My Favorite... (via BigMarker.com)

Megan Hayes-Golding started a weekly chat a month or so ago called #GlobalMathDepartment. The cool thing about this chat is that it's not just on twitter or gchat.  It's done using a platform called Big Marker which is more of an interactive venue. You can see and hear the presenter and there's a chat option to discuss or ask questions. It's pretty cool.  Here's the link for the presentation; it starts at 9 PM Eastern if you're interested!

Megan asked to to present a "My Favorite" so tonight I'll show a couple of hands-on things I do at the beginning of trig.  So now I'm nervous.


Also, I just had a math teacher friend stop by to ask about INBs! She's going to start using them in her Integrated Geometry class.  Score one for the good guys! :)

INB Update

After hearing about INBs (Interactive Notebooks) from Megan Hayes-Golding this summer at TMC, I'd decided I wanted to give them a try in my Algebra 1 classes.  I was looking forward to the organization that it would provide the kids.

So now we're a full week in, and I'm sorting through my thoughts.
1. I think that after we all get the hang of what to put where (and how to number pages), keeping the INB will be good for the kids. We just all need to get "on the same page". (Ha!)
2.  The tape that I bought before school started is going fast. Geesh! Who knew that a bunch of freshmen would use up a roll of tape in no time?!  I got the cheap ones from Walmart when all of the school supplies came out, and they're obviously teeny little rolls. I'll need to do a little research to see what I should get.
3.  The kids are enjoying the hands-on aspect of the INB.  (They call it "arts and crafts".)  But they've been pretty good about keeping their space nice and neat and cleaning up after themselves.
4. Things take a lot longer to get through when you have to cut, tape, and write in the table of contents. But for someone who had trouble filling a class period at times, that can be a good thing.
5. I still need to get more into foldables.  I've done a few with my Honors Alg1 class but none with my Integrated. It would probably help them more, but I feel like I'm rushing with them. I think I just need to get my feet under me first.
6. I've been keeping an INB for both classes but keep losing track of what's going where in the table of contents. So today I made some big posters to hang on my whiteboard so I can keep track of everything (and help the kids keep a list, too).  This is just yellow paper from the big rolls that are around that I laminated, wrote on with dry erase marker, and hung on the board. Hoping that'll help us all.

7. The left-hand page is currently being used for warm-ups. I think it was Julie who said that was the hardest part of keeping the INB. I didn't get that until now.
8. A boy in my Honors Alg1 class hasn't made it to class yet; apparently he has some anxiety issues and doesn't want to come to school. I've been told he's very bright, so the material we've covered (which most of the kids knew anyway) shouldn't be a problem. My issue was what to do with his INB. I'm thinking that I'll go ahead and print out copies of my notes and tape stuff in for him so he can jump right in with the rest of the class.  But what happens if someone moves in halfway through the year? Just pick up where they come in?
9. I have a special ed aide in my class with me every day 7th period who is so on board with the INBs it's ridiculous. She's coming from an elementary school and I think this is right up her alley (but I'll take all the support I can get!). She said she met with some supervisor yesterday at the Admin Building just to talk about how things were going and told the person all about me and my class and the notebooks.


I've had problems in the past with keeping up with things. I get an idea, jump in, and then it fizzles after a bit. I'm determined not to let this go.

I've been trying to figure out why I've felt so unprepared the past few days after working so much this summer on school stuff... and then I realized that I'm prepping warm ups, notes, and exit slips for my Algebra 1 classes (in addition to keeping the INBs ready to go). Last year I just had the notes.

And so now it all makes sense.

Interactive Notebooks

The session I was looking forward to the most at #TMC12 was Megan Hayes-Golding's talk on Interactive Notebooks (INB).  (Here's her information on it from her blog.)  I'm hoping to use them in my Algebra 1 classes (one honors, one general) as a way of keeping the kids organized and avoid the shove-the-papers-in-the-backpack-never-to-be-seen-again disease.

I've been sitting tonight (while the Olympic opening ceremonies are on... I have trouble focusing on one thing at a time. Thanks, Twitter!) trying to do some planning for my INBs.

First, I typed up the notes I'd taken at Megan's session (which was great, btw!).

• Store in Ziploc bag with colored pencils (4), mailing label on edge (w/name), tape/glue, highlighter
• Decorate the cover (bring in magazines) and cover w/clear packing tape
• Table of contents – 1^st 4 pages
• Inside cover: Class syllabus/rules?
• LHP = output (Left-hand-page)

·         Think/process/put in own words

·         Warm ups

·         ALWAYS USE COLOR (helps learn/remember)

·         Give copy of IN: Left Side WS

·         Re-solve problem(s) on whiteboard that was hard for them

·         “Get them handling their notes”

• Be on same page at all time (may need to have 2 page 17s) = don’t pre-number!
• Give stamp/star for complete HW & entry in TOC
• Attach HW in NB? (leave in spiral); attach reviews in INB after completion
• Closing activity: have students ask questions
• Create foldable with their questions
• Keep model copy for class
• Keep copies of handouts available (layered folders?)
• Collect/check on test day = record hw grades then

My  next task was to check out the formatting for any word doc that I'm going to give them for their INBs.  I've seen a lot of talk about printing two-to-a-page, but for my fill-in notes I want to give them as much room as possible.  Since I want to tape/glue an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper into a 9.75 x 7.5 inch composition notebook, I decided to set up margins of 0.75 inches on both top and bottom, 0.5 inches on the left, and 1.5 inches on the right. (I want to leave some extra space to tape the paper into the book.) I may need to play with these numbers a little more, but I'm hoping this will work out ok.

Then I started thinking about what to put where.  The plan is to give them a copy of my rules/syllabus to put on the inside front cover before the Table of Contents starts. This is one paper that the kids usually lose and I'd like them to have access to it for the whole year.

As for what's going in the actual notebook itself, I'm going to give my typical fill-in notes sheets (with adjusted margins, of course) but I rarely am able to fit it on just one side of a paper. Here are my two options:

        1.  Take up two pages in the INB for the notes. 

                 Pros: I could use the first LHP for the warm-up and the second to tape in the exit slip.

                 Cons: We'd go through the composition book that much quicker.               

       2. Layer the note pages one on top of another.

                 Pros: Uses less paper in the composition book. Notes stay together on one page.

                 Cons: It could get all flappy. Not as much room for warm up/exit slip, but those could be layered, too.  (bulky?)

So that's something I'll need to decide.

As for my exit slips (which will be new for me this year!), I think I have a nice little plan coming together. On the fill-in notes I've used in class already I always include an "On Your Own" section that I make the kids do before I give them their assignment. These would be perfect as exit slips! I already have an exit slip form made up (I posted about it here). I could pass it out after notes, have the kids put them in the red/yellow/green bins (thanks to @druinok for the yellow bin!!) and then return them the next day to be taped into their INB. That should work out perfectly.

I definitely want to get into foldables this year, too. But that's another post.