Making Math Fun

I think math gets a bad reputation. It seems like students come into math class with a negative idea, expecting it to be too hard and boring. The reason I love teaching math is because I hated math from elementary through high school. Luckily, I had an awesome college math professor who really made everything click! She made abstract concepts more concrete and started with simple concepts. I still remember when she explained to us that we operate on a base-ten mathematics system and made us work math problems in a binary system. Wow! That really opened my eyes! I had never thought of different base number systems.

Math is such a unique subject! When you have a student come in halfway through the year, they can typically jump right in to subjects like social studies and English. However, my new math students come in with a totally different math background than my current students. This is especially true because we use a specific special education curriculum that teaches things like word problems in a different way than any other curriculum I've seen! As a math teacher, you have to "rewind" their knowledge, find out where the gaps are, and fill them! Typically, my students who struggle with two digit by two digit multiplication and division never got the basic multiplication facts down. Math truly builds upon itself! Being absent for even a day can make a student so confused when s/he returns!

So, what's my math philosophy? Fill in those gaps while teaching the new concepts (at some point, you have to move on, but keep working on those basics!), make abstract concepts as concrete as possible (Manipulatives! Graphs! Number lines! Pictures!), connect concepts to the real world (give them a purpose for learning), and make math as fun as possible, while still challenging your students.

One way I keep working on the basics is by using Mastering Math Facts/Rocket Math with my students every single day. They don't get to move onto the next test until they pass the current one! This program ensures they are getting continuous practice with those basic facts. I found a copy of the multiplication pages for free here: http://teacherweb.com/TX/BurtonAdventistAcademy/ShellyColvin/rocket-math-multiplication.pdf. I have the entire curriculum with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in my classroom, but it looks like with a little searching, you can find the sheets for free online.

Let us now discuss turning abstract concepts concrete! I like to use graham crackers to teach my students fractions. They are very easy to make into fourths and children of any age get excited when food is pulled out! I pass them out as whole crackers and then ask them to show me 1/2, 3/4, 1/4 and mixed numbers like 1 1/2, 1 1/4, etc. This helps them visualize why an improper fraction like 5/4 can exist! My Pinterest board has more ideas at I Teach Jr. High Math, but I will share some of the images below.

  From http://www.mathactivities.net/lessons/fraction-activity.htm

From http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Multiplication-Fact-Strategies-Sheet. It's worth the $1.00 in my opinion! This is so students don't have to memorize every single fact.

Free graphing game from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Squinkies-Graphing-Coordinate-Points-File-Folder-Game

From http://eisforexplore.blogspot.com/2012/02/lego-geometry.html

I just discovered an amazing website!! www.commoncoresheets.com No matter what subject you teach, check out this website! They have a lot of fraction worksheets that include visuals. Everything is FREE!

Okay, now for making math fun! So many board games already use math! Think about all the math used in Scrabble-counting up the points and multiplying letters or words by two or three when tiles are on a certain space. It is a little bit more difficult to find math games for older grades, but that's why I'm here! I have three right now on my TeachersPayTeachers store.

First, to work on area and get the students to visualize why length x width= area, I have the FREEBIE real estate game! This can be found at: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Real-Estate-Game. You can then have them turn in the graph paper/game board for grading purposes.

This can be found at: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Older-Grades-WAR-Math-Sheets. WAR is a fabulous game for a load of math games! Even the typical math game is all about comparing number values. For older grades, students can multiply more than one card together to get a new product to compare with a partner. They can also turn cards into fractions and compare fractions. This FREEBIE product includes recording sheets (for grading purposes) and explicit directions (for your students to use when playing). 

Found at: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dice-Math-Game-for-Older-Grades . This FREEBIE game has students roll a target number in the beginning and then get creative with how to add/subtract/multiply/divide to get to that target number throughout the game. 

My math Pinterest board has loads more games at:  I Teach Jr. High Math . I'll include some links and images here, as well. 

Tons of free, creative math games from http://www.math-salamanders.com/free-kids-math-games.html .

You can download a 70 page book with math games using cards for FREE at: http://pepnonprofit.org/mathematics.html .

What about those students who finish early and ask, "What do I do now?" It's so hard sometimes to give everyone a chance to finish and think through their work, but keep the faster students busy and engaged! You don't want to "punish" them for finishing early with more work, but you want them to be working! This is where some fun math activities come in that you can print out and leave in the back of the classroom. Perhaps call them extra credit activities? 

I saw these books in Michael's and got super excited! They're dot-to-dot pictures, but they are very complicated and numbers go up into the hundreds! What great practice keeping those large numbers straight! You can get four pages for FREE from http://www.impact-books.com/fun-fun-fun by signing up for their newsletter. There are also supposed to be four free coloring pictures, but they weren't downloading for me. By the way, the pictures you create are so COOL! Dragons, mythical monsters, etc. Stuff that Jr. Highers love!

Again with my new favorite website! http://www.commoncoresheets.com/FunStuff.php has multiplication mazes. To get to the other side, students have to color in only the multiples of a certain number. They have sheets for numbers 2-9 and a ton of sheets in each packet. 

I am still on the lookout for additional FUN activities that relate to math for my early finishers! Please, feel free to share any fun math activities you have discovered or created! 

Money Matters FREEBIES

Transition is an important part of education for all students, but especially for special education students! Students need to learn about their options after high school and gain the life skills necessary for the future. However, it is very difficult to fit transition activities in when there are so many other standards to cover (my professor wasn't lying)! I find that this is even more true when you are teaching Jr. High or High School because you have those students for specific subjects, not all day. I have been brainstorming ways to fit transition activities into my regular subjects (I teach English, math, world history, and American history). Math is a good class to fit in lessons about budgeting, credit, interest, etc. These money managing lessons are so vital for our children's futures!

Tonight I turned to my friend Google and found some great free resources! All you have to do is sign up with the site. I'm thinking we might save these activities for after standardized testing. :)

1st Site: https://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/foreducators/lesson_plans/special.php This is the link for the special education money skills curriculum, but this site also has lessons for PreK-2nd grade, 3-6 grade, 7-8 grade, high school, and college. I actually think I'm going to use the 3-6 lesson plan first for my Jr. Highers because the 7-8 looks a little complicated to begin with. Another thing I love about this curriculum- it talks about donating a portion of your money to church or charity. A great habit for students to get into and it integrates perfectly when schools have charity fundraisers like "Pennies for Patients."

2nd Site: http://vcart.velocitypayment.com/fdic/product_info.php?products_id=946 This elementary school booklet is so cute!! It says for ages 5-8 and is definitely too young for my class, but I couldn't resist sharing. There are such cute visuals and lots to color. What a great way to get students to start thinking about being financially smart! This site also has financial information for young adults. One idea- having your high school students use this website to research various areas of finances and then present to the class.

I hope you enjoy these and seriously consider helping your students think about money matters! What better way to make math practical and useful?

Philosophy and Welcome

Hello fellow educators and friends! I have been thinking about starting a teaching blog for a while. As a new special education teacher, I have been collecting any tidbits of wisdom I discover and finding great free supplemental lessons all over the internet. This blog is a good way to share these with others.

The name of the blog? It's from a quote by Albert Einstein. "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid." Every one of our students is incredibly intelligent in at least one area and it is our job as educators to help them discover that and then use that strength in the classroom! I am a definite believer in multiple intelligences and lessons that appeal to visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile learners! I love finding and creating lessons that are engaging, relative to the real world, and fun! The best moment is when my students say, "Can we do that activity/game/project again?"

As a special education teacher, I also believe in breaking down concepts as much as possible and providing scaffolding. I think open-ended, abstract projects can be so fun, but they don't always work for special education students. Our children need models and clear guidelines of what we are asking them to accomplish. This is why all the lessons I will post here (that I create) are straightforward and the concepts slowly build upon each other.

As for behavior, my background is in Applied Behavior Analysis, so I am always searching for the reason/need behind my students' inappropriate behavior and finding a way for them to get that need fulfilled in a more appropriate way. I am also a huge believer in positive reinforcement!! You must get to know your students and find out what motivates them. Tailor your behavior management system to that. Always "catch them being good" and come in with clear expectations of how they should behave. When I worked as a substitute teacher, I automatically tried to identify the students with more challenging behaviors and then provide them with as much positive attention and reinforcement as possible before they had a chance to seek it in inappropriate ways. Finally, be firm and fair! If you say you are going to do something or put some consequence into place, you must stick with that. Students need to know they can count on you to do what you say you will do.

I hope that this blog inspires and assists you. :)