EdExpo Favorite Sensory Objects

As promised I have many products I want to share that I learned about at the EdExpo in Dallas.  The very first booth I visited was the Boinks booth. 

 The first product they showed me was the boink which reminded me of the Chinese finger traps.  Boinks are cute little toys that have multiple uses including a pencil grip.  The only issue with the boink is that is acts like a spring and flies through the air - no way could I handle those flying in my classroom.  

The second thing they showed me was the fidget.  I LOVE the fidget!  It is a small tube with a marble that you can move back and forth with your thumb - so simple!  I especially love that it doesn't have any kind of liquid inside for students to spill.  I was "fidgeting" with the fidget the whole time I was learning about all of the Boink products.  I was hooked :)

My other great sensory find was the The Dough Source's DaVinci Dough.  This dough was scented to promote clarity, creativity and focus.  The two scents are lemon ginger and vanilla orange - both AMAZING!  

I had my tutor student use the lemon ginger dough during our reading session.  I noticed she was relaxed and really liked the scent.  

If you are in need of any sensory tools look into either of these products.  Both of these products are great for the regular and and special ed students.  Next time you are at your local teacher store look for these to try :) 

#EdExp02014 Favorite Products for any Classroom

As you know I had the opportunity to attend the ED Expo in Dallas.   You can read more about the expo and my funny travel experience here.  I am still overwhelmed with all of the amazing products I saw at the expo.  Today I am going to tell you about 2 of my favorite products that could be used in ANY classroom! 

Time Timer Watches 

I am obsessed with these watches! I want one SOOOOOO bad! The watch visually shows how much time is left and vibrates (or has an audible alerts) when time is up.  I have a digital timer but it is small and I keep it on the front table so it is hard to keep track of the time while helping groups.  

You can find the watch HERE.  These watches are clearly popular because the adult watches are sold out as I am writing this post!   

Time Timer Clocks

The clocks come in all different sizes.  I would love to have a big one at the front of the room for students during independent or partner work.  Time Timer also has 3 inch clocks that would be VERY useful for groups to have at their table.  I would think productivity would increase when they had actually set the timer themselves and have a visual  of the time left at their table.  These timers can be purchased in bulk so talk to teachers in your building to create a large order for a cheaper price :) 

You can check out the timer clocks HERE.

If you don't have the budget for the clocks or watches you can buy the App or software for you computer or iphone/ipad.  The prices are very reasonable -  I am thinking about getting the app for my ipad to start.  Click HERE to check out the apps. 

Mooreco student desks

If I could create my dream classroom these desks would be included.   I did not expect to fall in love with furniture when I was at the expo but these desks are AMAZING.  The shape of these desks allow you to do any configuration. 

Click HERE to find more information on these desks. 

What really attracted me to these desks is the white board as the top of the desk!  Although I do worry about the residue of markers after years of writing, but think about the amount of paper you could save when you want students to practice or work collaboratively as a group! If your school is looking to get new desks you HAVE to keep these in mind! 

Find the award-winning Teacher Trendsetter products and much more at a retailer near you by utilizing thehttp://www.TeacherStores.com  zip code searchable database.  Support the small businesses in your community! 

You have my Top 2 picks from the Ed Expo! These products would work for any classroom and subject area in my opinion :) 

Stay tuned for my top products for Math, Special Ed, PBIS and Reading! 

EdExpo 2014

I had the amazing opportunity to attend the 2014 education expo in Dallas Texas over the weekend of March 8th.  I was asked to attend as a "teacher trendsetter" and rank my top 10 favorite products at the expo.  I have so many products to talk about but I thought you might enjoy a good laugh first.. 

For some strange reason flying has become more difficult as I have gotten older.  I start getting anxiety at least a month in advance about what time I need to leave for the airport, how to get to the airport, how long will it take to get through security and will there be a Starbucks in my terminal?  The night before I decided to take a taxi to the train and hope on the blue line to get to O'hare.  

I probably left my apartment about 3 hours before my flight so I would get to the airport and through security in plenty of time.  I am not able to relax until I am sitting at my gate waiting for my plane.   One year I went to the wrong airport (O'hare instead of Midway) so I can't relax until I know I have not made that mistake again!  Anyways..

I get to O'hare and go to United Airlines to check in.  I was surprised NO ONE was at United trying to check in so I was getting worried I was not in the airport.  I swiped my ID card and the computer said I did not have a reservation - PANIC ATTACK.. Trying to keep my cool, I ask the person what is wrong and they look at my printed itinerary.  Ma'am your flying American Airlines - not United.. Whoops!

I needed to get to a different terminal which meant I had to venture outside.  Unless you have been living under a rock, you know Chicago has been a snowy, icy mess since December.  Although the sidewalks were clear I noticed they were a little slick.  I stopped myself from slipping a couple of times and then the inevitable happened..  Not only did I slip, but I fell practically taking a nose dive into icy mud.  My legs, hands and suitcase were covered in salty mud.  I tried to jump back up quickly but of course I just kept slipping more.  I was so embarrassed and refused to look around to see how many people saw me.  

I finally got inside of the correct terminal and checked into the correct airline.  All I wanted to do was go to the bathroom to wash off but of course I needed to get through security.  If you could only have seen what I looked like walking around - DISGUSTING! 

This is my suitcase AFTER wiping it off in the bathroom. 

I would like to say that I was stress free when I was finally on the plane but I started wondering how I was going to find the shuttle needed to get to my hotel.  My shuttle ticket told me to find a kiosk in the baggage claim to dispatch the shuttle.  I could not find the dispatch kiosk so I went outside to find the shuttle.  No shuttle- only a sign.  I didn't think I would mind standing outside since I could enjoy the warm Dallas air - WRONG.  It was SO cold! My fingers were freezing and I could not get a hold of the shuttle company.  FINALLY I got a hold of customer service and dispatched a shuttle.  

I stayed in downtown Dallas at the beautiful Adolphus Hotel. 

I was so happy to have finally arrived at the hotel! 

I went to check in and then... "Sorry Liz, we do not have a reservation under Liz Gates but we do have a reservation for Liz Bates".  You have got to be kidding me... After another small panic attack we sorted out the mess and I was given a room.  

After that day I was seriously considering NEVER traveling again.  I went to bed looking forward to a new day and the edexpo!

Walking into the expo I felt like I was at a NCTM conference - I still wish I was going to New Orleans. 

When I checked into registration I was told I had a "ribbon" to wear for people to know I was a teacher.  

This is NOT a ribbon.  

The picture does not do it justice but the "ribbon" was a GIANT button! It was a wonderful conversation starter with many of the booths :) 

I was one of a handful of teachers who walked the floor and talked to different companies about their products.  After seeing all of the booths I made a top 10 list of products I would want in my classroom.  Making the list was very difficult since there were so many great products! Companies that made our top 10 lists were awarded a ribbon (seen below) which was on display for buyers of teacher stores and catalogs to see as they were making orders.  

I had so much fun walking around and discovering new products that I NEED for my classroom.  I was not allowed to purchase anything at the expo since I was a teacher and the expo is meant for buyers of school stores and catalogs.  I will certainly be finding some of these companies when I do my school shopping for next year :)

In the next few weeks I will be posting some of my favorite products found at the expo.  I figured it was only appropriate to end this post with one last picture of my messy fall :) 

Just in case you were worried - my ankles are not swollen.  Leggings bunched around my ankles is not a good look for me :)

Stay tuned for more info from the expo! 

Change The Way You Display Directions...

I have a confession... I still have photos on my phone from the 2012-2013 school year.  Yes it is 2014 and I am finally getting some of those photos off my camera :)  

LAST year I was peeking into a fellow math teacher's room and noticed her students reading directions in these clever clear plastic stands.   

I knew I needed those stands for my own room and immediately went on Amazon.com to find a set.  I can't remember the exact set I bought but you can purchase similar ones here. 

I love to use these stands for stations or presenting task cards.  Recently I used the stands for a unit review.  I had a variety of math games and activities to practice integers, order of operations and the distributive property.  

I always make two-sided copies of directions so students can see from both sides of the table. 

I seriously LOVE these stands and I get excited every time I use them!  I recommend getting at least one stand for each table.  I have a few extra which can be helpful if one breaks or I need more than one stand at a table.  

If you don't have a way to present task cards or directions on tables I highly recommend getting yourself a set.  Once you have them you will never understand how you got along without them for so long :)

Scale Up Picture Class Project

By far I get the most emails about the candy wrapper project I used as an end of unit project for Stretching and Shrinking (CMP).  Students created AMAZING scaled candy wrappers and they were so much fun to watch in action.  You may be surprised to read that I did not do the project this year... YET.  Last year we hit the end of the unit about 3 days before Thanksgiving break.  This window was perfect for keeping the students engaged (and manageable) before the break.  This year we finished the book a couple of weeks before break and it didn't seem to feel right taking 3 days off to do the project.  

Instead of candy wrappers we did a quick class project of scaling up a picture in pieces.  I got this idea from our math coach (thanks Kelly!) who had great success with it in the past.  He sent black and white pictures to use in groups or whole class.   I decided to have the students enlarge one picture as a class. 

 I chose to use the American Gothic picture which I printed on regular 8.5 by 11 paper.  I gridded the paper by making 1x1 inch squares with a ruler.  I made a X and Y axis so students could find the the location of the squares they were drawing.  On the back of the paper I wrote the coordinate pair locations so students could use the whole picture to see what their lines were going to create.  

I cut up the grid into 1x1 inch squares and students copied their square on a post it note.  Although all classes used the same picture each class had a different color post it.  

I hung the small gridded picture next the enlarged poster for students to compare (see first picture).  I also gave each table a copy of the 8.5 x 11 in a plastic sheet to use while drawing on their post it notes. 

It was really cool to see the picture star to slowly come together as students completed different squares. 

Some students were really good at keeping the lines proportional to the small squares while others were free handing the picture.  This made an interesting final product when students saw how their squares fit with others.  I would like to do another picture (maybe during ISAT week or before spring break) to see if students would pay attention more to the details.  

Check out the farmers mouth for an example of a student who CLEARLY did not think about connecting with other squares.. We are also missing an eyebrow :) 

I thought this class did a great job for their first picture!

This project was really fun and easy!  Students started the project when they finished their partner quizzes.  They got another chance to finish the squares when they finished their Comparing and Scaling unit tests.  If you wanted to do this project all at once it should only take about a day if you have block periods.  I can't wait to do this again with a different picture! 

I didn't do any worksheet or rubric with this project - it was just for fun.  I would love to ask some extension questions to challenge students thinking about the final product.

If you can think of good extension questions for this project please feel free to share below :)

Great Day In Room 314!

Today must have been one of the BEST days I have had yet this year with my students! It might be one of the first days all year that I ended the day with a HUGE smile.  I typically do mixed ability groups when I do group work but today I decided to switch it up and do leveled grouping.  I am usually hesitant to do leveled grouping because I find my students off task more often.  I think this may come from having to put more of my focus on the low group to keep them moving (allowing the other groups to get off task).  I anticipated a wide range of abilities when I introduced order of operations.  Although students were aware of order of operations they are now expected to do them with more complicated grouping symbols and negative numbers.  Yesterday I gave an exit slip asking students to solve a med/hard order of operations problem and rate themselves (1-3)  on how they felt about order of operations.  Looking through the ratings I felt students were pretty honest so I grouped them according to their ratings. 

Red Group: I feel confused

Purple Group: I feel OK

Green Group: I feel great

I wrote the problems that all three groups were doing on colored index cards.  The green and purple groups did different problems provided by the text book and red did simpler problems I found on a worksheet.  

I downloaded these participation slips a long time ago and finally remembered to use them. 

I told the students they had one verbal warning before I started ripping off 10% each time they were off task.  The slip was worth 5 points in the grade book making each piece worth 0.5 points.   I do a lot of positive reinforcement for group work engagement with my golden groups and since they were working in groups (not their golden group) each student earned a puzzle piece for their group.  

I don't know if it was the groupings, the problems, or participation slips but students were VERY engaged.  I only ripped a handful of students sheets and only 2 students scored below a 90%.  The students even noticed a difference asking if they could stay in these groups for the next book! 

I don't think grouping should always be homogenous but this activity had shown me I shouldn't be afraid to group by ability level (I have had TERRIBLE experiences in the past).  The participation sheets will also be making an appearance again soon - maybe partner work? 

Today is a day that reminds me why I love teaching.  I hope I can share another day like today soon :)

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Yamie Chess

Growing up I always wanted to learn the game of chess.  The board game seemed too intimidating so I never took the time to learn the strategy to play.   Finally a company has created a fun interactive way to learn the game - Yamie Chess! 

I had the opportunity to review the interactive activity book that teaches you how to play chess by introducing the chess pieces as characters in a story.  After learning the basics of the chess game the activity book introduces you to the main character Kimi as you follow his adventures in the Mind Kingdom.  Throughout the adventure math problems are presented in the story.  The problems range in difficulty making the story friendly to intermediate and middle grade levels.   Check out my full review of Yamie Chess HERE along with many other professionals' reviews of the game.  

To get a better idea about Yamie Chess take a look at this video. 

This is a great game to have in your classroom for the days you find a chunk of free time (or indoor recess) with your students.  How great would it be for students to not only solve a few math problems but also learn the game of chess! I love the idea of students practicing strategic and forward thinking with a game inside or outside of the math classroom :)  

If you have the pleasure of going to the 2014 NCTM conference (I am SOOO jealous if you are) check out their booth in the Exhibit Hall.  I can't wait to get my hands on the full game when it is finally released this spring! 

If you do purchase Yamie Chess for your classroom (or your household) let me know what you think!