Algebra 2 Accelerated Breakout Year End Review

I have been writing about my breakout that I created in Algebra 2, Accelerated for our end of the year review.  I didn't want to share it because I don't want the answers to be out there.  I have done it with my two groups for the year, so I guess I can share now.  I am going to share it as a google doc but you will have to request viewing privileges if that is okay.

Also, I made it way too hard.  The concession stand clue is supposed to be the easiest and quickest.  It involves logs and systems of 3 linear equations (not logs in the equations though).  It took too long and then they didn't have enough time to work with what was inside that box to get to the other stuff.

Also, when I made the QR codes of the carnival game problems, I uploaded them to google doc as pdf and then made the QR codes. It worked when some teams read them but not others.  Others, they couldn't see the equations.

So, I may need to freshen it up next year a bit before I use it again.

Here is it: Escape the Amusement Park!  
And part 2 has some papers that are landscape view:  Part 2

#Breakout responses #mtbos30

I really wish every class could be like this Breakout class.  It was a lot of work for me to prepare behind the scenes, but then the kids just worked and talked and were mathematicians!  I just walked around watching.

When they were done, I sent them a link to a google form to answer about the activity.  Here are some of the results:  (only 10 out of 24 have responded but it is a long weekend and they dont' read their emails anymore - thank you to those who did respond)
 

 

#Breakoutedu #mtbos30

Over Mother's Day weekend, I wrote my own Breakoutedu.  If you haven't heard about breakoutedu, you can learn more at breakoutedu.com

I loved the creative process.  I blogged about it here.  I won't lie.  It is a ton of work.  It is for my accelerated Algebra 2 classes which is a mix of sophomores and juniors.  It was a review of the entire course - systems of equations, absolute value, desmos, polynomial graphing, trig graphing, solving trig.  I think it paid off though.  I did it in my period 3 class on Friday, during lunch blog in 90 degree weather and had the students engaged for 45 minutes!  I will do it again with my period 6 class on Tuesday and I can't wait.

Here are a few things I noticed.  In both classes, I happened to have an even amount of boys and girls so that is how I split the class.  I made two big groups of tables for them to work at.  They liked the room set up this way.


I tried to build up to it all week, but just mentioning "On Friday, we will do a breakout."  "What is a breakout?" Me: "You will find out on Friday."  So, then were anticipating something different.

I only gave them minimal directions to get started.  I reminded them that I did put a lot of time and money into designing it and please don't break my boxes or locks.  And, please don't sabotage it for the other team.  Normally, Breakout is everyone trying to work together to breakout of one box, but I thought 24 kids was too many, so I did two teams of 12 which was the perfect number.  Also key to Breakout is the time is 45 minutes.  They have their own timer on youtube with the logo, timer, and some classical-ish type music.  I explained that Breakout came from the idea of Escape Rooms but we were going to try to breakout of the box by undoing 5 locks. Each group had 2 boxes - one with one lock and the other with 4 locks.  I had a padlock with a key, a 3 number lock, a directional lock (up, down, right, left type), a 5 letter/number lock, and a 3 letter lock. 

I gave each team one big envelope that had 3 envelopes and 3 clues in it and they got to work.  The box with the one lock on it has some important things inside it they will need to be able to complete the other clues.  It was supposed to be the easiest clue and I knew both teams were in trouble when they were getting it quickly enough.  The boys were in in about 11 minutes and the girls about 18 minutes.  The teams were monitoring the other team for their progress so that was an added part of competition.

I did have two boys who were absent for the math test prior to this, so they decided to use their time to study.  So, out of the 12 boys, about 4 didn't really participate. The other two were mostly just watching and commenting, but not really doing much.  The girls team was involved the entire team.  They would try something and if they got stuck, they past it off to somebody else.  I did notice some of the quieter girls taking the lead because they are competitive.  It was great to see this side of them.

The girls got the next lock off and pulled into the lead.  In the end, neither group broke out.  Other teachers have done some in our school and no one broke out either.  I was really hopeful.  We had this class during block period, which is 60 minutes, then break for lunch, then come back to class for 20 minutes. When their 45 minutes were up and they didn't breakout, they asked if they could keep working.  I said of course, so the girls hung in there.  A few of the boys continued but most were hungry for lunch at this point.  When I came back from lunch, the girls were still working hard, persevering.  The boys were done.  They didn't want to continue.  They were watching the girls to see if they could get their last lock off (the girls had 1 lock left, the boys had 2).

Literally, at the bell, there was a huge cheer and the girls brokeout!  Yeah!  They got the surprise inside but they needed to clean up.  I didn't get a chance to take a group picture.  The boys were circling like seagulls trying to get one of their treats but I told them no.  The girls persevered and their work paid off.

Here are the boys and girls working:  I did like how they were up and moving in order to work together and figure things out.  Be sure to view the videos below:

I love hearing them all discuss math and I love that you can hear the music in the background of the boys' video.

And, this one.

Thanks for reading.  Stayed tuned tomorrow when I blog about the responses to my Breakout google doc survey on the activity.....To Be Continued....

Every Wave #mtbos30

I did not get to blog yesterday (Sat, May 28th) because I was at the beach all day then a concert.  It was in the 90s at home but at the beach, it was beautiful! 

I LOVE water - lakes, rivers, ocean, whatever! Put me at the water and I am in heaven.  I will walk, swim, float, read, nap, eat, fish....just be. 

I can't resist running along the ocean.  I woke up early and went for a run with the seagulls yesterday at the ocean.  The view was calling me.
 

Then my friend and I got our chairs set up and spent the day there.  We walked and hunted for seaglass.  I had some good finds including my prized, rare blue seaglass.  We also look for flat, thin, smooth black rocks which we found. 
 

In New England the ocean water is usually "not too bad" or "not numbing".  Yesterday, it was not too bad.  I didn't swim but plenty of people were.  I normally would but we were going to a concert later and I knew I wouldn't be able to shower first.  I did walk in the water a bit.  Normally, I love to go out beyond where I can reach and just float.  I am often the person the lifeguard has to blow the whistle out because I am too far, but I just love it. 

As I was walking and hunting, I couldn't resist taking this picture created by the waves.  It reminds me of veins.  I love how every wave reveals something new.  On my walk up the shore, I will find some cool stuff but by the time I turn around, things will be different due to the waves tumbling new things into my path. 


Thank you ocean for my unofficial start to summer.  I can't wait to see you again soon.

The Final Countdown #mtbos30

On twitter, other schools are finishing up, but we aren't quite there yet.  That is okay with me.  I like getting their end of the year ideas like what to put into a student survey.  It has been a good year, so I am feeling like I can make it.  I also have a lot of great things planned for the summer that I am excited for but I don't want to wish the time away.

I do enjoy counting down with the kids at the beginning of each class to put things into perspective.  I have my calendar updated at the back of the class:



We have two weeks of classes left and three weeks of school left.  We do have Monday off, so that is only 9 days of classes left.  We don't meet the classes each day, so we only have 6 classes left with each.  We can do this!

A Bus Fun Folder #mtbos30

At the end of June, I will be traveling with 45 kids from our high school and youth group to Hamlin, West Virginia in Appalachia.  I am so excited! 

We are traveling by Coach bus, so road trip!  It will be interesting because the kids will not be bringing their cell phones with them.  Whatever will they do on a long bus ride with no cell phone:

Talk to each other, sleep, read, play cards, sing, watch a movie (it has dvd players). 

But, I thought it would be fun to make them a fun folder of old fashioned stuff we used to do.  Thank goodness for Pinterest!  I found a lot of cool things. 

Here is a picture of some of the stuff going into their Fun Folder for WV!  Remember all these goodies - Mad Libs, a Cootie Catcher, LOL. 

Follow Up to MAD from 5/13 post #mtbos30

On May 13, I wrote a blog post about a new way I was introducing MAD, Mean Absolute Deviation.  Post is here.

I taught the lesson yesterday and today.  It took a lot longer than I anticipated, but I do think it was worth it.  I showed the kids the 20 famous people, including our principal.  I asked them not to discuss the ages at all, just write down their guess.  There was a lot of other fun discussion about the people. 

Then, I read their real ages and there was a lot of "yeah, I got it" or "oh my gosh, I was off by 10!"  Next, we plotted x for the actual ages versus y for the estimated ages.  I asked them to enter their points into their calculator and do a linear regression to come up with the equation of their line of best fit.  Some kids had slopes slightly less than 1 and some closer to 2.  The y-intercepts varied from less than one to about 14.  I asked the two students with 14 if they were quite off on their guesses and they agreed.  Then, I asked, "if I got all the guesses correct, what would the equation of my line be?"  The first class got it, the second class, not quite.  It was be y = x.  I had them graph that and then draw vertical lines from their estimated age to the line and write next to it how many points it was away.  This took a LONG time.  I did want them to get the visual though.  Some had points very close to the line (good guessers).  Some all over the place (not so great of guessers).  Some had most of their points above the line - I asked - what did that mean.  They got it  - they guessed to old. 

Finally, we went back to my table with x as the actual ages, y as the estimated ages and we did x-y for a new column.  This was positive and negative numbers.  And, the last column was the positive difference aka the absolute value.  We found the average of the last column and had our MAD.  Lots of work, but I think they got it.  Their MADs were mostly between 1 and 4, not too bad. 

Seniors in Youth Group

Four years ago some moms and I stepped forward to volunteer and keep our Church Youth Group going after we didn't have the money for our Youth Minister anymore.

We do a lot of fun things throughout the school year from Christmas in the City - a big Christmas Party in Boston, to ice skating trips, mystery night's out, fall fest, ugly sweater contests, and dinner fundraisers for our mission trips.  Our year culminates in a big mission trip.

Last night we had a Baccalaureate Mass and dinner for our graduating seniors, some who joined us on our first mission trip four years ago to clean up after Super Storm Sandy in NJ in 2013 when they were freshmen.




In the summer of 2014, we went to Mississippi to still clean up after Hurricane Katrina.



Summer 2015, we went to Queens, NYC.



I hope they continue to volunteer and help others.  I hope they learned to be kind, be flexible, be open minded and just listen.  Listen to people because everyone has a story and they usually want to share it.

From dinner last night:



These are an amazing kids and we wish them all the best as they move out into the big real world!

My baby is 15

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday because we had a cookout for my youngest son's 15th birthday.  I had a busy week so I had to do it all yesterday - cook, clean, bake, decorate. Thank goodness I made the party at 3 pm.  It was another great family and friends party for him.  I wish time would slow down.  I can't believe he is 15. 

To Be Continued.... MTBoS30 (aka My Favorite Problem)

Remember back in the good ol' days when your favorite 30 minute sitcom ended this way:



(I googled the above image looking for "to be cont.".  My husband reminded me that The Dukes of Hazzard was a 60 minute tv show.)  Anyways....  

Oh, I loved these!  And, the cliffhanger from one season to the next and you had to wait!  They don't happen too much anymore.  I supposed you consider it with a Netflix series that you have to wait a year for.  But, even within the Netflix series, you have to wait what - 10 seconds before it advances to the next.

As the year is winding down, I find myself creating these "to be continued..." moments in my Accelerated Algebra 1 class.  I teach both Acc Alg 1 and Acc Alg 2, so I know what they will need.

In Algebra 1, we just finished a unit on radicals and rationals.  I kept telling them they will use a lot of radicals next year in Geometry.

I started a mix for this last unit - functions and stats.  For the functions, we are doing two days on operations with functions including compositions.  We did an application for braking distance in a car that included a quadratic equation and an exponential equation.  I asked them what type of equation each was and was so happy when they identified the exponential correctly, yeah!  We plugged the exponential into the quadratic equation.  We were then given the distance and were asked to figure out the time (the exponent).  They moaned and groaned.  I told them it was like Shrek who was like an onion, peel away the layers.  They peeled away the algebra layers until they got to a simple unknown exponential equation.  They said I should just call it the onion problem.

This is my favorite problem of the year in Algebra I.  One student recognized why "because it pulls it all together".  Yes!



They worked all the way through it step by step until it revealed a simple exponential equation but they did not know how to "undo" it.  I said this was where the "to be continued..." part came in.  We know we can use subtraction to undo addition and division to undo multiplication, but what can undo an exponent.  I was so proud when they said "to the T root" - yeah another connection from earlier this year!

I revealed the word logarithms.  I told them we would get to learn about them in Algebra 2 in two years and they would be helpful for figuring out unknown exponentials.  One student said, "can we just throw out the rest of the stuff you were going to teach us and learn logs."  Oh my friend, I wish, but not quite.

I didn't let them off the hook though, we did need to solve the problem.  They started plugging into their calculator and started guessing and testing.  If I had more time in class, I would have had them take out the computers and graph on desmos, but I wanted to pull it all together.  They figured it was between 2 and 3 and did narrow it down to 2.53 seconds. 

Follow Up Paper Airplanes - Data #MTBoS30

The other day I posted about Julie's idea of collecting data to analyze by throwing paper airplanes.  It took an entire hour to have 6 kids throw their planes five times, but we got some data to analyze. 

Here was our agenda for today's class.  They also had this on a handout for them to write on.


That was a good day when I had 6 class in this small mixed math class.  Today, I had 3 kids (it met first period of the day).  I made a table of each student's throw data.  They found each of their averages.  I asked what they noticed.  We didn't have anyone throw in the 7 meter range. 

Then, I asked them to put all 30 data points in an ordered list.  That was a lot to ask, but we did it.  We found the mean, median, mode, and range and I asked what they noticed about each.  Interestingly, our mean was 7.52 meters even though we didn't have anyone who threw in the 7s. 

We created a frequency chart together with me drawing it at the board and the kids doing it at their desks.  We talked about why I chose these intervals. 



Next, we made a histogram, stem and leaf plot, and a box-and-whisker.  Three kids and three graphs, how convenient.  We drew these together on their own sheet and once we knew they were correct, I had them to draw them on the board.  Then, we did some more noticing. 

Here is their work:

School year winding down #mtbos30

I am thankful for this #mtbos30 challenge because it is encouraging me to write each day which requires me to maybe do something worth blogging about.  It is also allowing me to reflect at the end of the school year.  I tend to blog in September when everything is fresh and pretty and I am still full of energy.  It will be interesting to look at my posts a year from now and see where I was and hopefully how far I have come.

In September, I am getting ready for the year ahead.  Now, I am getting ready for the school year to end.  Don't get me wrong, I am not as close as many of you.  We get out on June 17th, so a full 4 more weeks but that is early for around these New England parts.  I do like being a little behind most of you folks so I can borrow your stuff. 

People have been posting on Twitter about their end of the year surveys.  I gave one last year and it was just okay, but I have since found some great things to add to mine to make it better. 

I really liked Meg Craig's ideas here and Julie's ideas here.  Thanks for sharing.  I am not going to share mine yet because I will wait until I get the results and do that in one blog post.

It is that time of year where I am wrapping up with reviews, quizzes, reviews, tests, reviews, final exams.  Throw in prom this Friday plus state testing in Math and Biology and we are very broken up but it will all get done.  I need to work on my Accelerated Algebra 2 final exam.  I love tweaking tests and updating them, editing them, taking them for time, and just getting them what I hope is perfect.

So, off to work on just that.

Collecting Data with Paper Airplanes #MTBoS30

I have a small class on mixed grades.  I never know how many kids out of 8 I will have.  Today was a good day, I had 6 students.  I was planning on heading outside to throw paper airplanes and collect data to analyze from Julie's blog post.

We planned in the classroom first.  What did we need to know to throw these paper airplanes:
*how to throw a plane
*how to fold a plane
*what to measure in - this lead to a lesson in the difference between a yard stick and a meter stick as I held a meter stick up in front of them.  We thought about measuring in inches but they thought that would be too hard, so we settled on meters.  I had 6 meter sticks, so 2 per group would work out nicely to lay and measure each of them. 
*how to shoot and measure - we paired up.  Each person drew their starting line with chalk.  The other person had chalk to mark where that person landed.  Originally I thought we would have each student throw 10 times but quickly changed that to 5 throws once I saw how long it took to throw, mark, and measure.  We did have one person throw their 5 throws and then measure.  That worked out well.

It took us an entire hour to plan and execute this.  I collected the 30 data points.  Next class we will analyze it.  Phew!

They named them.

Quizlet Live #mtbos30

If you haven't given Quizlet a try, it is a great time as most of us are moving into year end review. 

If you checked Quizlet out a while ago, go back and check.  It is even better!

I think Quizlet was first known as a site to create flashcards for learning vocabulary.  Now, there is a quizlet live feature - think Kahoot or Quizizz but with its own little twist.

You don't have to set up a class but you can if you want.  You can search many already created Quizlets.  My colleague found a great set of 21 cards with solving trig equations.  Find your set and get started by giving your students the class code.

Quizlet will automatically put your students into groups of 4.  You should have them physically move and group themselves together.  They will be presented with a multiple choice question.  However, each student will have 3 different answer out of a possible 12 answers.  It is helpful if all 4 kids can see all 4 screens to see the answer.  It is timed, but they quickly learn that slow and steady is better because when they get one wrong, they are bumped back to zero - bummer! 

This method is tricky at first but then they get used to the different screens and can focus on the work itself.  There were some great conversations about each problem.  I really loved it and so did they.  I get to do it again next period!

Give it a try!

Relay for Life #mtbos30

Last night our community had our 10th Relay for Life of Hopkinton!  I have been a member since its inception.  Our Relay is different from most in that it is almost completely run by high schoolers.  I have traveled to other Relays and see there are a lot of adult teams and family teams, but ours is mostly run by the high schoolers with high school and middle school teams.  They are amazing!  In the ten years, our town has raised over $1.45 million dollars for Relay! That is huge. 

Last night, we had about 50 teams.  When we started ten years ago, we were closer to 100 teams, but these 50 teams still did some great work.  Going into Relay last night, they raised about $103,000 already.  I don't have the final numbers yet.

Teams come around 4 pm.  I am usually in charge of the campsite map.  Prior to Relay the teams come to a Bank Night to turn in their monies, get their t-shirts, and pick their campsite.  Then, we have the art department print us up a big map.  I get to greet the people as they come all fresh and excited to Relay and I direct them to their sites.  The teams are so creative with their names and team t-shirts. 



We were led by three amazing young ladies.  Olivia is a junior who has been relaying since she was 5. She is a driven, young woman who is so creative with her ideas and a great fundraiser.  An American Cancer representative surprised us by showing up at the Opening Ceremonies to present Olivia with a volunteer award for working so hard.  There were a handful of winners chosen from the New England states and Olivia was one of them!  Kate is a senior at a private school she attended during junior and senior year but she relayed with us and kicked butt organizing so much for this town.  Cam is a junior whose two older sisters were also co-chairs in their time at our school.  The three of them assembled a huge committee of dedicated high schoolers who worked tirelessly since September to pull this off.

Here are the girls speaking at our Opening Ceremony just as the rain was starting for the night. 



We have a Survivor Dinner at 5 pm in the middle school cafeteria and then the survivors and their caregivers walk down to the track to sounds of a live bagpiper to arrive at the track for the 6 pm Opening Ceremony.  My friend, Dana, is the only other current adult on the committee besides me.  He is a survivor himself and is part of the survivor dinner, also organized by our co-chair, Cam.  I used to attend the survivor dinner with my mom who had thyroid cancer.  (She is still alive, just moved to Florida three years ago. ) We listened to a mother speak who has had a team before because she is an ovarian cancer survivor.  Her son is currently an 8th grader and unfortunately, the team has a lot of cancer connections.  She did a great job telling her story of hope and success. 

Here is the Survivor Lap that kicks off our lap walking.

  

(I didn't plan the pictures that way, just happened, cool!)

One new thing we did this year was Pantene's hair cutting for cancer patients.  Our current senior class has I think 3 or 4 kids who have recently lost parents to cancer.  One of the families arranged to bring hairdressers and Pantene's program to our school.  It was a great turnout for the first time and girls and women all sat in a horseshoe to hear about the program and get ready to cut it off! 

  

I started Relay 10 years ago as part of the committee and with my own family team.  My youngest son was turning 5 at the time and his birthday is May 20th, always right around Relay so we celebrated his birthday at the track for 8 years!  I have not had a team last year or this year because it go harder to pull people together, but I am still part of the committee. 

I Relay because 30 years ago my husband lost his brother, Michael, to complications from cancer.  30 years ago, yikes!  My husband was 15 and Michael was 21.  So not fair.  He has also lost his grandmother, grandfather, and 2 aunts to cancer.  We lost a Relay committee member to cancer.  My best friend lost her mom to cancer.  My mom had cancer. I played on a women's softball team, we lost two women to cancer, one fought and is cancer free, and one is currently fighting.  I lost the colleague I shared my classroom with to cancer.  As I said above, the current senior class has lost 4 parents to cancer.  My son, who graduated in 2010, lost a classmate, Tommy, to cancer.  He left behind a legacy of B+ (Be Positive).  He was diagnosed with brain cancer during his junior year in high school.  He went to prom.  He played football in the fall of senior year.  He had such a positive outlook towards his cancer it kept him going.  He wrote his college essay starting with something similar to "B Positive, it is not only my blood type, it is my outlook on life."  He did not make it to college as he passed away in March of his senior year.  At school, we have B+ days and wear B+ tshirts and the money goes towards a scholarship in his name. 

Just too much cancer.

However, we did hear a good stat last night though - since 1991, 25% less people have died from cancer!  That is a lot of lives saved!  But, cancer is still killing, so we are still fighting! 

MAD Mean Absolute Deviation #mtbos30

It seems to be the season to teach MAD - Mean Absolute Deviation.  I have taught it in the past, but boring and dry.

I saw Tom Hall's post on twitter with his lesson using Estimation 180.

He linked to Nathan Kraft's post.

I liked both but then I remembered NCTM Boston from Spring 2015 and they used famous people's ages.

I don't remember who taught the lesson but it was called A-E-I-O-U - Algebraic Enriching Opportunities for U. It had a lot of great hits on Alg 1 stuff.  I used their powerpoint with 20 people but I removed one and added our principal.  They have to guess the people's ages.  Then, I will reveal their real age and we will discuss MAD via this.  I think the kids will like it and hopefully remember why we would do this in the first place.

Short post, but no time after school.  We have Relay for Life after school through the night.

Find the Mistake #mtbos30

The tables are turned today as my Accelerated Algebra 1 students are grading a fake test on radicals and rationals and trying to find the mistake in each one.  They need to find the mistake and circle it.  They need to then make the correction, provide feedback, and decide how many points to take off. 

Here is the worksheet.



I love when they get to #6 and write "they killed a puppy".  But, I do get a little scared when they can't find the mistake in #6. 

They are also realizing how long it actually takes to grade a paper.  I remind them that I have 50 of them to grade.  One student said, "I feel sorry for you because I always zig zag with my work."  Yup.  They also are harder graders than I am. 

Hopefully they won't make these mistakes tomorrow.

Providing Opportunities #mtbos30

The more I teach, the more I think of the teaching profession as providing opportunities - opportunities to learn and discover.  I just present them with different situations and they put it all together.

The same is true for our new school fishing club.  A young man went to the vice principal and asked to start a fishing club.  He was required to get 6 friends' signatures to show interest and to find a teacher willing to be the advisor, so I decided to help out.  I LOVE fishing!  I am at peace on the water, so why not?  I also found a community member who is retired from working at a sporting goods store and full of knowledge on all things fishing. 

We had an informational meeting and ten people came including two girls.  We had our first fishing outing last week and two kids came.  We didn't catch anything.  The weather in MA has been terribly cold so the water is still freezing and those darn fish are still sleeping.

We had a little more luck yesterday.  We are lucky to have a lot of lakes in our town so we went to a different spot yesterday and it was our first warm weather day in a long time.  Jeff is our adult community adviser.  He caught a perch and a pickerel.  I caught a perch, a sunfish, and a pumpkin seed.  We had 3 boys show up this time.  They didn't catch anything except the fishing bug!  We could have stayed all evening - just one more cast!

Jeff helped the kids out with their lures and it was a fun day.  I hope more kids come next week and I hope the fish start to get more hungry.

Before our outing yesterday, I ran to Walmart to get myself some worms.  He asked where I was fishing.  I told him and told him about our new fishing club.  Fishing clubs are not all that big here in New England but he was so excited for us.  He thought it was so cool.  I do too.  It is another great opportunity for all of us.

Here are some pictures.  You can see it was just a beautiful day!

New Clothesline Desmos Art #mtbos30

I forgot to post yesterday, so I better do today before I forget again.

I finally found time to grade my Accelerated Algebra 2 Conics projects created using Desmos.  Idea for @boblochel on Twitter.

I have had last year's projects hanging up on my clothesline wall all year and a reminder of what we would be able to create in the spring.  In the fall, they think, "No way, that is too hard.  I won't be able to do that."  I say...."Yet!"

And, they did some pretty cool stuff.

Here is my clothesline wall of some of them.

Planning for the spring #mtbos30

The problem with being creative yesterday afternoon into the night is that my brain was swirling.  I had a hard time falling asleep, dreamt about my breakout box, and woke up thinking about all I had to do.

Having a lot to do means I need to delegate too.  This is a "light" spring for me but still pretty busy.

Tues, May 10th - fishing club.  The rain will stop and it will finally be 70, hopefully we will catch something this time.  I asked our team captain to email the team and remind them.

Thursday, May 12th - Son#2 comes home from college :)

Friday, May 13th - Relay for Life.  I am on the committee so I will be up all night helping out and that means sleeping all day on Saturday, May 14th.

Sunday, May 15th - Son #1 will run a triathlon sprint in town, and I will go cheer him on.  My cross country team will volunteer at it, so I need to email those reminders out.

Sunday, May 15th in the evening - I help with Youth Group and we will have our end of the year get together - Sundaes on Sunday, so I need to write up the grocery list and ask an adult to shop.  I will come up with the games we will play.

Thursday, May 19th - Son #3 and I will go into Boston to serve at a homeless shelter.  I love spending this time with him.

Friday, May 20th - Son #4's 15th birthday so out to dinner.  Also, Son #3's Junior prom but he decided not to go.  I will go to the school and help out with the Grand March.

Saturday, May 21st - cookout for Son #4's birthday - means shopping, cooking, and cleaning before and after.

Sunday, May 22nd - Baccalaureate mass and dinner for seniors at our church.

 Early June - breakout box for Algebra 2 - prepare, copy, plan, get locks and boxes ready to play

June 3rd - graduation and then some grad parties in June.  My niece is graduating!

Thursday, June 9th - Mission meeting - our youth group is heading to Appalachia, WV by bus on June 26th.  I need to get ready for the meeting with some prayers, songs, icebreakers, and activities.

Week of June 26th - Mission Trip to WV, need to do so much planning for this!

I say this is a "light" spring because next spring Son#2 graduates from college, Son#3 graduates from high school, and Son#4 turns 16 and gets his driver's permit.  So, I am trying to enjoy this spring.

A creative Saturday #mtbos30

My morning started off not too great as I woke up early to take my Junior son to take his SATs but he couldn't find his wallet.  We torn the house upside down to no avail, even called and woke up the friend whose car he was last in to see if it fell into the car.  Nope, it fell out at Chipotle.  So, he didn't take the SATs today.

I zumba'd my anger off and came home and got creative.  I finished a sewing project up so I can finally get my sewing machine off my dining room table.

And, then I started my Accelerated Algebra 2 breakout for June after our last test but before final exams.  I created one for our church youth group and it was so fun for me to create and then fun to watch the kids do it.  I do get a little too convoluted in my thinking though.  I am trying to keep this one more straightforward so my colleague can recreate it.  I can't give too much away but I started with a 100% charge on my computer and it is now down to 54%.  I still have a lot to go (as I am watching The Sixth Sense and getting distracted).

It is "Escape from the Amusement Park".  I have 4 kids shooting the basketball at the basketball game with different parabolic information given to try to figure out who gets it in the hoop.

I have three bumper cars traveling in ellipses and we will need to find out when all three hit.

There will be a rollercoaster that is a polynomial.

There will be a ferris wheel with a trig equation.

There will be a concession stand problem where they buy 3 different things and need to figure out the prices.

There will be 5 games that will lead to QR codes with a mix of problems (maybe logs and trig)

I even used desmos so one of them leads to a desmos code.  I had to make another code to get to the desmos code. 

It is a ton of work but I hope they enjoy it.

Oh, one thing I learned is that if you google your name with name like "Jennifer name" you can find cool clip art like this one:

 

Stations for Rationals #mtbos30

I have done these stations in years past and like the mix and getting the kids vertical.

I call it Noah's Ark Review because they are supposed to do 2 at each station.  It is appropriate after a week of rain.

Stations Review for Rational Functions

I have station 1 at the window with practicing graphing rational functions.  (Algebra 1)


I have station 2 at the back board with solving rational equations.

Station 3 is on a side table with 1 die.  The students toss the die to get two numbers, one for x and one for y.  They are told y varies inversely with x.  Then, they toss it one more time.  This is a new X value.  Find y.

Station 4 is at a group of desks with 1 die and it is word problems.  One is a work problem and one is a distance = rate times time problem.  They toss the die to make their problems. 

Station 5 is at my favorite little green table with little white boards found a while back at Target and a coin that has written on it a multiplication sign and a division sign.  The kids pick four boards.  Put one over another to create fractions, then flip the coin to see if they have to multiply or divide. 



Station 6 is at a group of desks with a coin and colored paper with rational expressions.  The pick one of each color (there are two colors) and then flip a coin with a plus and minus written on it to make their own problems.