Horizontal Subtraction with a Number Line

Today in our Stepping Stones Math we used fraction strips to subtract decimal fractions to the tenth.  One unique way that we are learning to find the difference between numbers is to work horizontally.  At first this concept seemed some what foreign to our students, but the more we practice, the more it is beginning to make sense.  When you find the difference horizontally (using a number line), you can almost literally see what is in between the two original numbers.  This makes a lot of sense when you are discussing the difference in distance and time, since both in some ways are actually measured horizontally.  Cool idea...that we are continually improving at.

Post Sub Notes using Screencast-O-Matic on YouTube!

Last week I was preparing for a substitute teacher.  Like normal, I was dedicating WAY TOO MUCH TIME to creating over the top, detailed lesson plans for her, even though my sub had been in my classroom time and time again.  The main reason I leave such detailed notes is because I still want to have control even when I am gone, which I have been able to somewhat accomplish through collaborative Google Documents.  I tend to assign something using a Google Document when I am gone, so that I can pop in and out of student documents, leave notes for them, communicate an idea, or help correct something.  My way of keeping some control when at a conference, presenting, at a meeting, or sick.  That said, I thought that it was time to try something new, in an effort to keep control, but offer my sub a break (considering my classroom is largely embedded with technology).  So, with the advice of a fellow educator at our high school, I created video lesson plans for my sub and my students.  Here is how the plans turned out:

Of course I was curious to find out what my students and substitute thought...

• Substitute: "Wow...made explaining "things" pretty simple.  Students knew exactly what to do, when and where."
• Students: "That was cool."  "You were with us all day Mr. Hendricks" (is that a good or bad comment). "Will you do that again the next time you are gone?"  "It was like you never left."

So, will I do a pre-recorded lesson plan again, the next time I cannot be at school.  Definitely.  The effort was well worth my time.

**I created the video using Screencast-O-Matic, which I then published to YouTube.

Online Math Manipulatives - Pattern Blocks

With our new math curriculum students are often asked to have A LOT of "stuff," ranging from index cards to fraction dice to pattern blocks.  I try to be clever in coming up with ways to save on the amount of "stuff" I have to purchase and what not...index cards were sort of hard to avoid.  That said, I have found solutions for dice by using the following website: http://goo.gl/SMTM, which happens to create virtual dice.  This is perfect for projecting on the SMARTBoard or for students to create on their own computer.

The virtual dice led me to wonder if there were also virtual pattern block shapes, since our curriculum uses them often for comparing fractions.  Thank goodness for Google.  Within minutes I stumbled upon a great resource through McGraw Hill at: http://goo.gl/HNEh

Check out this short video of our class utilizing this great...FREE resource: