I found the Global Math Department about a year ago. I don't even remember how I happened upon it, but I remember a sense of awe that math teachers from all over could conduct meetings and share ideas online. I guess I never even thought about doing that, but I am sure glad that someone did!
I don't get to participate very often just because most every minute of my day is taken up with planning for school and keeping up with my family! When I do get to participate or watch an archived presentation I always come away with some great ideas.
The last one I watched was on Interactive Math Notebooks and it completely changed the way I thought about teaching. I was so intrigued by the idea that I spent all summer researching ideas for how to set them up and how to implement them in my math classes.
If you aren't familiar with interactive notebooks they are composition books that students turn into their own textbooks by creating foldables to organize notes and taking time to reflect on their math connections. My students love to use their colored pencils and highlighters to color code examples and create notes that are fun to review.
I'm not an expert yet, by any means, and some of my students certainly haven't fully grasped the concept of how they can fully utilize them, but we are learning as we go and I keep finding great things to add to them. Check out Mrs. Hester's Classroom blog where she shares tons of foldable ideas. She's my go to resource for new notebook entries! There are also tons of ideas on Pinterest.
I am hoping to keep these notebooks going and to streamline the process so that I can give my students the opportunity to have a great resource at their fingertips. Maybe I will even document the process here and share some of my students' work :)
It would be great to see some examples of how you've used this in your classroom. The work on Mrs. Hester's blog is cool! It makes me wonder if juniors in high school would go for such a thing...I sense many students would lose it or not invest the same level of personal care into as an 8th grader might. Has it worked for you? Do students really keep it organized and use it as a notes bible?
ReplyDeleteI have seen posts from high school teachers that use them. I would imagine that HS students could keep them up much better than my MS students.
DeleteI am still getting used to using them and some of my students are better than others at keeping them up and using them (I have grades 6-8). I have learned a couple of things so far this year that I will make a point of doing differently next year during the set up process that hopefully will help.
I am also using them for my 6th grade Social Studies class, but the math one is way more fun!
Post pics! I tried interactive notebooks last year with some success. I have fallen off the bandwagon this year and need to get back on. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI will, but can't promise it will be anytime soon! Working on some good entries for 8th grade transversals and angles...
DeleteBe sure to check out Mrs. Hester's blog above. She has tons of pics and explanations.
I started using interactive notebooks & foldables last year and I've seen a huge difference in how students keep and refer to their notes. I haven't watched the Global Math webinar on interactive notebooks yet, but I will soon. Thanks for sharing your experience with it!
ReplyDeleteI think that if I could consistently keep up with the planning that they would be a better resource for my students. Sometimes it's just "open to your next clean page" and we just take some notes. Baby Steps!
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