them.”
— Desmos.com

Direct Variation

Students practice creating direct variation equations of the form y=mx while playing a game.

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This was my first attempt at creating a MarbleSlide activity using Desmos. In this activity students practice creating direct variation equations while trying to launch marbles into stars. I found that this activity really motivates my students to keep trying and to persist. Turning a difficult task into a game allows more of my students to access the material and provide them with instant feedback.

Pythagorean Theorem

This was my first attempt at using a Desmos activity in my classroom. It is also the first activity I created myself.

Click Here to view my lesson

In this activity, students use the Pythagorean Theorem. They will discover that the theorem only works for right triangles. Then use their knowledge to solve some real world problems.

This lesson was created because I noticed that my students were trying to use the Pythagorean Theorem for all sorts of triangles. Acute, Right, and OBTUSE! It occurred to me that I had never told my students that it only worked for right triangles. Then I asked myself, "Why should I tell them when they can discover it for themselves?"