AdaptedMind: Online Math/Reading Website

I know it has been quite awhile since my last posting, but I have an impressive math program to share with you. AdaptedMind is a website that students (grades 1-6, currently expanding up to grade 8) can practice mathematics and reading skills at the different grade levels. My daughter has been using this program to practice her mathematics skills from Grade 2 (she just completed) and Grade 3 (she will start in the fall). She likes seeing how much she does know from the Grade 2 level, but it also helps her to understand certain concepts that she struggled with during Grade 2. She likes working on the Grade 3 level, so she can see what she will be doing next year! As a math teacher, this is the portion that I love seeing her work on. The program has a "Candy Crush" game feeling to it, which she absolutely loves. As your student progresses through the different concepts, they are taken along a path from level to level which is very similar to the game set-up. 

While I tend to focus on the mathematics more, I really like the reading side of this website. When you sign up, you have the option to do math only, reading only, or both. We selected to do both! Students are given vocabulary words, stories to read that includes those vocabulary words, and then questions are given after the story including reading comprehension questions. Students are even given a writing prompt related to an in-depth situation in the story (what is implied by this situation, what do you think happens next in the story, etc.), which is a struggling area for many students.


As students works through both the Mathematics and the Reading, they are able to earn badges. My daughter uses this program several times during the week. While she is working on her problems, she is earning badges and has about 13 already. Which, by the way, every 8 year old loves! She can even determine how many more problems/stories she needs to complete until she gets the next badge. We are looking forward to continuing with this program, and seeing how confident she is when she goes into the third grade!

T^3 Workshop & the TI-Nspire Calculators

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July this past week. I enjoyed the time off with my family, and ended with a birthday luncheon today. Before I could begin preparing for all of the festivities, I attended a T^3 Texas Instrument TI-Nspire Calculator training at my local service center. It was 3 days of intense calculator usage, and I am very thankful for attending.

Receiving Our Calculators and Discussion about Operating Systems

First thing that happened was we received our own personal TI-Nspire CX version calculators and teacher software that we would be using during the workshop. Since I have been using these in my classroom this past year, I wasn't too overwhelmed with the new technology. However, I was pleasantly surprised that my calculator had the new updated version already uploaded! Now this means that I have some work to do before school begins with my classroom sets, since they are all running the older operating system. They are just like a smartphone. They need to be updated every once in awhile, and it is a good thing to keep up with the operating system changes. My plan is to do a check for this during the winter break and then again during the summer break, so I am not taking away from actual class time to update the calculators.

Getting to Know the Calculator & How to Use it in the Classroom

The entire 3 day workshop was dedicated to getting to know the calculator, reviewing activities that we may use in our classrooms with our students, and even using the teacher software to make our own lessons and activities. Texas Instruments has created a solid library of teaching materials regarding many (if not all) of the standards that we are required to teach. To see all of their activities, visit them at the TI Math Nspired Website. This website is specific for the math activities, but they also have a sister page that lists science activities.

We covered many activities that are useful for introducing the TI-Nspire calculator to your students, Algebra I activities, Geometry activities, and even Pre-calculus and Calculus activities. You can search by subject, by standard, or even by textbook! This is a great feature, because TI has made a list of activities that you can use in conjunction with whatever textbook you are using in your classroom. This helps to really create a blended learning environment.

Making Your Own Lessons with the Teacher Software

The part that was the most useful to me was using the teacher software. The teacher software allows you to interact with a calculator on a Promethean Board or a SmartBoard. The students can see what you are doing and follow along as you are learning to use the calculator. This is a great feature, instead of hoping that the student understands what you are saying! The teacher software allows you to create and edit any lessons and activities. If you are not able to find exactly what you are looking for, the teacher software has the tools that you need to create your own. I started working on a few different activities that I will be using in my classroom, and it was exciting to see how easy it was to make. All of those files that are listed in the TI Math Nspired website are very easy to create, and can be done with only a few clicks!

I enjoyed this workshop very much. If you have the opportunity to attend any of the T^3 sponsored trainings, or can see a presentation at a conference, I would recommend that you do so. The technology that Texas Instrument has available is phenomenal, and it will help transform your classroom.

Introduction

Welcome to Math By Parker! I wanted to start off by introducing myself. My name is Mrs. Parker, and I love teaching. I am just entering my third year of teaching high school mathematics, and I absolutely love this challenge. I call it a challenge because you really don't know what you are going to get day to day, month to month, or year to year. I am very adaptive, and I make the most out of any opportunities that are presented to me.

I recently attended a mathematical conference in Austin, Texas, where I met a great number of amazing teachers and math coordinators from all over the state. One thing that I found that many of them had in common was they were bloggers. I have followed a great deal of math teacher bloggers over the past few years, and I have used my own teacher blog for my classroom with my students. However, I had not yet started blogging about my teaching experiences and sharing them with other educators. So, today is the day that I start my blogging adventure. 

This coming up year will be a great year for me. My school district has implemented a standard where we are 1:1 in our classrooms with the new Google Chromebooks. I was lucky to be selected as a demo teacher this past year, and my students loved the Chromebooks. The addition of this technology has been amazing, and the results with my students has exceed my expectations. But, I didn't use them as often or to their full potential as I would have liked. My goal for this coming year is to use technology more and lecture less. Stay tuned for more information as to how I create a blended learning environment within my classroom.