Creating Infographics

Visual representations of information are almost always easier and faster to digest, but did you know you can create what we commonly refer to as infographics, quickly and easily for *FREE* with www.picktochart.com?

If you've never heard of this, I recommend checking it out soon as it will change your teaching world! 

I have wondered for months how so many Tweeters have such quick access to so many lively and professional looking infographics and the only answer I ever received was that they were already on their phones.  So this made me think that in order to really create these visual models one would have to buy some expensive software and then download it their device. But then I found this amazing website... 

Piktochart is incredibly user-friendly. There are many icons and photographs to import into your chart, lines and shapes, various fonts, and even templates to alter so you don't have to start with a blank slate every time. And if you are really feeling ambitious, trying uploading your own pictures to use. 

 In about 10 minutes I learned to use the website well enough in order to create these infographics about my teaching passion, math.

 I was impressed with the results and am looking foward to marking more! I see so many possibilities with this website for the educational world, both in creating easy to read infographics for teachers and for students. 

Here is an awesome video to make your Picktochart experience even easier:

Once you have created an infographic with the free version either:

1. Download as a picture file 

  or

2. Share via Twitter, Pinterest, Evernote, or Facebook

I forsee this technology helping teachers break info into "digestible chunks" of visual info. 

Possibilities for infographics:

-Quick reminders for parents (increase communication)

-Wrap up of a unit of study

-Break down of a process in math and science

-Explanation of a life cycle

- Model for a poster that students will create

-Model of how to make a comparison diagram

-Formative assessment for students about a character, concept, task (requires email account)

What info will you Piktochart?

Creating a Strong Math Culture-Understanding Perceptions

Creating a Strong Math Culture 

- Understanding Perceptions -

A student drawing about Math Workshop.

Perception is everything. So, how do your students perceive math in the classroom? Do students really feel like the work was too easy? Too difficult or abstract? Am I talking too much with them just listening? 

I feel that it is important to continually reflect on these questions in order to create a strong math culture, but if these answers are only coming from the teacher's point of view, it doesn't really matter much. We are in the field of education to empower and enrich students, and how they are perceiving lessons, units, and classes is what matters the most--if the perception is negative, they will be less likely to engage in and retain the information. So, before diving fully into a unit on Base Ten, I decided to have my students draw a picture entitled "My math workshop". The only directions I gave before passing out the blank paper were that students were to draw whatever came to their minds when thinking of math workshop, and that they had to draw themselves in the picture. 

I was a little nervous to see what some students would draw--would they draw themselves with smiley or sad faces? Would there be lots of colors to make a bright impression? Would they have others in the picture or does the perception of math involve isolation? I love math and teaching and was secretly hoping during the activity that everyone in the class would illustrate that same love.

 This student recalls using the "Fast Nines" strategy while adding.

The final results were really eye-opening! Many students drew themselves with suns shining in the background and smiling faces;one even had a lovely beach scene for math workshop. I wish we really could have math workshop while out in the sunshine! Another student drew themselves using different strategies with their "bff" and yet another student had themselves with Base Ten unit manipulatives while someone else in the background was laying down snoring. Not sure what that part was all about, but overall everything was invaluable feedback!  

This student focused on using the online program www.xtramath.org

This student drew himself adding with apples.

One item that was not present in most of the pictures was our math talk word wall. I'm not sure why because we recite these words everyday, so I plan on having a conversation with my students about this absence.  I also plan on repeating this activity with each new unit to see how perceptions are changing and evolving.

Happy to see that this student loves math operations!

Kid's Math Talk Tip

In order to see if there is truly a disconnection between the teacher's point of view and that of the student's, it helps for the teacher to also engage in this exercise before giving the assignment to students. This is extremely powerful--seeing is believing, but sometimes what we as adults see is completely different from what our students perceive. Just make sure that you wait until AFTER students draw their own versions to show them how you view math workshop.

Invite your students to create a "My Math Workshop" drawing this week!

Fractions of a circle

How can I represent a fraction with a picture?

Our math focus question for day 2 ended up being quite simple for my students to answer. That energized me and allowed me to alter the lesson on the spot and add a few challenges to the circle geoboard lesson, like finding and representing 1/12 of a circle.

I thought that students would have the most difficult time creating 1/3 of a circle, but I was pleasantly surprised when this came easily to the majority of the groups.  Getting students to use the Geoboard before simply drawing out the different fractions proved to be the largest problem. Oh the math practices and the heartache that can sometimes come with them!

Students had easy transitions into their groups and partnerships today, which was wonderful to hear and see. I have a voice level chart in my room anyway, which helps to monitor such events in the classroom.  I think that the numbering around the room is also helping in these transitions. Label everything you can to make math workshop run smoothly!

Partner Math Parallel Questions

How do you know that 1/2 is larger than 1/3?

How do you know that 1/2 is larger than 1/4?

How do you know that one whole is larger than 1/2?

Take Aways from Day 2

One aha! moment for me was actually during the independent math portion of the workshop. At least 3 different students let me know that they had forgotten what each comparing symbols meant (<,>).  Yikes!  I need to print off Comparing Symbols bookmarks for my students so that those symbols are easily remembered.

            Re-engagement for whole fractions
Yesterday I had three students that circled either 1/3 or 2/3 to represent one whole, which obviously concerned me.  So today during our independent math portion of class I invited them to my work table to talk about this concept. Turns out that one of these students knows an infinite amount of fractions that equal one...so I am thinking that he just rushed through the problem because it was the end of class. That's another issue to tackle, but I'm happy to know that his answer was not because of a misunderstanding.

The other two students who circled fractions besides the whole took a little longer to come around and I am only convinced that one of them now understands and would be able to recognize fractions that represent the number one independently. 

I wrote a variety of fractions on their white boards and asked them to circle the fraction that meant the same as one whole. Both were able to complete this task with success, but only one was able to create different examples of fractions that equal one whole.   

I will provide another re-engagement the next time we meet, but this time it will be with some different manipulatives...maybe some of that lovely Dollar Tree clay I found last week! 


Loving this math unit but we have an assembly tomorrow, which means no math...no school Friday...I have a meeting on Monday...

So no math until next Tuesday?? What am I going to do with myself...sigh.

3 Easy Steps to Math Practice Success

 Teachers in many states have Common Core State Standards to think about and now also these 8 math practices?  What exactly are the 8 practices you ask?  Last year, I found myself asking that same question over and over again, which made me think, "hmmm...if I'm having trouble remembering some of these, what about my students?"  That's when I decided to go on a three step plan for implementation:

Step 1: Create Classroom Visual Aides 

Creating informative (and adorable!) posters have helped everyone in my classroom remember what the 8 mathematical practices are about. I really began to learn each of the practices through thinking about and creating each poster and having these around the classroom encourages students to use this mathematical language.

The questions version of the posters especially help when assessing students as they are an excellent gauge for the level of student understanding for each practice. Students who are able to ask and answer these questions freely understand how to use the practice!

Check out all of the posters here!

I also created mini versions of each poster to add to  interactive notebooks...as much exposure as possible to encourage retention of the practices and mathematical language! 

Step 2: Simplify math lessons

I created the page below to help keep track of when I am explicitly teaching and having my students practice each standard. This comes in handy and even has suggestions of activities for each practice!

Grab your free copy here

These practices are not a "what" to teach, but rather a "how-to" for teaching the math standards.  My goal by the end of the school year is to have all students practicing and familiar with each of the 8 practices, but we have to start off with small steps! 

The 8 math practices can get a little overwhelming when thinking about them all at once!  One fact I keep telling myself is that no one can do it all in every lesson!  Some lessons and concepts will lend themselves more easily to one or two of the practices. When thinking about and looking at your own math lesson plans with this new frame of reference, you might find that one lesson should be divided into two or three, or that two lessons should some how be combined in order to focus on a particular practice. 

Step 3: Practice makes permanent!

I recently reread some of the articles published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and came across an intriguing article about the Common Core Mathematical Standards of Practice.  Among the many questions that got my brain really crunching was, "What will the Standards for Practice look like in your classroom?"  Of course! If I truly want my students to use and internalize these practices, I have to model and students have to....practice! This revelation actually helped me to revise Step 2 in that I now have specific lessons devoted to practicing each of the practices (with review concepts) before embedding the standards into lessons that involve new math concepts.  The goal is to effectively and accurately use each of the practices! We want students to move on to the next grade level with successful strategies.

~Check back often for more posts about implementing each of the practices into your classroom~

Join in the discussion - What are your tips for success with the 8 Mathematical Practices?