Musings from Mrs. Galvan

Here are a few of my favorite student video blogs. I assigned each kid a different proof from our book to demonstrate. Lucas Samantha Uma Annie Will Gaia Maddy Prompt: Tips for making video blogs and embedding 1. Must be typed, including diagram, symbols and tick mark notation (I suggest using Google Drive's Drawing App) Must have decent "watchability" Copy/Paste diagram and proof into slides of a presentation, adding a new step on each slide (make sure diagram is always visible) Energetic Explanation NEVER type out reasons as you talk... add tick marks as your prove congruencies 2. Must use a screen capture tool like jing that will record your voice and your typed completion of the proof Practice. Find a way to inject humor and energy into this video. I have to grade like 50 of them. Make yours pop! Remember that you can pause jing 3. Must be embedded in your blog - control the size of the embed 750 x 750 ish is great 4. As always,...

Just like last year , the   Vi Hart inspired Time Lapse Video project was a favorite among students and for me. My students remarked in their end of year assessments that they liked the creative aspect. I enjoyed seeing their creative side and the simple truth that fast videos are much more pleasurable to grade when you're grading 56 of them. Throughout the year, one of my key teaching goals has been to teach to our school's recently revised mission statement. The examples below put the joy into "joyful pursuit of educational excellence." :) Caity's Blog Kendall's Blog Bella's Blog   Maddy's Blog   Brigid's Blog I couldn't get the video from  Angie's Blog  or  Bianca's Blog  to embed, but you can watch it on their blogs... and you should because they made great videos.

My Algebra kiddos recently (well two weeks ago; it too me forever to get around to grading these) completed their how to videos on factoring. I assigned kids different problems. They create a presentation with the step by step solution and take a Jing video of their explanation. I collect these via our LMS (Canvas) and grade them with a handy-dandy, clickable rubric. The rubric makes it easier, but grading 56 videos is still time consuming. Thankfully, it was rainy on Sunday so I had time. Here are a few of my favorites: Opal Angie Lucas Prompt: Step 1:  Find your assigned problem  (Links to an external site.) Step 2: Solve your equation Create a google presentation in which you add a step to your solution in a new slide. Use daum and save as a new image as you add the steps. Add hints, tips or define key terms using call outs, text boxes or arrows. Step 3: Practice Rehearse explaining your solution while you advance your presentation. This video sh...

I have not added to my blog in a while. Too busy getting ready for the end of the year, grading, traveling, parenting, etc. I am still feeling overwhelmed, but I spent this morning grading my Students' blog posts for chapter 12 on rational expressions and equations and I had to share the results. For this post, I wanted them to try creating time lapse videos. I quite enjoy Vihart's video s and I am also a bit tired of watching looooong videos. Hence, the sped up effect increases "watchability" ten-fold! Here is the  prompt . Here are a few of my favorite submissions:

I am loving Phoebe's most recent blog post on using the perpendicular bisector properties. You can check it out here. 

My Algebra students are finishing a unit on slope and graphing linear equations. Each unit has a project and for this one, they summarized their projects by creating Prezi or Jing videos. "The Race" ran by Mr. Solid and Ms. Dash was represented by the following graph. They were asked to calculate the slopes of each segment and express their answers as unit rates. They also had to answer a few questions such as when the runners were in the same location and who was ahead at a given time. My favorite part of the project is the task of summarizing the race like a sportscaster. In years past, they would write a paragraph. This year, they had to create a multi-media presenation and put it on their blogs! Here is what their prompt looked like: Algebra Blog Post #4 Describe the race like a sportscaster. Write a story that describes what is happening in the race according to the sections below. You will record yourself reading this story aloud. Watch this for inspi...

I can't even begin to say how much I am enjoying my students' blogs this year in math. My geometry students will soon complete their first video blogs. I will assign each a different proof for them to explain. I decided to try out powtoon to introduce the prompt. Here is what it looks like on our LMS.

I am sure there exists better videos on how to do this out in the world, but I made my own. I wanted to show one way for students to format equations for their digital portfolios and since google drive has an equation editor built in, it'll work!

My favorite Web Tools that I learned this week at CUE Rock tar Camp, drum roll please... Using Google Forms to create instant feedback quiz (share-able study guides) ThingLink - make images interactive - think: a poster that talks, plays music, video, has links Lino It - web based sticky board for discussion and collaboration Use Google Forms to sort student work While at the conference, I had time to think more about all the cool apps and websites there are for our students to use. It is overwhelming! In my former life as a history teacher, I could organize these (mostly paper and pencil) options in a list so they could have choices for completing projects. The list (mostly stolen from the internet) has everything from Make a Bumper Sticker to Film a Music Video . These days I'm teaching Algebra and the opportunities for projects are fewer. At the same time, the internet and mobile devices continue to revolutionize learning, so my List of Ways to Show you Know needed to ...

I started using Brain Genie with my algebra kiddos. It is a little like Aleks, if you are familiar with that program. Basically, it is a free source of practice problems for math and science. Today I quickly chose a goal (practicing quadratics) and invited my students to join. Once they sign up, they can complete practice problems, watch videos, etc and the website will keep track of their progress and tell me how each kid is doing. Awesome.

While I am a big fan of my own videos on algebra, this website gives free worksheets (with answers) and videos. They make you pay for a lot of the features, but enough is free to warrant my recommendation. Apparently, they have an iBook that goes with it too. Meh.