5 Easy Ways for parents to start #kidsmathtalk

1.  Count and sort at home!

Sorting laundry is an excellent activity for little ones to get them into the habit of seeing similarities and differences. Another option could be sorting silverware in a drawer, buttons or coins. Older children could be encouraged to sort and then count by 2s, 3s, etc. or to estimate to figure out the total number of objects. They will be having fun and practicing crucial early math concepts at the same time. 

2. Use math talk with food

Have your children help you in the kitchen. Baking is a natural for talking math as it leads to conversations about capacity (use the measuring cups!) and fractions. Create another layer with the addition of fraction by 'hiding' the 1 cup option and asking your child how to create 1 cup with just the 1/2 cup or 1/3 cup options. In the end, you will have spent quality time with your child, reinforced the importance of math in everyday life, and baked a yummy treat to share. It's a win-win!

3. Play games with your children

Playing a game that involves counting, whether it's money, playing cards, or spaces on a board, can help make thinking and talking math more natural for children. Even setting aside just 10 minutes a week for this play can greatly enhance a child's motivation, retention, and curiosity of math concepts. It will become 10 minutes that you both look forward to each week.

4. Create a weekly pattern 

Grab a piece of paper and Sharpie and then create a pattern from number, shapes, letters, (or a combination). It will then be up to your children to figure out what kind of pattern you have created (growing, or repeating usually) so that they can correctly continue the pattern. This can be a great conversation starter during breakfast time too. Be sure to reveal the secrets of your pattern at the end of the week!

5. Guess my Number

This one is excellent for those longer car rides or when you get stuck in traffic on the way to sports practice. Think of a number in the hundreds and then give your children 20 guesses to try to figure out that number. They can only ask you yes or no questions. After playing this a few times, it should encourage them to ask more thoughtful questions, such as, "Is your number even?", "Does your number round to 700?", and "Is your number greater than 650?" 

Start With Why

Simon Sinek's book, Start with Why, is changing my life. If you haven't read this yet, do yourself a favor and download on audible or pick up a hard copy soon. It is a quick and easy read with principles and information that will give you a total mindshift and lead to inspirational thinking. 

I believe in this blog site, in my Twitter stream, and in my career in teaching. It was not until after reading this with Sinek's idea of the Golden Circle that I started thinking about why I am so devoted to these educational outlets. Below are my 'whys' written down so that I am clear for others and clearer for myself. Please, if something is fuzzy in this let me know. 

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1. I believe that students deserve teachers who believe in student-centered mathematics.

2. I believe that teachers need opportunities and resources to become stronger mathematicians.

3. I believe that elementary teachers need ongoing and relevant professional development centered around student-centered mathematics.

4. I believe that educators need to connect with one another and share ideas about mathematics as well as push themselves in their current beliefs and knowledge about mathematics.

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What are your belief statements for your passions?

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 - 

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!