Create Your Own Birthday Party in Math Class!

Our classroom was loud today, full of excited students sharing ideas during math. Some students were laughing while others were expressing comments of shock and awe. Sometimes my best teaching happens in the moment, like most of our best experiences in life. Lessons need to be tailored to the students, and math should be engaging and authentic.

A few years back I remember sitting in a math professional development listening to the speaker share a Webb’s Depth of Knowledge level 5 problem I would be doing with my students. When I questioned him about the level 5 and explained most people sitting with me had never heard of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge, he responded that this was another professional development for another day. This experience led to one of my favorite blog posts from Alice Keeler. I was the one who messaged her a screenshot of the problem featured in her post. Who the Heck is Brad reminds us that we have to shift our math thinking in how we teach students.

Today was one of those days where I was reminded of Alice’s post and exemplified for students what math can and should be- FUN! Students were going to do work in a math workbook, answering questions that required them to make a table and plot points. They were using meaningless information in a rote way. This was when I hit the pause button, and students watched as I designed an activity where they create two of their own birthday parties to decide which one is more cost effective. They will make graphs and tables of the data they collect after researching potential birthday party ideas in our state.

Armed with a device and a notebook, students got to work. Some decided to have parties at their house. Therefore they had to use division to figure out the cost per person. Others went to venues that required ticket purchases. Regardless of the party created, students were planning something personal using their math skills. They were doing more than the book expected. Students collaborated with classmates, seeking help and ideas for purchases. Today I took a risk. My students are not feeling disconnected from their math work. Instead they are proud of their work, and they love what they are doing. Try to make math problems more exciting and engaging. Your students will reap the benefits of that choice!

Sometimes You Need a Life Raft When Riding the Wakelet Wave

When I hear about a new tool in ed tech I often need to find my why or bigger purpose before using it. At ISTE last year there were rumblings of riding on a Wakelet wave. I was not sure what that meant, but it piqued my curiosity. The conversation continued in the #ditchbook chats. I spent some time exploring Wakelet, which is a tool to curate resources from a variety of places. You can keep your collections public, unlisted, or private. I decided to create a Wakelet profile to share with other educators. I was looking for a way to keep all my resources in one place. This was my answer. I was not sure what to put on it though.

I started with curating our #positivesignthursday posts to show students and educators who share tweets how far their reach is when spreading messages of positivity. This led to mapping where other schools were, integrating social studies skills. Then I went to a session with Randall Sampson at FETC, and his energy about sharing, collaborating, and curating drove me to create my own profile with an abundance of resources.

I downloaded the app on my phone to easily have access to add things I read to my Articles Worth Perusing collection on my profile. Then I heard about the Chrome Extension. I thought this would be perfect since I come across so many articles online. Now I had a way to easily curate and save articles to read later or to share with other educators. However, much to my dismay, every time I opened up a new tab on my Chrome browser my Waklet profile opened up. Some of you may love that! I did not want that to happen, so I went to my Chrome settings and shut off the capability for Wakelet to open up in a new tab. Sadly this disabled the whole extension.

I needed a life raft. I reached out to Wakelet on Twitter, as it is important to always ask questions when trying to figure something out. No one learns in a vacuum. They got right back to me with information in their help section to disable the new tab function while still keeping the extension. I learned it is important to view the help section when trying something new so I better understand how to use it. I also appreciate the quick response from Wakelet, showing they truly care about their users. Now I can happily add to my collections without having Wakelet open in new tabs all the time.

I encourage you to try Wakelet to curate your ideas. You will be happy you started riding the wave! My next wave to ride is one where students begin curating for their research projects.