Scratch

Middle School math teacher Camilla Lau brought the Scratch programming interface into her curriculum this year by way of a launch grant. Following a unit on polynomials, her students created games in scratch to quiz a user to find two integers when given their sum and product. Here Ms. Lau is explaining her launch grant process to colleagues, which is part of the format of the grant.

Coding with Scratch in 8th Grade Math

Inspired by an array of digital screens projecting an interactive pattern simulation during our field trip to the Museum of Science this fall, MS math teacher Randi Currier, challenged 8th grade students to use the Scratch coding environment to create their own interactive art exhibits. Their task was to incorporate geometric concepts, such as angle measurements in relation to number of sides. Students applied coding skills of program structure, variable declaration, iteration and conditionals to create their exhibits. They brainstormed ideas of what makes an interactive exhibit engaging: 

• Interesting visual effects 
• Variables with sliders 
• Color 
• Sound 
• Random elements 
• Immediate feedback 

Below are the top five exhibits, voted by the students:

• Jack
• Veronica
• Veer
• Christina
• Nanako

Algebra 2 Class Uses Online Tool to Visualize Equations

Upper School math students use old-school blue/red 3D glasses to see GeoGebra in 3D. GeoGebra is a dynamic mathematic manipulation application that allows students to visually explore geometry, algebra, spreadsheets, graphing, statistics and calculus equations. Here's a photo of Christine Oulton's Algebra 2 class using the 3d glasses:

What is Gerrymandering and who was Gerry?

On NPR’s Fresh Air program: Understanding Congressional Gerrymandering, author David Daley discussed this key question:

"When President Obama won re-election in 2012 and a Democratic tide gave the party a big majority in the Senate, why did the House of Representatives remain firmly in Republican hands? The result was even more striking since voters cast 1.3 million more ballots for Democratic House candidates than Republican ones".

Building off of a National Council of Teachers of Mathematics lesson, students in Randi Currier's 8th Grade Math class discovered a major factor behind the House of Representatives’ incongruous outcome: Gerrymandering.

They masterfully led a discussion about the brilliant Republican strategy, operation RedMap, following the 2010 census. Using the architectural software SketchandCalc, students calculated ratios to objectively evaluate the likelihood that a district had been gerrymandered. They learned the layout of their own Congressional district, how districts are often manipulated, the effect of technology on re-districting, and various relevant analytical ratios. 

Randi Currier's most valuable take aways from the lesson: "Exemplars for us all, they thrived on data-driven, respectful, productive discussions around a hot political topic".

 If you see one of them, ask them who Gerry was!

Gerrymandering Scoring PDF

US Math & Physics Opportunities

On 9/29/2016, Harvard will hold a placement exam for the Boston Physics Circle. All high school students from Massachusetts are eligible to participate. A group of 50 high school students will be selected, and continuously instructed throughout the year, preparing them for the first screening exam for the US Physics Olympiad team, known as the "F=ma" exam, to be held in January 2017. The mentoring will be done by undergraduate and graduate students, primarily from Harvard, starting in October and continuing through January. For more info visit http://amir.seas.harvard.edu/boston-physics-circle

Upper School also has a math team that any students can join. These "mathletes" prep and competed in the following competitions. Contact Mr. Rollinson for more information. (Note: you do not have to be a member of the after-school math team in order to compete for BB&N at any of these events.)

• NEML (New England Math League) - monthly 30-minute contests offered during X-blocks (middle of Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar).
• Mandelbrot Competition - monthly 40-minute contest offered during X-blocks (early Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar). 
• AMC 10/12 (American Mathematics Competition) - annual 70-min contest consisting of 25 multiple choice questions offered twice in February. 
• Massachusetts Mathematics Olympiad Competition - late October - 90 minute multiple choice competition.

Lower School THINK Math Tech Programs: Launch Grant 2015

My launch grant explored various math programs to use as a supplement to our first grade Think Math curriculum.  I was looking for a program that was easy to manage, had an at-home component, and was fun for the students.  I explored several programs including IXL, Symphony Math Adapted Mind Math, and Splash Math. 

1.  IXL - https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-1/counting-up-to-100

This was the first program I explored.  It was easy to use and navigate as a teacher.  The graphics and quality to the activities were not great.  Kids found it boring since the activities are basic math sheets that look like worksheets they would complete in class. 

2.  Symphony Math - http://symphonylearning.com/

            This program provides targeted instruction as well as benchmarks for students to meet.  It is similar to Lexia (phonics program we use) and has an at-home component.  The program was geared towards students who are high-risk math students.  Would look into purchasing singe subscriptions, if available, for students who were in need of targeted math support.

                                                                                                                                                    

3. Adapted Mind Math - http://www.adaptedmind.com/                                                        

            This program provided a free month trial, which I explored as an individual.  There were many categories of math topics to choose from which correlates well with our Think Math curriculum.  The games were fun and there were activities for the different levels so it is appealing to kids.  There is also the opportunity to choose from different levels so it meets the needs of all students from those who need support to those who need extension work.  I came across this program later in the year and wasn’t able to get all the information , but I plan to look into this program for future use in the classroom and at home.

4.  Splash Math - https://www.splashmath.com/

            This program was the best that I looked at as far as accessibility for teachers to navigate and track student progress.  I could set up a class list and monitor kids work at various levels both at home and in school.  It provides categories for students to select which topic they would like to work on and the topics align with the Think Math curriculum we use.  Under each topic there are various levels, for example, under addition, students can do math facts to ten or work on addition problems using two digit numbers.  The games are fun and the students reported that they enjoyed the games for practice.  There is opportunity for students to move to the different sections with ease while playing so they have a variety during their time in the program.  The student reports the teacher can access are clear and provide accurate information about student progress within each section along with information about whether they have mastered the skill or need additional practice.    

           

I piloted Splash Math in my classroom for several weeks, having the children use the app during morning choice time.  The positives were that it was fun to play, easy to use, and covered a wide range of topics, which matched well with our Think Math curriculum.  The one negative was the difficulty using the program on an ipad with just a trial subscription.  Moving forward I would like to explore more about Splash Math versus Adapted Mind Math to see which would better suit the needs of first graders at BB&N.  I will also consider the cost of each program versus the quality of the program and the purpose for the use of the program.  I plan to continue this work into next year with help from Jen to pilot programs and compare positives and negatives of the programs being considered. 

Rachel Stevens

Upper School Launch Grant: Experimenting with Instructional Mathematics Videos

Video, as an instructional tool, is on the rise in recent years.   I used my launch grant to learn methods of making instructional videos for the mathematics classes that I teach and how to organize those resources.  In this blog, I will describe three different types of screencasting software and how I created my Google site.

So, which screencasting software is best?  It depends on your comfort level with video-editing software, and how much time you want to spend making your screencasts look professional.  Here’s my opinion of three particular types:

1.  Explain Everything

Explain Everything in an inexpensive app (currently $2.99) only available on an iPad or iPhone.  I never experimented with this software on an iPhone, because I don’t think that the screen is large enough.  In fact, I don’t actually find the screen big enough on an iPad for most of the educational videos that I wish to record.  But if the videos that you want to make don’t need a large screen and if you are comfortable on an iPad, Explain Everything is a very easy piece of software to use.  It records on-screen drawing, annotation, and audio through the iPad microphone.  Exporting your videos is simple.  For a teacher that is an iPad user and wants to begin making videos, I would highly recommend Explain Everything.

2.  Camtasia

Camtasia is available on either a Mac or a PC, but for a cost.  It is a very powerful software product though, and will allow you to do almost everything you would want to do in an educational screencast.  You can record through the webcam or the screen, add clickable links throughout the video, and easily share videos on YouTube.  The possibilities are actually a little overwhelming for the novice videographer.  I would recommend Camtasia only for teachers with some screencasting experience and demanding of a professional result.

My Camtasia Example Video

3.  Screencast-O-Matic

It’s free!  I think it also looks professional.  Both Mac and Windows users can run this software on their computer.  You can have it record your webcam or your screen.  I found it to be rather easy to use and make small edits.  It’s simple to upload videos directly to YouTube or save videos to your computer as an mp4 file.  I think that Screencast-O-Matic offers the optimum combination in terms of features, ease of use, and price.   I highly recommend this software to any teacher who is starting out in screencasting and wants more screen space or edibility than an iPad offers.

My Screencast-O-Matic Example Video

My Google Site

This past year I found that I needed to organize all my online resources in one central location.  My created Google site contains websites that I found to be valuable, instructional videos for different topics, and mathematics software programs, such as graphing calculators.  It also includes suggested follow-up questions to ask students once they have completed watching certain educational videos.  When I have experimented with the flipped classroom approach to teaching, I found it critical to ask my students follow-up questions to videos watched for homework so that I could be sure that they actually watched it and learned something.

My examples of videos with follow up questions

I have learned so much through this launch grant and had fun playing with new technology.  If anyone has questions about making or implementing instructional videos, I would be happy to help!

-Mariah Napeñas

Need to Explain Everything? Part I

Need to Explain Everything? The math department is exploring ways to create a flipped classroom and is quickly becoming experts in making their own tutorial videos. Kelsey created her first videos (using Explain Everything) last year and used them as part of her final exam review days, though she’s now beginning to use them more frequently with her classes. Here is one of her final exam review videos... warning, this is a long one!

After seeing how successful these videos can be, Christine created her first video last week for her Algebra II class. If you also use Explain Everything, please let me know, as I'd love to see how other people are using this technology with their classes. If you have questions, see Kelsey or Christine for a quick tutorial!

-Katrina Fuller

Web software used by Upper School math

Upper School math teacher Chip Rollinson uses a variety of web-based tools with his students including the Desmos graphing calculator. This free website allows anyone to create and manipulate mathematical functions that are also displayed in a corresponding graph. For example, here is the equation and its result for an ellipse:

Doing this kind of work used to require expensive software or a graphing calculator. Now it is accessible online for free. Anyone with a web browser can get to it. Tools like this are a great example of why students should have ubiquitous access to computers and the internet.

Here is a link to Mr. Rollinson's presentation on this tool that he put together for a summer workshop of mathematics educators.

5th Grade Update- April and May in Review

5th graders have spent the last two months programming in a LOGO environment.  LOGO is an oldie but a goodie.  I used it myself as a 5th grader.  It is a great piece of software for the students to use in the spring because it aligns perfectly with the math unit on geometry.  Students programmed a turtle to move around the screen, drawing pictures, and they used their math knowledge to calculate the interior angles of polygons to draw shapes.  Every class they built on their previous knowledge to learn LOGO commands, write their own commands, introduce variables into their commands, and combine commands to create more complicated commands.  For example, each student taught their turtle how to draw a square by writing their own square command and how to draw a triangle by writing their own triangle command using the following commands that the turtle already knew: repeat, forward, and right.  They then combined their square and triangle commands to teach the turtle how to draw a house.  The final culminating project was getting the turtle to draw a scene related to their science "Project O" field trip.

iPads in Math Classroom

With my wonderful, 7-student, 7^th grade class, we set off to explore Explain Everything on the iPad.  We were motivated to try this because there are often more students who want to present their work and their thinking than are able to do so, within our time constraints.  We thought that by using Explain Everything, all students would have the opportunity to articulate their thinking in addition to presenting their written work.  Their first assignment was to explain how they would graph a quadratic equation without making a table.  The example below demonstrates both areas of the student’s understanding as well as some misunderstandings that we could then address.

The night after this homework, class began with a litany of concerns/complaints.  We wrote them on the board and then a student snapped a picture on his iPad and mailed them to me.

As can be seen, students had numerous technical concerns with Explain Everything.  Feeling a bit down on technology, I then asked if there had been any advantages to working on the iPad, and the students jumped in with appreciation! 

While the “fun” component of the work might eventually wear off, students found that voicing their thinking helped them to better understand the material.  This was a key finding.  And, students wanted more Ipad work and were brimming with ideas!  Based on their input, we decided that for the next homework, rather than completing a hard copy of a worksheet with quadratic tables, they would complete a PDF of the worksheet in Explain Everything or Notability.  After numerous challenges with sending the files, we concluded that Notability was the preferred program when not recording voice and that it was best to save the image to a photo roll and then save it to a Google drive folder.  Great progress – much more exploration to be done! 

Randi Currier

MS Math 

4th Grade Update- November in Review

4th Graders have spent the last month in technology class continuing their touch-typing practice.  By the first week in December, every 4th grader should have completed "Type to Learn 4" lessons 1-11.  More than half-way through the program!  They also learned to how insert tables into Microsoft Word to create their own logic problems.  

5th Grade Math Students Pilot "The Lure of the Labyrinth"

This year, fifth graders in my math group piloted "The Lure of the Labyrinth," an interactive website at http://labyrinth.thinkport.org/www/. The site is designed to provide practice with essential math skills for students in the middle grades. The premise of the game is simple: after students have created a cartoon character for themselves, complete with monster costume and pet, they are informed, through a sequence of comic strips, that their pet has just been kidnapped by monsters. Their mission is to rescue their pet -- by traversing a labyrinth of rooms, each of which contains a puzzle centered around a particular math skill. One unique characteristic of the site is that the instructor, in the process of creating an account, sets up an educator account, which gives them access to data revealing how much each student has played, which puzzles they have mastered, and how far they have advanced into the Labyrinth. It is therefore possible to monitor, assign, and assess learning through the website.


Perhaps the greatest strength of the game, however, is that the practice, though it targets important fourth and fifth grade math skills, is not drill-based. Each puzzle presents an interesting problem that requires creative thinking to solve. For example, students use the notion of common multiples to select portions for monsters' lunch trays in the cafeteria, or solve algebraic equations in many variables as they pore over hieroglyphs in an underground cave. So, while they are never asked, "What is the least common multiple of 25 and 5?", they have a rich experience that leaves them with a greater depth of understanding of that question's underlying meaning. The result is a meaningful exploration of central skills... that's a lot more fun than worksheets!


-Ellie Cowen
5th and 6th Grade Math

Using Technology in the Classroom - the Mobile Experience

Making class a little more fun can be easy with technology. To further expand, "making class easier" can seem a lot like making class harder for the teacher. Now with access to everything from "Angry Birds" to Educational Apps on iPad, to blogs and webcomics on the internet, classes have become inundated with technology to try. In some ways it may seem more difficult to pick through the tangle. If we look at something more specific, say the iPad, then we see it has been geared toward education, but has it been geared toward teaching? Perhaps it is, but not necessarily the way of teaching as experienced previously.
In a recent conversation, the need to adapt teaching styles to new technology arose. One of the participants in the discussion noted that it was good to instigate integration of technology into the classroom, but without understanding how to utilize the technology in new ways it would be useless. Nobody likes to be told they are "behind the times", as seen in the post in the "Bright Ideas" blog titled 17 Signs your classroom is behind the times, but as life gets more and more mobile, noted in the article over at eSchool News, there is an increasing need to familiarize with the mobile technology available not only in life, but also in the classroom (which is purported as the preparation for life).
As a demonstration of the more common way to teach, in a recent article posted at iLearn Technology blog, the author mentions using webcomics to enliven a class*. The webcomic they refer to is "Brown Sharpie" (a mathmatics webcomic**). By using iPad applications and webcomics, the teacher integrated technology into the classroom in a manner similar to the old way where maybe a clipping would be brought in and discussed. Furthermore, the judging of resources for research are eased with Apps from the app list mentioned by Apps in Education in an article on iPad Apps used to research projects.

In a more modern approach, the student is given the power wherein they must utilize the search and collate functions important to life outside the classroom. In an article by Michele O'Dell, two approaches to the iPad in conjunction with curriculum are approached. The Apps in Education blog also has a comprehensive list of strategies posted recently as Mobile Learning and Tablets in Education RoundUp!. If each student has access to an iPad, then learning how to individualize the learning experience through projects like creating an eBook on the iPad might be considered.

Whatever the method of integrating technology into the classroom, hopefully this post assisted in pointing out some resources to assist the process.

*Although these are educational comics, it is always recommended that one checks that the specific comic of the day is up to standard for the age group the viewing thereof is geared toward.

**[In this mathematical and science vein, some other fun math comics are "Spiked Math" (although it is for a slightly more college-aged readership at times), "Peebles Lab" (Apologies to English grammarians for there is no apostrophe - it is a science based comic), "xkcd" (the golden standard of stick-figure geek comics), and "(x, why?)" (a math comic - tends toward puns). Some of the fun of using webcomics is not only in the connection, but also in updating how one interacts with technology. Some of the webcomics (Brown Sharpie) also include apps.]

Quick Math Information: iTunes Applications

This may be old news, and the offer will expire quickly, but from now until May 6th the "Everyday Math Apps" sponsored by the McGraw-Hill School Education Group are free to download for teacher appreciation week.

The link to the iTunes page is here:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtistSeeAll?dkId=11&ids=413312889&softwareType=iPhone

Green Globs in the 8th Grade Math Classroom

Green Globs is a game in which 13 green globs are randomly placed on the grid. Students earn points by entering equations that pass through as many green globs as possible. After learning about coordinate graphs and equations in math class, students in eight grade came to the middle school tech lab to put their knowledge to work by playing the "Green Globs". Here's how the game was played: If student's correctly entered an equation, they hit a green glob target. After becoming more proficient at the game, the eighth graders can advance to the higher level - challenged by "blockers" that force them to find alternative equations to hit the targets.

4th Grade Excel Project

A couple of weeks ago, 4th grade students visited the New England Aquarium on a science field trip. During their visit the students collected data on the frequency of jelly pulses. Upon their return, the students entered their findings into Excel spreadsheets, creating charts that compare the average pulses per minute for large jellies versus small jellies.

ATS Picks 10/28/10

1. 100+ Google Tricks that will Save you Time in School

Check out these great tips and learn how to use Google to convert units, do a timeline search, search for a specific file type, search for a face, use Google News, study the oceans, and much more.

2. Protecting Reputations Online

This 3 minute video illustrates what happens to information that you share on the web. Common Craft's unique style makes it easy to understand some of the risks of oversharing information Online.

3. True size of Africa

A small contribution in the fight against rampant immappancy by Kai Krause.
 This map makes it very clear how big Africa really is. Be sure to zoom in to get the full picture.

4. Lincoln Middle Schools Students Use Technology to Help Each Other Succeed

Campus Innovation: Kids Teaching Kids

Lincoln Middle School creates an innovative learning environment centered on kids teaching kids. Middle school students create math video lessons and collaborate via a Moodle-powered class website, creating a community of learners. Eric Marcos teaches 6th Grade Mathematics at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica, California. He also operates Mathtrain.TV, a site that features math video lessons (a.k.a. mathcasts) created by his students.

Edutopia is a Great Resource

One of my favorite online journals for education is edutopia which is published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. They have great ideas for integrating technology across the curriculum. The examples and ideas have all been developed by teachers, so they are relevant and classroom-tested. Here are a few examples:

• Technology ideas for math and science
• Bullying prevention
• Project-based learning
• Online learning

You can sign up for their free weekly e-newsletter if you want to get a few good ideas each week!

~ Demetri

SmartBoard in Upper School Science

Newsflash- new SmartBoard in the Upper School Science department! Rachel Riemer gets a SmartBoard in her classroom as part of the science lab construction over the summer. Since Rachel has wanted this SmartBoard in her classroom for years, the board has been in constant use since its installation. For tips and tricks, see Rachel.

In addition, please see the resource pages below:

Teaching with SmartBoards

Smart Exchange:

Math (Algebra)

Science

English/Language Arts

History/Social Studies

Geography

World Languages

Art

Music

-Letitia