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MVP ➡️ OUR: Better Than Ever

  I have been using Mathematics Vision Project materials for four years now, and I was very excited about the updates and watched for them all summer long. Sample units of Open Up High School Mathematics were released, and my coworkers and I started digging into the newly published resources. In early August, we were at last able to see the curriculum unfold on the Open Up Resources site. I started going through Open Up High School Mathematics with my coworkers to scope out the updates. We compared the MVP materials to the new Open Up High School Mathematics resources… lesson by lesson, practice by practice. Some of the team was very trusting – any new changes to the material must be amazing because MVP is already amazing. We continued to dig deeper into the content updates in the lessons and the practice assignments, and we discussed and agreed that all of the changes were improvements and would likely help more students comprehend and master the material. Our team found that...
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How much Tech is the right amount of Tech?

  After this crazy year of distance learning, I think an important question to ponder is:  How much Tech is the right amount of Tech? It's possible that there may still be schools doing some form of hybrid learning, and I feel like the looming threat of hybrid/distance learning will still be present this school year, in this ever-changing and unpredictable pandemic environment.  My school district plans to open fully in person in the Fall, possibly just with masks, and then see where the year takes us.    These various types of learning all come with their own constraints, and some of them predicate the use of technology more than others.  So, it is important to consider them when determining the amount of technology to use.  Hopefully, you can look back on this past year and think that you learned something about edtech.  I know a number of teachers that had averse feelings towards technology prior to distance learning, that were more or less for...
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You get Algebra tiles, and You get Algebra tiles, Everyone gets Algebra tiles!

  Resources for:  -- Open Up High School Mathematics Curriculum --Integrated Math 2 Unit 2: Structure of Expressions This Unit relies on the Area Model and Algebra Tiles in order to teach the concept of Quadratic Functions.  I have created and found a number of resources to assist with that process.  Teachers have different teaching styles and students have different learning styles.  So, I have decided to share everything I have compiled.   When I first started teaching Quadratics this way, I printed the student edition and then as a class we would draw all of the models by hand.   This was rather tedious and very challenging for some of my students that were not as visual-spatial or who struggled with fine motor skills.   I eventually made some digital tiles  in Google Slides that I could use to quickly model the Quadratics.  Then, this last year during the Quarantine, I had to find a way to teach these same lessons com...
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"Video Killed the Radio Star"

  "Video killed the radio Star"--The Buggles circa 1980 If there's one thing that's constant it's change.  As teachers this has been a big year for change. Many of us have made more youtube videos than we ever thought we would, or wanted to, ha!  I know that I personally did.   The main way that I made videos for students was through Screencastify to record myself, while drawing on my Surface Pro to explain a concept.  I would then publish those videos to YouTube , after which I could embed them in other sites for the students to access.  I know many teachers used similar methods.  These videos helped us to survive distance learning, and were the best option that many of us had to provide instruction to our students.  For example: I put the homework assignments on Edulastic and would embed video instructions, going through the steps of how to complete them. The video below came from the Math 2, 2.8 Set, from the Open Up Resources High Schoo...
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MATH IS: A Language

  When I went to college I didn't have to take a traditional foreign language class.  My College Calculus class met that requirement, because Math has a language of its own, and I was fluent in Math.   I tell my students all the time that Math is a Language, and that in order to understand it, they have to understand what I am saying.  There is a big emphasis in my class on vocabulary.  I break it down: we look at prefixes, suffixes, and root words; we think of the meaning of those same words in different contexts or subjects; we study math content in context.   To reinforce what we do in class, I have my students study on Quizlet  regularly.  Typically I create the study set for them, based on the definitions and connections that we will be using in our specific course and text.  Then I have them engage with the vocabulary in various ways throughout the Module of Study, culminating with an assessment at the end.  Quizlet LIVE ...
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Desmos Saved Distance Learning

  I have always loved teaching with technology.  My district rolled out Chromebooks in the Spring of t he very first year that I taught.  So, I don't really know what it is like to teach without technology. I have attended multiple Google Summits, as well as presented at a Google Summit and at a technology conference put on by my district.  In addition to those experiences, Twitter and Facebook have been some of my best resources for Professional Development.  That is how I stay up on what's new.   I was even the TTL (Team Technology Lead) for my school site, in which my duties included training and assisting teachers on my site with the implementation of technology in their classrooms. So, what that means, is that I had already experimented with technology in the classroom before distance learning happened.  That helped me when it came to planning and implementing my synchronous and asynchronous curriculum.  Prior to the 2020-21 school year,...
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