So Many Flags on this Veterans Day

The note read "I miss you Dad". It was a note that a son had written to honor his Dad at the Naperville 2009 Flag Memorial. The memorial has 2009 flags set up in a park in Naperville. It is amazing. It really struck me that this man gave his life for his nation. His son knows the meaning of that full well.
I took a 1 minute video of all the flags today. Hopefully you will just get a glimpse of it's power. It has made me reflect on this Veterans Day that so many people have died for my freedom. We are certainly blessed. I think it is worth while to discuss the importance of honoring our veterans this week with our students.

Changing Seats and Interview Questions

I have my students change seats every chapter. I often have my students work in pairs throughout the class. So this change of seats is really a change of class partners. This change of seats and change of partners typically occurs on the first day after a test. We change seats and then I have the new partners interview each other. I just make up random questions for the students to ask each other. After they interview each other, I pick students at random to and ask them to introduce their partner, and then answer one of the questions from the interview. It does take a little time out of my class, however, I believe it is well worth while to create this type of community team spirit.


INTERVIEW QUESTIONS and Changing Seats Directions (I give my students these)
We will change seats every chapter.
The purpose of Interview Questions is to get you to know your partner a little bit before you work with them on Math.
You do not need to write them out. However, you might be asked to share part of your interview with the rest of the class.
Students will be picked at random to share their interview with the rest of the class. Remember, to introduce your partner first, and then answer the question that we are on.


Interview Questions
1. What is your name?
2. What are your activities and interests?
3. What extreme sport or activity are you most afraid of? (like 1/2 pipe snowboarding) Why?
4. What former president (living or not) would you like to have a conversation with?
5. Rank the following restaurants from best to worst: Outback, On the Border, Mongolian BBQ and Maggiano's.
6. What insect do you like the most, and hate the most? Why?
7. Without giving a name of a person, give a few positive traits that you admire in someone.
8. Tell about your pets and their names.

Using Flip Videos to help students teach students

We used the class set of Flip Videos last week. It worked out well. The students worked in pairs and solved a word problem from the section we were on. It was actually a homework problem. We have desks that can be written on. So the pair of students wrote some key information about the problem on the desks with their whiteboard makers. Then, they each explained how to do part of the problem. They watched what they did and if it wasn't good, they redid the problem. If they liked what they did, they gave me back the Flip Video and I downloaded the video to my computer. I then put the videos on YouTube and linked them to my site. Students then could watch the different problems from home with the added benefit of stopping and rewinding the video if they needed to.
The rules were simple. 1. Make sure your problem is correct before you explain it. 2. All people in the group must take a turn in explaining how to do the problem. 3. It must be 3 minutes or less in length. 4. You must do the video in one take, so plan out what you want to say. 5. Lastly, have fun.
See the video for an example.

Here is the link to other Flip Video Problems

http://dsladkey.googlepages.com/flipvideos

How have you used Flip Video's in your class?

Differentiated Instruction Site

http://www.noycefdn.org/pom.php

This site is a great example of differentiated learning. It catches the student where they feel most comfortable starting. The site gives a math problem and then develops the problem into different stages A, B, C, D, and so on. I got this from my twitter friend johntaig.

This site has caused me to think about the way I present problems. I'm wondering if I should have a extention whenever I give a problem. For instance, if I give a problem to the class, I should consider posing a thought provoking question at the bottom of my queston to extend their thinking. Wouldn't this be great for that student who is always done early to chew on something that is a little more difficult, yet helps promote understanding?

See the example below

What do you think?
Dave

Email Your Students Day 1

Welcome back to a new school year! Homework Assignment Number 1 was to have my students email me a few things about themselves. First, they had to write their name and class in the subject line. Second, they wrote some activities or interests that they have. Thirdly, they had to go to my website and find a quote that was posted there and explain it's meaning. Not a huge deal for the students, and a great amount of information for me. First of all, they realize day 1 that they can email me to get some information. I think this is a great thing. Secondly, I have found out some information about them that really helps me to get to know them. They feel a little more comfortable sharing about themselves in an email compared to talking in class or writing in class. Right after the emails started coming in, I really felt as if I knew them better. Lastly, I made a distribution list of the whole class off of these emails so that I can send information out to them when I need to. I did answer each email. I commented on things that they wrote. It took a little time, however, I really enjoyed it. By the way, my quote was this: “Attitude is the mind's paintbrush. Create a masterpiece.” Author Unknown

I

Uno Stacko Final Exam Review

My brother in law gave me this idea. It is a uno-stacko review game. Uno-stacko is like Jenga. Here are the rules
1. Groups of 4.
2. Give a problem to the class.
3. Give time for them to solve the problem.
4. Call on someone at random.
5. If they talk you through the problem correctly, they pick two tiles.
If they don't get you through correctly, they pick four tiles.
6. If the tower falls when you are working on it, EVERYONE in the class gets extra credit, EXCEPT that persons GROUP of FOUR.
7. The students really get into it.
8. And yes, I have had students that want to knock it over and give the rest of the class extra credit. It never has happened yet.

Give it a try. Here is the video for it.

Pop Goes the Weasel and the Quadratic Formula

I thought I would show a video of a couple of students singing the quadratic formula to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel. The students really like this. Give it a try.