10 Ways to Transform Elementary Math

1. Respond to videos - Record yourself and then have the students watch the video during this rotation and respond accordingly. (i.e. in their notebooks, by making a poster, responding in some other way.)

2. Student blogging - Have a prompt ready for students and then ask them to blog a response. They can even respond to others in this system. Free online tools like www.kidblog.org work well for this purpose.

3. Digital Creation - Have students use Google Apps for Education to create a math alphabet book (Sheets would be great for this as each letter could be its own page and students can even work collaboratively on one document!)

4.  Student Created Video - Have students write a creative script 

that includes various math talk vocabulary and concepts and 

then work on recording this video. Several different genres can 

be included here - students could give a news report, create a 

fiction story, or make a documentary.

5. Augmented Reality - Use an AR app, such as Aurasma, with an 

iPad to make student work come to life!

6.  Surveys and Quizzes - Have students use Google Forms or a 

site such as www.kahoot.com to create a quiz for others to take.

7.   Online Portfolio - Have students create a website that will 

house their math progress throughout the school year. There could be a tab for each domain and students could add reflections, graphs, pictures, etc. to show their growth. 

8.  Learning to Code - There are many free sites, such as www.code.org, which guide students in learning how to code. 

9.   Create a math book - Use a site, such as www.storybird.com, to create an authentic picture book that has a math theme. Students can even respond to each other’s book within the class or they can choose to share their work with the  world.

10. Connect with Twitter - Have your class participate in the weekly math #mtbos challenge! 

          See https://exploremtbos.wordpress.com/ for details.

The Chrome Extension You Never Knew You Needed

You need this Google Chrome Extension  

                                             

I have used other online sources for posting on my social media sites, but I have found Buffer to be the cleanest template and simplest free resource out there.  Plus, it connects so easily to my Nexus tablet (the app) and Chromebook. 

After downloading the extension from the Chrome Web store, sign up for the service and then you should find a simple looking buffer graphic pop up next to your omnibox (URL address bar) like the one below.

Here are the top reasons to keep it there

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Reason #1: Connect your major social media outlets.

If you are in to using social media, chances are that you use more than one outlet. It can be exhausting (and sometimes confusing) to manage all of these individually, but with Buffer this isn't an issue. At any point after signing up, simply click on one of the buttons to the popular social media accounts mentioned in the picture above. Connect and starting using immediately. 

Reason #2: Manage your valuable time.

Buffer is an easier way to schedule posts. Even if you are a die hard social media fan, you can't always live tweet or post.  But now you can literally type out and share all your amazing thinking on your own time because Buffer has you covered.  

Think about the days and times that you want your Social Media accounts active and then schedule these times for everyday, or customize the days of the week. Once this is established, all of your posts will be added to your queue and then sent accordingly. The free version allows you to store up to 10 posts in your queue.

*SIMPLY AMAZING*

Reason #3: Choose what works for you.

Educators are using social media to share interesting and relevant articles and posts with their PLN.  In order to do that effectively and with the fewest number of characters, a link shortener comes in handy. Buffer gives you their default to use, but if that's not working for you, simply head to your account and customize the shortening system you want to use.

Find something on Twitter that you want to share with another Social Media group? It's no problem with the Buffer extension! When you want to tweet or re-tweet something, you will now also have the option of sharing via your other connected social media accounts. Just press the green Buffer button to get started. Check out the screen captures of this below.

Reason #4: Increase your Postings.

Looking for more interesting posts to add to your streams? Buffer has thought of that and offers you suggestions for postings already typed and ready for you to add to your queue.  There are even specific topics to choose from, such as Marketing, and Design.

-Download the free Buffer Chrome extension today -