Last Friday, I pulled a this make it even brain teaser out for Figure It Out! Friday. I found a puzzle called “Make It Even” in The Moscow Puzzles: 359 Mathematical Recreations by Boris A. Kordemsky. The book is published by Dover, so it’s super affordable! I’ve found numerous puzzles I want to try out …
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How do y’all feel about KenKen puzzles? Love them? Good. Me too. Today I want to post about a program that you may not be aware of. It’s called KenKen Classroom. The premise is simple. Visit the link. Give them your e-mail. Then, watch your inbox every Friday for free KenKen puzzles that are formatted …
Today, I just want to write a quick post about a #MTBoS resource that I hope everyone is already familiar with. I used it a couple of weeks ago in my classroom, and the experience was such a fun, positive one! The resource is Which One Doesn’t Belong? The idea is that there are four …
August 10, 2015 – Definitive Proof I know some people believe that blogs should be 100% personal or 100% professional. I’ve never been one of those people. I love reading about what you guys, my MTBoS friends, are doing in your classrooms, but I also love reading about your adventures outside the classroom. I like …
Elissa posted her weekly warm-up schedule, and it inspired me to think about how I want to structure my warm-ups this year. 2014-2015 Weekly Bellwork Schedule Well, I’ve decided on my weekly bellwork schedule for the upcoming school year. This past year, I had 3 special weekly tasks – Good Things Mondays, Weird and …
This Happy Numbers Activity is a fun lesson which introduces students to the concept of happy numbers and sad numbers. I have used this activity with students of various ages. Any student who understands the concepts of square numbers and addition can participate in this happy numbers fun! I originally ran across the concept of …
Back in August, a sixth grade girl who attends my church presented me with a brain teaser that her teacher had shared with her class. Since Thursdays in my classroom start off with a brain teaser, I decided to share this brain teaser with my students. It’s the type of brain teaser that is EXTREMELY …
When I was student teaching, my cooperating teacher had a copy of the game 24. When a class period unexpectedly finished 5 minutes early, we would pull out the game and put a 24 card on the board to solve. If you’re not familiar with the game, use the four given digits plus any mathematical …
This 5 piece square puzzle made the perfect challenge to give to my math students for Brain Teaser Thursday. It has been a lot harder than I anticipated to come up with a different brain teaser for every Thursday. Now, I love brain teasers, but there’s a definite difference between the brain teasers I find …
I used this evaluating trig functions square puzzle recently with my trigonometry students. We glued our completed puzzles in our interactive notebooks. This puzzle was created and shared by NCTM Illuminations under the name “Trigonometry Square.” While I liked the idea of this puzzle, my students struggled with the fact that there were too many …
Like I did with my student teaching reflections and my blog posts from my first year of teaching and second year of teaching, I am compiling my more reflective blog posts from my third year of teaching high school math into a single post. August 19, 2014 – Classroom Friendly Supplies Pencil Sharpener Review I’m …
I want to highlight this multiplying radicals square puzzle shared by Public Schools of North Carolina in their Resources for Algebra Blackline Masters collection (page 3 of PDF). The file no longer exists online, but an archived version still exists due to the Internet Archive. These square puzzles are often known as “Tarsia puzzles.” Make …
I want to highlight this factoring polynomials square puzzle shared by Public Schools of North Carolina in their Resources for Algebra Blackline Masters collection (page 2 of PDF). The file no longer exists online, but an archived version still exists due to the Internet Archive. These square puzzles are often known as “Tarsia puzzles.” Make …
I want to highlight this one variable inequalities square puzzle shared by Public Schools of North Carolina in their Resources for Algebra Blackline Masters collection (page 1 of PDF). The file no longer exists online, but an archived version still exists due to the Internet Archive. These square puzzles are often known as “Tarsia puzzles.” …
I was first introduced to the Witzzle Pro Math Game at a meeting of the Tulsa Math Teachers’ Circle in 2014. I knew instantly that I had to use this game in my classroom. If you’ve spent anytime on my blog at all, you know that I adore puzzles. Witzzle is a combination of the …
My Algebra 1 students just recently finished learning to graph horizontal and vertical lines. For this, I used, as before, the mnemonic device – HOY VUX. What does HOY VUX stand for? H – Horizontal LineO – Zero SlopeY – Graph Crosses the Y-Axis V – Vertical LineU – Undefined SlopeX – Graph Crosses the …
Today I want to share some graphic organizers I created to remind students the steps for factoring quadratics. We filled these out and glued them in our algebra interactive notebooks. This year, I am taking a big risk with my Algebra 1 kiddos. I taught them to factor quadratic trinomials with a leading coefficient greater …
Like I did with my student teaching reflections and my blog posts from my first year of teaching, I am compiling my more reflective blog posts from my second year of teaching high school math into a single post. August 7, 2013 – First Day of School Plans 2013 Well, today was my last day …
I want to share the Five Easy Pieces Activity I used with my Algebra 2 students on the first day of school. This year, I am emphasizing problem solving strategies and cooperative learning in my classroom. So, I chose first day activities for my classes to participate in that would require or encourage them to …
Hexaflexagons are one of my favorite fun math projects to do with my students. I want to share my hexaflexagon love with you with some free printable hexaflexagon templates for trihexaflexagons and hexahexaflexagons. Hexaflexagons – Video Tutorial I usually introduce students to hexaflexagons by showing Vi Hart’s Hexaflexagons video. If you’ve never seen a hexaflexagon …
Yesterday, I finally introduced my Algebra 1 students to slope intercept form using a new y=mx+b foldable that I created. . I have had several students who have been really anxious to get to this part of the chapter. These are students who are taking Algebra 1 for the second time or have moved in …
I want to share the Digit Cells Puzzle I had my students tackle on my first ever day of being a teacher. Day 1 went pretty much as I had planned. I explained the concept of bell work to my students. I don’t think any of them have ever had a class before where they were …
In 2020, I transferred my blog from Blogger to a Self-Hosted WordPress site. I set out to clean up my over 1200 posts to create a more user-friendly and easily navigable site. I am slowly creating separate pages for each of the foldables and interactive notebook pages I have shared over the years. I also …
My high school math classroom decorations are done! A few students stopped by my room this afternoon while I was working, and their reaction to my classroom made all the hours I’ve put into it so worth it. They were literally gushing to one another about how much they loved my classroom. “It’s so bright.” …