The Smiley Emojis of Linear Systems

So... finals are approaching and so is the end of our Systems Unit. Frantic planning for next semester and engaging activities for the end of this one are flying through my mind and OneDrive. 

Thinking ahead to Polynomials, I searched the internet for some activities as I wanted something new for adding and subtracting. I like all activities to be instant feedback so wanted something along those lines. In the past I used this assignment from charlotte_james615 at TES.

It is perfect and she has a ton of versions but I just needed to change it up as I have quite a few repeaters. Enter this brilliant piece of Polynomial activity magic from Strength in Numbers on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Honestly, it was just what I needed the week before finals. I quite enjoyed coloring the hearts with my Twistable Crayons! 

Enter Inspiration!!! As we are wrapping up Systems, I need a little more practice on finding the intersection in the calculator. Hmmm... what do students know that they could draw... enter Emojis! Emojis were picked by some of my students and below is a completed student one!

I decided I wanted several version since I was only asking them to complete 4 problems. I did 4 problems per page but all the answers are the same. Each page has 4 different answers though!

This was strictly to practice calculator skills but I have provided both word and PDF for you in case you want to change it. After my first grammar mistake ridden WS, I think I have it streamlined. Every answer will be used and each of the 3 pages has different emojis.

The students got pretty serious about their emojis! 

Loves seeing that A in 'STEAM' learning in full force. And the best part, it was exactly the practice they needed and brain break they needed all in one!

The font I used was KG Payphone and you can download it free here at dafont.com! As always, I am providing you the Word and PDF! 

Download the activity for free HERE!

For answer keys, please email camfan54@att.net from an official teacher school or professional account that I can verify. I have had a number of students and generic email accounts request keys. I don't want to ruin the integrity of an assignment for any of you. Thank you and hope you understand.

If you see any mistakes, please let me know as I already found a horrid grammatical error I didn't notice before they were printed for class. December teacher brain!

Enjoy!

Lisa

Generic Escape Room 2!

Got 8 problems?  Then you can ESCAPE with this generic escape room! And it is made for the whole class to do!

WiFi connection and bar code scanner are necessary as you need to be able to QR Code scan and access Google Docs as well as Google for trivia.

Last year, I shared a generic escape room template and how to easily set it up yourself.  I included the needed items as well.  See original post here.

This year, I wanted to change it up a bit since I have quite a few repeaters so I used the exact same concept but changed the 'Clues'. One clue is shown below.  Last time, I had science clues so mixed it up a little to bring in come other subjects. A little cross curricular action here!

I also discovered they needed a 'master' clue sheet to keep record on and created the following Class Clue Sheet.  There is also one in the original escape room folder.

As last time, each group gets a clue and I adjust based on the number of groups. I make sure I do small lock clue then large lock clue so they have to wait until all groups finish to open both locks.

I found this super cute detective border at pageborders.org if you want to find something to theme around. The unique font I used was KG Broken Vessels Sketch and you can download from dafont.com for free here! 

These clues will remain in place as long as I have this Google account so you may have your kids use them.  REMEMBER.... if you copy them it will change all the QR Codes so you will need to recreate everything (I think!)

Everything you need to escape any assignment AGAIN can be found here for FREE!!  

Enjoy!
Lisa

Harry Potter Graphing

Wizardingly quick post for my Harry Potter themed graphing activity. Just this year I discovered the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and am now imposing it on all my students. I love having a theme in assignments and Quidditch made a great goal for this needed skill.

My geometry team specifically needs the graphing skill of a point and slope but not in the formula. I like to make assignments that are also formative assessment where students know right away if they are doing it correctly. All the lines intersect and bludger or the snitch!

Get the worksheet here for free! I have it in both Word and PDF. If you are interested in the font, it is free on dafont.com!

Hopefully this will be the first of other Wizarding graphing activities!

Enjoy!

Lisa

Pygmy Puff Project

For the past 2 years, I have done a Pumpkin Project for linear equations that is incredible! One of the most amazing resources I ever purchased was the Algebra 1 Curriculum from Algebra Accents on Teachers Pay Teachers!  She also sales a lot of very useful bundles and individual activities.  The Linear Equations 3D Pumpkin Garland is worth every single penny!  I highly recommend it!

As I planned this year, I realized the number of repeaters I have means I needed to do something different.  Always, and I mean ALWAYS inspired by Algebra Accents, I decided to create a project with similar construction but based on the needs of my students.

Something round-ish... something that could be done at any time... most importantly, something that I could use a lot of colors of paper on because we are out of orange!

And this year, I discovered the magic of Harry Potter!

And we have a Pygmy Puff Project!

I have included 4 different types of linear function graphing with 5 pages each. That is over 600 possible versions!

The types of equations include:
     -Slope-Intercept Form
     -Point-Slope Form
     -Standard Form
     -Graphing from a Point and a Slope

These are the ones that my students needed for their future math class so I designed it with input from my colleagues.  The Harry potter theme was all my nerdiness.

I put 2 problems on each page for 5 different pages you could use for each type of problem.  As always, ALL are EDITABLE! 

I also saved in PDF in case you like the font and cannot download. The font was called Harry P and is FREE on dafont.com! 

I've included a picture collage of the physical construction as well as the feet and face template. Get all my resources for Free here! 

I will add more pictures and reflection as my students complete it but wanted to share in case you could use it.  

As always, please let me know if you have any feedback!

Enjoy!
Lisa

What's Your Mission... Patch?

Last February, I attended NASA's Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC) at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.  One word, WOW!  What an incredible experience.  I attended every minute of learning and really got caught up in the magic and amazement of space exploration.  Now, I live around the corner, could probably walk to NASA so to say, I took it for granted would be an understatement.  I knew it was there but now I realize what a gift it is.

That is Walter posing in my pictures of the legendary Gene Kranz and the Shuttle Mock-up.  He attended many a session with me throughout the weekend.

I had never heard of SEEC until this year and hope to never miss another one.  Starting with this post, I will be sharing several lessons that were inspired by SEEC that my friend Valerie Blackburn and I developed for our Summer Camp that we made Space themed after attending SEEC!  It really had us wrapped up in the moment and still using the knowledge 4 months later to help foster learning and creativity in students!

This blog entry is to share the Design Your Own Mission Patch activity we developed from a great presentation by Brian Ewenson.  Below is the patch that Walter and I created to represent me as a teacher!

Valerie and I wanted to embrace the A in STEAM learning and allow for not only creativity but some personal ownership and self of each team member.  We were blown away.  Every 'Mission' (table group) really embraced the activity and theme.  Below were our patches and Mission Worksheets.

 

 

 

These were fabulous.  The WS template (pictured below) was to allow freedom to pick things that represented them, rather it be video games or pizza!  We wanted them to own their Mission

There is a great lesson template online from New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science LodeStar Astronomy Center that can be found here.  Me being me, or course, I had to make it harder on myself.  I needed like 10 Patch options so every option was available to the students.

We also had a handout developed from all our research and gave one to each group so they knew the history and inspiration that goes in to a Mission Patch design.  The above lesson from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science LodeStar Astronomy Center has some great information.

You may get our badge templates and rubric here for FREE!

I want to use this in my math class next year.  I think it would be a great way to set a math goal and have the students tell me about them selves.  It can be used beyond Space learning!  I love how our students embraced the activity and taught us about themselves!

Enjoy,
Lisa

Funning for Finals!

Quick post to share my headband for finals review.  It is slope-intercept form and the students identify the slope or y-intercept to lead them to their next problem.

It has been a long time since I've created something new so wanted to share in case you are looking for a nice quick essential review this week!

Get the directions and all my other headbands for free on my previous post here!

For any keys, please feel free to email me at camfan54@att.net from your school or professional account.  I've had students try and email for keys in the past but luckily their email said student!  

Enjoy the end of your year!

Taking Some Time for Yourself! yes.fit Promo Code!

Hey!  It has been a long while since I've posted on here.  I have been focusing on my health and welfare as it had fallen sadly by the wayside.  I hope to share some classroom tidbits soon but wanted to update you as to why I've been scarce.

About a year ago, I had to start taking a new medicine but still, I did nothing to improve.  I was getting tired of the pictures that made me cringe.  I had come far in my years of weight loss and was getting close to putting it all back on.  Something had to give.  So in January, I dusted off and charged the old Fitbit One and got at it.  Prophetically, this came up in my facebook fed last week!

Quite a few work friends had it and we started doing competitions and all.  We were constantly moving and keeping each other in check.  It was a great motivator!  for the first time in 4 years since getting my Fitbit, I got 10,000 steps 7 days in a row!

Being a teacher, everyone is like, 'isn't it easy to get your steps' and truthfully, for about 6000 steps it is but after that, I had to work for it!  Everyday, I was steppin', in the hall, walking the 3 crazy furbabies after work, with Ann in the hallway before 7th!  Even the kids knew and supported.  After a couple of weeks, I felt so much better!  and Luigi even lost weight (the littlest)!

THEN comes Spring Break... and those first 6000 steps were not natural, so I dug out the ol' tennis shoes and started walking.  Then decided for motivation, I'd start doing some 5k's again.  My last 5k was in 2016 and I discovered the cost had risen significantly so Iooked into some online ones.  I found some great motivation and decided that I would do my first 5k in over 3 years virtually that Sunday!  I have always been a slow walker and the virtual races allowed me the freedom to comfortably walk without the pressure of being the last fat walker in the group.  That Sunday, I did it!

It was just the catalyst I needed to get back into walking.  So everyday I have done 2-4 miles of devoted walking.  I have been earning Virtual Medals and even did my first 10k! This medal I actually completed almost 50 miles as I felt the compulsion to do every distance on the medal *eye roll*.   Now I carefully order medals with that in mind. 😁

Last weekend, I completed my 3rd 10k and even managed to shave 2 minutes off my pace in the last 3 miles!  This was a yes.fit race and they are awesome!  You can do them cumulatively over time and they even have tidbits and Google images along the way. 

Even my husband, Jon completed one!  He loved it and now is starting his trek with Bigfoot.

If you are interested in Virtual Races, I'm going to link some great sites below!

Use the code 8wTjJ01g and you can save $5 off your first race with yes.fit!!

And join their facebook group as it is excellent motivation!  Other great groups and clubs that are excellent are:

Virtual Run Events

They have sales and discount codes almost all the time so make sure you look around for one or message me and I can let you know! And shipping is free!  I got a bunch of their clearance medals as motivation. I like the Bling!

Speaking of bling, another great site with medals for only $10 including shipping and processing is:

Best Race Bling

Gorgeous medals and even Harry Potter themed series are available at:

Run Motivators

Yesterday, I actually hit 85 days of getting my step goal!  Unfortunately I had hurt my foot and it needed rest so I biked (which was safe to do).  Let me assure you, biking 4,000 steps is every bit as hard as walking them!

My last doctor appointment, mu numbers were the best they have been in years!  I know being healthier is making me a better teacher too!  So often, we do not take the time to focus on ourselves.  We get busy, grading, planing, data dis-aggregating and ourselves get beat down and tired.  

No matter what you are doing right now, what test you are prepping for, what meeting you have, take a moment and just walk a lap around your school or short break leaning back in your chair.  Focus on yourself for a few minutes and it will help not only you but your whole life.  

December

February

April