Musings from Mrs. Galvan

Last night I went to bed dreading my lesson plan for today's Algebra class. My agenda was going to say: 1. Go over homework 2. Notes: Standard Form Equations 3. Guided Practice: Standard Form Equations 4. HW: Worksheet on Standard Form Equations Even with my cute stories and getting kids to do most of the talking and problem demos, my plan would have made for a boring day in math. On the way to work this morning, I came up with a game. Since they already know how to manipulate an equation, instead of announcing a new form of a linear equation and lecturing on how to achieve this form, I gave them clues and made it a game. Students worked in teams of 4. Each team used a different color of 3 by 5 cards (hence color wars and it also made sorting the results easier). Each group member had a job (which I made up while my first period class students were turning their desks). I told them to rewrite the given equations according to the clues. After the 2nd one,...