Trending Resource: Free Halloween Math Activities & Puzzles
I ran across the eight lettered squares puzzle, and I had to stop everything and try it out. Then, I had to make my husband stop everything and try it out with me. Math puzzles on a Saturday evening? Yes, we are THAT family! The puzzle comes from The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Puzzles by…
Day one and two are in the books! I’ll share a bit more about what I did with my classes on the first two days in a later post, but I want to go ahead and share the mathematical challenge I used with my students on the first day since I have got several questions…
August 5, 2018 – Classroom Progress I got the “Welcome Back!” letter in my inbox recently with all the important professional development dates, and I started setting up my new classroom this week. So, it’s really starting to sink in that I’m about to start my new job! So far, I’m just hanging posters I…
I can’t believe that it is already July! Summer is going to be over before we know it. It’s been over a month since the last volume of Monday Must Reads, so I decided it was time to put together Volume 45. I hope you enjoy this peek into what I found interesting on twitter…
Now that I’m thinking about how to decorate my new classroom in a new district, I’ve realized that I never got around to sharing photos on this blog of my 2017-2018 high school math classroom decorations. So, my goal today is to fix that. I’m hoping you’ll enjoy seeing some decoration ideas, and I’m hoping…
It’s Monday yet again! That means it’s time to round-up as much of the awesomeness of twitter as possible. I hope you enjoy this peek at what I found inspiring this week. As more and more schools finish for the summer, these posts will likely become more and more infrequent until school starts back up…
I can’t believe that the last Monday of the school year is finally here. We have semester tests today and tomorrow followed by a professional day on Wednesday. Then, the 2017-2018 school year is officially OVER! This means I can finally start thinking about ideas for the classes I’ll be teaching next year: Algebra 2…
Happy Monday! It’s once again time to create a round-up of the most awesome tweets from the past week. These are my must-reads. I hope you find some inspiring ideas. Visual Number Puzzle Check out this awesome visual-based problem for elementary from Berkeley Everett. Parabolas Scavenger Hunt Mr. Hogg has created an awesome scavenger hunt…
I’m very excited about the Square the Shapes Puzzle (this week’s puzzle table selection) because it’s got some hidden mathematics involved in solving it that aren’t obvious at first glance. I find that my students are less likely to tackle the puzzle on the puzzle table when the math connection is blatantly obvious. This week’s…
Today I’m excited to share with you the Don’t Get Stung Puzzle. Most of today has been spent administering the ACT. Normally, I have lunch right after 3rd hour. Today, we tested straight through lunch. And, I didn’t get to sit down and eat my lunch until 6th hour. Needless to say, I am worn…
Engage your students with this tangram-inspired Egg of Columbus Puzzle! Discover a fun and challenging way to enhance problem-solving skills in your math classroom.
Today I’m sharing an emoji puzzle with you called the Mixed Emotions Puzzle. I’m not sure what it is about this week’s puzzle table selection, but it’s been much more popular than the last few puzzles combined! Maybe it’s the bright yellow paper or emojis that catch the eyes of students… Whatever it is, I’m…
Even though the Oklahoma Teacher Walk-out remains unresolved, my district is back in school this week. To help inspire me to plan engaging lessons for my students, I’m once again compiling a list of the awesomeness I’ve seen on twitter over the past week. I refer to these as my “Monday Must Reads.” I hope…
Happy Monday! It’s time once again to round up all the awesomeness I’ve seen on twitter over the past week. Thanks for joining me for this newest volume of “Must Reads.” Introducing Angles with Painter’s Tape Janel Wetzel shares a peek into her prep for the upcoming week. I love the painter’s tape on the…
Today I’m sharing with you the Sum to Twenty Puzzle by Marcy Cook. In Math Concepts, we ran out of That’s Logical puzzles a few weeks ago, so I had to find a new source of daily warm-ups. Instead, I’ve started using puzzles from “THINK ABOUT IT! Mathematics Problems of the Day” by Marcy Cook….
Happy Monday! Today is the first of two days where we have to stay after school three hours for parent teacher conferences. Given that I’m still dealing with the craziness that Daylight Saving Time has done on my body, it’s been a LONG day. In three hours, I’ve only talked to four parents, so it…
This week, I’m trying out the Arrows Puzzle which is a different sort of puzzle on the puzzle table. Instead of being a puzzle where students have to arrange various laminated pieces like I frequently use, this is a coloring puzzle. To make things easier on students, I placed the puzzle inside an 11 x…
Happy Monday! I had a fun weekend if you consider reorganizing your entire kitchen to be fun. It’s certainly an adventure cooking anything now since I have to remember where I put everything! I’m looking forward to this new week of adventures in the classroom. To help inspire me, I set down each weekend and…
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Elizabeth Mays, the creator of the Absolute Zero Card Game to ask if I would be willing to review the game on my blog. If you’ve been around my blog much at all, you know that I love math games and puzzles, so I jumped at the…
Today I’m sharing the Cover the Heart Puzzle with you. It’s time to update y’all about the happenings of one of my favorite places in my classroom – the puzzle table. Even though Valentine’s Day was LAST week, I’ve got a bit of a Valentine/Heart themed puzzle out for my students to tackle this week….
Happy Monday! It’s President’s Day here in the US which means a day off at my school. And, let me say that this day off is much needed. We haven’t had a single snow day this year, and I’ve really missed having a few unexpected breaks during the school year. This was originally supposed to…
The goal of the Silhouettes Puzzle is to place as many of the octagons as needed on top of one another so that the silhouette of one of the rabbits below appears. I was first introduced to the Silhouettes Puzzle when I saw a tweet that featured the puzzle at a science museum. I retweeted…
Yesterday, I added the four seasons puzzle to our puzzle table. We’re currently working on a Valentine’s project that involves creating a Valentine for each teacher/staff member (total of 26) who works in our building (a combined middle school/high school). So, the puzzle table has been doubling as an arts/crafts table. If you look closely…
Happy Monday! It’s time again for a new volume of Monday Must Reads. I’m extra thankful for having a relaxing weekend with no workshop presentations to give! Speaking of workshop presentations, I need to start trying to turn my presentation into a series of blog posts. Here are the “must-read” ideas I ran across this…
Today I want to share the Maximize the Sum Puzzle with you. My Algebra 1 classes managed to get a bit off schedule of one another this past week. So, I declared Monday to be a “Catch-Up Day.” My classes that were behind were given our latest assignment and the class period to work on…
A new week of school means it is time for a new puzzle for the puzzle table. Last week, my students attempted to Cover the Duck. If you tried last week’s puzzle with your students, you are in for an extra treat. This week’s puzzle, Cover the Camel, uses the EXACT same pieces! You will…
This week’s puzzle on the puzzle table is a duck-themed shape fitting puzzle that I am calling “Cover the Duck.” I didn’t really plan it this way, but this is the second week in a row where the puzzle table featured a duck-themed puzzle. Last week, my students tackled a puzzled called Ducks and Snakes….