Warming Up Eureka

Warming Up Eureka!
You work so hard during your math block, but sometimes you feel like you’re missing something.  Maybe your students are still struggling with concepts from the previous grade level, or you really want to play a quick math game but don’t know how it can fit in with Eureka.  Maybe you even need some more time to review a lesson you taught two weeks ago.  Imagine having enough time during math to allow students to access a Number Talk, peruse math websites using technology, explore math concepts from years prior, practice content students are still struggling with, or perform math fluency activities such as timed tests and SPRINTS.			Video: Students Discussing Daily Warm-ups
As you know, our students don’t always come to class motivated to learn.  When content begins to drag and stays a little too consistent, you might start to lose your students’ attention.  Our kids are growing up in a time where the push of a button can take them to another country!  If they feel like hearing a certain song, they can search for it on YouTube.  Additionally, let’s certainly not forget the fact that many spend hours in front of video games, the TV or their iPads.  Switching up your math warm-up routine can give your students that variety they need in order to stay alert and keep Eureka from becoming too stale.
	As much as I enjoy Eureka Math, I often find myself struggling to find time to fit anything else into my math day.  For example, our school site has been trained in using Number Talks, and I found myself not performing them as often as I should.  Furthermore, I love using depth and complexity frames with prompts to frame word problems, but I never had the opportunity to fit them into my day since I was always pushing myself just to finish the Eureka lesson on time.  I felt like I was doing my students a disservice because I knew what they needed, and I knew something had to be done.  Moreover, I felt like I wasn’t always including a part of ‘me’ into my lessons.  I decided to turn on my laptop and come up with some new ideas.
“Don’t make goals.  Make changes. (One at a time.)” --@katheats
What if you could set aside ten minutes each day to attack these incomplete areas?  Below, you will find the ways I use each day of the week as a warm-up theme prior to my Eureka lesson.
	Those of you who are Pinterest pinners may have come across pins about “Motivation Monday”.  This is what first piqued my interest and helped me to come up with some interesting daily themes for my math warm-ups.  At first, I started with a quote for Motivation Monday because it was a quick, inspiring and easy way to get the kids talking about perseverance.  Since we have P.E. on Mondays, I only get about an hour for math, so it worked well with my schedule.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I could do a whole lot more than just Motivation Mondays.  What about Tech Tuesdays?  Warm-up or Word Problem Wednesdays?  Throwback Thursdays?  Fluency Fridays?  And the more I thought about it, what about Math Talk Mondays?  Let me discuss each daily theme a little further. Math Talk Monday/Motivation Monday:  I use Number Talks to either review a concept we’ve been working on or to attack different fluency skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, etc.  Here’s a picture of a Number Talk I used to review ratios:    Tech Tuesday:  Tuesdays are a class favorite because they get to use laptops to learn.  There’s so much you can do with technology, but here are a few of my favorites: Assign different assignments pertaining to what you’re learning or have already learned on Tenmarks.com, have kids practice fluency on Xtramath.org, use Kahoot, Formative or Google Forms as a quick formative assessment, try coding, or have kids create a math blog or respond to a constructed response on a blogging site such as Kidblog. Warm-Up Wednesday:  At my site, the 6th-grade team was given this packet of wonderful Common Core Morning Math problems which review standards taught in previous grades as well as current standards (I believe we received it from Monte Vista).  We use this sheet as either independent or partner work, and then correct the problems, whole class.  I find this as a very helpful way to review old and new concepts with the kids in a continuous spiral, so they don’t forget the material later in the year.  Make sure to model any problems which are causing difficulty for kids. Throwback Thursday:  Here, we review something students have been struggling with or something I feel students need more practice with.  This is when I like to bring in depth and complexity frames or a Whiteboard Challenge using the Kagan structure “Showdown”.  For example, even though we’re learning about the division of fractions, I might use Throwback Thursday to tackle percentages or rates which we already learned about.  It’s also a great time to use the RallyCoach Kagan structure. Fluency Friday:  I don’t know about you, but my 6th graders still do not know their multiplication facts to automaticity.  I use Fluency Friday to give my students a timed multiplication test.  Students all begin on their twos and need to get all the way to their twelves.  After they reach their twelves, they’ll start with division timed tests. The kids can use this time to quiz each other prior to the timed test by orally calling out multiplication problems. It’s also a perfect time to give students the Eureka Sprints and teach a particular strategy.   Don’t forget to set your timer for 10 minutes only, so you still have enough time for Eureka. :)  If you would like any of these items or have any questions, please feel free to email me anytime!  I’m always happy to help!   Educating together, Kimberly Smith (Loya)

Heart and Soul

Heart and Soul
Lately, I have been perusing books and online websites to find those “golden nuggets of truth” about brain research and I happened upon this one: The neuroscientific research about learning has revealed the negative impact of stress and anxiety and the qualitative improvement of the brain circuitry involved in memory and executive function that accompanies positive motivation and engagement. I concur! Wait, what exactly did I just agree with?
Simple terms, I agree with this assertion from an article entitled, “The Neuroscience Behind Stress and Learning” that our classroom climate has a direct impact on how well our students are going to learn. As a self-proclaimed highly-sensitive person, I can assure you that this was certainly true for me. When I was a child, I was profoundly affected (both in a negative and positive way) by my environment--the tone of my teacher’s voice, the expression on her face, her mood. I was a sponge in the most vulnerable sense of the word. She held an immense amount of power. Now I am the bearer of that emotional torch. I set the tone. I create the atmosphere. Believe me; I do not take that responsibility lightly. I know I can use that flame to sear the very spirit of my students or I can use that flame to fuel a passion for learning, connecting, and collaborating.
I’ve often heard it said that kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  It sounds so cliché, but I have found it to be true in my experience. We all want our students to thrive academically. But, in order to do that, we need to ensure that our classroom environments encourage our students to let their guards down so that they can learn.
	Like a broken record, there are three words that I have repeated year, after year, after year--Attention, Respect, and Support. They align perfectly with the tenets of PBIS. If my students and I are all giving one another attention, respect, and support, then we are both creating and benefiting from an atmosphere where we can all reach our full potential.
“The affective filter can be prompted by many different variables including anxiety, self-confidence, motivation and stress.” -Stephen Krashen
For the past couple of years, I have dutifully posted the PBIS matrix on my bulletin board. I did the same thing this year.  But after a couple of days, I decided to take it down. I couldn’t read it. I was bound and determined to enlarge the wording to about five times the size of the original one. I realized that it couldn’t serve as a useful tool for me, nor for my students, if we couldn’t even read what it said. (Remember, my eyes are from the 1900’s.)    In my mind’s eye, I see a building being erected one brick at a time. Each brick is engraved with a different, yet essential, piece--Thinking Maps, Write from the Beginning, PBL, E.L.D., G.A.T.E. strategies, Kagan and the list goes on. This year I’m going to add a new brick emblazoned with the acronym, UDL. (Our Assistant Superintendent, Tammy Lipschultz, recently introduced me to an amazing framework for teaching and learning known as UDL and to a renowned expert and proponent in the field, Katie Novak. You’ll hear more about UDL in my next blog.)       Each year we rebuild. WE are the stonemasons. Sometimes we use the same bricks and sometimes we use new ones. What does not change, though, is the need for a strong foundation. Our classroom environment serves as the foundation upon which all the other bricks can be laid. Let’s provide an atmosphere where affective filters go down and learning goes up! Respectfully, Lola E. Jollie

Let's Talk About TALK!

Let’s Talk About TALK!
If your students are anything like mine, they LOVE to talk!  So how come when you ask them to talk about math, there’s a chorus of crickets chirping from the corner of your room?  Let’s chat about how to channel students’ natural inclinations to talk into discussing math!
Our Eureka Math TE’s have built-in opportunities for student talk, and utilizing these are a great start.  There are of course the Teacher and Student parts in the Concept Development part of the lessons that may be used if you’re stuck with what to say or how to explain.  However, I find that my students often times don’t say what the book wants them to say, which can be confusing- how long do I wait for them to come up with what the book says they will?  Do I keep prompting?  Am I doing the thinking and talking now instead of the students?    I find that the Debrief at the end can be a rich resource for student discussion!  When I’m planning  for the debrief, I use the ones in the TE as backup.  Instead, while the students are working on the Practice Set, I’m walking the room.  I’m looking at students’ work and talking with them.  What misconceptions am I seeing and hearing? THIS is what I bring up as a debrief topic.  If nothing interesting pops up in my spin around the room, the questions listed in the debrief section of the TE are there for me to pull from.  I pick the one I think will make for the most interesting discussion, not all of them.
	So you’ve got your questions and debrief topic all picked out, and they’re good.  Like, you almost have your fingers crossed for a walk-through because someone NEEDS to witness the magic that is going to happen, good.  You present your carefully selected questions and get…nothing.  Or maybe you get something from that one kid who loves to respond to any questions you ask.  What about the bulk of your learners?  How do you engage them?  How do you get an answer beyond “I just know”? Well, you pull out one word, the oh so powerful- “Why?”  Don’t let them stop with an answer that just involves arithmetic.  The Standards for Mathematical Practices require students to be able to explain their reasoning and make sense of what they are doing with WHY they are doing it.  Keep pressing to get students to explain the why.
In talking about math, “...Students start to believe in themselves mathematically.  They become more willing to persevere when solving complex problems.  They become more confident when they realize that they have ideas worth listening to.”  -Cathy Humphries & Ruth Parker from Making Number Talks Matter, 2015
There’s another place in your Eureka math lesson you can go to in order to spark student math talk.  It’s not where you’d think to look, requires more thought and effort, but it’s worth its weight in gold!
	How?  Let’s flip the script!  Most times, the Application Problem in your Eureka lesson is meant to set the stage for your lesson by reviewing a concept needed in that day’s lesson.  What if, say, once a week you replaced it with a student discussion?  Use a question from the Exit Ticket you gave the day before, or you could also use the suggested application problem.  Present the problem and have students share their entry points and solution strategies.  By sharing out their thoughts on the problem, the idea that there are multiple solution strategies is reinforced, and student thinking is validated.  All in 10 minutes or less!  What have you got to lose? Whew!  I know this is a lot to think about!  Chew on it, try it out in your classrooms, keep asking questions and digging deeper.  Come back next time where we will be talking about how Mental Math prompts discussion, taking your class to the next level!   Mathematically yours, Sabrina Blake

"Go, Pack My Trunk!"

“Go, Pack My Trunk!”
“Why did you bring a baby stroller and a tricycle?” Jessie Virgin, 7th grader “I thought it was a cool way to start but at first I thought it was weird.” Fabian Jimenez, 7th grader “I thought it was amazing to fit a lot of stuff into a tiny space.  I wonder if we could fit more things?” Kevin Ayala, 7th grader “I wonder if the way the object is stored affects how much space it takes?” Emily Zamora, 7th grader “I thought you’re using us to pack your car & have everything ready for your vacation.” Pedro Flores, 7th grader “Did we scratch your car?” Alex Marquez, 7th grader
Being creative in how a new unit of study is introduced to your students can set the stage for some life long lessons for your students.  Grabbing students’ interest by challenging them with an activity, an interesting video about bungee jumping, a thought provoking question,  cooking your favorite dish, walking to the city museum,  designing a bridge online, introducing the Ninja Turtles, playing a round of miniature golf in the classroom, or something totally out of the ordinary will lead students to start asking questions and will capture their attention. PBL (Project Based Learning) incorporates different elements into its design - one of those elements is inquiry.  The concept of an Entry Event is embedded in this element as a way to get students to start asking questions.  The concept of an Entry Event is not isolated to only PBL - it can be used in any classroom and with any content area or elective.
	Last week, I completed the “What’s In My Bag?” unit of study with my 7th graders and the #MathInMyLIFE unit of study with my 8th graders.  This week it was time to introduce my next units of study. My 7th graders were about to start a unit of study on geometry.  I was struggling with how to introduce the unit so that I could create some excitement or intrigue with my students.  I thought about contacting UPS and having them visit the school to talk about packing boxes for transport on planes or vans.  But it just did not fit exactly with the content that I needed to cover.   Then last weekend I had a thought - what if I had the students pack the trunk of my car, literally!  So on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I took ‘stuff’ out of my garage and put it into the back of my car to drop off at school.  Wednesday I drove my car on campus and parked it outside my classroom - with all the ‘stuff’ outside my car.  My seventh grade class came around and I divided them into two groups - boys and girls. I told them that their task was to pack everything into the trunk of my car in the fastest time.   “That’s your car out there?”, “Where did you get all that stuff?”, “Can we put it in the driver’s seat?”, “Can I start your car?”  All questions that were fired at me as I asked, “What need-to-know questions do you have before we start?”   Off they went to my car!  To stand back and watch how one group tried to push and cram everything in the trunk while the other group put items inside of items to solve the problem was just awesome to see.  For me, it was not about who had the faster time but rather how each group solved the problem.   My hope was that this experience will generate questions that students want answered and that I have intrigued them just enough to wonder what this unit is all about.  The entry event was meant to be a hands on experience before embarking on our journey of geometry. I can use this experience throughout the unit of study to ask more questions of my students and see where our learning takes us.
”The goal is to grab the hearts and minds of your students.”         Myle Lee
By taking the time to create something unique to introduce a new unit of study, students will see that you have a passion for what they are about to learn.  Yes, you will need to give up some of your class time to do this type of activity - could be as little as 5 minutes or it could be the entire period.  However, the questions students will have afterwards can be an opportunity for them to make a connection with the real world around them.  There will not be answers right away but you have planted the seed and over the course of your unit of study it will not only produce predicted learnings (based on the standards we are required to teach) but also learnings that cannot be predicted because of a student’s unique question or idea.
	Think about an upcoming unit of study and start to list some different ways you may introduce the unit to your students - then try one of them.  Make a connection with the real world and your content area that captures your students’ attention and gets them to think. Still Learning and Loving It, Kevin
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Mixing it up with Cooperative Learning!

Mixing it up with Cooperative Learning!
Cooperative Learning is a LOT more than simply telling your students to share with their partners or table groups.  Where this has its value, the students need to be provided with a multitude of different cooperative learning/grouping structures in order to keep them engaged and deepen their level of thinking and learning. Novelty and variety plays a HUGE part in student engagement and learning.  The Kagan Cooperative Learning strategies (alongside countless others) are a great way to maximize student learning within your classroom!			Students engaging in the “Stand Up Hand Up Pair Up” Kagan strategy (or Mix-Pair-Share) during a Wonders lesson.  Teacher poses a question, gives students think time (often times they will write a short answer), then teacher plays music set on a timer for 30 seconds while students wander around the room.  When the music stops, the students put their hand in the air and high five the closest person to them, thus forming their new TPS partner.  Teacher then has them discuss the question or idea that was originally proposed..  Shuffling students a few more times gives them more exposure to different levels of thinking.  Often times, I even build on the original question, and have the kids rethink before they shuffle to new partners.
This month’s blog is going to focus on student talk through a variety of Kagan/cooperative learning techniques.  As you read on, you will read about and see pictures and videos of my students successfully engaging in these different techniques and the level of learning that’s taking place.  Throughout this blog, I will show you examples of how easy it is to implement these structures into your daily routines with Wonders, Eureka Math, and any other subject for that matter!.  Once you see the power behind the kids’ learning and their level of engagement, you too will be convinced that student talk via cooperative learning structures is essential to help your students succeed!
	Listening to the students insightful comments and conversations during collaborative conversations can be extremely heart-warming.  Once you have built that sense of security amongst your classroom climate, the students will share their thoughts, feelings, and emotions honestly as they make connections to the content being taught.  Its extremely powerful and endearing as a teacher to hear this in their conversations, and also powerful to know that they are learning from each other, connecting with each other, and thinking on a much higher/deeper level. Here my students are participating in the Kagan “Talking Chips” strategy through the use of a collaborative conversation.  The students are given a bag of chips (counters) and each take one (or more).  After I have posed the questions, or ideas for discussion, and given them ample think time (and/or write time depending on the level of question and discussion) they take turns sharing their answers/ideas by placing their chip in the bag when they’d like to share.  This is what I use in the early stages of collaborative conversations to help teach them how to participate.  This strategy ensures that ALL students will have a chance to contribute their thoughts to the conversation.
“Practice does not make perfect.  Only perfect practice makes perfect.” - Vince Lombardi Here are some video clips of my kiddos participating in Collaborative Conversations with Talking Chips.  As the year progresses their conversations will grow and deepen, but they’re off to a great start! Despite what some may fear, implementing cooperative learning structures does NOT require a ton of planning/prepping time on the teacher’s part.  In fact, most structures require minimal amount of teacher prep and the more you use them, you will LOVE them and your ideas of how/when to utilize them will start flowing freely!
	For instance with Wonders, I will look ahead at the lessons for the upcoming day/week and simply sticky- note in the TM where I want to incorporate certain Kagan/cooperative learning structures, and label which structure I want to use.  For example, on Day 1 of Wonders where you teach the “Introduce the Concept” lesson provides a GREAT opportunity to implement the Kagan “Jot Thoughts” strategy.  This is where students write as many different ideas/words/concepts etc on sticky notes until the teacher says time's up.  The table group has all their sticky notes in the center of the table and can then read and sort their ideas, group like ideas, and share out their thoughts.  Here is a picture of my kiddos utilizing this strategy last week!
I constantly cycle through the different Kagan/cooperative learning structures throughout each week, so as to keep the kids engaged with novelty and variety as I mentioned above.  When teaching becomes monotonous and repetitive, the students tend to become less engaged and thus the level of learning is not a high as it should be.  Something to keep in mind! Collaboratively Learning, Megan Brown megan.brown@omsd.net

Listening, Speaking & Socratic Seminar

Listening, Speaking & Socratic Seminar
From the time we are young to present day adulthood, we are taught to resolve or address issues in life by talking and listening to each other. Simply, we are taught to have a discussion with someone to help with the complexities of life. We all know that communication is key to any healthy mindset, and listening is just as important as speaking. We can all agree that we need to get students talking and listening more, and a Socratic Seminar is a great tool to springboard a dynamic discussion during ELA and gather evidence of students practicing active listening.			-Photo of my classroom. Podium is used during Socratic Seminar, and horseshoe room set up is common for Socratic Seminar
If you incorporate Socratic Seminar into your curriculum, you will discover how amazing student discourse can be, and student listening skills will be sharpened.
	It was a few years ago when I was asked to teach an AVID course at one of our middle schools.  I was so excited, because I really enjoy the AVID philosophy of learning and teaching. It was then, back at my old school site,  when I was first introduced to Socratic Seminar. Every week we discussed relevant issues and student interests. We discussed everything from bullying to mathematics difficulties. Then I moved school sites, and I stopped using Socratic Seminar because the curriculum didn’t call for it. Then I reflected and thought about why I stopped doing an activity my students enjoyed and I enjoyed facilitating. We all learned too! At that point in time, I decided to incorporate Socratic Seminar into ELA. I took my current curriculum, reviewed some AVID strategies I learned in years passed, freshened up some lessons, and implemented Socratic Seminar during ELA. It was great!. Socratic Seminar is not just a “free for all” discussion. There are listening and speaking rubrics, discussion norms, and process that take place. You also need to prepare your students with reading material to discuss or notes they may have taken during a lesson. It may be take a few hours to prep in the beginning, but after a while you get a sense of the process and it becomes much more manageable. If you have not learned this valuable teaching strategy, take some time and learn it, and you will see the benefits over time.
“If you’re not listening, you’re not learning”. –Lyndon B. Johnson
When you discover how to infuse Socratic Seminar into your lessons, you will be surprised how much your students are willing to share their ideas, and listen to their peers.
	Again, if you haven’t learned how to conduct or plan a Socratic Seminar ask around your campus. I’m sure there are colleagues and an instructional coach that will gladly show you the ropes. Remember, Socratic Seminar is not just a “willy nilly” discussion and “free for all” shouting match. There are many factors that contribute to a fantastic class discussion. For example, consider your room arrangement. I find the the horseshoe, inner/outer set-up most effective. A podium can be used for students, who are observing, to ask questions during the discussion. In addition, always prepare a rubric. This is the tool that keeps students accountable, and they use the rubric to actively listen to their classmates contributions to the discussion. Rubrics are also used to give feedback to students. Be sure to review/post some norms or rules of the discussion, most importantly, a Socratic Seminar is an exchange of information, not a debate. Lastly, the content or topic of the discussion is going to be what engages students the most, thus select content with high interest, or reading selections, that students really enjoyed. If you  would like to observe a Socratic Seminar , schedule a Spotlight Visit with me click the link below. https://docs.google.com/a/omsd.net/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc9VK1VneTaNsJuUcRGhplMOadHDwk3ymL18CsSvW58uwH-cw/viewform Uniquely Teaching -Carlos Gonzalez
Click here to schedule a visit	carlos.gonzalez@omsd.net