As a middle school teacher, there are many moments to reflect upon. This blog will be a place to reflect upon all of those moments (and more)!
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In my early years of teaching, I didn't always know what to say when students told me they didn't have time to do their homework (other than something like, "You must have had some time between 4:00 and 9:00!). There were all kinds of reasons - they had sports practice or a lesson, or they had to go to their brother's or sister's game/practice/event of some kind; or their parents took them shopping or out to eat. At that time I had one child (who was 2 when I started teaching), so I didn't have the experience from a parent's point of view of making sure I was getting my kids to their activities, getting done all the house-related things, and also making sure they were getting their homework done. This made it a little difficult for me to relate to the students' situations, but I tried to help them think about how much time they did have to do their work. Being involved in activities definitely reduces time for schoolwork, but it doesn't mean t...
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I don't think I can fit all 12 beach balls - but I may try! I know lots of people use beach balls in the classroom, but I haven't used them in such a long time that I thought I'd share my excitement about finally getting around to getting new ones! I have a little bit of a beach theme in my room this year, so that motivated me to get some beach balls again. I ordered a pack of 12 and am writing different math skills practice on them - so far I have multiplication facts, exponents, fraction/decimal conversions, and common measurement conversions. I have 12 beach balls to fill with math, so I need to decide on more topics. I think I'll do square roots, division facts, math vocabulary...I need to keep thinking:-) Palm tree w/math practices - word wall will be to the right. Our math classes aren't that long, but I figure I can squeeze in 5 minutes at the end of class once or twice a week to toss the beach balls around for some quick facts. With so many differ...
Good idea, Ellie.the, "I tried my best..." explanation always kills me. (Sorry, not trying to advertise but I don't know how to give this to you any other way.) If you'd like, stop over at my store (Pamela Kranz) and grab my free Become a Math Lawyer, Defend Your Answer poster/label set. It broke my 6th graders of the I-don't-know-but-it-looks-right routine. :) Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pam, I'll check it out!
ReplyDeleteMy students always mix up the rules with decimals/fractions/integers operations. It is important to teach them the reasons why instead of just the rules. Like you said, they need number sense. When you add decimals, you are adding place values. When you multiply 2.7 x 2.4, you are making 2.7 groups of 2.4 and estimating helps determine your answer.
ReplyDeleteInteresting way to put this! I've got a year to rethink my decimal operations unit.