Questions & Activities to Make Math Better.
I wrote a post a few years ago about creating digital breakout games. You can view that post here. Quite a few things have changed, so a new post was in order. Matt (@jmattmiller) was kind enough to let me be a guest blogger on his site. He also added a sweet planning guide to help you… Continue reading Digital Escape Room
If you've listened to any of the podcasts I've been on, or heard me speak at a conference or webinar, or read my blog, then you know I love to have students write and create in my math classroom. One project that I particularly love is the Transformation Comic activity. This year, I wanted to… Continue reading StopMotion Superhero Transformations
I love to create in the math classroom. It's a great way to connect with students who may not LOVE math but love to create. However, I want the projects we create to enhance their understanding of math, and not just end up an art lesson. This project, with the addition of a critical thinking… Continue reading Creative Critical Thinking
What do you do at the end of the year when students have already turned in their laptops? Tessellations. This was a great review of transformations and students were able to show their creativity. We learned how to make tessellations that translate, rotate, and reflect and then students could choose which 2 of the 3… Continue reading Tessellations
I have been doing this activity LONG before computers were a staple in the classroom. (We won't talk about how many years that's been!) I love this project now as much as I did when I started. I used to have a Far Side by Gary Larson desk calendar and each year I would keep… Continue reading Far Side Expansion
Matt Miller had a guest post on his blog a while back by John Meehan on a game concept called QR BreakIN. I love to create BreakOUT games so this idea had me intrigued. John's graphics were amazing and the game boards looked fun. I pondered how to use it in my math classroom for… Continue reading Break-In Game
I love when you create a project that students are excited about! This project fits that description. We review area formulas in Geometry before we start surface area. I DID NOT WANT another "look up the formula" day. It's boring! And, if I don't like it, students won't either. Then I stumbled across this post… Continue reading Area App with Google Slides
For the last 9 years, I've had students do a Trig project where they use handmade clinometers to measure the height of an object taller than they are. I love this project because it shows the application of Trig and guides students through a thought process to solve this type of problem. This year I… Continue reading Student Created Trig Word Problems
This idea came from Alice Keeler and the late Diana Herrington's book Teaching Math with Google Apps. I have wanted to implement it for some time and even had some conversations with Alice about how she is currently using it. This year I finally created some. The whole point behind this type of question is… Continue reading Thinking Questions
Triangle congruence is coming up soon. I've always done some kind of activity where students construct triangles and discover which ones are congruent. One activity is Road Kill Cafe shared with me by @craigklement. I'm not sure where it originally came from, sorry. Below is another construction activity we have done very similar to Road… Continue reading Stop Motion Triangle Congruence
Make Math Not Suck 